Choosing A Personal Injury Lawyer ? 5 Important Tips
If you have been seriously injured in an accident, choosing the right personal injury lawyer is critical to your receiving fair compensation for your damages. Choosing the wrong lawyer can have disastrous consequences, potentially costing you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I have seen the damage that can be done by an incompetent personal injury lawyer. About ten years ago, my mother was hit by a dump truck. She had to undergo spinal fusion surgery as a result of the accident. She has been in chronic pain ever since, and might have to go for a second spinal fusion operation in the next year or two.
Unfortunately, she didn?t make a wise choice when hiring her attorney. Considering the long term effects of her injury, she was expecting a rather large settlement . However, she didn?t even recover enough money to pay for her future medical costs. Her yearly pain injections and all future spinal surgeries will be coming out of her bank account.
In order to avoid this type of tragic mistake, you need to know how to choose a good personal injury lawyer. The following five tips will help you in this process.
1. Contact the American Bar Association and ask them for a referral list of personal injury lawyers in your area. This will give you a good starting point in your search for a lawyer. You can also get this information on their website.
2. Ask your friends and family members if they know any good personal injury lawyers. If you know someone who has filed a personal injury claim in the past, he or she could give you a lot of information that will be invaluable to you in this process.
3. Ask any lawyers you know for referrals. Even if the attorneys you know don?t specialize in personal injury cases, they most likely know some that do. This is a great way to find the right attorney for your needs.
4. When you first meet with an attorney, ask a lot of questions. Some important questions to ask include:
? Does he specialize in handling personal injury cases?
? What is his success rate and what is the average award amount he earns for his clients?
? Is he experienced in dealing with insurance companies?
? Does he have trial experience?
When you explain the details of your case to the attorney, make sure he is paying attention and listening to your questions and concerns. If he doesn?t do this at your first meeting, you most likely do not have the right attorney.
5. Ask about his fees at your first meeting. Most personal injury lawyers will work on a contingency fee basis. This means that he will not get paid unless you do. Generally, a standard contingency fee is one third of your settlement plus any legal expenses he has covered. If your lawyer is asking for more than that, you might want to look for someone else. Also, don?t hire a lawyer who asks you for money up front. If he is not confident enough in your case to work on a contingency fee basis, then he is not the right person to represent you.
Always remember that you are not stuck with your attorney. If for whatever reason you are not satisfied with his performance, you can fire him and look for a new lawyer.
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