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Are you looking to hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you as you file for a lawsuit?
In this article, you will discover 8 simple tips you can use to search and find the best personal injury lawyer near you. Remember, the lawyer you hire in your settlement or lawsuit can make a difference between win and lose the case. You need to have the best one possible.
Searching and finding the best lawyer for your case may be difficult to achieve without proper guidance. Luckily, here are 8 tips to search and choose the best personal injury lawyer near you.
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Ask friends and family for a referral
Word-of-mouth is a very effective mean of getting a competent lawyer. These recommendations may be grossly due to positive personal experiences and outcomes associated with hiring these lawyers. Also, such recommendations may be as a result of second-hand information from others they consider somewhat reliable.
This is not to say that if a Personal injury lawyer wasn’t recommended by friends or family, he/she shouldn’t be hired, it’s just somewhat safer to have someone who has successfully handled the case of someone you know personally.
However, in instances where word-of-mouth referrals may not be feasible, it is possible to get information from online sources and ads. Though this option should only be explored after it is certain that referrals from friends or family members may be impossible to get.
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Research The Lawyer Online Rating
Before hiring any lawyer, it’s important that you do your own homework on the lawyer in question. Endeavor to find out all you can about your potential personal injury lawyer. You could do this by asking questions, searching the internet, directories, websites, checking for reviews, reading articles, and Google reviews.
Google reviews is an effective tool. People who have experience with the lawyer may write reviews and rate their experience, bad or good, which will allow you to have an idea.
Some details to be looked out for include; work history, background history, rulings of previous cases, verdict numbers, previous complaints, disciplinary actions, proximity, training…etc.
More importantly, you should be bold enough to ask the lawyer questions personally, as this will be the most ideal way of getting to know who you are hiring.
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Discuss the Personal Injury Lawyer Fees
It is always important to get transparency before any financial transaction, and hire a personal injury lawyer is no difference. As along as it is possible, meet the lawyer in person or have a proper online meeting or call where you will be comfortable to discuss all the legal fees associated with the settlement. BEFORE You sign the CONTRACT, ask questions to get exact figure amounts, percentages, and possible conditions/instances.
The earlier these conversations, the better. Once a final agreement has been reached, it should be written down clearly and devoid of any traces of ambiguity.
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Follow Your Guts
This may seem a little cliché but sometimes it may be all you could depend on. Seeing personal injury cases are largely personal and important to oneself. It may be wise to employ your guts, wit, and discretion to choose the right personal injury lawyer for your case. This may go a long way in helping you choose one whom you are comfortable with, confident in and willing to work alongside with.
5. Ask if He Will Handle your Case Personally
This is very important to confirm the individual you speak to is the one who will indeed represent you. In fact, you may be talking to an agent or affiliate with a lawyer. Steven M. Sweat, an attorney in Los Angeles, California, states. “Make sure you speak with the attorney that will be handling your case personally before hiring them. If the lawyer can’t take five minutes out of their day to talk to you personally rather than having a secretary, paralegal or intake person do all the talking, then what type of attention to you think they are going to give to working your case?”
6. Search for The Lawyer Competence
Question the potential layer about his training as well as legal experience.
To start, may use these simple questions:
- How long have you been practicing?
- What percentage of your cases you won?
- Will you personally handle my case or hand it to an associate?
Although seems simple, this step can save you from an incompetent personal injury lawyer. Many of the lawyers that run TV commercials have never tried a case themselves. They take the cases from the clients and refer them out to the real litigators.
Following these few tips should put you on the right track in finding and choosing the best personal injury lawyer that will confidently and successfully handle your case.
If you know other means to search and hire a personal injury lawyer, kindly comment below to share them with our readers
