Someone seriously injured you in a car crash or other type of accident. You shouldn’t be left paying for your medical bills and other expenses. Hiring a personal injury attorney ensures you have the best chance to receive fair compensation for your losses.
There are so many personal injury lawyers online, though. How do you choose the right personal injury for you? Selecting the best attorney for your unique case can make the difference between getting the most compensation in your claim. If you have questions about your case, talk to a personal injury attorney in your community today.
Finding The Best Personal Injury Attorney Is Vital To Full Compensation And Recovery
Large auto insurance companies have significant financial resources to hire aggressive attorneys to reduce what they pay in claims. The skills and experience of your personal injury lawyer play a vital role in the compensation you receive. The compensation you get at the end of the case is essential to the quality and duration of your physical and financial recovery.
Most personal injury victims don’t know that the most successful attorneys in their city charge similar fees to inexperienced lawyers with much less experience. Don’t make the mistake of selecting an attorney randomly or from advertisements. Some attorneys work in ‘settlement mills’ and will settle the case fast for whatever is offered; it’s all about high volume and fast turnover for them. Those policies serve their interests but not yours.
Every town has fly-by-night attorneys who want to get your case and settle it fast. You’ll get inadequate compensation, but they’ll still be paid handsomely. Don’t allow that to happen to you. Spend plenty of time looking for a personal injury attorney by following the tips below.
Personal Injury Attorneys Only Need to Apply
Personal injury claims involve a specific type of law. These claims are based on another party’s negligence or wrongful action, causing an injury and related damages. You should only hire an attorney who focuses on personal injury law. Don’t hire a general attorney who handles personal injury claims once per year. You should only deal with a personal injury lawyer skilled in your type of accident.
Suppose a truck driver injured you in a serious crash. Tractor-trailer claims are a subspecialty of auto accident law and are among the most complex. You should retain an experienced truck accident lawyer to investigate the crash and negotiate with the insurance company. Many truck accident claims involve six and seven figures of damages, plus multiple liable parties. These cases aren’t for a new auto accident attorney who handles typically simple, two-car accidents.
Highly Experienced Accident Investigator
An outstanding personal injury attorney knows how critical it is to a claim to conduct a thorough accident investigation. You don’t want to rely on a lawyer who just glances at the police report after a car accident. A complete, independent crash investigation is needed to prove the other party injured you.
Seasoned personal injury lawyers have a network of case experts to help with investigations. Accident reconstructionists, medical experts, financial advisors, and others will help to unearth vital accident and injury evidence that may prove fault and maximize your compensation.
Beware of a personal injury attorney who talks big settlement numbers without performing an exhaustive accident investigation. They cannot accurately value your case without fully understanding how it happened and what your injuries are.
Ample Compassion And Empathy
Hiring a skilled and tenacious lawyer is vital, but the attorney should demonstrate care and compassion for your situation. Of course, they are motivated to make money with their legal fees, but they also should be driven to help in a difficult situation. An attorney who empathizes with their clients is more likely to strive for the best case result. Having an empathetic attitude also helps the client deal with the difficulty of their situation.
Skilled At Mediation And Litigation
Most personal injury claims are settled, not litigated. However, hiring a lawyer skilled at mediation and litigation is essential if a fair settlement is impossible.
After extensive settlement negotiations with the insurance company, there may be too much distance between your settlement numbers and the adjuster’s. For example, your attorney may demand $75,000 for your medical bills and lost earnings. However, the insurance adjuster only offers $10,000 because they doubt your soft tissue injury is real.
You can take the final settlement offer. But when there’s such a difference between the insurance company’s and your numbers, meditation may be the next step. Mediation happens when a settlement isn’t reached. The judge may order mediation before filing a lawsuit and going to litigation. It involves a neutral third party, such as a retired judge, attempting to resolve the matter between the two parties.
Mediation requires accomplished legal skills, and you should have a talented mediator attempt to reach an agreement without a lawsuit against the insurance company or defendant. An attorney should understand when to bend during mediation to get the matter settled and when to fight it out in a lawsuit. Only a skilled lawyer with extensive mediation and litigation experience has a feel for when to sue. The goal is to maximize compensation while avoiding costly legal fees that may only lead to less money in your pocket.
Ample Five-Star Reviews From Previous Clients
One of the best signs of a skilled lawyer is high online ratings on Google Reviews, Avvo, Findlaw, Best Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell, and Superlawyers. You also should check their website for case results and excellent testimonials from clients in accidents like yours.
Watch for a high number of successful settlements and jury awards, too. Their past clients should rave about their ability to maximize their compensation. You should retain an equally skilled attorney in settlement negotiations and jury trials.
Availability
Good personal injury attorneys are busy, but you should still be able to talk to them without waiting days for an answer. Ask how and when the attorney will communicate with you during your free legal evaluation. How will they contact you, and how long will it take them to get back to you? You want your lawyer to be busy because they’re good at their job, but you also need them to return your messages promptly.
Many busy personal injury law firms may handle most communications with a paralegal or administrative assistant. That is fine, but you also should know when you can talk to your attorney about the case.
One sign of a top-notch personal injury attorney is if they give you their cell phone number. This means you can get direct access to your attorney when needed. It’s usually ok for their staff to take many of your calls, but sometimes, you’ll want to ask something important to your lawyer. Having direct access without intermediaries is helpful.
Excellent Listener
The best personal injury lawyer is excellent at speaking and negotiating but also adept at listening. Some attorneys always want to talk, and the client may have difficulty telling the full accident story because their lawyer talks so much.
The tendency to talk too much can also affect the case because it carries over to their talks with other lawyers, witnesses, and judges. If the lawyer doesn’t listen carefully, they may not hear vital information in your case. Look for a lawyer with excellent listening skills and listens to your entire story with minimal interruptions.
During the initial meeting, you should talk more than they do at first. When the attorney responds to you, watch for the questions they ask. It should be obvious that they listened attentively to your story.
Number Of Client Referrals
A great question to ask an attorney is how much of their caseload comes from legal referrals. Professionals in the field usually know who is outstanding in personal injury law and who isn’t. Your attorney should receive plenty of referrals from other lawyers who think highly of their work.
Honest And Ethical
Many personal injury attorneys can assist clients with finding medical professionals who won’t charge you any upfront fees. Instead, they collect their compensation after your personal injury claim is resolved. It is common in personal injury claims.
However, there are attorneys with financial relationships with certain doctors. They can receive a kickback for every client they refer to the medical professional. It can be an issue at the end of your case because your attorney may need to negotiate what you owe your doctors.
If a personal injury attorney has a financial stake in keeping a physician happy, they can sacrifice some of your compensation to ensure the doctor gets paid. Ethical attorneys don’t have financial relationships with doctors. At the end of your case, when money needs to go to you or the physician, your attorney will be on your side to reduce what you pay the doctors. Ensure that you hire an attorney who doesn’t have a conflict of interest, which can leave you with lower compensation.
Open About Legal Fees
Most personal injury lawyers in auto accidents, truck accidents, premises liability, medical malpractice, and workplace injury claims are paid by a contingency arrangement. This means they are paid a percentage of your settlement or jury award. Many, but not all, personal injury attorneys also pay for legal fees along the way.
Your lawyer should be honest and forthright about all legal fees and case expenses. Their fee agreement should be in writing, and you should be told how much their contingency fee is and when it’s paid. Most experienced personal injury attorneys charge between 33 percent and 40 percent of your compensation.
You Should Be Involved
Calling a personal injury attorney to handle your case means they take over all legal and administrative aspects. You focus on healing and recovery. However, this does not mean that you are not involved. However, you should still be consulted and kept informed about the case.
You should choose a personal injury attorney who provides you with regular updates about your claim. You should know about the settlement negotiation progress, possible outcomes, and your future legal options. They also should consult with you about whether to settle, keep negotiating, or file a lawsuit. The final call about taking a settlement or going to court should be yours.
What Do Their Peers Say
Another great way to select a skilled lawyer is to ask other attorneys for recommendations. Usually, their legal peers will trust and respect an outstanding, compassionate personal injury lawyer. If they are one of the best personal injury attorneys in town, other attorneys should have positive things to say about them.
Don’t Hire Lawyers Who Solicit You
After a car accident, you may find legal solicitations in your mailbox in the following weeks. Less experienced attorneys may look at traffic accident reports for the names and addresses of injury victims. They will mail solicitation letters to the victim and offer their services.
Most of these law firms are settlement mills. They have a high volume and fast turnover business model. They have trouble getting referrals from clients and other lawyers, so they send thousands of letters to get new business.
You will unlikely get an excellent lawyer by responding to a solicitation letter. Top-notch lawyers don’t need to send advertisements in the mail.
Contact A Personal Injury Attorney Today
Being injured in a car accident, truck crash, or other type of mishap is often stressful and financially draining. Fortunately, you have the legal right to compensation if another party hurt you in an accident. Use the tips in this article to help retain an excellent personal injury lawyer in your area if another person injured you. A personal injury attorney will hold the other party accountable for their negligence, so don’t delay, speak to an attorney in your city today.
Most personal injury attorneys don’t charge upfront legal fees. They also are not paid if they don’t obtain compensation for you, so there are no out-of-pocket expenses.