The Lawyer’s Knowledge and Experience
The first thing you should look for is an attorney who has experience handling your type of case. You don’t want an attorney learning on your case. If you are in need of a personal injury attorney you should find out about prior personal injury cases that lawyer has handled.
Do not focus solely on the final dollar amount of a particular case result because that can be very misleading without knowing the specific details about the case, which can often times be confidential based on their settlement terms. More important is the nature and specific field of the case. For example, if you are pursing a potential medical malpractice case for a misdiagnosis for cancer, ask specifically about prior cases the attorney has handled relating to misdiagnosis and other related medical malpractice claims.
While we do post a small sample of prior case results on our website, we are happy to discuss with you the specifics of more cases we have handled. Fill out the contact form or call our Charleston, South Carolina personal injury law firm at 843-991-6528 to ask us about our prior cases. If we determine that your case is outside of our experienced practice areas, we can still provide a recommendation or even call some other attorneys for you to see if we can find an attorney that might be willing to handle your case.
The Type of Law Firm
It is important to know about the structure of the law firm you are thinking about hiring. First, you should decide what type of experience you want from an attorney. The fact is that different types of firms provide different types of services and experiences. A smaller firm handling fewer cases will be able to devote more time and attention to each client. Ask the attorney how many cases they are currently handling. Ask them about their policies regarding client communications. Ask what roles legal assistants and paralegals play in handling your case. Ask whether a certain attorney will handle your case and will that attorney be handling your case from start to finish. All of this information is important in determining the type of service and experience you will get from that firm.
Next, if you need a personal injury lawyer, you should hire a lawyer who practices exclusively in the area of personal injury. While this principal seems to be generally accepted in the medical field – if you need a heart surgery you go to a heart surgeon – the same does not always seem to hold true in the legal field. An attorney who practices exclusively in the area of personal injury will know the ins and outs of personal injury law better than one who dabbles in multiple areas of the law. That attorney will also likely have the necessary resources and network needed to litigate personal injury cases.
Hire a Person You Like and Trust
Perhaps most important, you should look to hire an attorney you like as a person – someone you feel like you could see yourself associating with even if you were not hiring them to be your attorney. Hiring an attorney and pursuing an accident claim is a serious decision and should not be taken lightly. You will have to communicate with your attorney regularly throughout the process and you will need to be able to work with him or her in a civil and diligent manner. You should trust your attorney and feel like they have your best interest at heart. You should meet with any lawyer prior to making a decision about hiring them and if you just don’t feel like he or she is the right fit for you, keep looking.