According to statistics, 29.4 million people visited emergency rooms across the country for unintentional injuries (as of 2017). Furthermore, 169,936 lives were lost due to accidental injuries. Personal injuries can throw your life off course. When they do happen, you’ll need to make many decisions in a short period. It is, therefore, useful to have a knowledgeable and experienced personal injury lawyer by your side to offer you objective guidance and representation.
Here’s a look at eight questions you should ask a personal injury lawyer as you interview them.
1. Can the Attorney Cope With Your Case?
When you are on the hunt for a good injury lawyer, it pays to look at what they can’t do as much as what they are capable of. In particular, you are looking for an attorney who is self-aware enough to know their limitations.
An exceptional lawyer will know when not to pick up a case as much as when to take on a client. You need to search for an attorney who believes they have the energy and time to devote to your case.
To find this out, you can ask them about past instances where they have had to turn away clients with a case similar to yours.
Pay attention to the reason they give you for doing so as that will indicate whether they are a good judge of circumstances or not.
2. Has the Attorney Handled Similar a Case Before?
One of the most potent tips for finding a reliable injury lawyer is to look for one with relevant experience. That means looking not just for general litigation experience but a track record in managing a case similar to yours.
Once you zero in on an attorney who is skilled in the area of expertise your case is in, you need to assess their track record. Are they new to your type of situation? Have they succeeded in defending a client facing similar circumstances to yours?
Past performance may not be a bullet-proof guarantee of how the attorney will deal with your case. However, it does give you a degree of certainty about what to expect.
3. What’s The Attorney’s Assessment of Your Case?
As the aggrieved party in the case, you may understandably not be the most objective person to assess it. Talking to an injury attorney who, in effect, is a third-party can be useful in giving you more objective case analysis.
A good lawyer will be able to give you an authentic look into your case and its chances of success. Additionally, the attorney will help you determine if the case is worth pursuing or not, especially in light of how much it might cost you.
4. What Degree of Participation Will You Have?
While it may seem obvious to you that your involvement with the case should be thorough, that may not always be so.
Before you hire an injury attorney, you need to be clear on the level of participation in the whole process that you can expect.
That’s because some attorney’s welcome (and even insist) on the client being deeply involved in the case. Other lawyers prefer the client standing back so they can do much of the work themselves.
Knowing the attorney’s mode of approach on your participation can help determine if the two of you can collaborate successfully.
5. How Often Will the Attorney Be Communicating With You?
The level of communication between you and the injury attorney has a direct impact on the case’s outcome. As such, you want an attorney who gives you personal attention and communicates promptly concerning the progress of your situation.
Thus, one question you should ask a lawyer upfront is how they plan to be communicating with you.
Will it primarily be their paralegal or investigator that does a bulk of the communicating with you? Can you have easy and direct access to the attorney handling your case?
Don’t leave the question of communication not being clearly defined as it can introduce friction in the working relationship.
6. Will the Lawyer Try Your Case If Compensation Isn’t Fair?
At the start of a personal injury case, you should always account for the fact that you may not get fair compensation. Such an outcome inevitably pushes the case to trial.
With that in mind, you need to ask the attorney from the jump if they will still be the one trying the case in such an eventuality.
That’s critical because it’s common practice to find law firms that employ two lawyers – one to settle and another for trial. As a rule of thumb, the same lawyer should be the one handling your case from start to finish.
If the attorney you’re interviewing isn’t the one to take your case to the finish line, then that’s a red flag.
7. Do You Have to Pay Upfront?
Most personal injury lawyers operate on a contingency basis. What that means is you don’t pay the attorney up front to take on your case.
Instead, if they believe your case is viable, they will take it on and receive a percentage of the award. If you lose the case, then the lawyer doesn’t get paid.
Personal injury attorneys earn around 25% to 33% of what you win. However, high-end lawyers can receive as much as 40% of the award.
Ensure you have in writing what the attorney is expected to earn from your case to avoid issues down the road.
8. Who Pays the Costs If You Lose?
Various injury lawyers will handle expenses related to the case differently. If you do win your case, every lawyer will expect you to foot the associated costs.
However, if you don’t win the case, it will now depend on what you agreed upon with the attorney. Some lawyers will charge you out-of-pocket expenses while others will opt to foot the bill if they lose.
When you choose to pay the associated expenses no matter the outcome, you’ll have higher negotiating power for a lower attorney cut.
Win the Fight With the Right Personal Injury Lawyer
Accidents can throw your life in disarray when they occur, and it’s at such times that you need a reliable legal guide. Since you’ll be making many decisions in short order, you’ll need to work with an experienced and competent personal injury lawyer that can help you seek justice and compensation.
Brian Cummings is a board-certified medical malpractice attorney with over 20 years’ experience in successfully fighting for clients. Reach out today for ethical and proven medical malpractice representation to get justice.
