How to Select a Personal Injury Attorney
Getting involved in an accident can change your life for good. What you do after the mishap will shape your future. For brighter prospects, it’s important to work with a personal accident lawyer.
Definitely, these attorneys are not all the same, and it’s a must to put in a little effort to know who’s right for you.
Searching for Prospects
People around you can be a lot of help in this scenario. Ask them if they know any personal injury lawyer with a great reputation. If you can’t get any personal referrals, you can always turn to the Internet for some research. Read client reviews, but stay within trusted independent consumer websites to avoid biased testimonials. At this point, all you have to do is put together a list of quality prospects.
Researching Lawyer Candidates
As soon as you have a list of potential lawyers, get to know each of them more. Start by checking if they are of good standing with your local bar association (just go to their website and you will find the information there). Or do a search on your prospective lawyers’ names and look at their websites. You should look for details about their professional background, like their areas of practice and length of experience as a lawyer.
Experience with Personal Injury
Find a lawyer whose practice has been devoted to personal injury cases over the last five years at least. It’s important that your lawyer is a personal injury specialist, or you may not get the results you want. Take note that you will be up against an insurance firm that spends fortunes on top-calibre lawyers to keep their payouts down. You should find someone who will be a good match to them.
Interviewing the Attorney
Now that you know the backgrounds of each of your prospective lawyers, choose two or three whom you think are the best and set an appointment with them. Your first meeting with a lawyer often costs nothing, so use it to your full advantage by asking whatever relevant questions you may have. For example, if he accepts your case, what would be his general approach? Very importantly, is he willing to bring your case to trial if necessary? If so, look at his track record for winning personal injury cases.
This is also a good time to look into the lawyer’s personality and see whether you will click together. After all, this business relationship will hardly work if your personalities are bound to clash.
Lastly, ask your prospects for at least two or three names of their previous clients whom you can talk to. Make sure you call these clients and let them tell you how their experience went with the lawyer. Don’t forget to ask how much in contingency fees was deducted from their compensation.
