6 Important Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer

Published on: 19 July 2018 Last Updated on: 22 June 2021

The worst has happened. You got injured on the job, or your spouse hurt you in a fight.

Something happened to you while you were at the dentist, or you had a severe reaction to a latte.

Regardless, health care is expensive. There’s a chance that you’re not able to cover the bill.

You start wondering if there’s some other way to pay for your medical expenses. You talk to your company or ask for compensation. But no one is willing to do anything.

If this sounds like you or someone you love, it’s time to consider legal action. You can contact a personal injury lawyer who will help you get what you deserve.

But before you hire anyone, check out our six questions to ask a personal injury lawyer.

Why Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Sometimes we get hurt, and it’s because of our own stupidity. But there are times when the blame rests on another party. This can be an individual, a company, or even a doctor. When this happens, it’s time to hire a personal injury lawyer.

There are many different kinds of lawyers who can help you. Choosing the right one depends on the personal injury questions you have.

Most personal injury lawyers can handle a car crash case. But what happens if there are many parties involved or if there is severe damage? You’ll need a lawyer with more experience in your type of case.

If a doctor injured you, then hire a lawyer with experience in medical malpractice. At least they need to know about medical procedures and misdiagnoses.

If you got hurt by a piece of machinery, then look for a lawyer with a background in corporate and negligence law.

Do some research into the nature of your case. That way you’ll be able to find the right personal injury lawyer for your needs.

What Information Do I Need Before I Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Keep in mind that scheduling a consultation with a lawyer is not the same as hiring them. You’re asking them in-depth questions about their background and career. You’d do the same for any contractor or real estate agent.

But before you sit down with a lawyer, it will help you to have a few things prepared.

First, you’ll need to record the details of your case. Write down everything that’s related to what happened. Describe the events in the order they happened, and be as detailed as possible.

If you need help, think of the 4 W’s. Who was involved? Where did the accident happen? When did it take place? What were you doing? In fact, what was everyone doing?

Try to be as factual as possible. If you lie, it will come out in court. Then you’ll be in trouble.

Gather any evidence you can. This includes things like:

Police reports, tickets, arrest information, and toxicology results
Eye-witness reports
Photographs and videos
Bills, receipts, medical records, and any diagnoses

Getting all this information in one folder will help you and the personal injury lawyer.

6 Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer

Hiring a lawyer is as personal as hiring a doctor or a therapist. It’s an expensive service, and you want to make sure you have the right lawyer for you. So check out our six questions to ask a personal injury lawyer before you hire them.

1. Have You Taken a Case Like Mine Before?

This is one of the most important questions to ask an attorney before hiring them. You want to make sure your case is in good hands, so don’t be afraid to ask about their experience.

Your lawyer should have years of experience working with cases like yours. It’s also important that they have experience winning cases, or making successful settlements.

Ask them for a reference list of all their cases. They should also have endorsements from past clients.

If your internal radar goes off, you can look up an attorney’s disciplinary records online. Some states need a lawyer’s bar number to do this. But other states like Georgia will list the lawyer’s name.

2. What is Your Opinion of My Case?

In other words, does this personal injury attorney think you’ll win?

This is one of the more dubious questions to ask a personal injury lawyer, but it’s an essential one. Their answer will help you make your decision about whether to hire this attorney.

You want them to give you an honest answer, of course. No decent lawyer wants to waste their time on a hopeless case, even if you are paying them.

They should give you an objective opinion about whether you’ll win your case based on the evidence you’ve given them.

That said, ask this question with an open mind. It’s easy for the victim of an accident to think they deserve compensation. If a personal injury lawyer is telling you it won’t happen, there might be some merit in that.

3. Will My Case Go to Trial?

Only 4%-5% of personal injury cases go to trial. That means there’s a good chance your case will settle out of court.

But no matter what the odds, a good personal injury lawyer will prepare to go to trial. In fact, it’s a red flag if the lawyer starts talking about settling out of court from the get-go.

Trials can be long and expensive for you. But if you have to go to court you want a lawyer who’s experienced. Ask them about their record in court, and whether the case won by a judge or jury.

Your lawyer should also be able to give you a timeline of how long a court proceeding takes.

While each case is unique, an experienced lawyer knows how things go at the local courthouse.

Regardless of whether you go to court, you need to talk with your lawyer about your level of involvement. Some people want to be at every meeting and deposition, but most lawyers won’t allow it. It’s often best for you to stay on the sidelines and trust your lawyer.

4. What are Your Fees?

This is another important question to ask an attorney. If you can’t afford this lawyer, then you’ll need to look for someone else.

A typical personal injury lawyer earns money based on contingency fees. That means you won’t pay any fees unless you win money damages in the lawsuit.

Once you do win the case, the personal injury lawyer will take a percentage of the money. This can range from 25% – 40% of anything you win from the lawsuit.

While this is a great incentive for your lawyer to win your case, it might not be the only bill. There are other costs you should ask about, like case-related costs. These are also known as “out of pocket” fees. Ask your lawyer about these fees, and who will pay them in case you lose.

Do not work with a personal injury lawyer who charges by the hour. These kinds of payment plans can get expensive in personal injury cases.

5. How Much is My Case Worth?

An experienced personal injury lawyer should give you an estimate on how much your case is worth. They’ll base this estimate on cases they’ve already won or worked on.

Most personal injury lawyers won’t give you a hard number to work with, but instead give you some kind of range. They need to explain how the different factors in your case will affect the bottom line.

You can also ask them point-blank whether they’ll make more for you than their competitors.

After all, this isn’t only about getting justice for you. It’s also about who’s going to pay your medical bills.

Money is always hard to talk about, but you have to do it. You can discover more about discussing your case worth by doing some research. Make sure that you factor in the lawyer’s contingency fee when you talk about how much you can make.

6. Who is Handling My Case?

This question is vital if you’re working with a large law firm. This is because that lawyer you spent all that time getting to know? He might not be the one representing you in court.

This might help you because you’ll have a larger team working on your case. Lawyers all specialize in different things. If your case is a complicated one, there’s a good chance it’ll get passed around the firm.

But that’s why it’s important to know who is handling your case, and why. You want to know who you need to contact in each situation. You should also ask about the track record of every lawyer on your case.

If your lawyer has less experience than the one you spoke to, ask about who is supervising them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or voice your concerns.

Want More Tips About Hiring a Lawyer?

We have lots of informative blog posts on our site about the legal field. If you want to know about questions to ask a personal injury lawyer or other legal tips, check out our blog.

We also have articles on everything else you can imagine. From social media to entertainment to real estate, we have you covered. Take a look at our site for more great posts.

Read More:

Content Rally

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Road Mishaps That Requires A lawyer!!!

We, the intellectually advanced species, need law and order to be able to co-exist with one another. Like the popular saying denotes: "where there is no law, there is no offence." So when Road Mishaps That Requires A lawyer! This makes the law the pillar and backbone of every social structure and integration. But because individuals craft the law, It makes it almost impossible to be 100% perfect. There are always going to be imperfections or loopholes within the frame of the law. These loopholes within the law are not readily visible to a layman. For you to be able to find such imperfections within the legal system, you would have to undergo specific stringent years of training and experience from a good legal chamber like Jurewitz Law Group. For this singular reason and many more are why the professional insights and guidance of an attorney are indispensable. Apart from the fact that lawyers are well-grounded in the knowledge of the law, they also play a very necessary and crucial role in helping us to settle disputes or conflicts. Their usefulness doesn't stop there. They also help in guiding you into implementing fail-safe measures in the advent of litigations against you. Still-on what lawyers can do for us---they can help in creating contracts in such a way that your interests are not only covered but at the same time solidify the validity of that contract. When lawyers act as a witness to a deal or contract, it becomes difficult for people to easily swindle you out of that deal as opposed to when you just sign a contract without any form of legal authority. For the sake of this article, though, we are going to be focusing on situations and events that may warrant the need for an excellent attorney. Such incidents include but are not limited to:- Hit and Run accidents: The implications and complexities of a hit and run case can pose to be a very daunting and traumatic experience. This is especially true because of the magnitude of injuries that might be sustained during the whole process. Now, this is where an accident lawyer comes in, because of your physical and mental condition, it will be extensively difficult to track down all necessary information and possibly make depositions that you might need to build and make your case. If during an accident, the liable person is present and identifiable, then it is easy to bring a lawsuit against the responsible person---persons, for damages. But if the situation were to be the other way round, in which case the liable party runs off and couldn't be identified. Then the victim will have to go through a lot of hurdles to get any form of compensation. But with an accident lawyer at your arsenal, you will stand a better chance of receiving a hefty form of compensation. Transportation Network Accidents: What do we mean by transportation network company? Well, they are transport companies like Uber and Grab that interface between passengers and drivers at a fair and moderate price. Now traditional, taxi, cab or limousine service companies make their drivers go through rigorous vetting processes. Not only that, these companies make sure their drivers take out insurance policies that protect the driver as well as their passengers. And in the event of an accident, a victim can pursue and recover compensations from the insurance companies. But for most transportation network companies, their drivers usually don't undergo cumbersome screening processes like taxi and limousine companies. Not only that, companies like Uber exempt themselves from any legal obligation by claiming that their job is only to facilitate fares between passengers and drivers. And therefore are not liable to any responsibility in the event of an accident. Pedestrians Accidents Pedestrians are prone to all kinds of accidents ranging from motorcycles, cars and even truck accidents, which can lead to severe injuries or even fatalities. And as such, compensations are required for injured victims or family members in cases that involve the loss of life. But the challenge is usually that insurance companies will try to persuade or force you into an early settlement because they want to pay you a meagre amount as compared to what should be a fair payment. That is why an accident lawyer is needed to tenaciously fight for you, in negotiating a reasonable compensation that is in equilibrium with the magnitude of the injury sustained during the accident. Dangerous road condition accidents: We live in a world where nature takes its toll on any artificial structure we put in place. This invariably translates to the fact that the road conditions will be acted upon by the force of nature. Now when an accident is caused by a person, it is usually very easy to get compensation from the liable person or party. But when it is caused by road conditions that are as a result of negligence by a certain arm of government responsible for the proper maintenance of the road. It becomes very cumbersome to get any form of benefits, as the bureaucracy involved when dealing with the government is much. But with the help of an accident lawyer who knows how to manoeuvre such barriers, it becomes easy to get a fair recompense. In conclusion, with all we have written above, it is crystal clear that accident attorneys are just about the most important factor or key needed in surmounting all the technicalities that may arise after an accident. Read Also: How To Choose A Personal Injury Lawyer Atlanta Law Experts: Know About Back Injuries Compensation Motorcycle Accident Attorney: Questions To Ask When You’re In An Accident Expert Advice: 5 Crucial Things To Do Immediately After An Automobile Accident

Protect Your Rights Today With Domestic Violence Lawyers

Domestic violence is the physical, mental or verbal abuse of a spouse, a child, a family member, a cohabitant, or a loved one. It may involve kicking, hitting, punching, pushing, calling offensive names and bullying. Emotional and physical abuse is often associated with domestic violence. Domestic violence is considered a very serious crime and is one of many violent crimes that are not reported. Because of this, it is important to work with a criminal defense attorney who can protect your rights if you are charged with domestic violence. Domestic violence can take many forms and can happen at any time or only once in a while. An important step to help yourself or to help someone you know is to recognize the warning signs. These warning signs include: Malicious insults and malicious mistakes Intimidation Stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job Physical, Actual or Threatened Damage Sexual assault When the police respond to a domestic violence call, they will assess the situation, and if they feel that someone has committed a domestic violence crime, then they will arrest the aggressive party - whether or not the victim files charges. Also, when a person is arrested for domestic violence, a restraining order is always enforced by the court. This type of protection order will have specific instructions by a judge ordering the abuser to be absent from the victim, their address, their employment, and their school. It will also indicate that the abuser should be absent from any other family member, friends or cohabitants of the victim. Therefore, in cases where there are children involved, the abuser cannot see them until the court determines. The Consequences of Domestic Violence In a domestic violence case, even if the victim refuses to file charges against the accused person, the district attorney's office can still prosecute charges. There is a common misconception in criminal defense of domestic violence cases - many people think that if the victim decides they do not want to proceed with charges against their partner, then prosecutors will reject the charges. This kind of thinking could not be further from the truth. When police arrive at a domestic violence home and there are allegations of violence or evidence of injury, the police will arrest the alleged defendant. It is common for the victim to change his mind and try to back off charges against his partner for several reasons. Sometimes the husband or wife is the person who pays the household expenses and the victim realizes that he will be financially damaged by an accusation. At other times, the alleged victim did not realize that the ramifications of involving the police would be so serious. If you are convicted of domestic violence in California you will face a sentence of more than 1 year in a county jail or 4 years in a state prison. You may also be ordered to pay a fine of $6,000 or more, restitution to the victim, and attend community work and management classes. At the Law Offices of Randy Collins, criminal defense attorneys have defended thousands of domestic violence cases through Southern California Criminal Defense and have a full understanding of the law and how to defend their freedom. Southern California Criminal Defense As domestic violence lawyers, Law Offices of Randy Collins offer the most outstanding resources, advice, and legal representation for individuals charged with domestic violence in California. Law Offices of Randy Collins will conduct an investigation on the charges against you and form the best strategy to defend your rights and freedom. The Law Offices of Randy Collins will challenge the evidence against you, conduct your own interviews and seek weaknesses in the case of prosecution. In some cases, domestic violence lawyers can get the charges against you reduced or dismissed. If you have been charged or detained for domestic violence, contact Law Offices of Randy Collins today for a confidential and free consultation.

What Is the Typical Workman’s Comp Claim Process?

When employees get injured while working, they are entitled to compensation. If an employer doesn't want to incur compensation costs, they can get insurance coverage for such cases. Workers' compensation insurance covers all the damages caused by work-related injuries. It covers medical expenses and even lost wages. If you are an employee looking to get compensation for work-related injuries, you might want to know the process. This guide discusses a typical compensation claim process for employees. Read on to learn more! How Does Workmans Comp Claim Process Work? Before getting into the workman's comp claim process steps, knowing how the process works is vital. If you get injured while working, you have limited time to report the incident and file a claim. Your workman's compensation claim will be allowed if you meet these requirements. This could see you incur all the medical expenses and other costs from your pocket. Employers are required to train an employee to report all work-related injuries on time to avoid setbacks. As an employer, you must ensure that your employees are well-informed about compensation and the need to do things on time. Besides, it is the employer's responsibility to submit a workers' compensation claim to the insurer. Before doing that, you must gather all the details about the injury. The workman's comp claim process starts when the employer gets to the insurer and presents an employee's claim. It is crucial to understand the subsequent steps, especially if you want to get compensated on time. Employees must present details about the incident and ensure everything checks out. Steps Involved In Workman's Comp Claim Process Knowing how the process works, it is time to understand the steps involved in the workman's comp claim process. These steps determine whether or not you get compensated for work-related injuries. The steps are as follows; 1. Reporting The Injury To The Employer The first step is the employee reporting a work-related injury to the employer. As mentioned earlier, employers must inform employees about the importance of reporting work-related injuries or illnesses. Employees must know that if they become injured or ill at work, the management must know immediately. An injured employee must typically provide a written notice about the injury. Most states have deadlines on when work-related injuries should be reported. In New York, for example, you must notify your employer within 30 days of the injury. In some states, employees have up to a year to report work-related injuries. 2. Getting The Necessary Paperwork From The Employer After you report a work-related injury, your employee will give you details about your rights and benefits as an injured worker. You will know about the business's workers' compensation insurance policy and the next steps you should take. Besides, the employer will tell you about the return-to-work policies after recovery. In most cases, the employer will issue you a workman's comp claim form to fill out and then return to them. The form aims to collect details about the incident, such as the nature of the injury and where and how it happened. In some cases, you may be issued with a first report of injury form that the employer submits to the state's workers' compensation board. 3. The Employer Reports The Injury And Files The Claim Form Once you have provided details in the worker's comp claim form, the employer will report and file it. Typically, the employer sends the claim form and all the necessary documents to the workman's comp insurance carrier. However, the employer's doctor sometimes provides a detailed medical report. The employer should report the incident to the worker's comp board or the state's division of workers' compensation. 4. The Insurer Approves or Denies the Claim Lastly, the insurer will approve or deny your workman's comp claim. If the claim is approved, the insurer will inform your employer to contact you with payment details. If the claim is denied, you will be asked to consider other options or reapply. Kickstart Your Workman’s Comp Claim Process No matter your work environment, there is always a risk of injuries. Therefore, businesses should get workman's compensation insurance that helps cover their employees. As an employee, if you are injured at work and are looking for compensation, the steps highlighted here will give you an idea of what to expect. Additional: Injured At Work? Claim Your Compensation! Staking Claim To Receive Suitable Compensation Pros & Cons Of Hiring A Worker’s Compensation Lawyer

6 Important Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer

Why Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

What Information Do I Need Before I Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer?

6 Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer