5 Tips For Choosing The Best Car Accident Attorney. car accident can be one of the most stressful and expensive experiences in life.
A car accident can be one of the most stressful and expensive experiences in life, especially if you’re hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver. When your case goes to court, it’s critical that you have an experienced attorney who can represent your best interests and make sure you get the compensation you deserve. Here are 5 helpful tips for choosing the best car accident lawyer to represent you in court.
1) Check Their Credentials
With all of the different personal injury lawyers in town, it’s easy to get confused about which ones are best for your needs. Before choosing a car accident lawyer, take a few minutes to check their credentials. Does their website look professional? Does it include client testimonials? Are they only accepting cases from those who have been hurt in serious auto accidents or do they also handle property damage and medical malpractice cases? You can find out important information like that by doing a little research before you call them up. This way, you know if they can help you right away and don’t waste your time (or theirs) chatting with someone who isn’t able to help you. If you need help finding an attorney after an accident, our car accident attorney directory is a great place to start. We offer listings for attorneys across all 50 states so no matter where you live, we can connect you with one who specializes in helping people just like you. Whether your injuries were minor or major, we hope that these tips will help make things easier on your end and lead to less stress as you recover. If there is anything else we can do to assist while moving forward, please let us know! We are always happy to answer any questions. We hope these tips will help guide you towards making a smart decision when it comes time to choose a car accident attorney – afterall, getting back on track after an unfortunate incident should be as painless as possible!
2) Check Their Availability
When you're looking for a car accident lawyer, check their availability to avoid delays in getting your case started. A lawyer who takes only 3 cases a month and has been booked up for two months is not going to help you as much as one who can get to work on your case right away. Look into how many cases they take and make sure you know how far in advance they take new clients before making an appointment. It's generally easier to find a car accident attorney with more free time than those who are constantly busy. However, if your case is extremely serious, there might be an advantage to getting in touch with someone even sooner—they'll have time to really dig into your case from day one instead of having them waiting for weeks or months before working on it. Also, remember that attorneys usually bill by the hour, so if you can't wait for an opening, that means paying more money to cover their costs. Keep that in mind when choosing which attorney to go with.
If They've Been Injured Before: If you've been injured by another party, don't hire a lawyer who hasn't dealt with other injuries like yours before. This is especially important if your injury was caused by some sort of faulty product or medical malpractice (injuries caused by defective products tend to follow similar patterns). An experienced personal injury attorney will already have seen hundreds of these kinds of cases and will likely have handled many very similar ones over his career—meaning he will likely understand what evidence needs collecting and what types of witnesses need interviewing right off the bat.
3) Research, research, research!
It is critical to have an understanding of who you will be working with and how their firm operates. Some attorneys are aggressive while others are patient. Learn what each attorney specializes in, such as car accidents, wrongful death or personal injury cases. This research will help you choose which attorney is right for your case. You should also ask former clients of that particular lawyer whether they were happy with their outcome or not. Finally, make sure you do a background check on any potential candidate before hiring them. Once you’ve narrowed down your list of potential candidates, set up interviews with each one to learn more about them personally and professionally. Be sure to meet at least three different lawyers before making a final decision on who will represent you.
4) Work with a Case Manager
Whenever you’re involved in a car accident, your first goal should be to get medical attention. After that’s done, start documenting everything: Take pictures of any damage to either vehicle; record information about road conditions and traffic flow; and collect contact info for witnesses who saw what happened. That evidence could help a lawyer build a case. So don’t just call your insurance company—work with an experienced personal injury attorney from day one. They can guide you through every step of litigation and make sure your story is heard. Look for an attorney who takes cases on contingency, meaning they only charge if they win—and will work hard to find you compensation for all lost wages, medical bills, property damage and more. (See #4) You want an attorney who specializes in representing clients injured by negligent drivers. Some attorneys might handle these cases as well as others, but having a specialist is important because these lawyers have likely worked closely with experts like medical professionals and mechanics throughout their careers. If you need legal representation after being injured in a car accident, there are many ways to go about finding a qualified attorney. Get referrals from friends or family members; check out online reviews; or search professional organizations such as local bar associations or your state's bar association website . (See #2) But most importantly: Meet with at least two different attorneys before making your decision . Make sure you're comfortable working with them and that they seem genuinely interested in helping you succeed. Then trust your gut—you'll know when it feels right!
5) Ask Questions and Expect Answers
When searching for an attorney, spend time vetting each and every one. You should be able to do so by asking them questions and getting honest answers in return. If a lawyer is reluctant to answer your questions, that’s a red flag. An attorney should also be willing to take on your case, even if it looks like a difficult case to win. After all, difficult cases are what lawyers are best at winning. Find out why they think you will win and make sure that you feel comfortable with their confidence level in your case. Also, you will want to make sure that you can get in touch with them when needed and not just during business hours or when they have already left for vacation or another engagement. This means having contact information readily available and being able to reach them via phone, email, text message, etc. This may seem obvious but many people don’t actually follow through on contacting their attorneys after they win a settlement because of these very reasons. In addition to being available after-hours or during off-hours (if necessary), an attorney should also provide regular updates as well as keep you up-to-date about any changes in your case status. They should always give you ample notice before court dates so that you can schedule around work and other obligations. Lastly, find out how long they have been practicing law as well as how many years of experience they have had handling car accident cases specifically.
