According to reports, there are over fifty-nine thousandpersonal injury law firms in the United States. The number of individual personal injury lawyers is even higher.
Depending on where you live,you might be faced with a lot of choices when looking for a personal injury lawyer. To ensure your case is successful, you clearly want to go with the best available choice.
But how do you know which personal injury lawyers are the best? What are the things to consider when selecting one for your case?
If you’ve never hired a lawyer before, it can be hard to know where to start.Fortunately, once you know what to look for in a personal injury lawyer, finding thebest attorneyto fight your case won’t be difficult.
Want to know about the topnine most important considerations to make when choosing a personal injury lawyer?Of course you do! Keep reading to find out what these are.
1. Do They Specialize in Personal Injury?
One of the first considerations when choosing a lawyer for your case is whether personal injury is their specialty.
Just like doctors specialize in areas of medicine, so do lawyers specialize in areas of law. You wouldn’twant afamily doctor to do a hip replacement. In the same way, you also don’t want to hire a general attorney to handle your personal injury case.
Besides having a better knowledge of personal injury law, lawyers who specialize in this area are also likely to have a better reputation with insurance companies. If a personal injury lawyer has a known track record among insurance providers, your case might hold more weight in negotiations.
2. How Experienced Are They?
Besides specialization,anotherkey consideration is experience. Specifically, personal injury experience.
It’s one thing for a lawyer to say they specialize in personal injurybut how long has this been their core area of practice?The last thing you want is to take on a lawyerwho has only handled a couple of personal injury cases so far.
Another important point to look into is trial experience. According to statistics, a mere 30% of lawyers are involved in jury trials within the first five years.
If your case is likely to go to court, you want to ensure that your lawyer knows how tohandlea jury.
3. How Aggressively Do They Represent Their Clients?
When undertaking personal injury cases, lawyers often have to come head to head with insurance companies’ legal teams. These teams are experienced, and their sole aim is to make sure you don’t get the compensation you’re fighting for.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, personal injury lawyers need tobe willing to represent their clients aggressively. If the lawyer you choose is not in the habit of fighting tooth and nail for justice for their clients, they might not have what it takes to win your case.
Therefore, try to gauge the level of commitment and tenacity potential personal injury lawyers have before you commit.
4. Are They Willing to Come to You if You’re in Hospital?
When initiating a personal injury case, you can’t justtalk to your lawyer on the phone. You need to be able to communicate face to face.
If you have been badly injured, you might be unable to travel to see a lawyer. You might be in hospital still undergoing treatment. If this is the case, you need a personal injury lawyer who is willing to travel to see you.
5. What Credentials Do They Have?
It goes without saying that any lawyer you hire needs to havecompleted their legal training. However, besides the basics of anLLBdegree or other legal qualification, what other credentials do thepersonal injury lawyers you’reconsidering have?
Have they won any awards? Have they received recognition within their field?
If you are looking for an example of this, Jack Todd Ivey, the founding attorney here at Ivey Law, is certified as a personal injury law specialist. What’s more, heis also the holder of numerous awards from associations such as the Texas Rising Star Super Lawyers.
Along with credentials, another thing to look for is any membershipsin legal organizations, such as a trial lawyers association.
6. What Are Their References and Reviews?
When vetting out potentialpersonal injury lawyers,don’t forget about references and reviews. Hiring an attorney is not quite the same as shopping on Amazon, but you should still checkany available onlinereviews.
If you can get first-hand references from people you know, these can also be valuable recommendations to follow up.
7. Where Are They Located?
When seeking compensation for personal injury, you want someone who knows the variousby-laws specific to your area. Thus, it is usually best togo with a lawyer located in the same city.
Not only will they likely have a better understanding of the local legal framework, but it will also be more convenient for you tomeet with each other and for them to travel to the court location.
8. What Is Their Fee Structure?
Before engaging an attorney, it’s always important to make sure you fully understand their fee structure. Different lawyers and firms have different fee schedules, and you must get clear on these so you can:
- Start comparing lawyer fees
- Avoid unwanted fee-related surprises
Manypersonal injury lawyerswork on a contingency basis. In short, this means you only have to pay if the lawyer wins your case. In this event, the fees will then come out of your settlement.
However, note that there are certain costs besides the lawyer’s fees that you might have to shoulder even if the case is lost. These could include the costsassociated with getting expert witnesses, court-related expenses, etc.
Make sure that you clarify what your responsibility is on these before you sign a contingency agreement with a potential lawyer.
9. Do You Get Along?
Last but not least, do you get along with the attorney you are thinking of hiring? Personal injury cases can become lengthy and involved. You might need to have considerable dealings with the attorney you choose.
Because of this, it’s important that you like the lawyer in question.
Finding the Best in Personal Injury Lawyers
Although it can feel overwhelming at first, finding a good personal injury lawyer isn’t so hard when you knowwhat to look for.
Want some more good news? You also happen to be on the website of one of the mostdedicated personal injury firms in Texas.
Here at Ivey Law, our personal injury lawyers are committed to fighting aggressively on your part to ensure that you gain the compensation you need. We are certified specialists in personal injury, with over thirty years of cumulative experience behind our backs.
If you needstrong representation fast, contact us today to set up an initial consultation and let us help you win your personal injury case.