The first consultation with your attorney is your very first chance to discuss your case with a professional and get to know if you are a good team. Here is how you can make sure that you get the best out of this meeting.
If you have considered hiring a personal injury attorney to fight for you with your insurance settlement and sue the at-fault driver, it is no surprise that you have to at least meet with more than one candidate for free.
You need to the right questions to ask your car accident attorney so that you can find the right one for you. You can only do this during the free consultation. Here are some of the questions that you should ask.
What Are Your Qualification And Experience?
Your first question should be all about finding out the background of the lawyer. Know their experience and qualifications. The right attorney should be familiar with the traffic laws of your state, and should also know how best to handle a car insurance claim from the first step in the personal injury lawsuit process.
While trying to know the background of the prospective lawyer, you should find out:
- How long they have been practicing law
- The law school that they attended
- How many car accident cases they have dealt with and out of which how many are similar to yours
- What were the outcomes of a similar case that they handled
- What you should expect if you decide to sue
- What makes then different from other car accident attorney
How Will You Manage My Case? What Is Your Legal Strategy?
This is one of the important questions to ask a car accident attorney. It is necessary that you know the attorney's strategy so that you can determine if their style matches what you are looking for.
Every lawyer has their way of handling a case and your car accident attorney should be able to openly discuss with you how they are going to manage your case. You should know:
- If they will be working alone or with other lawyers
- Who will be handling your case?
- If you will be receiving updates on the case, how, and when you will be receiving them
- The best way to contact them and after how long it will take them to get back to you
- If you will be making any decisions concerning the case and, if so, which ones.
- Is their approach cooperative or adversarial
- Their thoughts on settling vs suing and going to trial
- How long they think the case will take
- What kind of questions that you will be asked at a car accident deposition
You also need to know how frequently the attorney goes for trial. Going for trial means more paperwork and more working hours. If they do not shy away from a trial then it means that they are ready to do whatever it takes to help you get what you are worth.
Ask Questions That Are Specific To the Case
Car accident cases are considered straightforward from an attorney's point of view, but it is important for you to know the answers to these questions and the free consultations provided you with the best platform to do this.
Some of the questions that you should ask about the case include:
- What are the challenges and strengths of your case?
- If you heard the at-fault driving admitting to not seeing the stop sign, will that information be admissible in court?
- If you were on the cell phone at the time of the accident, how will that affect the compensation?
- The other insurance company has asked you to see a doctor of their choice, do you have to go?
- There is no police report because the police did not come to the scene of the crime. How will that affect the case?
How Much Are Their Legal Fees?
This is a common question to ask a car accident attorney. You need to know how much fees your attorney is going to charge you are going to cover the costs. Get to know:
- If they work under a contingency fee agreement? How much is the contingency percentage? And if it is fixed or scales? The contingency basis means that they will take part of the money that you will receive on the settlement or trial.
- If you will be responsible for any cost associated with your injury case?
- You should also know if they charge by the hour. This will be more expensive.
- Get to know if the lawyer charges a retainer fee and if you have to pay for the same should you not win, and how much they will take.
Some attorneys offer to pay for any expense that you have to incur during the case before you are compensated and they will recover this amount from your settlement.
What You Should Do To Improve Your Chances of Success
No matter how good the lawyer is, there are some things that you can do that can end up seriously hurting the case. There are a lot of things that can go wrong despite how good the case looks.
The attorney will advise you on what you will do to help you win the case. Some of the things include not missing a doctor's appointment, refraining from talking about the case, avoiding social media especially posting pictures, and so on.
Discuss the facts of your case and ask all the questions that you have until you are fully satisfied. Asking the right questions is what will determine your chances of getting a qualified attorney who will take the case seriously.
At the end of your consultation, you will be able to determine whether you are comfortable with that specific attorney or not if you trust them, and if they are a good fit for the case. You need to have complete faith and trust in who is representing you. Let us help you find the right attorney for your case today.