If you’ve been in an accident, you may need to find a personal injury lawyer to secure compensation for your injuries and other losses you may have suffered. At a time when you may be at your most vulnerable, hiring an injury attorney allows them to step in and help recover losses, manage documents and deadline, and speak for your interests in negotiations with insurance companies.
They will take on the responsibility of helping you to secure compensation in a process that may be long, difficult, and very foreign to you. For this reason, hiring a lawyer whose skills and experience you trust could be critical to reaching a positive outcome in your case.
Asking questions is a great way to narrow down your options for representation, but some questions are more helpful than others when it comes to finding an attorney that meets your standards.
Here are some questions that can help you draw crucial information to select the right personal injury attorney for you and your case:
1. What is your experience in handling similar cases?
It is not uncommon for a personal injury lawyer to handle cases involving different types of injuries. But, if you have been injured in a car accident, you would likely want an attorney who has experience with injuries of that kind, rather than one who only handles slip-and-fall cases.
Securing a positive outcome for a case of your specific kind may require a certain set of skills and experience that you can ask about before committing to hiring an attorney.
2. Do you try cases in court? What’s your track record with trial results?
Don’t be afraid to ask potential personal injury lawyers if they take cases to trial, or if they aim for a settlement offer. If they do have trial experience, you may also want to know what their success rate is in the event your case does go to trial.
Hiring an attorney that tries cases in court can give you the confidence to know they will be prepared for a trial if that is the result. If the case does end in a settlement, entering negotiations with a personal injury attorney who is ready for the possibility of a trial could mean greater preparation and a more fair recovery amount for you.
3. Who will be handling my case?
It is possible that the attorney you first meet with will not be the only attorney who works on your case. If there is going to be a team of attorneys (including less experienced attorneys) and paralegals handling your case, it may be beneficial to ask how the team would function, who would be your point of contact for questions, and who would be supervising.
4. What are your fees?
Most personal injury lawyers charge clients a contingency fee, which means they earn a percentage of the amount that is recovered if you have a positive outcome for your case. Injury attorneys’ contingency fees are known to typically range anywhere from 33 percent to 40 percent, but asking an attorney directly what fees they collect up front is likely the best way to be sure.
Seeking out this information can also connect you with a skilled, experienced attorney who may work for a similar fee as some others who are less experienced and/or capable.
5. Who will be responsible for case-related costs?
Aside from a fee, personal injury lawyers typically also charge for case-related costs. These are expenses that go into prosecuting a claim. There are different ways these case-related costs are handled, depending on the lawyer and, sometimes, the outcome of the case.
Ask who will be responsible for taking on case-related costs if your case is successful and if it is not.
6. What is my case worth?
Although it may not be easy to determine the value of your case, an experienced personal injury attorney should be able to give you an idea of what factors may affect what your case is worth and how they may play out in a settlement or trial.
If a lawyer is making claims that seem totally unrealistic, ask how they reached their estimate to see if their answers meet your standards. The experienced lawyers at Florin|Roebig can provide a case evaluation today at no cost to you.
7. How long will my case take to resolve?
It is very unlikely that a personal injury attorney will be able to give a definite end date for the conclusion of your case. But an attorney who has experience in your type of case could provide at least a general time frame, based on factors that could affect when your case would be resolved.
It is also a perk to know whether a lawyer will be committed to resolving the case in the shortest amount of time possible, rather than letting it lag.
8. What’s my role in my personal injury claim?
Hiring an attorney creates a working relationship, and yours will likely depend a lot on which one you hire. You may want to ask what would be expected of you as a client and give them an idea of how involved you’d like to be in the case.
Some clients like to heavily participate in their case, while others may not. Knowing beforehand what level of involvement you and your attorney prefer can help you work together in the long run.
9. Have you won any honors or awards?
Asking what awards and/or honors a lawyer has earned can help you see how they stand up to others in your community in terms of skill and experience. Some legal organizations, such as Best Lawyers in America or Superlawyers, use peer recognition and reviews to select attorneys, which reveals how peers and competitors feel about them and the quality of their work.
For this reason, years of repeated selections for these kinds of honors are a good sign of consistency and commitment. Attorneys who are Board Certified are considered specialists in their field. Asking a lawyer whether they have achieved that status could benefit you in your search.
Florin|Roebig attorneys have been selected to receive honors from legal organizations for years in a row. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, our legal team can help you get the compensation you deserve.
Our Featured Case Results
10. Do you have the resources to handle my case?
Aside from an attorney’s skills and experience, it’s important to know whether they have enough funds, time, and staffing power to devote to achieving a successful outcome for you.
Personal injury lawsuits involving catastrophic or serious injuries can require large expenses to keep them afloat. In these types of cases, which can involve three or more medical specialties, expert witnesses may need to be hired to handle the issues within each specialty.
It would be unfortunate for a client to feel pressured to compromise their standards or take an early settlement because their attorney could not meet the reasonable needs for them and/or their case.
It is not unreasonable to ask an attorney at the start if they have the manpower, time, and money to take a case to trial if it were necessary.
We Are Nationally Awarded Lawyers
Finding A Personal Injury Lawyer
These are only some of the important questions to ask a lawyer before selecting one for hire. Who represents your claim during negotiations and during the trial, if your claim goes to trial, can directly affect the outcome of your claim.
With over 30 years of experience, our law firm has successfully won over $1 billion in settlements from personal injury cases by providing our clients with high-quality legal representation.
Don’t ruin your chances of filing a successful personal injury claim. Contact Florin|Roebig today for a free consultation and connect with a team of experienced personal injury lawyers who will put their time, knowledge of the legal system, and resources to work for you.
