Three Important Topics To Cover When You Hire A Personal Injury Attorney
A serious injury can leave you feeling drained of energy and resistant to leaving the house, but it's important to take steps to hire an attorney if you're considering pursuing legal action. Your first step in this process is to develop a short list of attorneys in your community who specialize in personal injury law; you can easily find some names online or recommended by contacts who have been involved in personal injury cases. Your next priority is to speak to a few of the attorneys to gauge which one will be the best match for you. While it's ideal to hire an attorney who has had success with similar cases, it's also helpful to evaluate these three areas.
Challenges In A Case
Your meeting with each attorney is an opportunity for you to understand the strength of your case. However, you don't necessarily want to hire someone who will simply tell you that your case is strong and will be a success. It's important to have each attorney identify what he or she sees to be the challenges in your case. Any experienced attorney will be able to pick out a few elements that can prove difficult – often based on how similar situations with other clients have taken place. Beyond identifying these challenges, notice which attorney seems to provide the best series of steps for overcoming them.
Trial Likelihood
The reality with personal injury cases is that many are resolved when the plaintiff accepts a settlement offer. If you partner with the attorney to move your case forward, you might also find yourself evaluating whether you wish to accept a settlement. To have an idea of what you'll be facing as the case progresses, it's useful to talk about the likelihood that the case will go to trial. While there's always a chance that a trial case will result in you being awarded a significant financial decision, trials can also be long and arduous.
Ability To Begin Right Away
If you're hoping to have the legal proceedings resolved as quickly as possible, it's important to ascertain whether the attorney will be able to start working on your case right away. If the attorney has a backlog of current cases, it could be several months before he or she starts working on your behalf, for example. If it's your expectation that things will begin soon, it's important to confirm this timeline.
For a personal injury lawyer, contact a law firm such as Schlicter & Schonack LLP.
