Accidents happen every day, always to someone else, always far away from you. But what will happen when suddenly an accident happens to you? Will you be able to deal with the havoc that this life-changing event will bring into your life and health. Maybe you will be gravely injured and disoriented. Maybe life-jarring enough you will have to suffer the consequences for the rest of your life, including future medical expenses and/or loss of future earnings or earnings capacity. After something like this happens, you need to pull yourself together and start to think about fixing the situation in the best way, how to fix mistakes that somebody else did, because in many cases someone else is at fault for the accident and you have the right to compensation.
Regardless of the damage, whether physical or emotional, you need to prepare yourself and consider taking the matter to court. First and most important step that you need to do is choosing the top personal injury lawyer on your side. You need to do your homework and find the right attorney who will fight for your needs with unmatched professionalism and passion.
Many attorneys offer a free initial consultation and will be able to tell you if you have a justifiable claim. But how to chose the right one? What should you watch out for, or avoid?
Here are some useful tips to help you with that because choosing the wrong personal injury lawyer could impact your claim!
- Use a personal injury lawyer specialist.
- Classify your situation. As opposed to simply stating that you would like to make a personal injury claim, providing this additional information will aid you in choosing a specialist best suited to the nature of your claim.
- Gather the information you need, start a case journal and assemble your documentation.
- Use a personal injury law firm. They are specialized and built to deal with injury claims. The firm will probably have a tailored environment and you will win your case quicker, better and cheaper.
- Use a local personal injury lawyer. Local personal injury lawyers can run the cases in their jurisdiction better because personal injury laws vary from State to State.
- Use an experienced personal injury lawyer. Before hiring a lawyer, ask for their success rate, similar cases and experience. Hiring a personal injury attorney who knows what to look for, where to look for it and understands what it means in your case, can make all the difference.
- Read the Client Fee Agreements. In these agreements are outlined the terms for work, that’s why they are important. Check the hourly rate and experience, also find out if the firm charges expenses in addition to their hourly rate. For example, for photocopying a document, for telephone calls and similar.
- Identify the type of attorney for your need. There are many types of personal injury attorneys, with different specialties, focus and experience. Some of them will have more experience with motorcycle accidents, some with hit and run accidents, some with medical malpractice and similar. Hiring any other type of lawyer could mean not getting the personalized care for your type of case.
- Ask for fee arrangement. Before entering into a retainer agreement with an attorney, ask for an estimate of fees and have an honest discussion about how these fees will be paid.
- An experienced attorney will have connections. If your accident has something to do with insurance companies, they will be a part of your case. A reliable attorney will be able to deal with the insurance companies on your behalf.
- Good reputation.
- Make sure you have a direct line to the lawyer who takes your case. You need to make sure you can call your lawyer whenever you want because most lawyers don’t give out their direct line, instead they give you the secretary`s number and many times you are put on hold.
- Know what to avoid. If the lawyer gives you unrealistic compensation guarantees, fails to return your calls or neglects explaining case proceedings, you may want to find another professional personal injury attorney.
- Prepare a list of questions for attorneys.
- Read online reviews about specific attorneys and examine the attorney`s online presence. From the attorney’s website to their social media, you can get a lot of information to help you narrow your list down before you start conducting consultations about your case.
- Free Consultation. Your attorney should be willing to have an initial consultation with you at no cost.
- You can observe your lawyer. You can actually observe your lawyer while they work, by attending a court case that is similar to your own.
- Review their social media presence. The law firm or individual attorney may have a public Facebook page, Twitter profile or LinkedIn page. These profiles can give you some insight into the philosophy and attitude of the attorneys.
Making a personal injury claim can be a stressful and demanding process. Taking the time to choose the right personal injury attorney can go a long way towards alleviating the anxiety involved in pursuing a personal injury claim. So if you follow these tips it will be the first step towards becoming whole again and getting your deserved financial compensation.
Resource:
Marc Aaron Goldbach of Goldbach Law Group handles personal injury cases. Mr. Marc can be reached at (562) 696-0582.
If you are seriously injured and seeking immediate helps from Los Angeles County personal injury lawyer, Mr. Marc is just one phone call away. You may connect with Marc on Google+ to seek his advice.