Our Process: What to Expect When You Hire Forman & Associates

1. The first call and free case evaluation
2. The written fee agreement
3. Meeting your team
4. Investigation and evidence
5. Your medical care and insurance claims
6. Staying in touch
7. The demand and negotiation
8. A lawsuit, if one is needed
9. Settlement, liens and your closing statement

Call (502) 931-6788 or fill out our contact form. Our answering service takes calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our intake team will ask what happened, when and where, who was involved, how you were hurt and which insurance companies have contacted you.

There’s no charge for the evaluation and no obligation. Bring whatever you have: the accident report, photos, insurance cards and letters, medical records or bills, and witness names. If you don’t have everything, that’s fine; gathering it is part of our job. Our personal injury FAQ answers the questions people ask most at this stage.

We work on a contingency fee: no fee unless we win. Kentucky requires a contingency fee agreement to be in writing and signed by the client, and to explain the percentage at each stage and how case costs are handled (SCR 3.130(1.5)(c)). Ask us anything about it before you sign. The percentages for each type of case are listed in our FAQ.

Two things to know up front:

• If the case is lost, the firm absorbs the case costs, so you don’t owe us for them.
• Our fee is calculated on the gross recovery, and the agreement explains exactly how costs are deducted.

Larry Forman is the trial attorney on your case. He’s supported by a small team you’ll get to know:

• Kelly Best, Senior Case Manager, keeps the case moving and is often your first call for scheduling and status questions.
• Melissa Waller, Senior Paralegal, gathers records, tracks medical treatment and bills, and helps prepare the case for negotiation and trial.
• Hannah Foster, Law Clerk, supports legal research and case preparation.
• Mark Lucas, Intake Specialist, is usually the first person you speak with.

You can see the whole team on our Meet the Team page. Cases that start outside Kentucky are handled with locally licensed co-counsel if they go to litigation.

Evidence disappears quickly. Early in the case we work to preserve it: requesting the police report, photos and video, vehicle and scene information, and witness contact information, and sending preservation letters where they’re needed. See what evidence to preserve after an accident.

We also request your medical records and bills directly from your providers, so you don’t have to chase them. See how to request medical records.

Your health comes first. We don’t tell you which doctors to see; treatment decisions belong to you and your doctors. What we ask is that you follow your doctors’ advice, keep your appointments and tell us about new providers so the records are complete.

In a car crash, we help set up your PIP claim so medical bills and lost wages start getting paid. See how Kentucky PIP insurance works. We also handle communication with the insurance companies, so you can stop taking their calls.

Kentucky’s rules require a lawyer to keep clients “reasonably informed” and to “promptly comply with reasonable requests for information” (SCR 3.130(1.4)). In practice, that means you can call or email your team, and we’ll tell you when something important happens: an offer, a filing, a deadline or a date you need to attend.

Tell us right away if you change phone numbers, move, see a new doctor, go back to work, or hear from any insurance company.

Most cases aren’t ready to value until treatment ends or your doctors can describe your long-term needs. Settling too early can leave future care unpaid. When the picture is clear, we put together a demand: the facts, the proof of fault, your medical records and bills, lost income, and how the injury has changed your life. See what a Kentucky injury case is worth.

We relay every offer to you with our honest assessment. You decide whether to settle. Kentucky’s rules require a lawyer to “abide by a client’s decision whether to settle a matter” (SCR 3.130(1.2)(a)).

If the insurer won’t pay fair value, we file suit before the deadline runs. Many Kentucky injury claims have one year, and most car crash claims have two; see our statute of limitations guide. A lawsuit adds stages: written discovery, depositions, often mediation, and trial if the case doesn’t settle.

We prepare every case for trial from the start, because insurers value cases based on what they think will happen in front of a jury. Larry Forman has tried 50+ jury trials and won 95% of them. Read more about what happens behind the scenes in major accident claims.

Before money goes out, we resolve claims by hospitals, health plans, Medicare or Medicaid that must be repaid from the recovery, and we work to reduce them where the law allows. See medical liens in a Kentucky settlement.

At the end of the case you’ll get a written closing statement showing the recovery, the fee, each case cost, each lien paid and the amount you receive, as Kentucky’s rules require.