Finding a great personal injury lawyer can be very difficult because every attorney proclaims that they’re the best. Even if they’re a great attorney, there’s always another attorney who may look like they’re “better” based on their resume. I’ve put together 3 tips on how to hire a great personal injury lawyer below, but this list is not exhaustive or comprehensive. Finding the best personal injury attorney is a personal mission based off your unique case, where you are located and the attorneys in the local market.
1) Get a Personal Referral. If you have a friend or family member who has been in an accident and has gone through the process of vetting attorneys in the past, you should ask them what to look for and if they have a recommendation. Sometimes they can point you in the right direction if they had a good experience.
2) Read Online Reviews with a Grain of Salt. No matter how good or bad an attorney is, there’s an online review somewhere that says contrary. Lawyers can make people angry sometimes, this is a hazard of the industry. Clients sometimes don’t understand, or refuse to accept that there are sometimes legal matters of policy or procedure that are not within the control of the attorney handling the case. Once they feel like they haven’t received the help they were promised they take to Yelp, Avvo or another online review forum. Attorneys can sometimes be savvy online marketers, making sure to bolster their reviews with positive press.
3) What Types of Cases Does the Attorney “Specialize” in? If you’re looking at an attorney’s website and they market for every type of law there is, chances are good that they potentially don;t have a strong knowledge in all of them equally. Most attorneys stick to 1-3 areas of law, and some only do one type of practice. Generally, in personal injury law you want to choose a civil litigation attorney. This is usually a lawyer who has argued cases in civil court and tried a case in front of a judge and jury (in a non-criminal matter).
If you’ve been looking for the best Rancho Cucamonga personal injury lawyer and you’ve come across this article chances are good you;re frustrated at this point. However, don’t abandon hope and don’t sacrifice your case because you can’t make a decision. Choose 2-3 attorneys to talk to and interview each one. Once you’ve decided on an attorney, move forward and inquire about your case frequently. Although most personal injury attorneys are motivated to settle your case quickly because their compensation depends on it, sometimes cases have a tendency to languish due to procedure and paperwork. If your lawyer doesn’t communicate frequently you may feel “lost” in the system, don’t let that happen and set that up as a condition of them taking your case.
