You are not just looking for a personal injury lawyer—you are looking for the personal injury lawyer who is right for you. At this point, you may already have identified two or three lawyers you are considering for your case. If not, you may want to read my last blog, 5 Tips to Help You Find Your Personal Injury Lawyer. Today’s blog offers guidelines to help you choose which personal injury lawyer you want to handle your case.
To select your personal injury lawyer, try these guidelines.
1. Ensure the personal injury lawyer is in good standing with the law society
2. Check the personal injury lawyer’s references and testimonials
You may be thinking of a particular personal injury lawyer because someone in your personal network offered a recommendation. You trust your friend or colleague and their recommendation, and you can easily follow up with questions about why they recommend that personal injury lawyer and whether he or she seems qualified for your case. You are lucky. Part of your work to choose a personal injury lawyer is already done. You also may want to check the lawyer’s name with other people in your network, ask for other recommendations, and follow the tips in this blog to widen your research.
If you found the personal injury lawyer online, you can easily check for references and testimonials on the lawyer’s website.
You can also directly ask the personal injury lawyer for references and testimonials. Use the contact form on the lawyer’s website or make it one of your questions during your free consultation.
3. Consider the personal injury lawyer’s general expertise and experience
You want to get a general sense of the personal injury lawyer’s expertise and experience. Look for information like:
- Memberships in law societies
- General areas of practice
- Specific areas of practice
- Number of years in practice
- Trial experience
- Negotiation experience
- Memberships in trial lawyers associations.
You can find this kind of information on most personal injury lawyer websites if you look for the lawyer’s biography, areas of practice, or sections dealing with types of injuries and accidents the personal injury lawyer handles.
4. Check for expertise and experience specific to your needs
Now that you have a general knowledge about the personal injury lawyer, look for expertise and experience that speaks directly to your personal injury.
- Does the lawyer deal with the type of accident you had or similar types of accidents?
- Does the lawyer deal with the type of injury you suffered or similar injuries?
- The physical location of the lawyer’s offices may also be an important factor, for instance, depending on your injury. Is the office wheel chair accessible? Will the lawyer come to you?
You may be able to find answers to these kinds of questions on the lawyer’s website or you may need to contact the lawyer to find out.
Think about whether you are comfortable with the lawyer’s apparent expertise and experience. Remember, you will be relying on your personal injury lawyer to obtain the maximum fair compensation possible for your injury.
By now, you may be pretty sure about the lawyer you think you want to handle your case. You will still want to consider whether the lawyer is a good fit for you personally. Does the personal injury lawyer seem like someone you can talk to, work with, and trust? If your research is telling you the answer is “Yes”, it’s time to find out.
Call the lawyer to set up a free consultation.
My next blog in this series will be “What to ask a personal injury lawyer during your free consultation”.
Can you think of other guidelines for choosing a personal injury lawyer? I hope you will share your comments and feedback below!
