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Here are the top five questions that smart consumers will ask before hiring a personal injury lawyer. What many consumers don't realize is that if they have a good case, they can hire a top attorney at no extra charge compared to hiring an inexperienced rookie or someone with a mediocre track record. 1. What kind of cases does this lawyer handle on a day-in, day-out basis? Some lawyers are general practitioners who do a little of everything, including personal injury practice. Their work may include occasional medical malpractice cases or suits against drug manufacturers. But if they don’t do this type of work every day, injured people who hire them are at a disadvantage. It takes a specialist in any legal field – whether serious personal injury lawsuits or other specialties like immigration or real estate – to really know that field backwards and forwards, to practice at the highest skill level – and to get the best results for the client. 2. How long has the lawyer been working in the field in which you need a lawyer? By and large, lawyers who do personal injury lawsuits for injured persons charge the same fee no matter how long they have been practicing. (This is the contingency fee, a percentage of the amount recovered.) That means that for the same fee, you could get a lawyer with one or two years of experience, or a lawyer with 20 years of experience. As in any other field, experience helps! 3. Does the lawyer try lawsuits in court, or is every case settled out of court or referred to other lawyers to try? This is an important question that many lay people never think to ask. There is only one way to get top dollar for your case in a settlement. That is to show the insurance company that you are ready, willing and able to try the case in court. It’s kind of like the Defense Department. The only way to secure a just and lasting peace is to prepare for war. If you hire a lawyer who always settles and never goes to court, be prepared to take a substantial discount on your case. In every city, there are “clearinghouse” lawyers who advertise heavily and get many clients as a result – and who then either settle their cases quickly or refer them to other lawyers to do the real work. (The “clearinghouse” lawyer gets a piece of the fee for making such a referral.) On the other hand, real lawyers actually go to court and try cases the old-fashioned way: in front of judges and juries. Real lawyers settle cases out of court too, but they also compile a track record of verdicts that they will tell you about if you ask. One problem with “clearinghouse” lawyers is that they are generally interested in volume and quick turnover. This means they try to settle cases quickly, sometimes at the expense of the client whose good case may be shortchanged in the lawyer’s rush for a fee. Another problem with “clearinghouse” lawyers is that the client can become confused about who their real lawyer is. They hired the “clearinghouse” lawyer, but that lawyer is not their real lawyer. 4. What is the lawyer’s track record of verdicts and settlements? The longer the lawyer’s list of successful case outcomes, the better it is for the client. The insurance companies who defend personal injury and malpractice cases know who the attorneys are in your area who actually go into court to try cases and who do not. The insurance companies use that information to evaluate their risk. One of the first questions an insurance adjuster will ask when a serious claim comes in is: who is representing the plaintiff? 5. Ask the lawyer, “Who will actually handle my case”? Even if you are impressed with the lawyer you first meet, you need to ask this crucial question. Find out if the lawyer plans to actually work on your case, or give it to someone else to work on. You need to know the skill and experience of the lawyer who will actually work on the case, not just the lawyer you first see. There’s nothing wrong with having more than one personal injury lawyer on the case. Top lawyers typically run teams of lawyers who handle different aspects of the case. The senior lawyer may delegate more routine functions to less experienced lawyers. Find out how the team functions. Lawyers who frequently lecture at legal meetings (called “CLE” – or continuing legal education) have the esteem of their peers. Lawyers who regularly write articles in legal publications also can usually be counted on to know what they are talking about. Personal Injury Attorneys. “Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney”. February 2011
http://www.personalinjurylawyer.com/resources/personal-injury/personal-injury-claims/questions-hiring-injury-lawyer.htm
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