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 Do You Really Need An Attorney To Settle Your Case?
Hold on to your seat... Not always. (I bet you never thought you would read a book by an attorney which stated that you may not need to hire counsel!)
You definitely do not need an attorney for every small injury case. In fact, our office does not even accept cases where there's little or no property damage or the injuries are minor.
Why not? Simple. In the small case, the attorney fee and costs might leave little or nothing for you after your medical bills are paid, and we don't believe that would be fair to you.
How Do You Find a Qualified Personal Injury Attorney?
Choosing an attorney to represent you is an important but daunting task. The decision certainly should not be made on the basis of advertising alone. The Yellow Pages are filled with ads--all of which say basically the same thing. You should not hire a lawyer based solely on advertising--anyone can buy a slick commercial.
You shouldn't even hire me (or any other lawyer) until you trust that I can do a good job for you.
How do you find out who in your local community is the best for your case? I believe that there are certain questions to ask that will lead you to the best person for your case-no matter what type of claim you have. It may involve some time on your part, but that's OK because the decision as to who your attorney will be is very important.
The world of personal injury and accident claims is, in our opinion, much too specialized for someone who does not regularly handle these cases. Too many times we have looked at cases that other-inexperienced-attorneys have handled and botched.
You should be aware that the insurance companies who defend personal injury and accident cases know who the attorneys are in your area who actually go into court to try cases and who do not.
When I was active in the insurance field, I certainly used this kind of information to evaluate my cases. In fact, and this is a special piece of my "Inside Information," one of the first questions most insurance adjusters will ask when a serious claim comes in is: who is representing the plaintiff?
If this information is important to the insurance company, shouldn't it be important to you?
So, How do You Find Out Who is a Good Personal Injury Lawyer in Your Area? Here Are Some Tips:
- READ THIS BOOK!
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Get a referral from an attorney that you know. He or she will probably know someone who specializes in your area of need.
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The Yellow Pages can actually be a good source of names. However, you need to understand three things:
First, not everyone advertises in the Yellow Pages. In fact, most of our cases come from referrals from other attorneys or from satisfied clients.
Second, be careful about the ads that tout too many different specialties, no one can do everything well. You don't want a "jack of all trades."
Third, be careful about advertising designed to attract a high volume of cases, including the small cases that we do not accept. Make sure that the attorney you hire is selective enough with his or her cases that your important case does not become just one more "file in the pile."
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Your local bar association probably has a lawyer referral service. Understand that lawyers have signed up and paid a fee to be listed in certain specialties. Their names come up on a rotating basis. This is another good source for an initial appointment. Just take the questions we talk about here to that interview.
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Interview several attorneys. Ask each attorney who else handles these cases in your area. If they won't give you any names, leave. Ask this question of each attorney. The names you see showing up on various lists of recommendations are probably good bets for attorneys doing these cases on a regular basis in your area.
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Ask each attorney if they have information just like this book and/or a website so that you can find out more about qualifications, experience, and method of handling a case before you walk in the door.
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Beware of any attorney who contacts you in writing just after you have had an accident for the sole purpose of soliciting your claim. If you are contacted "cold" it should be for the sole purpose of providing you free information, like the "Inside Information" in this book that you can study in your own home on your own time.
Here are some factors and good points to look for and question your attorney about. Note that not every attorney will meet all of these criteria (including me), but too many "holes" should raise a big question mark.
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Personal Injury Experience - has your attorney effectively handled cases on both side of this process? If not, then he probably doesn't fully understand the ways the insurance industry will fight your claim and likely does not have the "Inside Information" I possess due to my years with insurance companies.
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Legal Experience - obviously, the longer you have been practicing a particular area of the law, the more you will know. Experience is a big factor in most cases.
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Trial Experience - ask the attorney how many cases he has actually tried (Less than 10 is not a good number!) Has he or she achieved any significant results? Does he have a list of case results available that you can look at? Don't accept the "All my cases are confidential" line! (Helpful Hint: The greater your number of substantial results achieved, the more likely the insurance companies will respect you. Of course, past results are not a guarantee of the future, but they do demonstrate some level of experience and success.)
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Respect in the Legal Community - does the attorney teach other legal professionals in Continuing Legal Education courses?
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Membership in Trial Lawyer Association - in our area, you can certainly find a lawyer who is a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA), and the American Association of Justice (AAJ) [formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA.)
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Publications - has your attorney written anything that has been published? This is another sign of respect that the legal community has for his or her skills and experience.
For more valuable information on choosing an attorney and whether you really need one, please place your order for the Virginia Car Accident Guide.
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