Most people get short changed when they are demanding compensation after they have been involved in an accident, either at their workplace or on the road. This is because they don’t understand the ins and outs of personal injury law. If you have been involved in an accident recently, the best thing you can do is to hire a personal injury attorney to push for your compensation. The advantage of working alongside such a lawyer is that he is able to prove that the other party is responsible for your injury.
Besides that, the attorney is able to negotiate for a fair compensation that’s equivalent to the damages you have suffered. While it’s obvious there are many attorneys out there, most personal injury victims are not familiar with the process of hiring a lawyer. At the end of it all, they hire the wrong lawyer and get frustrated further because they don’t have someone to guide them. Here is a list of the steps that you should follow when hiring a personal injury attorney.
Table of Contents
1. Get Some Leads
The first thing to do when seeking for personal injury compensation is to get some leads from your social inner circles. Since personal injury is a problem that affects many people, it should be easier for you to get referrals from friends and relatives. This will save you from the trouble of hiring a lawyer whose experience has not yet been tested. It’s also important you do a Google search. You only need to type the phrase personal injury Atlanta and check the firms that are listed in the first page of search engine results. Alternatively, you could consider checking your local attorney directories.
2. Decide on Selection Criteria
After getting some leads, the next step is creating a selection checklist. Since you can’t just hire any lawyer, it’s recommended you zero in on the lawyers that have experience in handling personal injury cases. This is because every attorney has his field of specialization. If you happen to hire a lawyer that majors in either divorce, criminal or property cases, you will obviously reduce your chances of winning the case. It’s also important you opt for lawyers that are based in your state so that you can access them at your convenience. Keep in mind that you will need to schedule regular meetings with your attorney so that he can update you on the progress of the case.
3. Shortlist the best 3 Firms
It’s always a good idea to shortlist about 3 law firms. That way you will not run out of options in case one of them fails to meet your expectations. To avoid disappointments that come later, you should visit their respective websites and read the testimonials that have been left behind by their previous clients. It’s also recommended that you check their ratings on attorney review sites.
4. Confirm the Fees and Sign the Contract
When hiring a personal injury lawyer, there has to be an agreement specifying the roles of each party and what should happen if the terms are not followed. But before you sign on the dotted line, it’s important you first verify what the lawyer will take home as legal fees. Since you will not make any upfront payment, both of you should agree on the percentage that the law firm will get after you have been fully compensated by the party that is responsible for your injury.
