There are more than 3 million non-fatal injuries every year in the United States. These injuries range from slips and falls to car accidents.
These injuries cost billions of dollars in medical care, lost income, and lost time at work. There are times when these injuries are someone else’s fault.
In that case, you need to hire a personal injury attorney. An attorney will make sure that you recover the costs and damages from the injury.
How can you choose the right personal injury lawyer to get the best results? Keep reading to learn the top questions to ask a personal injury attorney before hiring them.
1. Do I Have a Case?
A personal injury lawyer usually offers a free consultation. You’ll need to bring all of the documents that relate to your case.
This includes police reports, medical records, medical bills, and emails between you and your employer about lost days at work.
A personal injury attorney’s first job is to see if you have a personal injury case.
What’s a personal injury case? What it is means that attorneys have to assess if negligence, liability, or intentional wrongdoing are present.
They can’t guarantee that you’ll win your case, but they will have confidence that the probability is in your favor.
2. What Is Your Experience?
Personal injury covers a wide range of injuries. Worker’s compensation, car accidents, truck accidents, slip and falls, and animal bites are only a few of the types of cases.
You want to make sure the personal injury lawyer worked on cases similar to yours before.
3. What Is Your Process?
There are a few things you want to understand by asking this question.
Who handles your case? Whether you’re talking to a large firm or a sole proprietor, there’s a chance the person you speak to does little work on your case.
They may have paralegals or other staff members handle your case.
How will they communicate with you? This lets you know when to expect information about your case.
4. How Much Will My Case Cost?
Personal injury attorneys have a different pay structure than other types of attorneys. Rather than getting paid on retainer or by the hour, personal injury attorneys get paid on contingency.
They don’t get paid unless they win a settlement. That sounds great, but there are some fine details to know about.
Attorneys charge a percentage of the settlement fee. This can be anywhere between 30% and 50%. The only exception is in worker’s compensation cases. The fee gets set by the worker’s compensation board.
Attorneys still may charge office and administrative fees if they lose your case. This is something that you need to be certain of before you sign a contract.
Ask the Right Questions to Hire the Best Personal Injury Attorney
How can you find the best personal injury attorney? Ask the right questions. This guide showed you how to prepare for your initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer.
You’ll be sure to find the best attorney for your case.
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