Secrets to Finding a Great Personal Injury Lawyer
Secret #1
Choose a lawyer who does Personal
Injury law exclusively.
Personal injury law is intricate and involves
many specialized rules and practices. Attorney's who handle divorces, wills,
trusts or bankruptcies can be Jack of all trades but Masters of none. They do
not try cases and insurance companies lowball accordingly. You risk the quality
of your representation if you choose an attorney that does not specialize in
personal injury law.
Secret # 2
Select an attorney who has a
history of taking cases to trial if necessary.
Many if not most attorneys who advertise they
handle personal injury cases have never seen the inside of a courtroom. They
take your case, try to pressure you to settle for a pittance. Insurance
companies are very aggressive. If they know your attorney doesn't go to trial,
that he’s afraid of the courtroom, they will take advantage of this and make
ridiculous offers or make little or no effort to settle your case. They know
your attorney is shooting blanks and that he will fold his hand...and pressure
you to fold too when he sees the insurer isn't going to budge. If your attorney
isn't willing to put the case before a jury, the insurer knows it..and it will
hurt you.
Secret #3
Select a personal injury
lawyer with a proven history of high verdicts and settlements.
If you have a large case with serious injuries
it's important to know that your attorney can deliver a large verdict or
settlement. Ask your attorney how many million dollar verdicts or settlements
he has had. Is he a member of the Million Dollar Advocates? The Million Dollar
Advocates is a renowned organization of attorneys who have settled or tried
cases worth a million dollars or more.
Not every case is worth a million dollars, but
if you have that kind of a case, make sure you have an attorney who can deliver
the goods.
Secret #4
Hire an attorney who's an
active member of State and National Trial Lawyer Groups.
Serious personal injury attorneys collaborate
with and learn from other excellent personal injury attorneys. In today's very
difficult environment where insurers are not hesitant to use dirty tricks and
underhanded methods to make injured people look bad, it’s critical to be up to
date, and to know what the insurers are up to.
Secret #5
Find an attorney who has sufficient resources
to take your case seriously.
When you hire an attorney...look around..does
he or she look like they are successful? Does their office look like they are
doing well? Does the attorney have a line of credit or personal assets
necessary to properly prepare your case? Serious personal injury cases are
expensive to prepare. Many experts are necessary to properly prepare a case.
Often many doctors must have their depositions taken and must later appear in
Court. Other experts such as economists, biomechanics, accident
reconstructionists, vocational rehabilitation specialists and life care
planners must be hired.
The expense in a single case can often exceed
$100,000+ if properly prepared. Make sure your attorney has enough money to
play with the big boys.
Secret #6
The attorney should allow
you to talk to his past clients if you ask.
If an attorney is any good do you think he or
she would have any problem with allowing you to talk to past clients they've
represented? Any attorney worth his salt has satisfied clients he's not ashamed
to allow you to talk to.
If an accident attorney in Sacramento tells you
he or she can't allow you to speak to past clients, you should consider
carefully that perhaps there's a reason for that...that perhaps they hasn't
done such a good job for those clients in the past.
Secret #7
Retain a lawyer who's
written and lectured in the personal injury field.
Ask the attorney you are considering hiring
about articles they've written in the personal injury field and presentations
they've given to other personal injury lawyers.
Have they had a public service TV show where
they've talked to the public about personal injury matters. If the attorney has
never written, never given presentations to other lawyers, never hosted a TV
show...consider how much he likely knows about his field.