In the majority of cases it is a wise decision to use the services of a personal injury attorney. While you can deal with a claim yourself, it can be arduous. In general you will be dealing with huge businesses which have the finance and manpower to overwhelm and buy you; leaving your claim unpaid for an extended period of time.
Even if you succeed in completing your claim, you may find that you have received far less compensation than you could have got with the right assistance. A personal injury attorney will provide the help you need.
There are several stages to follow to ensure you have chosen the best attorney for your needs:
- Searching for Personal Injury Attorneys
Stage one is to look through your local phone book and online to locate the law firms within your area. You may also find several of them advertize on the television or in the local newspapers.
You need to compile a list of all any personal injury attorney within your area which may be of use to you.
- Narrowing your Search
The next step is to narrow your search. This means looking at each attorney and deciding if they are close enough to where you live to enable regular meetings. It is much better to complete these meetings on a face to face basis.
You must also verify that they deal with your specific accident claim; there are many different fields within the personal injury arena.
- Budget
The majority of these types of claims are handled on a no win, no fee basis. This does not mean you do not have to pay for the service! You will need to pay costs during the process and you will be liable for the fee if you win.
This is usually deducted from your compensation; before you receive it. It is, therefore, important to verify what they will be charging you before you sign up with them.
- Checking Reputations
Once you have narrowed the field to just a few you will be able to check their reputations. You can do this through any social media site or dedicated personal injury forum. There will be plenty of people willing to share their stories and experiences.
From this you should be able to build an accurate picture of how effective the personal injury attorney really is.
- Meeting Attorneys
With just a few attorneys left in your list you should be able to organize a meeting with each of them. If they cannot do a meeting straight away this is not a bad sign, it simply means they are busy and potentially successful.
When you meet each personal injury attorney you should have the facts of your case ready. You can then focus on how they respond and what their personality is like. You may not need to like your attorney but you do need to be able to talk to them!
- Decision Time
Once you have accumulated all the facts you may be left with just one option. Alternatively you may have several potential firms to choose from. It will then be a matter of personal preference.
Just remember, you do not need to rush this process.
