Back in the day, people trusted the professionals they hired based simply on their titles and the degrees on their wall. Times have changed in a myriad of ways, however, including the ways in which we choose in whom to entrust our lives, our care, and our personal injury cases.
Personal injury cases involve sensitive information about driving records, medical conditions, and often, expose financial and emotional losses. In order to make sure that you are getting the best representation possible, particularly from someone tasked with your advocacy, it is wise you ask your personal injury lawyer the questions you need to feel supported and secure.
What Should You Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer?
You may not know what to ask or the information that will serve you best. The list of questions below can help you determine the type of information you will need and guide you in your search for the Brooklyn lawyer that is right for you. The lawyer you choose should not only be willing to field these questions but be prepared with the answers you seek.
When and Where Did You Get Your Law Degree?
Finding out where your prospective attorney studied is information that often guides and informs clients. While there are good lawyers that go to lesser known schools or institutions that are not as highly ranked as others, it is important that you not let the name of a school limit who you choose to represent you. Still, your research into where they received their education, and how long ago they received it, may impact your decision to hire them.
What is Your Experience With Personal Injury Cases?
In order to evaluate if the lawyer with whom you are meeting is both trained and experienced in personal injury law, you need to ask. Degrees on walls can only attest to so much. Hearing from lawyers themselves, however is a better way to get the information you need.
How Many Cases Are You Currently Handling?
Lawyers are only human and like the rest of us, can only juggle so many tasks at once. If your lawyer indicates that their caseload is overwhelming, or you sense this is the case on your own, you may want to choose another personal injury lawyer.
How Many Cases Like Mine Have You Previously Handled?
This question speaks not only to your attorney’s legal experience but how familiar they are with cases that are similar to yours.
Can I Get References From Some of Your Former Clients?
Your attorney may have testimonials on their website, but you should be able to speak to someone who used them previously. Reputation, after all, speaks volumes.
How Frequently Do You Speak With Your Clients?
Communication is key when it comes to personal injury cases. Without open lines of discourse, the freedom to exchange important details of your case, and access that is mutually convenient, it can be very difficult to properly advocate and win a case.
How Long Do You Think My Case will Take?
Though no attorney may know for sure how long your case will take, they should be able to provide you with an estimate at the very least.
Will You be the Lawyer Who Represents Me in Court or Will it be One of Your Associates?
There is a chance that the lawyer who represents you in court will not be the one with whom you meet prior. You need to determine if you are comfortable with this possibility and if so, may want to meet with the other lawyers in the firm. If you are not comfortable with this, however, it may be time to find another lawyer.
Contacting Your Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury cases are notoriously difficult for a host of reasons. Rather than complicating things further, contact rmfwlaw.com/personal-injury-lawyer-brooklyn/ who will meet your needs, answer your questions and get the job done.
Comments 2
Working with an injury lawyer that has handled previous cases before will really help you boost your confidence. Since they’ve seen other kinds of scenarios before, it’s really going to be helpful for you to put your trust in them to resolve what’s going to happen in court. If ever I’m in an injury case, I’ll make sure that I hire a personal injury attorney that’s handled previous cases before.
Thanks for the tip about how I should also ask for references when planning to hire a personal injury lawyer. A friend of mine might need to look for one soon because he plans to file for a claim very soon. His wrist got badly injured when operating a machine at work so it would be best to start gathering evidence to support his case.