If you have suffered an injury and are considering filing a claim, you may also be thinking about hiring the services of a personal injury lawyer.
To begin with, you should keep in mind that when talking about personal injury attorneys, the field is quite extensive. Their areas of expertise may go from medical malpractice, slip and fall, product liability, and animal bites, to car accidents, defamation, and assault and battery. And many of these areas of specialization can be further subdivided.
Therefore, the first step in your quest for the most appropriate lawyer to handle your case should be to make sure you are dealing with someone that has experience and is knowledgeable in the area that concerns you at this point. When looking for someone with the right experience, you should focus on whether they are familiar with the most common legal issues in this field, as well as whether they have a network of experts that may be called upon to testify in your case, should the need arise.
Once you have one or several attorneys in mind, you would do well to schedule an initial interview with each of them in order to determine which one you feel is the most adequate to fit your needs and will do the best job representing you. Here are some questions to ask during the first interview:
What Are Your Fees?
Let’s be realistic. If what the potential lawyer is planning to charge you makes their services unaffordable, there’s nothing more you need to know. It doesn’t matter if you would have liked their strategies or even their personalities, if the fees are too high, the answer is no. Fortunately, many personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis, so there may not be any out-of-pocket expenses for you. Just make sure to ask what happens if you don’t win your case.
Will You Handle My Case Personally?
Will they have a team working on your case? Will there be secretaries, junior assistants, and paralegals doing the work? Don’t take it personally. It doesn’t mean they don’t care about your case, it’s just the way many law offices work. Make sure this is acceptable to you.
How Much Experience Do You Have With Cases Like Mine?
You want an attorney that is thoroughly familiar with legal issues pertaining to your case. They should also feel comfortable reaching out to experts in the field that may need to be called upon to testify. Ask if they have a wide network of experts.
How Much Courtroom Experience Do You Have?
The majority of civil cases don’t end up going to trial. Still, you don’t want an attorney that has no trial experience. You should select an attorney that has enough court experience while also being a great negotiator in case the case is settled before going to court.
How Much Can I Expect To Get If I Win?
This is a tough question to answer and most lawyers will probably avoid answering in order not to create unrealistic expectations.
Asking these questions may help you make the best decision when hiring a personal injury lawyer. Call the offices of Hipskind & McAninch, LLC today to receive a free initial consultation and get your case resolved.
