No one wants to think about the possibility that they’ll ever need a personal injury lawyer. But if you’re unfortunate enough to find yourself in such a position, it’s important to know who’s qualified and who isn’t — because family and friends may not always have your best interests at heart.
Fortunately, we’ve put together this list to serve as a quick-reference guide for what you should be looking for in an attorney:
1. Ask For Referrals
Once you know that you need a personal injury lawyer, the first thing to do is ask your family and friends if they can refer someone qualified. It is a good way to start narrowing down your options — keep in mind, though, that there’s always the chance that your friends or relatives may have a bias toward one person, so don’t be afraid to get quotes from multiple attorneys.
2. Experience With Similar Cases
No two personal injury cases are exactly alike, but common threads run through them all. For example, it’s not too hard to figure out that if you’re in a car accident and suffer from whiplash, your injury attorney should have experience working with car accident victims. Ask your candidates for a list of settlements they’ve achieved for similar clients — this will give you an idea of what to expect if the case goes to court.
3. Personalized Attention
You’re not just a number — you’re a person. And when it comes to your injury case, you deserve to be treated like one. When interviewing potential personal injury lawyers, ask them how they would handle the case and their role. It can tell you whether or not they fully understand the facts of your case and have the means to take it through to completion.
4. Adequate Resources
Whether it’s a small fender-bender or a catastrophic accident, there’s no such thing as a small case. When choosing your injury lawyer, make sure they have the experience to handle the case and the resources needed to represent you in court. If your lawyer doesn’t have the right team of experts backing them up, they may be ill-prepared to take on big insurance companies. Qualified personal injury attorneys in Long Island NY are more likely to achieve a favorable result for you.
5. Search For Reviews
Nothing is more stressful than deciding to hire a personal injury lawyer — and if you don’t have any references, you won’t know what kind of experience they’ll have until after the case has already started. It is why it’s important to look online for reviews of your potential attorney. If you can’t find any, it may be worth taking a closer look at their website or other social media profiles. And remember that word of mouth spreads faster than online reviews do — so don’t hesitate to ask around.
6. Success Rate
Most personal injury lawyers advertise a particular success rate. However, if you need a defense attorney, it’s important to know how these rates are calculated. An inexperienced personal injury attorney could be misleading you about their success rate. Still, an experienced one will have no problem telling you that they’re making their money because the insurance companies are not holding up their end of the bargain. Personal injury attorneys in Long Island NY, who uses the right methods to get their clients the money they deserve will have a much higher success rate.
7. Contingency Fee
If you’ve been in an accident, you’re likely going to need some help financially. Your medical bills are almost certain to skyrocket due to the accident, and the money you’ll be missing while you take time off of work is probably significant. Because of this, your lawyer must accept a contingency fee — which means they receive a percentage of the award if they win your case. It will give them an incentive to fight hard for you so that they can be sure to receive their fee.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this quick guide will help you choose the perfect lawyer for your injury case. Personal injury lawyers work hard, and they have a client’s best interest at heart. So if you need one, be sure to consider these tips before choosing your lawyer — and make sure to take advantage of the services they can offer you. It’s normal for people to be nervous about hiring a lawyer, but don’t worry — it’s probably as much about fear of the unknown as anything.