What to Bring to Your First Consultation With an Employment Lawyer

For your first consultation with an employment lawyer, bring a short written timeline of what happened, your pay stubs, your offer letter or contract, the employee handbook, any write-ups, reviews or termination letter, and copies of relevant texts and emails you already have. Just as important is what you should not bring: confidential company files, customer data, or anything you took from a work system you were not entitled to keep.

Preparation pays off. A lawyer can spot claims, deadlines and value far faster with documents in front of them. A stack of pay stubs, for example, can reveal unpaid overtime worth thousands of dollars that you never thought to mention. Showing up organized also helps the lawyer give you a clear answer in a single meeting.

This guide gives you a step-by-step checklist: how to write your timeline, what documents to gather, what to avoid, how to request records from your employer, questions to ask the lawyer, and what happens after the consultation.

Start with a written timeline

The single most useful thing you can bring is a timeline. It does not have to be polished. One or two pages, in date order, is ideal. Include:

• When you were hired, your job title, and your pay rate, including any raises or changes;
• Your supervisors and anyone else involved, with their titles;
• Each key event: complaints you made, leave you requested, injuries, comments that concerned you, schedule changes, discipline;
• Who you told about problems, when, and how (in person, email, text, HR portal);
• How and when your job ended, and what reason you were given;
• What has happened since: job search, new job, unemployment claim, any contact from your employer.

Write down exact words where you remember them, especially comments about age, race, pregnancy, disability, national origin, a complaint or a leave request. Note uncertainty honestly (“around mid-March”). A lawyer trusts a timeline that admits what you do not remember.

Timing often makes or breaks an employment case. A firing two weeks after a complaint to HR tells a very different story than one two years later, and only a timeline makes that pattern obvious.

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The document checklist

Gather what you already have or can lawfully access. Copies are fine; keep the originals.

• ✅ Offer letter, employment contract and any arbitration agreement you signed
• ✅ Employee handbook or the policies that apply to you
• ✅ Pay stubs, W-2s or 1099s, and any commission or bonus plans
• ✅ Schedules or time records, including your own notes of hours worked
• ✅ Performance reviews, write-ups and any performance improvement plan
• ✅ Termination letter, separation notice, and any severance offer
• ✅ Texts and emails you sent or received about the issues, from your personal phone or account
• ✅ Complaints you made to HR or management, and any responses
• ✅ Doctor’s notes or leave paperwork you gave your employer, if leave or disability is involved
• ✅ Agency documents: EDD letters, a CRD or EEOC complaint, a Labor Commissioner claim, or workers’ comp papers
• ✅ Job search records since your job ended

Do not worry if you are missing items. Many documents can be obtained later from your employer, either by request or through the legal process.

💡 Example: Teresa brings her pay stubs to a consultation about a firing. The lawyer notices she regularly worked 50 hours a week at $25 an hour but was never paid overtime. The overtime premium she was owed is 10 hours × $12.50 = $125 a week. Over 40 weeks, that is 40 × $125 = $5,000 in unpaid overtime, before penalties and interest, a claim she would not have known to raise.

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Witnesses and other evidence

Make a short list of people who saw or heard what happened, or who had similar experiences: coworkers, former coworkers, customers or vendors. Include their role, how to reach them, and what they know. You do not need to contact them before the consultation; in some situations it is better to let your lawyer advise you first.

Also note where evidence exists even if you do not have it: a security camera, a group chat, a complaint you know a coworker filed, or a performance metric dashboard. Your lawyer can send a preservation letter or request those records later. Telling the lawyer where to look is often as valuable as the documents you bring.

What not to take, and what not to do

Workers sometimes hurt strong cases by gathering evidence the wrong way. Avoid these mistakes:

Do not	Why	Instead
Forward confidential company files, customer lists or trade secrets to yourself	Can breach confidentiality agreements, invite counterclaims, and damage your credibility	Write down what exists and where; your lawyer can request it
Use a work computer, phone or email to contact a lawyer	Your communications may not be confidential on employer systems	Use a personal device and personal email
Secretly record conversations	California generally requires all-party consent to record confidential conversations (Penal Code 632)	Take notes right after each conversation
Delete texts, emails or social media posts	Destroying evidence can seriously harm your case	Preserve everything, even messages that seem unhelpful
Post about your employer or case online	Posts can be used against you	Stay off social media about the dispute
Sign a severance agreement or release first	You may give up your claims for good	Bring the unsigned agreement to the consultation

On the work-email point, a California Court of Appeal held that an employee’s emails to her lawyer from a company computer, under a policy saying the computer was not private, were not protected by the attorney-client privilege (Holmes v. Petrovich Development Co. (2011) 191 Cal.App.4th 1047). Keep everything about your case on your own devices.

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How to request your records from your employer

California gives current and former employees the right to request key records in writing:

• Personnel file: your employer must let you inspect or receive a copy within 30 days of a written request (Labor Code 1198.5).
• Payroll records: your employer must provide them within 21 days of a written request (Labor Code 226).
• Signed documents: you are entitled to copies of any instrument you signed relating to obtaining or holding employment (Labor Code 432).

Send the request by email or letter, keep a copy, and note the date. If your employer does not comply, penalties can apply. Your lawyer may prefer to send the requests for you, so you can also raise this at the consultation. For more on what a former employer can share about you, see our guide on references and personnel records.

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Questions to ask the lawyer

1. What claims do I potentially have, and which are strongest?
2. What deadlines apply, and is anything urgent?
3. What additional evidence would help, and how do we get it?
4. What are the likely next steps, and roughly how long does each take?
5. How are fees and costs handled? See our guide on what an employment lawyer costs.
6. Who will work on my case, and how will you keep me informed?
7. What should I do, and not do, while the case is pending?

Ask the lawyer, too, how they would value your case and what could raise or lower that value. A thoughtful answer will reflect the factors in our guide on what an employment case is worth, not a number pulled from the air.

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What happens after the consultation

If the firm can help, the next steps usually look like this. The firm runs a conflict check to confirm it does not represent anyone on the other side. If it offers to take your case, it sends a written fee agreement for you to review and sign. Then the work begins: collecting your records, sending a preservation letter to the employer, filing any required agency complaint (for example, with the Civil Rights Department to obtain a right-to-sue notice), and, depending on strategy, sending a demand or filing a lawsuit.

If you have a severance offer with a deadline, tell the firm immediately; see our guide to severance agreement review. If the firm cannot take your case, ask whether there is a deadline you need to watch or another resource that fits your situation better.

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Frequently asked questions

Is my consultation confidential if I do not hire the lawyer?

Yes. California’s attorney-client privilege covers people who consult a lawyer for the purpose of hiring them, even if no engagement follows (Evidence Code 951, 954).

Can I bring a family member?

You can, but having a third person in the room can affect confidentiality. Ask the lawyer first. An interpreter who is needed to communicate generally does not break confidentiality.

What if I do not have any documents?

Come anyway. Your account and timeline are the starting point, and many records can be requested from your employer later.

Do I need to know which law was broken?

No. Describe what happened in your own words. Identifying the legal claims is the lawyer’s job.

Can I have the consultation in Spanish?

Yes. Se habla español. You can also visit our Spanish-language site, Empleados Primero.

I still work there. Should I quit before talking to a lawyer?

Generally, no. Quitting can make some claims harder to prove and can affect unemployment benefits. Unless you are in danger, talk to a lawyer first about whether and how to leave. If conditions are truly intolerable, a lawyer can explain whether your situation may amount to a constructive discharge and how to document it before you go.

How soon should I schedule a consultation?

As soon as you can. Some deadlines are short: a severance offer may expire in days, an unemployment appeal is generally due within 30 days, and a defamation claim generally must be filed within one year. Evidence also fades as coworkers move on and messages are deleted. Talking to a lawyer early costs nothing and keeps your options open.

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