Meeting with a lawyer for the first time can be stressful, especially when you’re pursuing an important personal injury case. Need some help figuring out what to ask? Here are a few helpful suggestions:
How Much Will This Case Cost Me?
One of the most important factors to consider before pursuing a personal injury case is if it’s worth the time and effort. One way to decide that is to find out how much it will cost you. That means asking your injury attorney what their fees are.
Most lawyers work on contingency, meaning they only get paid if you win the case, in which case the amount they received is based on a percentage of your settlement. It’s also worth checking what advance costs (filing fees, medical record retrieval fees, expert witness fees, etc.) you’re liable for if you don’t win.
What Could My Settlement Be Worth?
Another major factor in deciding if a case is worth pursuing is how much you stand to gain from it. Injury attorneys can calculate an estimated settlement amount for you based on things like the cost of your medical bills, any property damages you may have suffered, wages lost due to missed work, and more.
Getting an idea of how much you can expect from a settlement is good not only for helping you choose whether or not to pursue your case, but also if a certain lawyer’s terms are acceptable to you, or if you should consider hiring someone else instead.
What Will My Role in the Case Be?
Different lawyers work in different ways. Some require a high level of participation from their clients, while others are happy to work on things on their own and only contact you when they need information. Likewise, you may want to take a more active role or you may prefer to leave it in their hands.
Whatever your preference, it’s important to know what is expected of you, and also for your injury attorney to know what you expect of them. Establishing these things through clear and upfront communication is vital to the success of any personal injury case.
How Much Experience Do You Have?
One of the most important factors to consider when hiring a lawyer, if not the number one most important factor, is how much experience that lawyer has with cases similar to yours. Even if a lawyer has worked on numerous personal injury cases over the years, there are different kinds of cases within that milieu.
From car accidents to work-site injuries to commercial negligence, an attorney can work for many years without once representing a case like yours. If you want the very best representation possible, you want to know that the lawyer you’re talking to has had both experience and success in cases like yours.
