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Personal Injury Lawyer – Making the Choice

After you have been injured, you need to ensure that you get all of the compensation you are legally due. One of the best ways to do this is to hire a personal injury lawyer. This type of attorney specializes in accident cases, and will make sure you pursue all that the law allows in way of compensation.

Do not let the choice be made on cost alone, although cost will play a factor in the decision making process. Remember that the best personal injury lawyer will command a good price because he or she is highly skilled in the field.

Instead, start the search process by talking to other who have used one of these attorneys. Find out what their experience was like, asking detailed questions about the attorney’s ability to interact with clients, the attorney’s ability to explain things in easy to understand language, and how smoothly the litigations went. If your friend had to go to court, find out what happened in the court process and what steps the attorney took to ensure that your friend was comfortable with and confident in the process.

You can also contact the American Bar Association for a list of these attorneys in your area. While this will not give you any specifics about the quality of a particular attorney, it will give you a starting point for your research.

Next, find out about the attorney’s track record. You want to hire a personal injury lawyer who has succeeded in winning cases like yours regularly. Ask the attorney for this information, or if you already have an attorney working for you in another field, ask him or her for referrals. Often other in the industry is the best source of information about a particular attorney’s track record and reputation in the industry.

Once you have narrowed down your search to a handful of attorneys, make an appointment with each one to discuss your case. A personal injury lawyer will offer this consultation free of charge, as this meeting is an opportunity to try to land your business. When you go to this consultation, outline some of the details about your case, and ask the attorney how he or she would approach it. Also, ask whether or not the attorney has handled similar cases. If the answer is yes, inquire as to whether or not the case was won, how difficult it was, and what the approximate costs were.

Sometimes the attorney will not have access to this information at your consultation. In this case, leave your contact information and ask the attorney to get back with you when the information becomes available. This gives the attorney some time to research.

Whether at your initial consultation or afterwards, always ask about the fees. Most of the time a personal injury lawyer collects his or her fee as part of the settlement. If an attorney is not willing to do this, be prepared to pay even before you have a win. Regardless of the setup, get a fee agreement from the attorney. Review it thoroughly, and sign it before you proceed with the case. This ensures that no one is caught by surprise about the fees when the case is complete.