Selecting a Good Personal Injury Lawyer

11/24/09

Majority of personal injury lawyers either defend personal injury lawsuits or represent injured people to help them obtain compensation amounts, but not both. If you have been injured in an accident and wish to claim reasonable reparation for the same, you should look for what is termed as a “plaintiff’s lawyer”.

However, selecting a good attorney for your case is not very easy. It is first necessary to first prepare a list of prospective lawyers who you would like to hire for your case. This list can be prepared easily using lawyer referrals, online lawyer listings and yellow pages, or by simply asking friends and colleagues for their references. The best way, however, is to use online lawyer listings on reputed websites as these listings are carefully prepared, reliable and easy-to-use.

Once the list is prepared, you’ll need to screen it and whittle it down to just 3-4 prospective candidates. Following are a few tips and guidelines that you can follow during this process to finally choose the right one to handle your case:

1. Look for the biographical information of the shortlisted attorneys and their law firms on websites. The reliability of the data or their reputation and past records can also be found out from the State Bar Association. Make sure these lawyers have suitable experience and expertise in the area you need.
2. Browse through the profiles of the prospective candidates and try to figure out who these lawyers and their law forms primarily represent. This is important because attorneys who represent injured people usually do not defend against personal injury lawsuits in that particular area. If you fail to get enough information from the profiles, you can always call the lawyer’s office and find out the required details.
3. Using the search engines to find out any articles, FAQ's or other informational pieces the lawyer has done is not a bad idea! This would certainly give you a level of comfort. Common keywords, such as ‘personal injury attorneys” or “trial lawyers”, can be used to do the search and cross-check your references.
4. Also, before hiring a lawyer, make sure he/she is registered with the personal injury trial lawyers' associations, such as the American Association for Justice ("AAJ") or your state's trial lawyers' association.
5. You can get to know a lot about the cases that he/she has handled and the reputation by checking out the online archives of your local newspaper.
6. Also, find information pertaining to conflicts of interest. For instance, make sure that your lawyer does not represent any opposing party. If you are planning to file a bankruptcy, would you like to have a lawyer who usually represents your creditors?
7. Last, but not the least, consider your special needs, if you have any. For example, if you are not very comfortable with English, it is advisable to go for an attorney who knows your native language.

Personal injury has been a field with a lot of malpractice abuse. Because injuries happen all the time, many cases they happen unintentionally and accidentally. So the trick is to be sure that you can prove malice. That will make your case so much more stronger.

To conclude, never do the mistake of crossing a lawyer off your list just because he or she didn't have the time to meet with you on short notice! You must understand that good personal injury lawyers are extremely busy, owing to which they may not be able to spend as much time as they would like with prospective clients. Also, if you have a good case in hand, it is better to hire a lawyer on a contingency fee basis, which means that the lawyer would charge approximately 25-40% of your compensation amount.