Even the most excellent writers make mistakes, even the most fluent speakers fumble, and even the most skilled drivers cause accidents. Dealing with accidents and the hassle they cause becomes a nightmare if you have to deal with it all by yourself. The stress of the accident cannot be undone but it can definitely be reduced by hiring a car accident attorney. This article is a complete guide for all those who are thinking or never thought of hiring an attorney to manage their personal injury case.
WHY HIRE A CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER?
The immediate question that strikes a driver after the mess caused by an accident is, “Is hiring an attorney even worth it?” Let’s do a quick analysis using this short questionnaire.
- Are you dissatisfied with the settlement provided by your insurance company?
- Was it a personal injury case?
- Was it your fault (even partially) in an accident?
- Is there a possibility of a lawsuit being filed against you?
- Are there any losses you don’t know how to prove in a settlement?
If the answer to any of these questions is, “Yes,” then you need to hire an attorney. Of course, minor fender benders don’t require a lawyer but if you had a serious accident and incurred heavy losses, an attorney is a must. Attorneys will not only help you get the right compensation for your vehicle damage, lost wages, and medical bills but also the emotional stress you have gone through due to the accident.
If the answer to any of these questions is, “Yes,” then you need to hire an attorney. Of course, minor fender benders don’t require a lawyer but if you had a serious accident and incurred heavy losses, an attorney is a must. Attorneys will not only help you get the right compensation for your vehicle damage, lost wages, and medical bills but also the emotional stress you have gone through due to the accident.
Hiring an experienced attorney is helpful because of 4 major reasons:
In-depth legal knowledge
With respect to vehicle codes and even other laws, every state follows a law different from others. A lawyer has in-depth knowledge of these legal aspects and would enable you to find and work on the aspects relevant to your case so that you don’t waste time on investigation and research and instead focus on recovery. This becomes more important when the case reaches the stage of a lawsuit that involves heavy paperwork, gathering evidence, legal citations, etc.
In addition, an attorney would help you settle the case, negotiate a settlement and deal with self-interested healthcare systems.
Getting you the right monetary compensation
Experienced auto accident lawyers help you compensate practically for every bit you spent and every loss you incurred. This also includes the loss of your loved ones and the pain and suffering you went through but cannot be reflected directly in the form of bills and physical damage.
Monetary compensation will also include negotiating with your car insurance companies. Car accidents happen in the U.S. daily and most of them are settled with an insurance claim unless the case involves something intense and negotiation proves futile. Quite often, we are not satisfied with the claim paid by the companies because they come up with some pretty believable arguments that make you believe that you don’t deserve your demanded coverage. An experienced attorney will help you get through all these and earn the monetary benefits that you deserve.
Guiding you after a crash
After an accident, you might not notice minor body pains or may mistake serious internal injuries like whiplash as normal side effects of prolonged stress. Lawyers would guide you through this and also remind you of the immediate action to be taken after the crash. Therefore, you must always get in touch with your lawyer before anyone else, even your insurance company. Informing your insurance agent is, of course, important but even before that an experienced attorney would guide you on how much is to be reported to your company to serve your maximum interest. Remember that you must not give any recorded statements to your insurance company before discussing them with your attorney.
Experience
This is both a criterion and an essential quality to look for when hiring a lawyer. Above everything, the fact is that lawyers have handled many cases like yours. Hence, they know the requirements and the ways to fulfill them. Lawyers are undoubtedly important if your case involves a lawsuit. But even otherwise, it is better to hire a lawyer in the initial stage than regret later with enough damage already being done and a trial to begin. The fee charged by them also increases with the progress you make without a lawyer. Hence, the biggest blunder you could do after an accident is not seeking legal consultation.
When to hire an auto accident attorney?
Once you know how important the role of an attorney is, you might wonder what is the right time to hire them. The simplest answer is: as soon as possible. If you’re already involved in an accident, there’s no point in waiting for the ideal time. In fact, you should have good contact with an attorney just like you have your family doctor. This makes legal advice readily available to you whenever you find the need for it.
How to hire an attorney?
Hiring an attorney is not rocket science, especially in this interconnected network where every piece of information is just a click away. You can simply search on the internet to find auto accident lawyers in your specific state and you shall find a number of search results to choose from.
Another way is to seek referrals from your family and friends to contact lawyers with first-hand experience.
You could also seek a recommendation from your attorney who had represented you in some other legal matter.
Besides these, you can contact the bar association of the respective state which contains the records of all licensed attorneys in your area. But it’s still better to contact a well-reputed lawyer who is known by someone you know.
Choosing the right attorney
Once you have made up your mind that you need an attorney, you need to make sure that the attorney you’re relying on is the right one for you. Certain parameters need to be kept in mind while hiring an auto accident lawyer:
Discussing the free upfront
Perhaps the fee is the first thing we focus on while searching for any kind of lawyer. You do want to win the case or the negotiation but without causing your pocket to burn. The fee structure will vary from lawyer to lawyer and case to case. Generally, personal injury lawyers charge a contingency fee ranging from 33.33% to 40% of the settlement money but this could vary. Go through the whole agreement carefully and be clear specifically with the fee structure before you sign it.
Even if you don’t have enough financial resources to hire a skilled lawyer, you can go ahead with pro bono services. Most personal injury lawyers would agree to it if they feel like you have a strong case. Although the American Bar Association does not regularly monitor it, it is an ideal to which lawyers should aspire. As per the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, every lawyer has a professional responsibility to provide legal services to those unable to pay by rendering at least 50 hours of pro bono public legal services per year. You can easily find such lawyers online.
Initial consultation
This is indeed absolutely essential, especially if you’re communicating with a lawyer for the first time. You should have a detailed consultation with the lawyer about the recent cases that they have won, analyze their success rate, and the specific cases they deal with. Even within the broad sphere of personal injury cases, there are different specialties such as motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, bicycle accidents, bus accidents, pedestrian accidents, and so on. Therefore, the choice has to be well thought out.
You could also ask for client reviews for further insights into their work. Communicate your needs to your potential lawyer and seek information regarding past experience in similar cases, their current caseload, and the time and resources they would be able to devote to your case. You should also focus on discussing your chances of winning the case, the alternative solutions such as mediation, and what are the expectations from the lawyer’s side.
Ask as many questions as you want to before you make the final choice. Prepare certain basic questions beforehand and if you find the lawyer is a transparent communicator and has wide experience in the specific accident type, then you must go ahead without delay since time is very crucial in such cases.
After hiring a lawyer
Once you have done your research and made the final choice, it’s now your responsibility to be transparent to your lawyer and lay bare every minute detail of the case. Lawyers need to know these so as to defend you in court and ensure fair compensation for your losses. However, this doesn’t allow them to misuse the personal information provided to them, leading to a breach of information. Again, you should make such points clear in the agreement between you and your attorney before beginning the case.
Lawyers don’t necessarily mean that everything has to be dealt with in court. In fact, a good lawyer would ensure that your case resolves without entering the court premises. Give yourself enough time after interacting with a number of lawyers to make the final choice. Find out if you’re able to freely communicate with them and show faith in them. Remember that with every win, good communication and trust between the client and the lawyer is the key.