Seeking a personal injury lawyer is rarely pleasant. Luckily, it’s something we only have to do every so often. Don’t let your emotional state get in the way of a rational decision, or your inexperience might land you incompetent counsel. We hope the standards in this article might be of help. They are pretty exacting, so don’t be surprised if your lawyer doesn’t pass them all with flying colors, but following them will paint a pretty accurate portrait of who they are as a professional.
Have you met anyone else who has used their services? It’s not always easy to dig up a prior referral but it never hurts to ask around. Keep in mind, attorneys can’t hand out names of clients due to confidentiality reasons, so if your lawyer is unable to provide references, don’t be alarmed. Still, if they are reputable in their community, somebody, either in a chamber group or business association, should have heard of them.
Does the lawyer have social media presence? Many personal injury lawyers have not stepped into the social media space yet. Their trepidation is understandable; They’re busy people and just don’t have the time to play on Facebook all day. Yet the ones that own LinkedIn or Facebook profiles offer an interesting window into their performance. Chances are at least one of their Facebook friends or fans, or one of their LinkedIn connections, has used their services. Reach out to some of these people and see what their experience was. Just because they are part of their network does not mean they will give them favorable reviews as people often add a connection prior to becoming a client.
Have they passed the Bar exam? This one is definitely on the cautious side, but lawyers do get “de-barred” occasionally, and some of them might try to practice without the appropriate license. We’re not saying it’s common but it does happen. Either way, you only have to go to your local Bar website and look them up. It’s a few minutes of your time that could be well spent if your candidate turns out to be a con-man.
Is it a large outfit or a small shop? Though it’s not fair to generalize, there is a general tendency amongst smaller offices to be more available and perhaps work a little bit harder to retain your patronage. But they are not equipped to go to bat on large or complicated cases such as pharmaceutical injuries, defective product cases, or any case really where there are a lot of complexities at stake. You have to make this determination yourself but keep in mind, no major lawsuits are won by solopreneurs- It requires a sophisticated team.
How have they performed in the past? Oddly enough, one of the best kept secrets about jurisprudence is that past cases are almost always public. The local library or county registrar will certainly have a few cases on file where your candidate was the legal counsel. Nowadays, these facilities will be equipped with intranet search, so a five minute stop-off might yield some interesting results.
What is their fee structure like? Personal injury lawyers need to accept pay-per-performance terms and if your attorney tries to slip in extra fees you should be suspicious. Also, the percentage of the settlement they take ought to be equitable. You are the victim here, after all.
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