So you believe you have a wrongful termination or employment discrimination case and are wanting to hire a lawyer. Just like you must assess a lawyer to establish if they are right for you, the lawyer also needs to examine your legal claim to establish if they should represent you.
Once you have passed through the first consultation, a workplace discrimination lawyer will probably set a face-to-face or Zoom meeting to dive into your claim a lot more.
The more information you have at your disposal and can share, the better the lawyer can investigate your claims.
That does not mean you need to share all scraps of paper you can conceive.
In this piece, we describe the documents and information you need to share with a lawyer to help him/her assess your case.
So what should you bring to your consultation?
Make an effort to share, in a neat and organized way, only documents that link and relate to your legal claim. Below is a list you can use initially:
1. A letter written chronologically that you have prepared
Narrate your story in a neat and chronological order that helps your lawyer gain an understanding of what happened to you. Make sure you list the following: when you started working for the employer, who you reported to, your level of performance and evaluation scores, details of what happened to you that you see as illegal, provide details about what was said and done. Also, detail if you can prove that your co-workers were treated differently.
A good idea is to submit this to your lawyer well ahead of the actual meeting, so he/she can provide a comprehensive judgment.
2. A list of witnesses
Make a list of all the witnesses, jot down their names and contact information. Make sure these witnesses have information relevant to your legal claims. Also, write down the details you believe they can testify to.
3. All the documentation you got from your employer when you started out
These documents can include any employment offer letter, paperwork that you signed, and any employee policies, handbook, or company manuscript that was given to you. This paperwork will allow the lawyer to gain an understanding of the terms of your employment as well as office expectations and rules.
This list is not exhaustive but it does provide a good point to start. Depending on your claim, there will be other required documents. But the bottom line is when there are many documents and lots of information under review it can work in your favor so make sure you organize all this content in advance.
If any of this paperwork is on a company machine, network or device, make sure you don’t print them out first without first talking to an attorney, just to make sure you are allowed to do so. As obvious as it may seem you should never destroy or delete any documents that pertain to your claims.
Conclusion
By taking the time to prepare for your consultation with a lawyer, you will be able to deliver your claims better and more clearly. Not only will it be easier to assess your claims but you will be able to impress them with your focus and organization.
