Questions you should ask before hiring a personal injury attorney
One of the most important things that you can do to ensure that you get the right level of compensation that you deserve for the injury that you have experienced is appointing a good injury lawyer. This is because insurance companies come with deep pockets and can afford to hire highly skilled lawyers in order to defend against any personal injury claims that come their way. The expertise of the lawyer that you hire will therefore play a very important role in the amount of money that you receive through compensation.
The vast majority of those people who have experienced injuries are not aware that even a lesser experienced, not so good personal injury attorney will charge the same fees as the very best ones out there. So instead of choosing one based off of their fancy marketing, you should take some time to do some research on them instead. As part of your research you should meet with the attorney and ask them the following questions:
How many of your cases come as referrals from other attorneys?
The easiest way of finding out who the best attorney is within a certain town, city, county, or state is by asking those who practice the law there. An important thing to find out is what percentage of the caseload that a lawyer has is derived from referrals from other attorneys. Just like in any profession, it is the other professional within that industry who knows who the best out of all of their peers is.
Do you send letters of solicitation to potential clients?
It is a practice amongst some personal injury attorneys to go through local road traffic accident reports in order to ascertain the details of the victims, including their name and address. Armed with this information, they will then send out a letter of solicitation making them aware of their services and that they could represent them if the case is taken to court. The reason that they do this is because they actually provide very poor service and so have great difficulty in retaining clients - it is not a technique that good quality, highly reputable attorneys, such as Cantor, Wolff, Nicastro & Hall ever have to resort to using.
Do you charge a fee where there is no recovery?
Almost all personal injury attorneys out there make the claim that they provide free consultations, they will come and visit you either in the hospital or at your home, and that they do not charge any fee if they are unable to recover any compensation for you.
What kind of cases do you usually handle?
Where as some attorneys are general practitioners and handle a wide array of different cases, including some personal injury ones, there are some who handle nothing but personal injury claims. It is the latter of these who you want representing you if you have a personal injury claim that is very serious. This is because this type of law has now become so highly complex that it is now a very difficult proposition for general practitioners to tackle. For this reason, a seasoned professional is more desirable.
Do you have National Board of Trial Advocacy certification?
Over the past few years, the legal system in the United States has begun adopting a board certification process. It is the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) that is seen as the body that provides civil trial lawyers with certification. The NBTA forms part of an even larger body that is called the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification. The NBTA will only certify those attorneys who possess lengthy experience in not only prepping cases for the purpose of trials but also in the courtroom. An attorney must also pass extensive examining in order to receive their accreditation as a civil trial attorney.
Do you have the resources to take the case on?
A case that involves serious injuries and life changing injuries to the victim can be highly expensive to take to trial. For instance, in the case of medical malpractice where a number of different clinical specialties are involved, it requires obtaining an expert witness for each area to discuss the issues. The same is also true of a road traffic accident with a large trucking company, where reconstruction and safety experts are involved, the costs can soon mount up. If a personal injury attorney does not have enough financial or human resources to properly handle the case, then it is likely that corners will be cut and, thus, mistakes made - all at the cost of the victim.
How long have you been handling personal injury cases?
No matter how long a personal injury attorney has been practicing, they all pretty much charge the same rates, so price is not something that you can go off when it comes to how long they have been in the profession. The more experienced that an attorney is, the better, as they likely have a greater and better understanding of the law.
Do you teach others within the legal profession?
Those attorneys who lecture and teach legal seminars rightly possess the esteem of their colleagues within the industry. They are invited to share their knowledge at these types of seminars because their peers want to hear from them and respect their opinion. Similarly, those attorneys who regularly write articles in law publications are seen as the authorities within their specific field. This type of information is usually listed on the attorney’s website so it is worth taking a look on there for this.
Do you try lawsuits in court?
All though unbeknown to most people, some personal injury attorneys actually have very little experience of jury trial. This is why it is important to find out if they do actually try their cases in court and if they do, how often do they do so. Having an experienced attorney who does try cases is the best way of ensuring that you get the correct level of compensation for your specific case.
