Things Your Patients Need to Know Before Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

When it comes to finding and hiring a lawyer for a personal injury or wrongful death case, the decision needs to be based on more than simply calling the first one that turns up in your Google search results. While you can’t give legal advice or recommend a specific attorney, there are a few things your patients need to know when they need this type of attorney.

There shouldn’t be any Up-Front Fees

Let’s say you’re in Queens and find yourself in need of a New York City wrongful death attorney or a personal injury lawyer, you need to know that most of them work on contingency fees. What this means is that there isn’t a cost for you unless they win the case. If they do win, the legal fee will be a percentage of your monetary win. This isn’t true only in New York City, but everywhere in the US. The contingency fee can be anywhere from 33 – 45% of the gross amount recovered. This percentage will be affected by things like litigation risk and the complexity of the case.

Experience

The more practice people have with something, the better they are at it. This is also true when it comes to personal injury lawyers. Injuries in the workplace tend to require an attorney who’s experienced in workplace law if you want to be sure your medical bills are paid for. If a dangerous product or drug has caused any harm, your attorney needs to have experience in products liability. If it’s an issue of medical malpractice, you need an attorney who has experience in that area.

Will They Take the Case?

There are quite a few reasons an attorney might refer your case to someone else. One of these is that the attorney may not have the resources or experience that are expected from a personal injury lawyer. Also, they might just be in the practice of referring your type of case to other attorneys. Believe it or not, some law firms actually specialize only in connecting lawyers with clients. They get a referral fee from it, but not by you, and this shouldn’t make your legal fees any higher than usual.

Confidence and Trust

If you’ve lost a loved one due to wrongful death or have been injured, you only get a single chance to get the justice you deserve. That’s one chance to understand what’s needed to make your life complete again, to replace any income lost from a job you can’t do right now, and to get the compensation for your medical care. This is how a personal injury attorney can help you. That said, you need to have confidence that the attorney you hire can understand your story and convey it in such a way that others will also appreciate it and compensate you for your losses. If you don’t have a trusting relationship with your lawyer, and you don’t have confidence in their ability, motive, and sincerity, the chances of you being successful will suffer.

Finally, you need to take a look at the attorney’s client reviews and track record… not just with any cases, but with cases similar to yours. Have they handled cases that were complex and were for high stakes? Do they have a professional office that’s complete with a well-appointed staff and modern technology? Do any client reviews from their past talk about cases similar to yours and were any of those particular clients happy with the way they were represented?

If you have patients who were injured through someone else’s negligence, they need an attorney. Not just one who’ll take the case, but one who’ll take it personally.