Asking These Questions before Engaging a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Save You a Lot of Grief
If you have been a victim of an accident that has had a deep impact on you, you can consider hiring a personal injury lawyer to get compensated adequately by negotiating with the party responsible or suing him in a court of law. By asking the right questions before hiring a personal injury lawyer, you can not only increase your chances of success but also save yourself from nasty surprises.
Some of the top questions you need to ask:
What Kind of Personal Injury Cases Do You Specialize In?
There are dozens of kinds of personal injury cases with further subdivisions in each. Since many of the subjects are highly technical, lawyers need to become experts in them and prefer to specialize in the niche. Even if the lawyer you are talking to handles different types of cases, you should ideally try to hire someone who has extensive experience of handling the type of case you have. According to Inc.com, you should make it a point to ask for references and check on them before hiring a lawyer.
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How Experienced Are You in Court Trials?
Even though most personal injury compensation claims are settled out of court, there is always the chance that if the stakes are very high, the case will be argued in court. If your lawyer is not confident of his ability to win in the court, he will be inclined to encourage you to settle for a lower settlement offer, which is not in your best interest.
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What Are My Chances of Winning and How Much Compensation Will I Get?
Even though it is not possible for Fort Worth personal injury lawyers to give you an accurate answer, an experienced lawyer will be able to inform you of the typical success rates of your kind of cases and the amount of compensation the negotiations or court awards normally yield. However, you should be careful about hiring someone who is over-confident and promises compensation that is way out of the line of the amounts suggested by other personal injury lawyers. Another way of looking at it is that a reputed lawyer with a flourishing practice will only take on your case if it has high winning potential.
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What Are Your Fees and Who Pays the Costs?
The usual method of charging fees in personal injury cases is on a contingency basis, which means the lawyer only gets paid if he wins. The typical fee is 33% of the settlement or award. There are quite a few costs that have to be incurred to fight a lawsuit. These include court filing fees, administrative fees, expenses incurred on investigations, fees paid to expert witnesses, photocopying charges, and more. The contract you execute with your lawyer will specify how the costs will be adjusted with the settlement or award or if the lawsuit is unsuccessful.
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Conclusion
The decision to hire a personal injury lawyer should never be taken in a hurry as there are many aspects to consider. You should only go ahead with your lawsuit if you find a reputed lawyer willing to take on your case on a contingency basis without you being liable to pay the costs in case of failure to win.