DO NOT TALK TO ANYONE ABOUT YOUR CASE UNTIL YOU GET APPROVAL FROM YOUR ATTORNEY FIRST. Do not talk to anyone about your case except someone from your attorneys' office first. You may be required to talk to your own auto or health insurance company, but a representative of your attorney is entitled to be present if and when you talk to them. Your own auto or health insurance company may seek to obtain harmful information from you that may be used against you. You should always require identification so that you are sure to whom you are talking. The defendant's (wrongdoer's) insurance company may try to mislead you by getting you to make a statement without your attorney present. Following this instruction is especially important because the insurance company may record its conversation with you, even without asking you, and it may use against you any unfavorable statements you make to it.

POLICE/INCIDENT REPORT AND WITNESSES. Obtain the police or incident report. If you know of any witnesses to your case, please be sure to write down their correct names, addresses, home and work phone numbers. It is imperative that you obtain the witnesses' location as soon as possible.

DIARY OF EVENTS AND COMPLAINTS. Please keep a daily or weekly diary of the events of your case and any complaints that you have because of your injuries.

Your diary should start on the date of the incident. You should state where you had been and where you were going. You should state who was with you, the kind of car you were driving (if you were driving a car), the weather conditions, and a description of what happened.

It is important that you write the diary as soon as possible to preserve the evidence. It is best to write it down now. In a year or two from the date of the incident you may be asked to recall what happened. Your diary will serve as a valuable reference to refresh you memory. It is important to give the time and date and a simple description. Do not concern yourself about spelling. We suggest that you buy a notebook and keep you diary in it. Please date your entries in your diary.

In addition to the events surrounding the incident, please write in detail about (1) your pain and suffering, (2) any disabilities, and (3) activities that you are unable to do or do with difficulty that you were able to do before the incident. For example, if you are unable to dance, walk, take long walks, or work out with weights, or if it hurts when you do these things, please write it in your diary.

Some sample diary entries are:

• On Wednesday, September 12, 20__ I was driving home from work at Lockheed. I was on Cobb Parkway near the intersection of Roswell Street when the light turned red. I slowed and stopped at the light. As I was waiting for the light to turn green the Defendant, Tom James, smashed into the rear of my car. I immediately felt pain in my neck and screamed. The injury felt like someone stuck a knife in the base of my neck.
• Wednesday the 3rd of October 20__: I went to see Dr. Jones today. Dr. Jones said that I was not healing well and I needed a neck operation on the herniated disc. I have a herniated disc in the C5-C6 disc. The MRI Scan showed the herniated disc in my neck.
• Saturday the 10th of November 20__: I was operated on yesterday for my neck injury. The operation lasted approximately two hours. Dr. Jones removed 60 percent of the disc that was herniated and bulging against my spinal cord.
• Monday, December the 3rd, 2-__: Today I went to work and I had pain in my neck all day. As I turned my head I had tingling in right arm. I am unable to sit for long periods of time without it hurting. This is the most severe pain that I have ever experienced. I had to leave work half way through the day to go home and lie down in order to reduce the pain.

The primary purpose of the diary is for you to communicate directly to your lawyer. Please communicate to us with your diary. If you were able to do an activity before the incident and afterwards you do it with difficulty of not at all, please write this in your diary. The diary is one of the most important items in your personal injury case.

SPYING AND SURVEILLANCE OF YOUR ACTIVITIES BY THE DEFENDANTAND DEFENDANT'S INSURANCE COMPANY.

It has happened in several cases that the defendant and the defendant's insurance company have hired a private investigator to spy on personal injury clients like you. The spying can take place in the form of video taping of your activities or audio taping of your voice over the phone.

It is possible that a private investigator may park outside your home or office in a van and videotape you while you are walking, working, or exercising. If you state that you are unable to work in the garden or cut your grass, and the private investigator videotapes you working in the garden or cutting the grass, your credibility will be hurt. This will damage your case.

LOST WAGES AND LOST EARNINGS. You should keep an accurate record of all days lost from work because of your injuries. You should be ready to provide the names and addresses of all employers from whom you have lost wages. If you are self-employed, obtain records that will verify your lost wages and lost earnings. This should be kept separate from your diary. The burden is on you to prove exactly what workdays you have missed because of your injuries.

DAMAGES TO YOUR AUTOMOBILE AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. If your case is an automobile collision case, the insurer and your attorney will need to see your damaged automobile and any damaged personal property as a result of the incident. Please make sure that you have good photographs of your damaged automobile and any damage to personal property before it is repaired. Also, if you know the location of the Defendant's damaged automobile, you should attempt to take photos of it before it is repaired.

DOCTORS AND PHYSICAL THERAPY VISITS. You should return to each of your doctors as often as necessary and be sure to tell him or her in detail of your complaints. Do not try to be a hero like John Wayne and minimize your complaints. You should keep a record of the doctor's visits in your diary and keep any and all copies of his or her bills and reports.

If you see any additional doctors or physical therapists, be sure that you keep accurate records and inform your attorney immediately of their names and addresses.

MEDICAL BILLS, HOSPITAL BILLS, AND DRUG BILLS. Please obtain and copies of all medical, hospital, doctor, physical therapy, and drug bills. Also, keep records of any other expenses you may have in connection with your case, such as the hiring of extra domestic help at home to do your cleaning and other chores. All of your bills should be paid by check or credit card and you should obtain and keep receipts if you have no insurance. You should keep a master list of all your medical, hospital, doctor, physical therapy, and drug bills, and the cost incurred in going to such places.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. If your injuries require a cast, brace, traction, or other device, save them. Do not throw them away under any circumstance. They can be important pieces of physical evidence to be used at trial. Please keep any blood stained or ripped clothing. Also, retain the empty bottles of medications that you have taken. This will help to demonstrate the volume of medication that you had to take by lining up all the empty bottles of prescription medicine for the jury to see.

TRAFFIC CITATION AND TRAFFIC COURT. If you have been arrested or cited with a traffic violation in connection with this case, be sure to note the date, place, and time of any traffic court hearing. Do not plead to any such charge until you have talked with an attorney. Under no circumstances should you simply not show up as it is considered a guilty plea. If you are summoned as a witness against the person who caused the collision, you should go to court each and every time you are summoned to appear.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF INJURIES OR PROPERTY DAMAGE. If you have any photographs get duplicates made. Retain the negatives in the event that you need to make enlargements. It is important that if you are in the hospital, photographs or a video is taken of you in your disabled condition.

YOUR OWN INSURANCE COMPANIES. Your automobile insurance company under medical payments coverage should pay your hospital and doctors bills up to limits of coverage under your automobile insurance. Obtain copies of the declarations sheet and the actual policy of your automobile insurance company if you do not have it already. Concerning your health insurance company, make certain that you retain duplicate copies of any bills before submitting them to your health insurance company. It may be possible that your health insurance company has a provision whereby you have to reimburse it to the extent that you receive money from the defendant.