I am Joseph A. Nagy, and I am an experienced Edmonton injury lawyer serving central and northern Alberta. As a car accident lawyer, my specialty is helping people who have suffered injuries in all types of motor vehicle accidents.
If your injury situation isn’t so urgent that you have to call an injury lawyer immediately, then you are going to do some research. This guide will help you find an injury lawyer who is right for you.
Based on my years of experience, this guide will help you find:
Start with the people you know, then search online.
Your network is made up of the people you know and the people they know.
Your network may give you a couple of recommendations to begin your research. Check out the websites of the injury lawyers your network recommends. But it is also a good idea to search for other injury lawyers online.
Try some standard web searches.
Try a couple of variations of your search terms to make sure you have a good range of results. You may see different lawyer websites listed if you search for “personal injury lawyer edmonton” instead of “injury lawyer edmonton”, or for “spinal injury lawyer edmonton” instead of “spinal cord injury lawyer edmonton”. Which lawyers show up consistently in each of your searches?
Focus on injury lawyers who have extensive experience with your type of injury claim arising from motor vehicle accidents. Lawyers with that kind of experience will know what to look for when they review the evidence related to your claim. Your shortlist will probably include the names and contact information for five or more injury lawyers.
I will limit my comments here to a Google search, since it is by far the most popular search engine in Alberta. What you see depends on the search terms you use. The description below assumes you include a term like “injury lawyer” in your search.
No. Use the AI summary to understand terms. Don’t use it to choose a lawyer.
An AI summary is assembled from pages across the web. It is not a review of lawyers, and it has not checked anyone’s qualifications, standing or results. The pages it draws from are frequently not the pages ranked highest in the same search, and they are often directories and listicles rather than law firms.
Two cautions matter especially in Alberta right now.
The AI summary may describe the wrong system. Alberta’s Care-First no-fault system is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. An AI summary may describe the current rules, or the new ones, without telling you which applies to your accident. Your rights depend on the date of your accident. Keep that in mind before you act on anything a summary tells you about deadlines or what you can claim.
It may be out of date in other ways. Limitation periods, benefit amounts, and the minor injury cap can change. A summary can repeat a figure that was correct two years ago.
If a summary is useful, click through to the sources it cites and read them. That tells you who actually said it, and when. Then do the research described in the rest of this guide.
Here you go from the more general — identifying experienced injury lawyers — to a more specific focus. You are looking for a lawyer who has experience handling your particular type of accident and injury. These lawyers will be best positioned to advise you on your injury claim. They will also be able to determine, from the databases they can access and from their own previous cases, the amount of compensation you can expect.
Think about your vehicle accident first. Were you involved in a T-bone accident? A rear end collision? A multi-vehicle accident? You want to know if the injury lawyer has handled the type of motor vehicle accident that caused your injury.
Then think about your injury or injuries. Did you suffer a broken leg? A minor injury? Multiple injuries? Sadly, sometimes a brain injury or wrongful death of someone near to you is involved. Again, you will want to know if the lawyer has previous experience with injury cases like yours.
Finding the answers to these questions is not always easy. The injury lawyer’s website may help. My own website provides information on my experience with each of the major types of vehicle accidents and personal injuries. Regardless, you should ask about the lawyer’s experience during your free consultation meeting.
A local injury lawyer is someone who is licensed to practice and has an office in your jurisdiction. In general, that means the lawyer’s office will have full-time staff and their practice will also be headquartered in your jurisdiction. Why hire a qualified local injury lawyer? Consider these advantages, with Alberta as the jurisdiction.
In short, hiring an experienced and qualified local injury lawyer offers important benefits to you. It can also lead to a better resolution of your injury claim.
On an injury lawyer’s website, you are most likely to see the reviews the lawyer wants to show you. Nonetheless they will probably give you a good sense of what the lawyer is like to work with. Reviews like those on Google business pages are independent and can provide real insight. Just remember that they may be fair, or not. Online reviews express personal opinions, and you will probably find some spam reviews, so look for reviews from actual clients.
Here are some possible sources for online reviews.
If you are considering a lawyer recommended by your network, remember to check whether the reviews and testimonials match what your network told you.
In Alberta, contact the Law Society of Alberta to see whether a personal injury lawyer is in good standing. A search for the lawyer’s name will automatically display any disciplinary history since January 1, 2015.
Do this for any lawyer you intend to hire, whatever your other research has told you.
For each shortlisted injury lawyer, look for the following information.
Successful injury lawyers have scientific, medical, and other personal injury experts they can call on to assess your case. These experts will testify at trial if required. In motor vehicle accident cases, they often include:
Such experts are only used if needed. But their expertise can be crucial in convincing the insurance company to pay you the fair compensation you deserve. Faced with such expert reports, the insurance company often decides to settle, and you receive the best compensation possible.
The lawyer also needs the financial resources to cover the costs of handling your case until payment is received from the insurance company. Disbursements can include requests for medical records, courier costs, and the reports of personal injury experts. Such payments add up, particularly for complex cases that take longer to resolve. In general, that means identifying injury lawyers with a proven track record of success. They have probably been in business a while and have successfully handled a large number of injury claims.
Set a goal of narrowing down your shortlist to two or three injury lawyers. Learn more about my team of personal injury experts and how I use personal injury experts to win injury claims.
Deciding on the injury lawyer who is right for you is the hardest step. It is best done during or following a face-to-face meeting. Fortunately, most qualified injury lawyers offer free consultations, and there is no charge for these meetings.
Start with the first injury lawyer on your shortlist and call to set up a free consultation. Then call one or two others, until you are satisfied you have identified at least one injury lawyer you want to represent you. Have your documents on the accident and your questions ready when you call.
You want to know the lawyer’s opinion of your claim, how they plan to win your case, and what the potential compensation may be. Keep in mind that even the most accomplished and experienced injury lawyer may need time to investigate your claim before estimating compensation.
Be sure to ask whether the lawyer you are meeting with will handle your case, or whether different lawyers will be working on your claim. Also ask about the lawyer’s contingency fee. I charge a flat contingency fee. Some injury lawyers charge a graduated contingency fee, which means the fee increases if a case takes longer to settle or goes through more stages.
Your free consultation meeting will likely determine whether you trust the injury lawyer to handle your claim. To get the most value from it, see How to Prepare for Your Injury Lawyer Free Consultation.
By now you may be fairly sure which lawyer you want to handle your case. You will still want to consider whether the lawyer is a good fit for you personally. Remember, you will be relying on your injury lawyer to obtain the maximum fair compensation possible for your injury.
Only you can answer these questions.
If you want to discuss your injury case with me, call (780) 760-4878 (HURT) or contact me, Joseph A. Nagy. I will do my best to assist you.
Yes, in ways worth understanding before you hire anyone.
Alberta’s Care-First no-fault system is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. Which system governs your claim depends on the date of your accident, not the date you hire a lawyer. If your accident occurs before Care-First is implemented, the current tort system applies, and so does everything else on this page.
For accidents on or after the changeover, the work itself changes. Nearly all claims stop being lawsuits against the driver who caused the crash and become benefits disputes with your own insurer. Disputes go to the Alberta Automobile Care-first Tribunal rather than to the Court of King’s Bench, and that tribunal cannot award costs.
That matters to you for a practical reason: it changes how injury law firms earn a living. The contingency fee model — no fee unless we recover, with costs recovered from the at-fault insurer — is built around court claims. It does not map cleanly onto tribunal work. Some firms will adapt. Some will move into other areas of law. Some will handle far higher volumes of smaller files, which is a different service from the one described on this page.
So if your accident falls near or after January 1, 2027, ask two more questions of every firm on your shortlist:
Compare the answers. A firm that has thought about these questions will be able to tell you.
To learn more about the Alberta Care-First system, see No-Fault (Care-First) Insurance in Alberta.
