Personal Injury Lawyers

Questions To Ask A Personal Injury Lawyer During Your Consultation

If you have been hurt in an accident, you should speak to a lawyer as soon as possible after your accident. Although you may have a longer period of time to file a lawsuit, you may have rights to many claims which can be lost if you do not file the proper paperwork which may need to be filed within days of your accident. Some of these rights are claims for medical bills, transportation expenses, household help, lost income, disability payments, property damage and compensation for your injuries. Sometimes, claims must be filed with more than one insurance company and if a claim must be filed with the government agency it usually must be filed within days of your accident.

Do not speak to any insurance company which is not your own and do not give any taped statements until you speak with a lawyer. If you are asked to give a statement, simply ask for the name and phone number of the person requesting the statement and tell them you will call back. Since you must report an incident to your own insurance company immediately, you should call a lawyer immediately.

Q: Is this consultation given without charge to me?

About Your Rights:

Q: What rights do I have that need to be protected?

Q: Who will pay my medical bills; physical therapy bills; drug bills; transportation expenses; temporary or permanent household help; lost income; property damage; and pain and suffering?

Q: What do I have to do to protect my rights to these claims? What forms and papers do I need to obtain? Where do I get these forms? Will you fill out all the forms for me? If needed, will you help me with my medical claim? If needed, will you help me with my property damage claim?

Q: What claim letters need to be sent; how many insurance companies must be notified? Will you do this for me?

About determining whether you want to hire a specific lawyer?

You may feel nervous when hiring a lawyer, but remember that you are the one doing the hiring. While lawyers who primarily represent people in accidents charge a contingency fee (a fee that is charged at the end of the case and only if you are successful) you will still want to know that you are satisfied with your choice. Even though you pay a fee after you receive a money award, you are the one paying the bill. Serious injuries can result in significant compensation for both you and your lawyer. That makes you an important client!

Q: If I have a question about my case, will I be able to speak with you directly or do I have to speak to a paralegal? Is it okay if I speak with you occasionally when I have a question or to find out the status of my case?

Q: How long have you and your law firm been practicing law?

Q: Do you practice primarily in the field of Personal Injury and accidents?

Q: Is my personal injury case considered a subspecialty and do I need a different lawyer who handles this type of case?

Q: Do you have professional liability insurance? (Professional liability insurance also protects you, the accident victim, in case an error is made that damages your case.)

Q: When will I be charged? (Personal injury lawyers usually charge a contingency fee. A contingency fee is one that is charged at the end of the case and only if you are successful. This allows anyone who has been hurt in an accident to have easy access to a lawyer.)

Q: How much will I be charged?

Q: Will I be charged a legal fee if you do not recover money for me?

Q: Am I responsible for case expenses if you do not recover money for me?

Q: What are my alternatives to resolve my claim? Do you ever utilize mediation and arbitration?

Q: Have you or your law firm done any trials?

Q: (If married) Is my spouse entitled to any of my settlement or money awarded? What happens if I get divorced?

Q: (If a child is injured) Which parent will bring the claim? Are the parents entitled to any money? Which parent will be entitled to receive the money? What happens to my child's settlement money?

About The Author

Philip L. Franckel, Esq., is the founder of http://www.HURT911.org an accident and injury research web site for people hurt in an accident and personal injury lawyers. Mr. Franckel also publishes articles on Lawyer Advertising at http://www.Lawyer-Advertising-Blog.com and provides advertising for lawyers at http://www.HURT911.org/getclient.php.

posted by KillaKid @ 12:03 AM 0 comments

Are You Thinking Of Hiring A Personal Injury Lawyer?

If you have been injured and are thinking of hiring a personal injury lawyer there are a few things to keep in mind.

First of all, find a lawyer who specializes in your type of case and in the type of law your case falls under. You want a lawyer who specializes in personal injury law, not one who specializes in other areas of law such as criminal law, wills, estates, or divorce.

Talk to several lawyers before hiring one to handle your case. Most personal injury lawyers offer a free initial consultation to discuss your case. This consultation gives you the opportunity to ask the lawyer questions such as: how much experience he or she has; what the fees are; what he or she feels your chances of having a successful case are; who will be working on your case (it may be an associate rather than the person you have the initial consultation with); and how long he or she feels it will take for a resolution of your case.

The initial consultation is for the benefit of both you and the lawyer. While you are deciding whether or not you want to hire that particular attorney, the attorney is looking at the case and deciding if it is a case he or she wants to take on.

During the consultation ask each lawyer the same questions so you have the information to equitably compare each lawyer and decide who you can work with best. You want to work with someone you are comfortable talking to because you may have to discuss some very personal information with your lawyer; so take note of how comfortable or uncomfortable you are when you visit each lawyer.

Take all the information you have about your case with you for each initial consultation including photos but don’t take your originals. Take copies. When you do sign a contract with a lawyer you may be asked to provide the originals, but copies should be fine for your initial consultations.

Before signing a contract with a lawyer, make sure you understand the contract. Personal injury lawyers almost always work on a contingency basis. This means the lawyer only gets paid if he or she wins your case. Instead of the fee being hourly, the fee is a certain percentage of your award, typically one-third. You would then receive the other two-thirds of the award. But if any fees such as filing fees, expert witness fees, etc. are paid out of your portion of the award the actual amount you receive could be significantly less than two-thirds. Make sure you understand whose responsibility the extra costs will be.

If an attorney declines to take on your case, don’t be offended. Instead ask them for a recommendation of a lawyer they think may be able to help you with your case.

And keep in mind that using a small-claims court can be a viable option to using an attorney in certain personal injury cases, but it is still a good idea to consult with an attorney first to see if that is best course of action for you to take with your particular case.

About The Author

D Ruplinger is a featured writer for http://www.damageattorneys.com. For more information about personal injury lawyers and information on free consultations visit http://www.damageattorneys.com.

posted by KillaKid @ 12:02 AM 0 comments