If you have bee in a traffic accident, you may have a lot of questions about what you should do. It can be hard to think about the ways that you can be helped by a car accident lawyer but there are a lot of things that you will need. Your first thoughts should be about getting the medical care that you need but after that you may want to consider talking to an auto accident attorney.
5 Tips for Finding the Right Car Accident Lawyer:
1. Talk to the people you know. Given the number of car accidents in the United States every year, the chances are good that you know at least one person who has been in a traffic accident. You may know people who have had to go to a car accident attorney to help them with their claim. The best way to find any good quality products or services is to get a personal recommendation from someone you trust. This is no different. Every case is different but you can get a list of names that will be a good jumping off point.
2. Look online. All law firms have web pages. You should look through and find the websites for the car accident lawyers you are looking at. If they have testimonials, you should do what you can to check them out. It is sad but some companies do make these up. It never hurts to double check when you see these.
3. Talk to lawyers you know. Have you needed a lawyer for anything? No, your divorce lawyer cannot handle your car accident but they may know of good car accident lawyers in your area. They also may have more of an insight when it comes to other people in the same profession. It never hurts to ask.
4. Take advantage of the free consultations. All law firms offer free consultations to prospective clients. This gives them a chance to get to know you and let you know what they can do for you. This is a totally normal way they do business so you should not feel bad if you spend a lot of time with one lawyer and then go with another car accident lawyer. They understand that you need to hire the lawyer you feel the most comfortable working with.
5. Ask the right questions. When you go to the different law firms, you should bing with you a list of questions and make sure you get them answered. Any law firm that will not take the time to answer your questions before you have hired them is not going to take the time afterwards. Here are some of the questions you should ask:
- What made you do into this kind of law? There are a lot of kinds of law that an attorney can choose to practice, you want to hire an auto accident lawyer who cares about this kind of law. This may not seem like it should make a difference but it does.
- How much experience do you have negotiating cases? Between 95 and 96% of all cases never see the inside of a courtroom. You want a car accident lawyer who is a good negotiator. The statistic about pre-trial settlements goes across the board so no matter what kind of personal injury lawyer you want to see, they need to be good at negotiating.
- What is the time frame you see in my case? You want to know that your lawyer has a sense for when they will finish your case. How long will it take to get a decision? This may make a difference in what you decide to do.
- Who will be working on my case? Law firms employ legal assistants and paralegals who handle a lot of the grunt work. You should be able to get to know the people who are working on your case.
- What is the fee structure? Every law firm handles this their own way. Make sure that before you hire any car accident lawyer that you totally understand their billing policies and procedures.
It may seem like a daunting challenge but you can find the right car accident lawyer if you do some work.