Anyone that has suffered a personal injury should hire an injury lawyer. Yet it can prove difficult to find a reputable lawyer. A smart victim consults with a number of different lawyers, and asks each consulted injury lawyer a series of questions.
Suggested inquiries for a prospective lawyer
In what areas of the law do you specialize? A trustworthy injury lawyer hesitates to sound like an authority, when offering some advice in an area other than the one in which he or she has chosen to specialize.
• For how long have you been practicing law?
• Have you had other cases similar to mine? How many of such cases have you had? What were the results?
• Will another lawyer be helping you with this case? Will you be working with an intern?
• What is your estimate for the amount of time required, in order to settle this particular case?
• What is your fee schedule? Do you work on a contingency basis?
• If I were to become your client, how could I increase our chances for winning this case?
• How often do you take a case to trial? A low number could suggest that the consulted lawyer prefers to accept a settlement, regardless of how low it might be.
• Have you even been censured or disciplined? Understand that this question focuses on the lawyer’s past behavior. There is no way to predict with certainty an injury lawyer’s future behavior.
• Do you have any references from past clients?
Appropriate answers to these questions will help you get an idea about the working of the injury lawyer in Cornwall. When you interview and meet with multiple lawyers, it can help you get an idea about who the best lawyer will be for your particular case.
Questions to avoid
Study an injury lawyer’s website before going to a scheduled consultation. Look at the FAQ section. At the consultation to not ask a question that has been answered in that section. Additionally, check to see if there are posted testimonies from past clients. If you see a generous number of such testimonies, do not ask for references from former clients.
A possible question to add:
If you have a pre-existing condition, or if you were injured in a previous accident, find out how much experience your consulted lawyer has with finding and contacting experts in the medical field. You do not want to hire an injury lawyer that might accept the veracity of the statements made by the opponent’s lawyer. You want to hire someone that will seek out useful testimony, with respect to the medical issue of concern.