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7 Questions to Ask Your Personal Injury Lawyer

Did you know that accidental injuries are now the #3 leading cause of death in the United States? No matter how careful you try to be, you simply can’t protect yourself from every possible situation.

Millions of people find themselves the victims of accidents each year. Some are more severe than others, but getting hurt is never fun. And when this happens to you, it’s important to understand your rights.

Hiring a personal injury lawyer is the best way to make sure that you receive the level of legal representation that you deserve. 

This article takes a look at important questions to ask before hiring a law firm to handle your case. If you’ve been the victim of negligence, keep reading to learn how to find the best legal help that money can buy.

1. Do You Specialize in Personal Injury Law?

If you’ve never hired a lawyer before, it’s important to understand that most law firms specialize in a specific area of the law.

For example, a firm might handle only criminal defense cases, corporate law, divorce, bankruptcy, or personal injury

Thus it’s crucial to find a law firm that only takes personal injury cases. This will help to ensure that you get the best representation possible.

2. Have You Handled this Type of Case Before?

Every personal injury case is different. Perhaps you’ve been involved in a serious car accident or are the victim of medical malpractice. Or perhaps you were hurt at your place of employment. Or you might have gotten injured in a freak accident due to someone’s negligence.

Whatever the particulars of your situation, you need to hire a lawyer with experience in that exact type of scenario. 

Once you’ve told them your story, be sure to ask them plenty of questions about previous cases they’ve handled, what the results of those cases where, and how they would approach your case.

3. How Frequently do You Clients Go to Trial?

It’s also important to remember that not every personal injury case goes to trial. Sometimes both parties believe they have a strong enough case to let a jury decide the outcome, while other cases are settled without need of a trial.

Settling out of court is obviously preferable for everyone involved, but isn’t always possible.

The decision to settle will be based on the strength of evidence, as well as whether or not the defense believes that the cost of going to trial will be more beneficial than settling.

When interviewing attornies, don’t be shy about asking about their rate of success in out of court settlements. This will help show you how good they are at intimidating the other side.

There’s never a guarantee of settling, but an attorney with a strong history of pre-trial settlements is always preferable to one who doesn’t.

4. Have You Ever Been Censored Or Disciplined?

It’s also important to remember that all lawyers aren’t created equally. While many lawyers operate by a strong code of ethics, this simply isn’t true of everyone.

Be very direct in asking about whether they’ve ever been censured or disciplined by a judge. If so, this is something to be concerned about. After all, past disciplinary troubles should be a red flag that this isn’t the right law firm for you.

Keep in mind that past behavior is typically a strong indicator of future behavior, so exercise caution before hiring someone that has ever been found in violation of the court’s code of ethics.

5. How Long Do You Think the Case Will Take to Get Resolved?

When you’ve been injured, you simply want the entire mess to be over with as soon as possible. 

Again, every case is different, but an experienced personal injury attorney should be able to provide a reasonable timeframe for your case to be resolved. It could take weeks, months, or even years depending on the specifics and the amount of evidence that needs to be gathered.

Every lawyer will likely offer varying time frames, which is why you need to find one with plenty of experience with cases like yours who can provide an educated estimate of when you might be able to expect your case to be resolved.

6.  What Are the Chances of a Successful Outcome?

You obviously want to know if your attorney believes you will win the case. And yet they need to be able to provide realistic expectations based on past experience as well as the available evidence at hand.

A good attorney with plenty of experience with similar cases should be able to offer a point by point rundown of why they expect a successful outcome. This will grant you a better understanding of how to proceed.

7. Can You Provide References From Past Clients?

Keep in mind that you should never hire a lawyer without first speaking with past clients. That’s why it’s important to ask each personal injury attorney that you interview to provide a list of references.

After all, a quality attorney with a track record of successful cases and ethical practices should be more than happy to offer you the names of satisfied customers. And if they refuse, this should be considered a significant red flag and reason to feel concerned.

The Most Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer

Being involved in an accident can be scary and stressful, and suffering injuries as a result of that accident can make life miserable. That’s why it’s so important to have good legal representation. Fortunately, this article can help you understand the right questions to ask a personal injury lawyer so that you’ll have the most qualified team on your side.

Please contact us to request a free consultation regarding your personal injury case.

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