10 Tips To Finding A Personal Injury Attorney

Following a serious injury, you might wish to seek professional legal representation. Personal injury attorneys exist to fight for your needs with unmatched professionalism and a passion for your needs. But how do you go about finding the right injury attorney? What should you watch out for, or avoid?

Fortunately, Lowman Law is here for you, to guide you through the case handling process and get you the benefits you need right now. Here, we’ve provided ten tips for finding the right personal injury attorney for your needs.

1.) Identify the Type of Attorney You Specifically Need

If you’ve never had to contact a personal injury attorney before, you may find that ‘personal injury attorney’ is almost an umbrella term, and that there are countless types of attorneys, with different specialties, focus and experience. Some will have particular experience with motorcycle accidents, some with hit-and-run accidents, and some with varying experience in all types of injury, a kind of legal jack-of-all-trades.

The first thing to consider when finding a personal injury attorney is how well an attorney’s previous experiences match up with your case. Have they had many successful cases similar to yours?

2.) Consult Friends, Family and Professional Contacts

Often, close friends and family can be a reliable resource and starting point for finding personal injury attorneys in your area. Consult your close contacts for recommendations, and have them rate their case satisfaction. Were they satisfied with their representation? Why, or why not?

You can also network through your friends and family for any professional legal contacts they may have. These contacts can help you build an ideal attorney profile, and even recommend attorneys in your area that suit your representation needs.

3.) Know What to Look For

When choosing a personal injury attorney, you’ve got to know what desirable traits and behaviors to look for in these attorneys; traits that will help you receive the benefits you need and have the best experience with your case.

• Responsiveness and accessibility, as well as passion for your case
• Competency
• Ability to thoroughly outline the entire case process, and explain case development
• Ability to explain complex legal terms, matters and charges in an understandable manner
• Will only make realistic guarantees on your case
• Proactive, and attentive to all of your questions and needs

When choosing a personal injury attorney following an accident or injury, you’ll want someone on your side that is not only compassionate, but also realistic and personable.

4.) Know What to Avoid

Conversely, there are certain ‘red flags’ that should deter you from certain personal injury attorneys. If your personal attorney exhibits any of these traits, you may want to seek out another legal professional to help you following an injury or accident.

• Gives outlandish or unrealistic compensation guarantees
• Impersonal, and fails to return client calls
• Fails or ignores paying court bills
• Over-aggressiveness
• Neglects explaining case proceedings, or providing necessary supplementary information

Your personal injury attorney should be someone you’d want to work with personally, who acknowledges and attends to your needs and keeps your better interests in mind. 

5.) Learn Attorney Backgrounds, and Observe Them at Work

Once you have a few personal injury attorneys in mind for your case, you’ll want to conduct a bit of research. Fortunately, state bar associations typically record and file all attorney complaints in a comprehensive database. This includes discipline petitions filed against attorneys, something you’ll want to avoid when selecting a professional attorney.

If you’re persistent, and want to see your considered attorneys in action, you can even observe them in session; courthouses are public places, and you can use them to observe how well an attorney handles cases similar to yours. 

6.) Prepare a List of Questions For Attorneys

Prior to meeting with attorneys that you feel suit your case, it’s important to generate a quick list of relevant questions to ask them. Their responses can help you decide whether or not they are the right attorney for your needs.

Some important questions to consider include:

• How long do your expect my case will take?
• Will anybody else be working on my case?
• Have you ever been disciplined or suspended from practice?
• How will payment work? Do you work on a contingent basis?
• What are your specialized experiences?

7.) Make the Most of Free Consultations

Many injury victims seeking to build a case feel the hassle of contacting a professional attorney will either cost too much money or time to be worth the effort, and may abandon their case. Don’t hesitate: almost all personal injury attorneys will offer free legal consultations for your case.

These free consultations will inform you whether or not you have a case worth pursuing, and honest attorneys will tell you how compatible your case is with their previous experiences.

8.) Visit With and Interview Your Attorneys

Use office visits and attorney interviews to make final judgments on personal injury attorney selections. Use the questions previous outlined in this article, as well as any other inquiries specific to your injury case, to judge whether or not an attorney is a good fit for your needs.

Interview numerous attorneys suitable for your case, and weigh their experiences, specializations and responses against one another. 

9.) Read Everything, and Gauge Attorney Cooperation

When given an attorney’s legal contract, you’ll need to carefully read every word, and every line with the utmost scrutiny. This isn’t because they may be trying to cheat you with the ‘fine print,’ but because doing so will better help you understand how your case will be handled, and how the legal process will unfold.

If you do not understand something, ask. Understand all terms and conditions, and negotiate anything you don’t agree with. This can also help you estimate a personal injury attorney’s future cooperation with you during your case.

10.) Always Choose Local

Finally, you should always aim to choose a local personal injury attorney. These professionals understand your local environment, and how town or city laws work in that specific area and affect case proceedings.

Typically, local offices are also more involved in individual cases, and handle cases with more passion for success than regional, unattached firms.

Call Us Today!

If you need professional legal consultation for your Spring Hill area injury case, or want to learn more about the powerful ways personal injury lawyers can work for you and represent you in court, contact us right away. We can help you through the legal process and get you the compensation you need.