5 Things to Look for When Choosing a Car Accident Lawyer
Finding a reputable car
accident lawyer to work with is more important than you might think. If you've
recently been injured in a car accident, you'll want a car accident lawyer who
can represent your best interests, so you can focus on recovery. A good accident lawyer will be able to make
sure all the right paperwork is filed, provide general legal advice, determine
an accurate settlement estimate, collect evidence to strengthen your personal
injury case, negotiate with insurance adjusters, and represent you in court, if
necessary.
To make sure you find a
reputable car accident lawyer you can trust to handle your case to the best of
their abilities, look for the following things when consulting with prospective
lawyers:
A good lawyer will make
it easy for you to understand what they will do to help you with your case.
They will provide you with clear information about their process, fees, values,
and more. If you have any questions, they should be direct and to the point.
You should not leave their office with more questions than answers. If they are
unable to provide clear insight into their practice during your initial conversation,
there's a good chance you'll have issues with communication further along the
line if you hire them.
A good lawyer should be
interested in your case. A lawyer that's not engaged will only put in the
minimum amount of required effort. You can end up getting a smaller settlement
than you could have gotten because of this. How can you tell if a lawyer is
engaged? They should ask you many detailed questions about your case, and what your legal goals are.
Always ask a lawyer for a
list of references you can contact and speak to. These references should speak
to the reputation of the lawyer. Even if you don't contact their references,
you can have confidence in the fact that they provided them to you. A lawyer
that doesn't have references or won't provide you with any should be avoided.
The more organized their
office looks, the more organized they probably are. Keep an eye on how their
staff does their work and how tidy the lawyer's desk is. If they have to
shuffle through piles of paper to find what they're looking for while their staff struggles to handle
incoming calls, they're probably not very organized, which doesn't reflect well on their ability to
handle your case.
Ask the lawyer about
their experience. Make sure they have specific experience handling car accident
cases. You will also want to be sure they have experience arguing cases in
court and have a winning track record.