The first meeting is not a “trial” consultation: it is when the lawyer understands your situation and tells you, honestly, what can and cannot be done. The more of the list below you bring, the more precise the answer.

Always

• Your ID and, for companies, the registration certificate and proof that you may represent it.
• Every document related to the matter, in chronological order: contracts, amendments, invoices, notices, demands, earlier rulings. Including the ones that look unfavourable to you; especially those.
• Correspondence: emails, messages, letters. Printed or on your phone, with dates visible.
• A one-page timeline, written by you: what happened, when, with whom. It need not be legal; it needs to be in order.

If they exist

• Summonses, communications from a court, bailiff or authority, with the envelope, for the date of receipt.
• Names of the other party and of witnesses, with contact details.
• Your questions, written down. They get forgotten in conversation.

What you do not need

You do not need to know the law and you do not need to have decided what you want. That is what the meeting is for. And you need not justify yourself: the lawyer is bound by professional secrecy for everything you say, including if we do not work together afterwards.

This article is informative and does not constitute legal advice for a specific situation.