In 2020, there were a staggering 55.4 million preventable personal injuries across the US. Of those, one out of every six needed to seek medical attention.
If you’ve suffered a personal injury and are now working through recovery, you might also be considering legal action.
Aside from your recovery, one challenge you’re sure to face is wading through the 800,000+ personal injury attorneys to find the best one for your case.
When you meet with your Lake Mills lawyers to discuss your case, you want to learn as much as possible about them and how they’d handle your case.
Read on to learn some of the most important questions you should ask to get the best personal injury lawyer for your case.
What Is Your Legal Background?
An important first question is to ask your attorney about their legal background. Ask things like:
- How long have you been practicing law?
- How did you end up pursuing being a lawyer?
- Are you a member of any professional law organizations?
While these questions sound generic and might be available on the lawyer’s website, how they answer can give you a taste of how they communicate.
You also want a lawyer who has some experience before they begin handling your case.
What Type of Law Do You Practice?
When you visit the doctor, you go to one who specializes in the body part you need to be examined. You aren’t likely to see the pediatrician for an adult heart condition.
Lawyers also have areas of specialty. One lawyer might practice family law, another criminal law, or business law. While some may practice in various areas, you probably want one who specializes in handling personal injury for your case.
A personal injury lawyer will specialize, be experienced, and be an expert in how to proceed with a personal injury case.
Ask your Lake Mills lawyer about how specialized they are as it relates to personal injury cases.
Have You Handled Any Cases Similar to My Case?
Like areas of law specialty, personal injury claims from personal injuries come in many forms. How to approach a dog bite case might be much different than a slip and fall accident or an injury from a truck accident.
Ask the personal injury lawyer if they have handled many cases similar to yours. Of course, they can disclose specifics to other cases, and you can ask them to talk you through how other cases similar to yours progressed and were handled.
This will also help you to be prepared for the steps involved in a personal injury case.
What Will Your Approach Be to Handling My Case?
Then you can get more specific to your case. Whether you want to address the negligent actions of the other party or the medical bills you have piling up, you want to know how the lawyer will proceed if they take your case.
Of course, the lawyer can’t spell out what or how the other parties will react; they should be able to talk you through how they expect your case to proceed.
Will they need investigators? Will they start right away negotiating with the involved insurance companies?
They should be able to anticipate how the case will proceed and explain it to you.
Can You Talk About Your Case Outcomes?
Again, a lawyer can’t disclose particulars from other cases. They can, however, talk about how often a case is settled versus going to trial. They should be able to talk about outcomes once a case does go to trial.
The attorney should also be able to talk about their goals for your case outcome. How much will they attempt to get on your behalf, and then how often have they successfully reached the results they go for.
What Will My Case Cost?
Of course, one crucial thing you’ll want to know up front is the cost for the lawyer to take your case.
Many personal injury lawyers don’t get paid until you get paid. They work on a contingency and get a percentage of your settlement.
A few things about this are important. You want to know what percentage the lawyer gets upfront when the case is settled. You also want to make sure the firm is solid enough that they can keep working on your case until there is money from it.
Some lawyers will want a small retainer to cover fees like court filing fees or hiring private investigators or experts on behalf of your case.
Who Will Work My Case?
One thing that sometimes happens in large firms is that you meet with the named partner, the most visible face of the firm. Yet, they aren’t the ones who are handling your case.
You want to know who will be handling your case directly. All lawyers have paralegals and assistants who support their work. But you want to know which lawyer will work the case. Is it the lawyer you’re meeting with, or will they hand the case off to someone else?
How Will You Communicate With Me About My Case?
After asking all these questions, you should have a good sense of the lawyer’s communication style. You want to know how they will communicate with you as the case progresses.
Some clients like regular updates even though not much has changed. Other clients want communication when the case has progressed in some way.
How will they keep you abreast of the status of your case?
Get Your Personal Injury Questions Answered From Our Lake Mills Lawyers
On top of being the victim of a personal injury, you now have a legal case to navigate. You want a lawyer who will work hard on your behalf to get you the compensation you need and deserve.
As Lake Mills lawyers, we’re prepared to take your case and work hard for a favorable resolution for you. Contact us today so we can get to work on your behalf.
