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Five Questions To Ask A Personal Injury Attorney Before Hiring

Contrary to popular belief following an injury accident the last thing an accident injured party is thinking about is a lawsuit, or injury claim. Some people are completely confused following and accident, and when the injury is serious enough the injured party will be in a state of apathy. When the injury is moderate there are often no symptoms following the accident about the only thing the injured person will feel is headaches.  Following the truck or car accident the injured party is often more concerned about inspecting the damage to her or his vehicle and the damage to the culprits vehicle, and not so much in filing a lawsuit.

Once the injured party has had an opportunity to reflect and the injuries materialize in the form of serious pain, bruises, inability to move without pain, or confirmation of the severity of the injury through X-rays or other diagnostic exams, then some injured party’s consider filing a lawsuit or making a claim for injuries. Once the injured party decides to make a claim the daunting task of selecting an injury attorney comes before them.
Injured persons seek recommendations from friends and family, but more often than not none are recommended or they are not conveniently located.

About half the time the injured party decides to resort to finding an injury attorney by calling on advertisements on television, yellow pages, newspapers, or here an internet search. Once the decision to call an injury attorney is made, then the injured party is left wondering what to ask and wondering  how to determine  the competency of an injury attorney.

There is no way to assure the competency of the attorney to insure the injury injured party would be satisfied with the selection of the injury attorney, but there are few things that can improve the satisfaction of the relationship and increase the likelihood that the attorney will be competent. The following as some questions the injury injured party should ask of the prospective injury attorney:

1. How many years have you been practicing personal injury law ?

The number of years in practice is not a straightforward analyzes. It is not as easy as it seems to select an injury attorney based on years of practice.  The number of years of practice is not always a perfect sing of compentency. One year is not good enough, but 40 years is probably too much. As attorneys get older they often get lazy or burned out and some are simply mentally incompetent. There have been a few cases where the attorney reached an age where his or her mental capacity was simply not up to par. Too many years of practice can actually be a handicap. Two or three years of experience may actually be enough depending on other factors.

2. Have you tried a case before a jury ?

The best results are obtained not necessarily obtained by going to trial, but when you hire an injury attorney that is willing to go to trial when necessary.  When the attorney has not ever done a jury trial, the defendant's attorney will know this and it surely will not be in your best interest an attorney with no jury trial experience. It is true that about 90-98% of cases settle, but it does not mean that yours is necessarily one of those cases, and when the attorney is unwilling to go to trial the bargaining power is greatly diminished.

3. Have you done a bench trial ?

A bench trial is considered to be substantially easier to do than a jury trial, but likewise, an attorney should be prepared to do either type of trial and should have done at least one of each.

4. Have you ever been disciplined by the State bar ?

When the state bar disciplines an attorney it is because the attorney did something extreme such as refusing to surrender money or property belonging to a client, or converting client funds to their own use, not paying their license fees, or the like.  Clients often complain their attorneys don’t do anything for the huge fees they pay, but for the most part these complaints are not legitimate, but when the state bar disciplines it is because of a very real complaint.  Whether an attorney that has been disciplined can change or not is a matter of personal belief and you should be very cautious when the prospective injury attorney has been disciplined.

5. Do you have any former clients that can recommend you, and if so who is it ?

This pertains more to customer service than actual results. Clients expect an awful lot of attorneys and are under the impression that attorneys have plenty of time to communicate with them. This is not true and in the majority of instances, it is very difficult for attorneys to take phone calls and return calls, because they are engaged in litigation.  This does not mean there should be 100% dissatisfaction, the attorney should still be able to obtain at least one some clients reference.  When the attorney cannot name a single client that was happy, chances are there is something wrong. 

There are many things to consider when selecting an attorney, but these five questions are a start.

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