If you plan to sue a person or company because you feel they harmed you, then that’s a personal injury case. You’ll need a lawyer to help you if you go in this direction. Presumably, you don’t know all the laws in your state that apply to these situations. You’ll want a skilled, experienced attorney who can stand by your side and support you.
While a lawyer can help you negotiate insurance claims at the same time you’re prepping for the trial, you shouldn’t just go with the first one you find. You must do some careful research to determine which one can help you the most.
Let’s look at ways you can tell that you’ve chosen the right personal injury lawyer if plan to sue a person or entity for damages.
They Have Experience with This Kind of Case
First, you will need to look around to see what lawyers you have nearby who work in the personal injury niche. You should have no problem finding lawyers if you live a decent-sized city. If you live somewhere more remote, you will probably not have as many choices.
Assuming you have a few lawyers from which to choose, you can look at their websites to see whether they have handled cases like yours before. Personal injury cases might include things like product liability, dog bites, slip-and-falls in stores, medical malpractice, and so forth. You will want to see whether the lawyer you have selected has handled the particular kind of personal injury case that you’re bringing to them.
You can also get somewhat of an impression of a lawyer before you ever meet with them by looking at their website. If they have a modern one with plenty of full-color images, videos, and well-written copy, that’s a good sign. A shoddy website rife with stock images and typos means you should probably go with someone else.
They Have a Disposition You Like
When you meet with the lawyer, you should assess how they treat you. Do they seem courteous and respectful?
You and the lawyer needn’t become best friends, but you’re going to spend a great deal of time with this person in the weeks and possibly even months to come. You should make sure that you get along okay and that they seem concerned and sympathetic.
They’re a Bulldog in the Courtroom
You should also take the time to ask this lawyer about their former courtroom experience. If they’re new to this profession, like if they just passed the bar and they’ve never stepped foot in a courtroom as someone’s primary legal counsel before, you may need to choose someone else. You want someone who knows the ropes and can speak confidently in front of a judge and jury.
You won’t know how a lawyer will conduct themselves in court till you get to that moment, but you can often tell a lot about an attorney during that initial meeting. See what you think of them. If you trust your hunch, and the attorney proves they’re competent and skilled in a courtroom setting, you have a much better chance of securing a settlement offer or a jury’s verdict in your favor if things ever get that far.
They Have an Excellent Reputation
You want to make sure that the attorney you use has an impeccable industry reputation. You can find that out by looking around online and gathering as much information as you can.
Ideally, you want to hire a lawyer who has many rave reviews. You can probably find many five-star reviews on the lawyer’s website, but what does Google say about them? You can use that as a starting point since those reviews probably won’t have the same bias as ones you’ll see on the lawyer’s site.
The more glowing reviews you see, the more confident you can be when you hire that attorney. If you see some one-star reviews, though, you should exercise caution.
They Have an Investigator Who Can Strengthen Your Case
You will also want to hire a lawyer who has a skilled investigator working for them, or possibly a whole team in some instances. Often, if you hire a lawyer who works for a larger and more prestigious firm, they will have an entire investigator team on the payroll and ready to leap into action when their employer gives them the word.
These investigators can collect as much evidence as possible that will support your version of events. They can find eyewitnesses to appear on your behalf.
They might find video evidence that shows the incident that harmed you. They can also uncover as much documentation as possible that proves what you allege happened, if any exists. These investigators come with the lawyer you hire, and they’re part of the team that’s helping you hopefully win your case.
They Will Allow You to Use a Payment System That Works for You
Finally, you will want to talk to your lawyer about how you will pay them. Usually, they will want you to pay them through a contingency plan. This means you will not have to pay unless they secure a settlement offer that you accept or they win your case at trial.
They might get as much as 30%-40% of your winnings, but you should have no issue paying that. As long as what you get still covers your lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering, and any additional damages you feel you deserve, you can move forward with that payment plan with no compunctions whatsoever.
If you see all of this from your personal injury lawyer, then you know you’re in the best possible position to win your case and to walk away with the money you deserve. If the attorneys you find don’t seem reliable or skilled enough, keep looking till you find a better one. You can’t handle the tasks associated with a lawsuit like this on your own.
