There is a good chance that most adults will end up in a car accident at some point in their life. After all, there are over 6 million accidents annually in the US. Many of these accidents get resolved with a conversation between insurance companies. Unfortunately, not every accident wraps up quite so easily. If there are serious injuries or property damages, the accident can turn into a legal matter for the involved parties. If you’re in that situation, you need to know how to select an auto accident attorney.
Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about picking between options for auto accident attorneys.
Ask Around
Accidents are common enough that you may well know someone who had an auto accident case in the past. If you do, you can ask them who they used for their case.
A recommendation from a friend or family can often help you feel more comfortable with approaching a lawyer about your case. After all, people you trust generally don’t recommend someone they don’t trust for important matters.
You should ask some questions. For example, you can ask whether the lawyer won the case or at least negotiated a better settlement. You can also ask if the person would use that lawyer again if they ended up in another accident.
With any luck, you’ll end up with a number of recommendations. These recommendations can form the core of your initial research.
Call Your Lawyer
Many people have a family lawyer that helps deal with things like estate planning. While your family lawyer almost certainly won’t represent you, it doesn’t make their advice useless.
The lawyers in a given area tend to know other lawyers, either personally or by reputation. Your lawyer may have some advice about who is good at auto accident cases.
Just as importantly, they can steer you away from lawyers who have a reputation for shoddy work or settling as fast as possible.
Also, Read The Ultimate Guide on Finding an Accident Lawyer To Represent You
Research Online while looking out for auto accident attorney
Fortunately, you won’t find yourself stuck if nobody can make a recommendation to you. The internet is full of places where people can leave reviews for just about everything, including lawyers.
Spend some time reading online reviews. See what lawyers people talk up and which ones get scathing reviews after a case. While you should take any review with a grain of salt, you can often pick up on patterns.
For example, any lawyer can get one lousy or middling review. If a lawyer has dozens of poor reviews, though, that should serve as a red flag for you. If you see the same kind of complaints, there’s a good chance those complaints hold water.
If a lawyer gets glowing reviews from their clients, there’s a good chance that those reviews are accurate.
Consider Their Experience
It’s common for law firms to say that they handle a lot of different areas of law. That’s not a problem in and of itself. Lots of firms handle work in closely-related areas of law.
For example, a firm might handle business, tax, and real estate law. There is a lot of overlap there. After all, businesses must deal with taxes and many own properties.
You also see instances where a firm says it handles things like personal injury, family, and criminal cases. These are areas of law without much overlap. Firms like these often specialize in only one of those areas and treat the others as sidelines.
You want a lawyer or a firm that specializes in auto accidents or at least personal injury. If it’s not clear what a lawyer or firm specializes in, ask them.
For example, you can ask something like:
“What percentage of your cases are auto accidents or personal injury?”
If they come back with an answer that’s more than 30 or 40 percent, you know it’s something that they handle on a regular basis.
Type of Case
Not all auto accident cases are the same. A low-speed collision in an intersection is fundamentally different from a pedestrian getting hit by a car.
Let’s say that you were hit by a car. You’ll want to look for a firm that has handled that kind of case before, such as https://alphaaccidentlawyers.com.
Track Record
In most auto cases, what you’re looking for is some manner of compensation or a better level of compensation. Insurance companies want to pay the least they can get away with, so they often lowball settlement amounts.
That makes a lawyer’s track record very important. Remember, most of these cases won’t end up in a courtroom. In fact, only about 3 percent reach a trial verdict.
So, you should steer clear of questions about their win/loss ratio. Instead, ask about what percentage of their clients they got compensation for. That’s a much more useful and telling number.
Availability
On TV, it always looks like all you need to do is walk into a law firm and you can get representation immediately. Real life works a little differently.
Lawyers have a finite amount of hours per week, just like every other kind of professional. That puts a limit on how many clients and cases they can handle at the same time. Granted, most lawyers can juggle a number of cases, and firms can juggle even more.
Even so, you may well discover that your first choice simply doesn’t have any room for your case in the near future. You should prepare yourself for the possibility that you may need to contact a few lawyers or firms before you find one.
Communication
Something you want to watch out for is a lawyer with bad communication. It’s not realistic to expect that you’ll get them on the phone at will or will get immediate responses to emails. However, a good lawyer or firm will generally make a point to get back in touch with you within about one day.
If communication is rough even before you hire a lawyer, it’s good odds that the problem won’t improve after you hire them. You should look for a lawyer that gets back to you in a reasonable amount of time and answers your questions clearly.
Also, Read 5 Reasons to Hire a Lawyer After a Car Accident
Personality
Everybody brings their personality to the table, including lawyers. The sad reality is that not all personalities mix well. Sometimes, you just automatically dislike someone.
That kind of automatic dislike is a non-starter when you’re hiring a lawyer. You’re likely to dismiss things they tell you just because you don’t like them.
Granted, it’s not essential that you want to become personal friends with a lawyer. It is essential that you can stand to be in the same room with them and take their advice seriously.
If you find that you just cannot stand a lawyer when you meet with them, move on to someone else. It will prove less stressful for everyone involved.
Fees
Fee structures are complicated when it comes to lawyers. Some charge an hourly rate, some charge flat fees, and others work on contingency.
Hourly Rate
With an hourly rate, the lawyer simply sets an amount they charge per hour. Then, your bill accrues as they work. Some lawyers also charge in increments of an hour.
For example, they may charge in 15-minute or 30-minute increments. This is often helpful in charging for things like case-related phone calls or short meetings that don’t last a full hour.
Flat Fees
Some lawyers will also charge a flat fee for particular services that don’t require extensive work. For example, a lawyer might charge $1,200 for a basic will and testament that doesn’t involve complex estate planning.
Contingency Fees
Contingency fees are fairly common when it comes to personal injury cases. That means that you only pay if the lawyer actually comes through and gets you a settlement.
However, even with contingency fees, there is a lot of variation from lawyer to lawyer and firm to firm. On the low end, a lawyer might ask for 30 percent of the final settlement. On the high end, they might ask for 50 percent.
Those variations can make comparing attorney fees a bit of a challenge.
Expenses
In addition, clients are typically charged separately for expenses. For example, there are often filing fees or expert witness fees.
It is very important that you understand the fees and expenses you will face if they succeed or even if they don’t succeed.
Select an Auto Accident Lawyer with Care
You should make a serious effort to select an auto accident lawyer with care. The performance of that lawyer can have a huge impact on what kind of settlement you get or even if you get one.
Pay close attention to recommendations and reviews. Dig into the lawyer’s or law firm’s experience and specialties. Check into their availability.
Pick an auto accident attorney that doesn’t bother you on a personal level. Make sure that you understand their fee structure.
