It’s no surprise if you’re on the hunt for an accident attorney to help with your auto accident case. With the number of car crashes higher than they’ve been in years, it’s becoming more common for people to look for help with their injury cases.
The question is, will you be able to find a lawyer to give you the service you need?
Hiring auto accident lawyers is a process that you can’t take lightly. Keep reading to learn seven factors to consider when looking at your options for lawyers.
- Lawyer Background
There are many law specialties out there. Each one of them has unique characteristics that a lawyer needs to master. If you work with a generalist lawyer, then the chances are good that they may not know everything that goes into an auto accident case.
Even in the personal injury space, there are many types of specialties. That’s why you need to look specifically for auto accident experience during your search for a lawyer.
During your search, you should be able to see the past case history of a lawyer. Look to see what their success rate is like for cases similar to yours. You want to see a track record of success to maximize your chance of winning your case.
- Current Caseload
Popular lawyers get a lot of work. While this is great for billables and making money, it isn’t always the best for the clients they serve.
You need to know the caseload of a lawyer before you work with one. The lawyer you choose needs to have enough time to give your case the attention it needs. If a lawyer spends all their time juggling different cases, how can you expect your lawyer to get all the details correct for you?
Of course, this might be a different story if a lawyer has associates available to help. Whatever the case, you’ll need to ensure that enough resources are available to give you the service you need.
- Lawyer Personality
While some auto accident injuries may be open and shut, that won’t be the case for all of them. For some people, it will take some time to get their case resolved.
The last thing you want in this situation is to work with a lawyer that you don’t enjoy working with. If you don’t like the people you work with, it increases the chances of you trying to speed things along and missing an important detail.
That’s why you must enjoy the personality of the lawyer you hire. Try to determine if you will like working with the person you hire when interviewing them and make that essential in your hiring decision.
- Legal Fees
It’s easy to get concerned about hiring a lawyer when it comes to fees. Most people think of large hourly rates when they think of lawyers. While some lawyers will charge their clients his way, that isn’t the case for everyone.
When working on auto accident cases, many lawyers work on a contingency. In this fee structure, you won’t pay a penny out of pocket for your casework. Your lawyer’s fee comes from a percentage of your settlement amount.
You and your lawyer will determine this amount before any work starts. There should be no concern about being unable to afford a lawyer to get the help you need when you’re dealing with a catastrophic injury.
- Person Working Your Case
There are some cases where the person you speak with at a law firm will be the person that handles your accident case. However, that won’t always be true. In bigger firms, you’ll get onboarded by designated lawyers in the firm and have your case passed off to an associate.
The problem with this method is that you don’t get to meet the person working on your case if you don’t ask. You can’t learn about them or determine if their personality matches what you want in a lawyer.
Ask your law firm in your interview if the person you’re speaking with will be the one helping you handle your case. If not, you’ll need to talk with the person who does before you commit.
- Work Expected of You
Not all lawyers will expect the same out of you during your accident case. Some lawyers will want you to be hands-on during as much of the process as possible. However, others will want to do most of the work themselves and only reach out to you when needed.
The question is, which method will work best for you?
Before you start working with a lawyer, ask them what their expectations are from you during the process. You don’t want to be hands-free during the accident case and end up working with a lawyer that keeps giving you things to do.
- Past Client Experiences
You won’t learn all the ins and outs of working with a lawyer by speaking with them in person. While you can learn a lot about a person and law firm during the interview process, there will always be little things they leave out that they would rather you not know.
They do this because they’re trying to sell you a service. If someone talks about all the bad points about working with them, it will be challenging for them to get any clients.
That’s why reading online reviews should be one of the first steps you take during your search for an accident lawyer. Reading what others have to say about their experiences will help inform your decision.
Hiring Auto Accident Lawyers Isn’t Simple or Easy
You need all the help you can get if you need to start an auto accident case. These situations are complex, so you can’t afford to work with a lawyer that doesn’t have the skill for the job. Keep the factors above in mind when hiring auto accident lawyers to ensure you find someone who can help.
Do you want to read more tips that will help you in other life situations? Check out the blog to see the rest of the articles.
Hemant Kumar is a project manager at Tridindia with more than nine years of commendable experience in writing about LMS, translation, and IT. His unmatched talent and passion for digital marketing gave him the opportunity to work as a multi-tasking project manager at TridIndia’s sister company, Link Building Corp. Today, he contributes to the world by imparting knowledge on SEO, link building and internet marketing etc., that helps business owners grow their online business.
