No one expects to get injured. Whether it’s a car accident or a fall in a public place, personal injuries always come as a surprise. So most people who get injured don’t have the contact information of the personal injury lawyer handy. Worse, most people don’t know a personal injury lawyer personally. So how do you go about finding a good personal injury lawyer? Well, I hope this blog post will help you out.
Ask Family and Friends
Between friends and family, most people have a large social network. It is fairly likely that one of the people in that network will have needed a personal injury lawyer in the past. If they have, they should be able to tell you if they think their lawyer was any good. If no one you know has needed a personal injury lawyer, maybe they know someone who has. If no one you know knows about a personal injury lawyer, you might have to look into other ways of finding one.
Ask Another Lawyer
If you don’t know a personal injury lawyer, maybe you or someone you know knows a different type of lawyer. A lot of folks may know a divorce lawyer or a lawyer who writes wills. While I wouldn’t recommend having a divorce or wills lawyer handle a personal injury case, those types of lawyer are usually well connected in the local legal community. So they will probably know who are the well-respected personal injury lawyers trusts.
Use Google
I usually don’t recommend using Google to find a lawyer, but sometimes you don’t have any other options. If you do need to use Google to find a personal injury lawyer, make sure to do plenty of research. There are a number of sites on the web that rate lawyers and give out awards, and you can usually find reviews of law firms written by previous clients. Read all the information you can find carefully when selecting who to call.
Trust Your Instincts
Don’t just hire the first lawyer who agrees to meet with you. The intake interview is an opportunity for you to see if you’re comfortable with the lawyer as well as for the lawyer to see if she is comfortable with you. If your instincts are telling you something is wrong, listen to that. You are going to be trusting your lawyer with a lot of personal information and potentially your financial future. Because of this, you have to have a high degree of trust in your lawyer. It’s much better to make the right decision up front than to try to change lawyers halfway through a case.