1. Advise on selecting and finding the best personal injury lawyer.
You don’t want to hire just any lawyer, whether you’ve decided to go to court and want to hire a lawyer to handle your injury lawsuit, help settle your claim or prepare it for small claims court or arbitration, or both. You want to work with a personal injury lawyer you can trust.
This article will discuss the following:
- methods for finding the right personal injury lawyer, and
- tips on choosing the right lawyer to represent you.
Finding an Experienced Lawyer
Because law practice has evolved into a highly specialized field, many lawyers are less knowledgeable about personal injury law than you will be after reading this website. Therefore, you must first locate a lawyer with previous experience representing claimants, or “plaintiffs,” in personal injury cases. Even if they have a lot of experience, you should hire someone other than a lawyer who has primarily worked for insurance companies. A lawyer of this kind might be too used to fighting for the insurance company’s side and not fight hard enough for your claim. However, a seasoned plaintiff’s attorney with experience representing the opposing side (personal injury defendants or insurance companies) can be a real asset.
A Lawyer Might Not Want Your Case
The majority of personal injury attorneys charge on a contingency basis. See “Managing Lawyer Costs and Expenses in a Personal Injury Case” for more information. As a result of this arrangement, the attorney’s fee is deducted from your final settlement. Additionally, most lawyers will only accept the claim if the amount you are likely to receive is high. This is because a lawyer’s overhead, also known as the cost of running a law office, needs to be lowered to make small cases financially viable.
However, hiring a lawyer hourly to advise on specific aspects of your claim is still possible, even if your case needs to be more significant to have a lawyer handle the entire claim.
A lawyer might decline to take your case if the chances of winning total compensation are low, even if your injuries are severe and the potential for reward is high. This could be because you were primarily to blame for the accident, it’s hard to prove that someone else was to blame, or the person who caused the accident needs more insurance or none.
Lastly, just as you might want to avoid hiring a perfectly competent attorney, a lawyer might decline to take on your excellent case. That is to say; it’s possible that you two do not get along well. If the lawyer’s personality immediately conflicts with yours, they may decide that handling your claim is not worth it.
Friends and Acquaintances
Make contact with friends or coworkers whose personal injury claims have been handled by legal counsel. Include that lawyer on your list of potential candidates if they mention optimistic things about the experience. However, it would help if you never relied solely on someone else’s recommendation when choosing a lawyer. The personality and style of a lawyer will have different effects on different people. Additionally, a lawyer may have more or less interest in a new case at any given time. Therefore, please only hire a lawyer once you have met with them, discussed your issue, and determined that you are comfortable working with them.
Lawyers You Already Know
You may already know a lawyer, either personally or through previous representation. As a result, if you’re considering hiring a lawyer to work on your injury claim, it might seem intuitive to hire someone you already know.
However, this lawyer may need more experience representing plaintiffs in personal injury cases. If this is the case, you should ask the lawyer to introduce you to someone who might be a good fit, either in that lawyer’s office or elsewhere. Most lawyers have someone in their network who handles personal injury cases for plaintiffs, and lawyers frequently refer patients to one another. However, just like with referrals from friends or coworkers, you should not rely solely on the word of another lawyer.
Websites and Chat/Form Submissions
In addition to providing helpful information on all aspects of a legal issue, websites like AllLaw.com and Nolo.com also serve as gateways to locating a competent attorney in your area. Take the first step toward achieving the best possible outcome for your injury case by utilizing the “Chat” and “Case Evaluation” tools on this page to tell us a little about your circumstance.
Choosing the Right Lawyer
It is best to personally meet with the lawyer to discuss your claim, regardless of how you initially connected with them. Bring copies of every document that pertains to your claim: police report, information about your income loss, medical bills, and all of your insurance company correspondence, including your demand letter if you have reached that point.
The majority of personal injury attorneys offer free initial consultations.
It would help if you asked the lawyer a few fundamental questions at the outset of your first interview.
General Experience
Learn more about the lawyer’s education and experience. If you are curious about the lawyer’s educational background, inquire about it, but experience in the real world is more important. Some additional inquiries include the following:
- How long has the lawyer been in practice?
- Roughly what percentage of the lawyer’s practice involves personal injury cases?
- Does the lawyer most often represent plaintiffs (claimants) or defendants (businesses, insurance companies)?
- Does the lawyer have experience with the insurance company in your case or even the particular insurance adjuster?
Who Will Work on Your Case?
The lawyers in almost every law office collaborate on cases. Paralegals and attorneys with less experience frequently handle routine tasks. If work is completed more quickly, this can be beneficial. Additionally, it is in your best financial interest not to have the senior lawyer handle routine paperwork if you are paying by the hour.
