|
|
Contrary
to popular belief following an injury accident the last thing you are
thinking about is a lawsuit or injury claim. Some people are completely confused
following and accident, and if the injury is severe enough in a state of
apathy. If the injury is moderate
there often no symptoms following the accident. If it is an auto accident the first
symptom of an injury would be a headache.
Following the truck or car accident the injury victim would be
more concerned about inspecting the damage to her or his vehicle and the
damage to the culprit’s vehicle, but still there is no sign of any
thought about filing a lawsuit or hiring an attorney.
Once
the victim has had an opportunity to reflect and the injuries materialize
in the form of severe pain, inability to move without pain, or
confirmation of the severity of the injury through X-rays or other
diagnostic exams, then do some victims consider filing a lawsuit or
making a claim for injuries. Once the victim decides to make a claim
the daunting task of selecting an injury attorney comes before them. Often they 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 victim decides to resort to finding an injury lawyer by
calling on advertisements on television, yellow pages, newspapers, or
here an internet search. Once the
decision to call an injury lawyer is made, then
the victim is left wondering what to ask, how to determine the competency
of an injury lawyer.
There
is no way to assure the competency of the attorney to insure the injury
victim 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 victim should ask of the prospective injury lawyer:
1.
How many years have you been in practice ?
The
number of years in practice is not a straightforward analyzes. It is not as easy as it seems to select
an injury lawyer based on years of practice, because the number of years
of practice has to be within a good range. 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 ever done a jury trial ?
The
best results are obtained not necessarily by going to trial, but by hiring
an injury attorney that is willing to go to trial if necessary. If the attorney has not ever done a
jury trial, the defendant’s attorney will know this and it will not
be in your best interest. It is
true that about 90-98% of cases settle, but it does not mean that yours
is necessarily one of those cases, and if the attorney is unwilling to go
to trial the bargaining power is greatly diminished.
3.
Have you ever 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 ?
Attorneys
that have been disciplined by the state bar are generally dangerous in
the sense that they have lower standards of ethics and have done
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.
Whether someone can change or not is a matter of personal belief
and you should be very cautious if the prospective injury attorney has
been disciplined.
5.
Can one of your past clients 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 in the majority of instances, it is very difficult for attorneys
to take phone calls and return calls, because they are engaged in
litigation, but even so there should be at least some clients that were
happy. If the attorney cannot name
a single client that was happy, chances are you will be unhappy too.
There
are many other factors that should be considered when selecting an injury
attorney, but at the very least these five factors should be considered
when hiring an injury lawyer.
Speak With a San Diego
Personal Injury Attorney Today
San Diego (619) 573-4501 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (619) 573-4501 end_of_the_skype_highlighting San Marcos (760) 471-4624
|
