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If you have been involved in an accident or injured due to someone else’s negligence, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer. Many people think that hiring a personal injury lawyer means that their case has to be settled in court. However, only about 5 of personal injury claims go to court. In addition to a lawsuit that is settled in court, a personal injury lawyer will help you file your personal injury claim and have it settled outside of court, providing advice along the way about the steps you should take to ensure you get the claim you deserve.
A skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer can help you handle personal injury claims from start to finish related to:
A good personal injury attorney will actively investigate your case and ensure that your rights are protected every step of the way, which can be a long and tedious process. However, this behavior is critical in ensuring that you obtain the compensation you deserve. Here are eight tips that will help you choose the best personal injury lawyer for you.
You need to hire an attorney who has handled cases like yours. Right from the beginning, an experienced attorney will assess your case and advise you on whether it’s worth pursuing legal action or not. Frustration, fear, anger, and pain may impact your ability to be factual. An experienced personal injury lawyer will be more objective and prevent you from making a rash decision. They will also not succumb to pressure from insurance companies and settle for a lower compensation amount than what you really deserve. Should your case go to trial, an experienced attorney will zealously represent you and work towards a favorable verdict.
Personal injury law is an intricate legal area which requires specialized practices and rules. Thus, personal injury cases require a unique set of skills and knowledge for determining liability issues such as causation and negligence. Since about 95% of personal injury cases are settled before trial, an attorney who specializes in the personal injury discipline will know how to negotiate a fair settlement. If you hire an attorney who handles personal injury cases alongside other legal areas like divorces, wills, trusts, and so on, you risk compromising the quality of your legal representation since personal injury law is not your lawyer’s bread-and-butter practice area.
This is one of the most critical elements when hiring a personal injury lawyer—you need to hire a lawyer who is available to discuss your case. A communicative attorney will guide you through the entire legal process and keep you updated on your case’s progress. They will also listen to you and seek to understand the effects of the injuries on your life in order to represent you the best that they can. In addition, your lawyer should be available to answer all of your concerns related to your injury claim. Attorneys who do not return your missed calls or answer your emails are not truly invested in working on your case and do not have your best interests in mind.
With the exception of certain high-profile cases, you do not have to endure lengthy and complex trials to get a settlement for your personal injury claim. Choose an attorney who is comfortable using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods such as arbitration and mediation. Partner Joshua Wagner was voted as the Top Lawyer in Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Daytona Beach News Journal. ADR will save you money, time, and emotional energy so you can move past the legal matters and focus on healing.
When choosing a personal injury lawyer, you should check what their past clients have to say about them. This will give you some insight into their personality, experience, work ethics, communication, and success rate. You can find reviews on a lawyer’s Google business page, Facebook page, or websites for lawyer reviews such as AVVO. Hiring a reputable attorney with a high client satisfaction rate puts you in a better position to receive as much compensation as you deserve.
Certain personal injury cases have the potential to become expensive and complicated very fast. For instance, if you are filing a personal injury claim arising from medical malpractice or product liability, your attorney may need to hire a variety of experts, such as:
Since your case will not yield any monetary value until the very end, you will need to hire an attorney who can foot the expenses of hiring any necessary parties and get their money back once they win the case on your behalf.
Personal injury lawyers typically offer free consultations and provide their legal services with contingency fees, meaning you will owe them nothing unless they recover compensation or other losses for you. Also, the lawyer must put their contigency fee in writing. At Vasilaros Wagner we go one step further, we guarantee that we will never make more than you because your life is worth more.
Does your personal injury lawyer have an established professional network? As previously mentioned, most personal injury cases involve testimonies from experts such as doctors and insurance claims adjusters. Choosing an attorney who has an established network of reliable experts increases your chances of winning the case.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer is not a decision that has to be made overnight. While recommendations from your friends, family, or colleagues could help, it is vital to the outcome of your claim that you do your research and choose a personal injury lawyer you are confident will represent your best interests. Looking for a personal injury lawyer near you makes it easy to check out their credentials, ethics, lawyer guarantees, and testimonials from previous clients. If you need a personal injury lawyer in Daytona Beach or Palm Coast who will fight for your case as if you are family, call 386-777-7777 today.