How to Choose a Personal Injury Lawyer

Suffering an injury due to the negligent actions of someone else is stressful. You might find yourself out of work for an extended time. You might never be able to return to work. You also might have to drop out of school. Depending on the severity of the injury you could require lengthy and painful rehabilitation or even surgery. When you have been injured in an accident or incident that was caused by someone else you need to speak with an experienced Atlanta personal injury attorney about your situation so you can recover the compensation you deserve. Today, we will take a look at seven important tips for choosing a personal injury lawyer.

Choose a PI Lawyer Who Specializes in Your Type of Case

This might seem like an obvious tip but it’s important to choose a personal injury lawyer who specializes in your type of case. Why is this so important? For starters, a lawyer with a specialization will likely only focus their practice on your type of case. That means you don’t have to worry about them working on other cases that involve accidents that don’t compare to what you were involved in around Atlanta. If you were injured in a slip and fall accident, find a slip and fall accident attorney not a car accident attorney.

Find Reviews Online

An important step in choosing personal injury lawyers in Atlanta GA is to find reviews online. The internet is a great place to begin your search for an attorney. Make sure you take advantage of the different forums and sites that provided attorney reviews. Look for good and bad reviews so you can compare them against each other and find out why the attorney received a bad review, if they received any bad review.

Request to Speak with Past Clients

The best personal injury attorneys will allow you to speak with past clients. If you request to talk to a former client and are turned down, this should be a major warning sign that the attorney is trying to hide something. What could they be hiding? Maybe they know the client will speak poorly of their service. Maybe the former client will talk about irresponsible actions of the attorney or steps the attorney failed to take during the case. If you are given access to the attorney’s former clients make sure you speak to those clients and get as much information as possible from them.

Ensure Sufficient Resources are Available

When choosing a personal injury attorney Atlanta you need to look at the resources they have available. Does their office seem successful? Are there enough law clerks or paralegals in the office to ensure that the proper research or investigation will be conducted for your case? At the same time, you need to know if the attorney has enough money to prepare for your case. A personal injury case can cost more than $100,000 to prepare. The personal injury lawyer Atlanta will need to hire expert witnesses and utilize other entities to argue your case. If they don’t have the assets to conduct such a case then you should look elsewhere for your attorney.

Look at the Lawyer’s Organizations

When researching a personal injury attorney you need to look at the organizations to which they belong. The organizations that a lawyer belongs to are important when it comes to determining whether or not you will work with them for your personal injury case. These groups, which are operational at the state and national levels, allow attorneys to learn from each other. Attorneys can exchange stories with each other about their dealings with insurance companies so as to avoid any issues in future personal injury cases.

Schedule a Consultation

It’s never a good idea to hire a personal injury attorney Atlanta without meeting with him or her first. A large majority of lawyers will offer potential clients a free initial consultation. There’s no commitment required of you to simply meet with an attorney before asking them to represent you in a fight for compensation in a personal injury case. A consultation will help you learn what it’s like to interact with the attorney and if your personalities are a match. If you feel uncomfortable with what the attorney is telling you, it’s best to keep looking until you are certain you’ve met an attorney who can handle your case and with whom you think will work well with you.

Ask Plenty of Questions

During the consultation with the attorney you need to ask plenty of questions. The questions listed below will help you get a feel for the attorney and what he or she can do for your case:

• How often do you handle a case similar to mine?
• How successful have you been with cases like mine?
• What resources do you use if the case reaches trial?
• Are their options available to me aside from filing a lawsuit?
• What is your fee?
• What do you think is the length of time it will take to resolve my case?
• What is the statute of limitations surrounding my case?
• Will my case be handled by you or will it be given to another attorney in your firm?
• What are the expenses, if any, that I will be required to pay?
• Do you have an idea as to how much my case might be worth?
• Can you give me an honest opinion of my case?

Contact an Attorney Today

The minute you are injured in an accident you need to seek medical treatment so you can begin the healing process. By seeking treatment you are also ensuring that everything will be documented. The next step is to contact the Atlanta personal injury law firms of Schnipper Law, P.C. to schedule a consultation with an experienced Atlanta personal injury attorney. Call the office today at 404-458-8068 to schedule an appointment.