When you’ve suffered a personal injury, it can be frustrating to have your life turned upside down. The pain and suffering from the accident is only compounded by the legal system. To win your case, you need a strong team of lawyers on your side to fight for you in court. You must choose an experienced personal injury law firm because the skill and knowledge of your legal representation could mean the difference between receiving a large settlement or losing everything.
1. Look For A Lawyer With Experience In Personal Injury Cases
This means that the lawyer has taken on cases like yours before and won them, rather than taking on any case they can get their hands on. Someone who has a proven track record is more likely to be successful for you as well. For example, if you had a car accident and you live in Chicago, you can google or ask around about a car accident lawyer in Chicago, since he will be more knowledgeable about Chicago laws and legislation because they can be different from city to city and state to state. Find out if the firm offers free consultations so that you can get more information about whether they would be right for your case before making any decisions.
2. Take Note Of How Much The Fees Are Going To Cost
Legal representation isn’t cheap, but you must find someone who will work towards helping you rather than simply working for your money. This means that the attorney should either charge by the hour or take the case on a contingency basis, where they only get paid if you win your case.
In other words, you won’t pay the law office until after they’ve won your case or secured a settlement on your behalf. For people who cannot afford to pay for legal representation up front, this can be especially helpful. Additionally, the law firm has a financial incentive to achieve the best result for you, because their compensation is directly correlated with your case’s success. You can obtain legal representation and pursue compensation for your injuries without concern for up-front expenses by dealing with a personal injury law firm that works on a contingency basis.
3. Try To Find An Attorney Who Focuses Their Practice On Personal Injury Work
An experienced attorney has extensive knowledge of which strategies are most likely to be effective when it comes to your particular case. As the facts of every personal injury case are unique, you should hire a lawyer who is going to be able to devote all their time and efforts to giving you the representation that you deserve for this one particular case.
4. Ensure That Your Attorney Will Be Working Hard On Your Behalf By Asking A Lot Of Questions About Their Potential Work
You need to know what your attorney’s strategy is, what you can expect from them in court, and how successful they have been in the past with cases similar to yours. You’ll also want to ask questions that help you get a sense of whether or not the attorney is going to be an effective communicator on your behalfs, such as their availability for phone calls and meetings.
5. Look To See If Your Potential Personal Injury Law Firm Has A Good Track Record Of Wins In The Past
This will give you an excellent idea of just how hard they’re willing to fight on your behalf and what strategies they’ll be using to help win your case. You should be able to find this information on their website, as well as some sort of rating or endorsement from an independent third party.
6. Check Online Reviews Of Personal Injury Law Firms Before Hiring One For Your Needs
You can use Google Reviews to see what others have said about the potential lawyers you’re investigating, and why they were so happy with the representation they received. Just keep in mind that you shouldn’t trust every single review, as some might be fake and poorly written. These reviews can also be used to help you narrow down your list to just a couple of serious contenders for your case.
7. Find Out If The Firm Has Its Website Or Not
Having a website simply shows that the firm believes it can compete with other law firms even online. If you’re not sure if they have one, just do a simple search for them and see if their website comes up on the first or second page of results. If they do not have a website, that might be the first warning sign something is not just right.
8. Make Sure That Your Lawyer Will Be Available To Speak With You Throughout All Stages Of Your Case
While it’s understandable that you might not be able to speak with your lawyer during all hours of the day, if they’re too busy or unavailable then you might not want to work with them.
9. Don’t Be Afraid To Ask About Your Potential Lawyer’s Experience Directly
You can do this by asking how many years they’ve been practicing, and what percentage of their cases were won. These are good questions that will help you see if the attorney has worked on similar cases to yours in the past, and what their overall win rate is like.
Finding the right personal injury law firm can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to. With just a few minutes of preparation and these tips in mind, you’ll be able to find an attorney that will work hard for your case. The more time you spend researching potential lawyers before making any commitments, the better off you’re going to be when it comes down to winning your case or settling out of court.
