Hawkesbury · Personal injury solicitors explained

Personal injury solicitor Mogo Creek: who does what

Your solicitor advises and acts on your instructions. The big decisions stay yours.

Solicitors don't make the big decisions on your claim. You do, on their advice, including whether to challenge a decision and whether to accept an offer. If you're in Mogo Creek and weighing up legal help after a crash, it helps to understand the relationship before it starts. We offer a free claim check and, where a case needs one, connect you with an independent solicitor.

Postcode: 2775

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  • By phone & online, no office to visit
  • Helping people in Mogo Creek & Wisemans Ferry

Dividing the work: you and your solicitor

Knowing where your solicitor's role ends and yours begins saves a lot of frustration. The split below is general, and a good solicitor will explain it for your own claim at the start.

Your solicitor's job

  • Advising you on your rights and options, in plain terms
  • Dealing with the insurer and preparing formal documents
  • Gathering the evidence you authorise them to obtain
  • Explaining any offer, then acting on your instructions about it

What stays with you

  • Your treatment, and keeping your own records of it
  • Giving clear instructions and accurate information
  • Telling your solicitor promptly about any change
  • Deciding whether to accept an offer or keep going

General information, not legal advice. How the work is split can vary, so ask your solicitor to explain it for your claim.

Solicitors, barristers and 'lawyers' explained

Most people deal with only one lawyer during a motor accident claim, and that is their solicitor. The solicitor gives advice, deals with the insurer and keeps the file moving. If a claim needs a hearing or an opinion on a difficult point, the solicitor may brief a barrister, who then works alongside them. Knowing who is who tells you who to ask, and who answers for what.

Read next:Do I need a lawyer for my CTP claim?

Accredited specialists, in plain terms

When a solicitor describes themselves as an accredited specialist, they mean a Law Society of NSW scheme that recognises depth of experience in one area of law. Solicitors apply voluntarily, pass an assessment and must keep working in the area to keep the title. It is a useful signal, but only one. It tells you nothing about fees, availability or how clearly a solicitor explains things.

About the lawyers we connect people with

The lawyers we connect people with are described as independent and experienced in motor accident claims. If a formal title matters to you, ask the solicitor directly which ones they hold.

Working with a solicitor from Mogo Creek

Out on the Hawkesbury, a city meeting is a long trip by the Richmond line or by road. Phone and video meetings are normal, and a solicitor's duties to you don't change with the format. If a doctor at Hawkesbury District Health Service wrote down the crash differently from how you remember it, tell your solicitor now. A difference you raise early is much easier to deal with than one the insurer points out later. Your council, Central Coast Council, has no part in a CTP claim or in regulating solicitors. Those rules are set for the whole state, which is why a solicitor's standing can be checked the same way from anywhere.

Region
Hawkesbury
Postcode
2775
Public hospital in the region
Hawkesbury District Health Service
Local government area
Central Coast Council

Do you need a personal injury solicitor?

Many motor accident claims are handled by the injured person with no solicitor at all. Others reach a point where formal advice makes a real difference. These lists are a general guide to which is which.

Often worth talking to a lawyer

  • You need formal advice on a decision the insurer has made about you
  • Your claim may be heading to a hearing
  • You already have a solicitor, but the relationship has broken down
  • Your injury is serious and the claim is likely to run for a long time

You may not need one

  • You're managing your own claim comfortably and it's on track
  • SIRA's free CTP Legal Advisory Service can answer your statutory benefits question
  • What you mainly need is medical help or a new treating doctor

A solicitor works from your medical records, so treatment comes first. We can suggest doctors and allied health familiar with CTP, from the Certificate of Fitness to ongoing therapy.

Not quite your situation?

  • Injured at work rather than on the road? That is usually a workers compensation claim, which runs under different rules from CTP. The free claim check can point you to the right help. Free claim check
  • For what to do after an injury, the records worth keeping and choosing a lawyer in the first place, see the personal injury lawyer page. Personal injury lawyer in Mogo Creek
  • If you're ready to engage a solicitor and wondering about the first meeting and the costs paperwork, the compensation solicitor page covers that ground. Compensation solicitor in Mogo Creek
  • For the stages of a CTP file, from statutory benefits through to settlement, see the car accident solicitor page. Car accident solicitor in Mogo Creek

What you tell your solicitor, and who else sees it

Two ideas protect what you tell your solicitor. Confidentiality means they generally can't share your information without your consent. Privilege, in broad terms, can stop communications made to get legal advice from being handed to the other side. Neither is absolute, and medical evidence about your injury is generally shared with the insurer as part of the claim. Ask where the lines fall.

Others in the room

Having a family member on a call is usually fine, but a third party's presence can sometimes affect whether a conversation stays privileged. Ask your solicitor before sharing sensitive details in front of others.

Changing solicitors

Changing solicitors part-way through a claim is allowed, and people do it for many reasons: poor communication, a move interstate, or a loss of trust. It's worth being clear about why before you switch. The new solicitor can generally request the file. Ask both what happens to fees for work already done, because arrangements vary and surprises help nobody.

Giving instructions: what it means

Your solicitor works for you, on your instructions. In practice, they explain your choices, give their advice, and then do what you decide, within the law and their professional duties. The biggest decision, whether to accept an offer to settle, belongs to you. Take the time you need, and ask for the advice in writing if that helps you think.

Some instructions are standing ones, like 'email me rather than call' or 'don't ring me at work'. Others are one-off decisions. Both are yours to give and to change. If your circumstances shift, for example you move, return to work or your injury worsens, tell your solicitor, because it may change the advice.

How to check who you're dealing with

A practising certificate is, in effect, the licence a solicitor needs to provide legal services. In NSW the Law Society of NSW issues them, and you can generally search its online register to confirm a solicitor holds a current one. If you can't find someone, check the spelling, ask them for their full registered name, or contact the Law Society.

Titles on websites

A firm's website can describe its people however it likes. The practising certificate and any accreditation are what the register and the Law Society actually record.

Read next:Do I need a lawyer? Quick check

If something goes wrong

Many problems with a solicitor come down to communication: calls not returned, decisions made without you, or a bill you didn't expect. Say so in writing, and be specific about what you want to change. If the problem is serious, or raising it gets nowhere, the NSW Legal Services Commissioner's office deals with complaints about lawyers' conduct and legal costs. Changing solicitors is a separate option.

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