When you or a loved one has been harmed in an accident, time seems to stop. When reality catches up, you may feel overwhelmed with the medical bills, lost wages, pain, and other losses competing for your attention. Scheduling time to interview personal injury attorneys is likely one of the last things on your mind.
However, the sooner you find a personal injury lawyer, the better position you will be in to get the compensation you deserve. Strict statutes of limitations and quickly piling costs may make you feel pressured to rush into hiring someone, but taking time to prepare a few questions for a personal injury attorney will ensure that you get the right legal team on your side.
These six questions will help you determine whether a personal injury lawyer is the right one for your case. Before you start reaching out to law firms, make sure you know the answers you are looking for from a personal injury attorney. They may be experts in the law, but you are the expert in what you need.
Question 1. How do you structure your fees?
This question helps you to determine from the start whether this personal injury lawyer is a financially feasible option for your situation. Many personal injury attorneys make their fees contingent upon recovery of your compensation, but that may not always be the case. You will also be able to determine from this question what percentage of your compensation will go to pay for your attorney’s fees.
Question 2. Who covers costs?
There can be many costs for moving forward with a case. This could include filing fees, service fees, and payment of expert witnesses. Every case and jurisdiction is different, so it’s helpful to know where the responsibility will lie. Will the personal injury attorney cover the costs and then take them out of your compensation? Are they your responsibility? Are they split?
Like the first question, this answer could also make or break your ability to work with the personal injury lawyer due to the cost burden.
Question 3. What is your current caseload?
If you have been to a popular restaurant on a Friday night, you know what a different experience you will have then versus a less busy time. Just as the food and service quality may slip when a restaurant is short on resources, the same can happen with a personal injury attorney who is overbooked.
When your potential lawyer has a manageable amount of clients or resources in place to support a growing workload, you can be confident your case will get the focus it deserves. On the other hand, if the attorney has no current clients, that can be a red flag that he or she has a poor reputation.
Question 4. What areas of personal injury law are your specialty?
From car accidents to dog bites to wrongful death, there are many areas in which personal injury attorneys may specialize. Though the types of damages sought may be similar across personal injury cases, the processes involved are different.
If you are injured by sliding on a wet tile floor at the gym, the personal injury lawyer with decades of winning medical malpractice cases may not be as suited to your needs as the personal injury attorney who won her last five slip-and-fall cases.
Question 5. Where do you primarily practice?
The Texas personal injury lawyer in McAllen and the Texas personal injury attorney in Dallas will likely have two very different perspectives on personal injury law in their state. There are benefits to having an attorney familiar with local courts and law professionals, but there may also be drawbacks. Knowing what your case needs can help you determine whether it is best to stay local or branch out.
Question 6. Will I win my case?
This question keeps the focus on the reason why you are reaching out in the first place: you want compensation for your loss. By finding out if the personal injury lawyer believes you have a case and how he or she will help you win it, you will get a good read on whether you will work well together.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury, you deserve a personal injury attorney who will prioritize your case. At the Lopez Law Group we believe in building a personal connection with clients so they can trust us to join their fight for compensation. We offer a free consultation, and work on a contingency fee, so you won’t have to pay us until we win your case or secure your settlement. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you recover your losses.
