The 5 Things You Absolutely Must See from Your Personal Injury Lawyer

Either way, if you feel certain you tie your injury or illness to a particular person or company’s actions or inactions, then you can sue them. If you do, then you can hopefully recoup some money. That can cover things like medical bills, lost wages, and also make you feel better if you had pain and suffering following the incident or accident that caused your condition.

You must find the right lawyer if you’re going to sue. That means you should spend some time thinking about the most desirable person injury lawyer qualities. Your attorney must embody or demonstrate these qualities if you’re going to win your lawsuit against the person or entity you allege harmed you.

Let’s talk about the qualities that your personal injury attorney absolutely must have right now.

Experience in Practicing Law

First, you need your lawyer to have experience practicing personal injury law. You probably don’t want a neophyte attorney who just passed the bar a few weeks earlier.

Every lawyer must start somewhere, and each attorney needs a first client and case. However, if you can only find a personal injury lawyer who never represented someone in their professional life, it’s probably best that you’re not their first.

If you hire such a lawyer, it might go fine. It’s also possible, though, that they can make a rookie mistake. You don’t want that. If it happens, then this attorney might botch your lawsuit, in which case you might get way less money than you should, or perhaps no compensation at all.

Experience with Your Particular Type of Personal Injury Case

You also need to hire a personal injury lawyer who does the particular kind of cases that you’re bringing them. If an attorney gets into the personal injury niche, then they might do just one kind.

 
For instance, some personal injury lawyers or law firms handle car wreck cases exclusively. Some have a very lucrative practice that way, since so many car wreck lawsuits always work their way through the civil court system around the country every day.

 
You want an attorney who handles the particular kind of case you have, whether that’s premises liability, a dog bite, a faulty product case, medical malpractice, etc. You should ask them point blank when you meet them whether they ever handled a case like that before.

If they say they have, then you can ask them how such cases turned out. If they assure you that they have the necessary expertise, then you can probably hire them with a lot more confidence.

Tenacity

Your personal injury lawyer must have tenacity. If you experience a setback during the case, such as a potential witness not wanting to testify, then your lawyer should know how to get around that and still win your lawsuit.

They should know how to pursue every possible option in terms of getting you a positive outcome. That means either forcing a settlement offer from the defendant or getting a jury to decide in your favor if the trial ever gets to that point. Not many civil cases do, but you may have a defendant every once in a while who refuses to settle.

Your lawyer should not give up after the first skirmish with the opposing counsel. They should represent you with dogged determination and never stop till they get you the money you deserve.

Nice to You, a Bulldog with Everyone Else

When you meet your lawyer, they should treat you nicely. You and your attorney needn’t become the best of friends. However, they should still respect you and act as a willing guide while you get through this very difficult time in your life.

 
If you meet your potential lawyer for the first time, and they seem brusque or outright rude, then you don’t have to hire them. Remember that you can always find another lawyer. They should treat you with courtesy.

 
At the same time, your lawyer should not act that way with the defendant or the opposing counsel. In civil cases, you must view the opposing counsel with suspicion. They’ll try to keep you from getting money to compensate you for your injury or illness.

Your lawyer must respond to that threat accordingly. They need to work within the law, but to relentlessly pursue the settlement or jury’s verdict you want.

 
To get there, they can do anything possible. As long as they’re thoughtful and considerate with you and fierce with your opposition, you can feel like you found the right legal advocate.

A Winning Record

You also want to see that your lawyer has a winning record. Much like making sure that your attorney handles the particular category of legal case into which yours falls, you also have to ensure that they either won all of their past cases or the majority of them.

If the lawyer you approach tells you they have the requisite experience, but then they admit they lost most of their previous cases, then that’s not helpful. You can tell them you want someone who can win for you, and they should understand that.

 
You need someone with a spotless record because, if your lawyer fails, you probably won’t get another opportunity. You have one chance to get the person or entity who you feel hurt you or made you sick to pay. If your lawyer can’t do the job, then you may walk away with nothing.

 
If you can find a lawyer with all these qualities and the right background, then you can hire them and let them get to work. If you are unsure about any lawyer, look into their career. You can find plenty of information online about any attorney these days.