In this day and age, we are often bombarded with offers of legal help relating to personal injury claims. There is not a day that goes by without receiving an unwanted solicitation in our email folder or a random message on our phone. It can, therefore, be a minefield when you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having had an injury and you do not know who or where to turn to for advice about how to receive compensation that may be legally due, whether from your employer or a third party.
Here we will take you through the important steps when it comes to picking the perfect lawyer for your personal injury claim.
Why do you need a lawyer?
This may seem a simple question but depending on which side of the equation you are on, you may need a specialist lawyer. If you have had an accident you will need a lawyer that has an excellent track record of bringing claims against others, whereas if somebody is making a claim against you then you need a lawyer that is well versed in defending clients against claims brought against them. You are looking for an excellent negotiator who potentially also has trial experience and also an understanding of negligence law and torts.
What factors make a good personal injury lawyer?
It is important to break down what you are looking for, for example, is the lawyer able to practice in your state. Do they have an extensive back history of handling claims similar to yours and what is their reputation in the field like, do they have citations from satisfied clients? You can also check national databases to ascertain whether any complaints have been made against your chosen lawyer or how many years they have been practicing. Finally, is your lawyer any good?! Sounds stupid, but check if the claims they make actually hold true and whether they manage to win the majority of the cases they represent.
Prepare correctly
Once you have identified a shortlist of the best lawyers for your situation it is very important to prepare yourself so that you are able to ask the right questions whilst you narrow down your search. Legal experts from https://warnetthallen.com/icbc-lawyer recommend that you are armed with questions regarding statute of limitations, experience in your particular field, how long you expect it to take to reach a conclusion, what the expected costs will be, and most importantly of all, how confident they are that you will win the case.
It is paramount that you have done your homework so that you can choose a lawyer who can best represent you and give you a good chance of a successful outcome.
Narrowing down candidates
Once you have spoken to all the possible candidates you will need to narrow them down to a shortlist. At this stage, you may have further questions because one particular lawyer may have raised a question that another hadn’t. If so, continue to question each in turn. You are looking to find the lawyer that you feel most comfortable with and that you trust to reach the best outcome for your needs. You also need to feel at ease with their fee structure, because the last thing you want is resentment that they are taking too large a percentage of any potential settlement. The financial side of things needs to work for both parties.
Once you have done all the possible research and found the perfect lawyer to represent you, you need to engage them and ask for a written agreement regarding their services. This should outline everything that you discussed from who will represent you and exactly how they will go about representing you, to the fee structure for the case.
Often fees will be charged at a percentage of any settlement, so double check what will be payable in the event that your case is unsuccessful. Once you have checked this document, check it again as all your future dealings with the law firm will be based on this. You will now be ready to furnish your chosen lawyer with all the details of the claim, and they can start compiling their case to give you the best chance of winning.
As we have discovered the process around picking the perfect lawyer for personal injury claims is not an easy one. There are thousands of attorneys out there and narrowing them down to finding the one with the best credentials and experience to represent your case is not easy. Be methodical and ignore those with no history of your type of case.
Ultimately, you are looking for a lawyer you can trust and feel comfortable with, and who has a track record of winning cases in your field, and that charges a fee that is reasonable to you.
Now you just need to make sure that they hold to their end of the agreement and proceed diligently especially when it comes to filing your case on time. Happy hunting and good luck with your case!
