So, it finally happened. After all those years of careful driving you have finally been hit. It’s a good thing you pay your car insurance premiums so you have all the coverage you need in case something like this happened. If you don’t, you should know that over the course of your lifetime you are likely to be in 3 to 4 accidents on America’s roads. It’s important to have really good car insurance with comprehensive coverage in case you run into some bad luck one day.
Hopefully, you have at least basic coverage, like medpay, to immediately pay for medical bills. Or you have uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance to pay for all of your bodily injury damages, just in case the at-fault driver was uninsured. Hopefully you have basic liability insurance for yourself, so any payments owed to you by the other driver are not reduced by your lack of coverage. You may have everything you need to get your claim covered adequately, except the right lawyer.
In many ways, this is the hardest part of the personal injury equation to figure out. Should you get a lawyer or not? Where do you find one and how do you pick the right one? Do you pick a guy you saw on television or one of the billboards down your street? Do you pick one that your friend tells you is great or an estate or divorce lawyer that you know? Can all lawyers practice personal injury law or should you see a specialist?
These are great questions and there are no easy answers, but there are some pitfalls that you shouldn’t fall into or you might regret them later.
So here are the top three ways NOT to pick a lawyer.
Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer
Don’t pick any lawyer you know to handle your case for you, even if you like them or know them to be honest. You need to pick a personal injury lawyer that specializes and has experience in the type of accident you endured. Most personal injury lawyers handle all types of injury cases, so you want to ask him or her what experience they have in the type of case that has similar facts to yours. Be sure to ask them if they will be referring out the case to a different lawyer or firm (many law firms do this after they have signed you up as a client).
Be Picky
Don’t pick the first lawyer you call. Just like getting bids on a house renovation project, you want to explore your options. Yes, it can be a pain to get all the bids, and all the lawyers you speak with may sound the same, but you want to do your due diligence. You want to see how responsive they are, what they charge, and, frankly, if you like them and their staff. You will be with your lawyer for at least 6-9 months — possibly longer if you go to trial. You don’t want an attorney or law firm that takes days to get back to you when you first enquire about your case because that should show you how responsive they will be once they have retained you as a client. Speak to a few lawyers, get a feel for how each would be, then make your decision.
Do Not Delay
Don’t wait a long time to get a lawyer. The last thing you want is to spend months on a case, only to find out that you went to the wrong doctors, got the wrong treatment, and didn’t play the game the way it should be played in order to maximize your recovery. Those first few months are critical in making sure you go down the right path.
Just like this Covid-19 pandemic — it was imperative that quick action was taken from the beginning to shelter in place so that the trajectory of the virus would flatten and less people would get infected — it is important to act quickly. Because America waited too long to shelter in place, it set off a bombshell of infections that will not be fixed by patching it up later.
Benefits of Hiring a Lawyer
Great lawyers are not miracle workers, so it’s truly best for you to decide on a lawyer within the first week, if not the first day, of getting into a car accident. You may not want to give a lawyer a big cut of your winnings, but they often offer you free medical treatment whether you get a recovery, write medical notes to ensure insurance companies pay up and no hassle, no thoughts, no worries about whether you are doing the right thing with your case. You will be playing on Michael Jordan’s team and not one-on-one against him.
Whatever you decide to do, know that you are doing the right thing by reading and researching what you should be doing next and how to do it correctly. Mistakes can happen to everyone but knowing what NOT to do will help boost your confidence in whatever decision you do make. If you or someone you know was involved in a car accident, contact a car accident lawyer today.