Start with records created by other people
Collect records that already exist: an incident or crash report number, medical discharge instructions, appointment summaries, repair estimates, receipts, and letters or emails from insurers. Keep the original file or message when possible. Do not alter a record to make it clearer; add a separate note explaining what you understand it to mean.
Preserve what you observed
Save photographs, videos, messages, and contact details for people who saw the event. Keep the original files because copies or screenshots may omit dates and other file information. Make a short note identifying who created each item, when it was created, and what it depicts. Do not put yourself at risk to collect material.
Build treatment and cost folders
Keep provider names, appointment dates, referrals, work restrictions, bills, insurance explanations of benefits, pharmacy receipts, and travel receipts together. A bill and a medical record answer different questions, so keep both. Record gaps as questions instead of filling them from memory.
Keep a communication log
For each insurer, employer, property owner, agency, or firm contact, record the date, person, organization, claim or reference number, what was requested, and any response date. Save the actual message beside the log. Ask a qualified lawyer before signing something you do not understand.
Prepare a clean consultation copy
Make an index and a working copy rather than handing over your only originals. A useful first packet can be short: a one-page timeline, the incident report number, a provider list, key correspondence, and your questions. Ask the firm how it wants to receive sensitive records.