If you have been hurt in a car crash that wasn't your fault, you might be able to win compensation for your pain and suffering by filing a personal injury case. You can expect to negotiate with the other party's insurance adjuster, whose job it is to minimize any compensation you may be requesting. Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer to work with will optimize the outcome of negotiations and ensure that you can easily take your case to court if it becomes necessary. Here are a few things to consider when choosing a personal injury lawyer to work with:
Payment Schedules
Payment scheduling is one of the most important aspects to consider when choosing a lawyer to represent you. While many personal injury lawyers will work on a contingency basis if they feel that you have a winning case, others may require a deposit upfront or insist on being paid for their hourly services as your case unfolds. Because of this, it's important to ask potential lawyers you consult with to provide you with their full payment schedules and policies before choosing who to work with. This will eliminate any unwanted financial surprises as your case unfolds and help ensure that you don't end up losing your legal representative because you couldn't pay a fee you weren't aware would be due.
Workloads
It's likely that you won't be the only client of any potential lawyers you consult with, so it's important to determine just how big each lawyer's workload is before agreeing to hire them as your legal counsel. Make sure that your case won't be put on the back burner until other cases are closed. The lawyer you choose to work with should have the time to get open your case right away without delay. Have each potential lawyer provide you with a list of their current cases when you meet with them. This will hopefully help you determine which lawyer will be able to give you and your case the needed attention.
Staff Support
You should have a clear understanding of who exactly will be working on any aspects of your personal injury case once it's opened, so find out from each lawyer you consider hiring whether or not they utilize a support staff. If support staff is used for things like filing and managing paperwork or communicating with the other party's representatives, you need to know about their qualifications. Will the lawyer be working with paralegals and legal secretaries or general administrators? Look for a lawyer who employs the help of professionals that have some specific legal experience and qualifications to help ensure the best results for your case.
Track Record
In addition to looking at the recent success of potential lawyers you consider hiring, ask for some background information that brings light to how many total cases they've won compared to the number of cases they've lost throughout their careers. It's also a good idea to learn what types of personal injury cases make up the bulk of any lawyers you think about hiring — some attorneys you speak to may work predominantly on slip and fall cases and may not have any experience with car accidents, at which point you can focus on finding a lawyer with a quality track record who works specifically with car accident cases.
Making these considerations as you compare personal injury lawyers should help ensure that you choose a legal representative that meets all of your needs and can win you the compensation you deserve. Talk with a lawyer from a law firm like AMS Law Group to learn more about your options.
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