How to Choose The Right Personal Injury Lawyer
Being involved in a serious accident is one of the most devastating experiences that you can imagine – particularly when you are not at fault.
I formerly practiced both plaintiff’s personal injury law and insurance defense law. So, I can tell you exactly how an insurance carrier thinks about handling your claim because I have seen the tactics of insurance companies myself.Be
Prepared For Common Insurance Practices And Tactics
You may have never dealt with an insurance company in your life (other than to pay your premiums).
Now that you have been in an accident, you are dealing with an insurance adjuster that wants to settle your claim. Now, even if the adjuster has the best of intentions, he will still be required to gather and aggregate a lot of information in order to justify the settlement recommendation to the insurance carrier. At worst, he may use common tactics to delay and confuse you to the point that you just want to settle the claim and walk away.
For instance, the insurance adjuster will likely demand that you do all sorts of things, have examinations, and tests before he will authorize the payment of your medical bills. You will be required to fill out a lot of forms, see certain doctors and have your automobile or other property inspected by the adjuster (if it was involved in the accident). They may also want to conduct a recorded telephone interview or have you give a transcribed statement.
This exhaustive investigative process serves two purposes. Legitimately, the company needs to be able to document your injuries and monetary loss to substantiate a settlement recommendation to the company. The illegitimate purpose is to “lock in” your statement in an effort to minimize your damages and disclaim future damages that may not be obvious early on after the accident. At worst, it could be an attempt to manipulate you into making a statement of liability or one that mitigates the responsibility of the party represented by the insurance company.
And after doing all that you’ve been told to do, the insurance company may still not be willing to pay for all your bills and properly compensate you. Or they may offer an immediate check that sounds tempting at first, but might not be in your best interest if you have lingering injuries.
Retain A Personal Injury Attorney: When Do I Need To Find A Lawyer?
For relatively minor injuries, that’s probably not necessary to retain a personal injury lawyer. But, many lawyers will advise you to retain legal counsel whenever you are asked to give a statement (of any kind0 by an insurance company.
Personally, if the damages involve minor property damage to your car, you probably do not need to initially retain a lawyer unless you feel that the insurance company is not dealing with you in good faith. However, if you have personal injury, I would seriously recommend retaining a qualified personal injury lawyer before giving a statement of any kind.
So, because of the nature of the injuries to you; or, because the insurance company is not dealing with you in good faith, you have decided to retain a personal injury attorney.
How Do I Choose A Qualified Personal Injury Attorney?
First of all, do not retain one of the personal injury attorneys that advertise heavily on television and radio. These lawyers are typically not held in high regard by other lawyers. Sometimes, these types of firms seem to mostly be ready to settle your case, not litigate it. At worst, many of these firms have no intention of ultimately representing you. Their business model involves signing you up and referring you out to another firm while taking a referral fee for their efforts.
Now, I will admit that there are some exceptions to the rule stated above. But, as a rule, I would not recommend it. You need to interview several firms to determine which one is right for you.
Personal Referrals
I believe that a personal referral is better than any television advertisement. Talk to friends, family and neighbors to see if they have used a personal injury lawyer themselves or know of someone who has done so. Take down the names and focus on those that have come up more than once. Although the primary question you will want to ask is the amount of the settlement, the friend cannot legally disclose this to you if the case was settled without a trial. The information is suspect anyway because people typically exaggerate their results.
Better questions would consist of inquiries like:
- Does the attorney return phone calls?
- How often did you get status reports?
- How long were you prepped for depositions or other court appearances
- Did you understand the process thoroughly
- Did your personal injury attorney answer all of your questions?
Law Firm Websites
When reviewing a law firm website, take what you read with a bit of skepticism. The site was, in fact, made by the lawyer or law firm with an eye toward generating business referrals. Many firms will have news articles detailing large verdicts and other positive press regarding the personal injury lawyer or his firm.
Google, Yahoo and Bing!
Type the name of the law firm or personal injury attorney into the search engine and see what comes up. Is the lawyer active in his community? Has he had any negative press? Is he currently running for public office? All of these factors should be weighed to determine if he has the will and ability to devote adequate resources to your claim.
State Bar Website
To my knowledge, every state has a State Bar website where you can go and find important information about lawyers licensed to practice in that state.
You often see the suggestion to call the local or state bar association. Usually, I would say do not bother. Bar associations are regulatory agencies. They cannot recommend the best attorney for a particular type of case. At best, they provide list of lawyers licensed in their state and whether they have been disciplined or not.
Personal Injury Lawyer Rating Websites
Many online services exist that rate lawyers. Some examples of these are Avvo, LawyerRatingz and uReview.net. A traditionally respected resource among lawyers is the Martindale Hubbell legal directory which can now be found online at martindale.com. However those listings do not have ratings, but they do have a biography of the lawyer that includes his educational background, specializations, and legal writings.
Yellow Pages
The Yellow Pages is certainly a source of attorney information. However, this method shares the same cautions as with television advertising. Do not assume that the bigger the ad, the better the personal injury lawyer. Often the same lawyers appearing on TV and the radio all the time are the same lawyers with the big yellow page ads.
Remember, your primary goal is to find lawyers with lots of experience in handling your type of case – whether it is an auto accident, a workplace injury, medical malpractice, a slip and fall or any other type of injury.
I Have A List Of Candidates. How Do I Make My Selection?
Call each personal injury lawyer on your list of choices and schedule an appointment with them. The initial consultation should be free. This serves as your opportunity to interview the lawyer to determine if you are going to hire him to represent you. Factors that should weigh in your decision include the following.
Big Firm Or Solo Practitioner?
Does she have an office or practice out of her home? Is the firm so large it takes up an entire building? Some clients want a small firm with informality while others want a firm with an army of lawyers that can be available to review and consult on the case. But, the most important factor, in my opinion, is how you are treated by your attorney’s staff. This is a reflection upon how he, or his firm, run their business.
Personal Injury Experience?
Find out how much experience he or she has in cases like yours. What percentage of her practice is devoted to personal injury claims. If the answer is less than 50%, you should probably keep looking. Personal injury is a specialized practice, despite what you see on television. The personal injury attorney has to be part doctor, part accountant, part financial consultant, and part therapist. Not everyone is qualified to do that.
Trial Experience?
How many trials has your attorney participated in? How many trials has your personal injury attorney been lead counsel? You also want a lawyer with a certain amount of trial experience. Anyone can settle a personal injury claim, but without any trial experience, the personal injury attorney will not have much leverage with the insurance company or their attorneys. Furthermore, if the case goes to trial, you want to know that the personal injury lawyer can perform in front of a jury. There are very few lawyers who are excellent litigators.
Specialization Certification?
Many states offer Board Certification in certain specializations. Certainly, an attorney that is Board Certified is usually going to be a competent personal injury attorney. After all, to get the Certification, he must pass a difficult test, have a certain amount of trial experience, and other stringent requirements. However, most of the best personal injury attorneys that I have had occasion to work with have not been board certified. So, Board Certification is certainly a positive in favor of an attorney. But, I do not think that you should penalize an attorney for failing to be Board Certified.
Fee Structure?
Lawyers generally handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. The personal injury lawyer pays all the major fees associated with the case and then collects those expenses plus a fee based upon a percentage (typically 33-45%) of the net proceeds after expenses are deducted. Contingency fee contracts are required to be in writing and signed by both you and your lawyer. If the attorney you speak with isn’t willing to do this, leave immediately.
Note that, in some instances, the personal injury attorney will determine that your case is of marginal value. As such, he may offer to take the case if you post a retainer that will be used to pay some of the expenses of the case. The balance of expenses and fees will be paid if the case settles or you win at trial.
The lawyer wants to determine if you have enough confidence in the marginal case to “invest” some of your own money into it. If this offer is made to you, use it as a basis to negotiate a lower contingency fee. After all, part of the reason for setting the fee so high is that the lawyer is assuming all of the risk. Where you share in the risk, you should receive a greater share of the proceeds.
What If I Become Dissatisfied With My Personal Injury Attorney?
Many people grow to hate their personal injury lawyer. I am not surprised.
After all, personal injury litigation is emotionally taxing and mentally exhausting. In each case, I tell them that they need to find a new lawyer. The United States is full of lawyers of all shapes, sizes and personalities. Somewhere out there is a personal injury lawyer that is a good fir for your personality.
You do not need to put up with substandard service from your attorney. If your attorney will not return your reasonable calls (note: calling everyday to “check on the case” is not a reasonable call), or if he will not answer legitimate questions or provide status reports at regular intervals, then fire him. Find someone else that suits you.
On the other hand, keep in mind that your case moves forward very slowly. You may go for months without any legitimate action on your case. The lawyer may not immediately return your phone call because there is nothing new to report. I often sent monthly status reports to clients, even if there was nothing to report. They appreciated it.
Hiring the right lawyer is a decision that will have a profound impact on your case. Take your time and choose wisely. If you do, you should be able to minimize the pain associated with this emotionally trying ordeal.
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