How do I find a personal injury lawyer?
After being injured in an accident due to no fault of their own, such as an automobile accident, slip or trip and fall accident, workplace accident, most people need and want to find a personal injury attorney but don’t know how. Do they call the first one they see on TV, use Google or do they call an attorney referral service?
The best way to find a personal injury lawyer is thru the referral of a prior client who had a positive experience with the attorney as word of mouth can be a great way to help narrow down your options. Talk with friends or coworkers who have been represented by the attorney in their own cases or claims. Although the prior clients’ opinions are certainly valuable, please remember that each case is different and you should make your decision based on your own experience. Additionally, Google is a great tool to use to find a personal injury attorney as it provides a ton of information to you about many personal injury attorneys in your area in a very short amount of time. It is important to meet with the personal injury attorneys face to face and not simply over the phone.
When you are discussing legal representation for your case with a possible personal injury attorney, be sure to find out answer to the following questions:
- How long has the lawyer been in practice?
- What percentage of the lawyer’s practice involves personal injury cases?
- Does the lawyer most often represent plaintiffs or defendants?
- Would the lawyer personally handle your case, refer it out or pass it along to another associate or even a paralegal?
- Would the attorney charge you any fees or costs if he or she does not recover money for you?
Here are a few “don’ts” when looking to hire a personal injury attorney:
I recommend that you do not call an attorney referral service as these services sometimes are only looking out for the financial interest of their medical and legal subscribers and do not have your best interest as their top priority as it should always be.
You should never hire an attorney that contacts you (either personally or using someone who works for him or her) within thirty days after the accident as this is a violation of Florida law and is indicative of a lack of ethics and professionalism.
Finally, I do not recommend hiring an attorney that does not specialize in the area of personal injury and accident cases, such as an attorney that also handles cases such as divorce, real estate or bankruptcy. This is primarily because personal injury is a complex field of law that requires 100% of an attorney’s professional time to stay up to date on the ever changing law and to professionally handle your case.
The attorneys at Payer & Associates each have over 20 years representing personal injury victims. We only handle personal injury cases on behalf of plaintiff’s and are lifetime members of both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multimillion Dollar Advocates Group Forum (less than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members). We handle our cases personally and we’re very accessible to clients to provide them with the professional service they deserve.
If you’ve been injured in an accident, please contact Payer & Associates.
