You can pursue a personal injury claim for compensation after suffering injuries in an accident caused by another person’s negligence. If your injuries are minor, it might be a good idea to handle the claim on your own. However, if your injuries are severe or the at-fault party is difficult, you’ll probably want a personal injury lawyer to handle it. You shouldn’t turn to just any attorney for help. You’ll want a lawyer who has experience handling your type of case.
This article will discuss the seven secrets to finding a great personal injury lawyer for your case.
Tips on Choosing The Best Personal Injury Attorney
1. Choose a Lawyer Who Does Personal Injury Law Exclusively
Personal injury law is intricate and involves many specialized rules and practices. Attorney’s who handle divorces, wills, trusts, or bankruptcies can be jack of all trades but masters of none. They do not try cases, and insurance companies lowball accordingly. You risk the quality of your representation if you choose an attorney that does not specialize in personal injury law.
2.Select a Personal Injury Lawyer with a Proven History of High Verdicts and Settlements
If you have a large case with serious injuries, it’s essential to know that your attorney can deliver a significant verdict or settlement. Ask your attorney how many million-dollar verdicts or settlements he has had. Are they a member of the Million Dollar Advocates? The Million Dollar Advocates is a renowned organization of attorneys who have settled or tried cases worth a million dollars or more. Not every case is worth a million dollars, but if you have that kind of a case, make sure you have an attorney who can deliver the goods.
3.Select an Attorney Who Has a History of Taking Cases to Trial if Necessary
Many, if not most, attorneys who advertise handling personal injury cases have never seen the inside of a courtroom. They take your case, try to pressure you to settle for a pittance. Insurance companies are very aggressive. If they know your attorney doesn’t go to trial, that he’s afraid of the courtroom, they will take advantage of this and make ridiculous offers or make little or no effort to settle your case. They know your attorney is shooting blanks and that he will fold his hand and pressure you to fold too when he sees the insurer isn’t going to budge. If your attorney isn’t willing to put the case before a jury, the insurer knows it and it will hurt you.
4.Find an Attorney Who Has Sufficient Resources to Take Your Case Seriously
When you hire an attorney, look around. Do they look like they are successful? Does their office look like they are doing well? Does the attorney have a line of credit or personal assets necessary to properly prepare your case? Severe personal injury cases are expensive to prepare. Many experts are required to properly prepare a case. Often many doctors must have their depositions taken and must later appear in court. Other experts such as economists, biomechanics, accident reconstructionists, vocational rehabilitation specialists, and life care planners must be hired. The expense in a single case can often exceed over $100,000 if adequately prepared. Make sure your attorney has enough money to play with the big boys.
5.Hire an Attorney Who’s an Active Member of State and National Trial Lawyer Groups
Serious personal injury attorneys collaborate with and learn from other excellent personal injury attorneys. In today’s challenging environment where insurers are not hesitant to use dirty tricks and underhanded methods to make injured people look bad, it’s critical to be up to date and know what the insurers are up to.
6. The Attorney Should Allow You To Talk To His Past Clients If You Ask
If an attorney is any good, do you think they would have any problem with allowing you to talk to past clients they’ve represented? Any attorney worth his salt has satisfied clients he’s not ashamed to will enable you to talk to. If an accident attorney in Sacramento tells you they can’t allow you to speak to past clients, you should consider carefully that perhaps there’s a reason for that. Maybe they haven’t done such an excellent job for those clients in the past.
7. Retain A Lawyer Who’s Written And Lectured in The Personal Injury Field
Ask the attorney you are considering hiring about articles they’ve written in the personal injury field and presentations they’ve given to other personal injury lawyers. Have they had a public service TV show where they’ve talked to the public about personal injury matters? If the attorney has never written, never given presentations to other lawyers, never hosted a TV show, consider how much he likely knows about his field.
