If you are looking for a personal injury attorney, you probably are dealing with a case that affects your physical and financial wellbeing. There are thousands of personal injury attorneys in Oregon. It can be challenging to tell one attorney from the other and which is the best to hire.
The Herron Law Firm believes in helping people make good decisions about their legal representation for a personal injury lawsuit. Therefore, we strongly believe, you may not always need to hire an attorney, but we can always help you with Free Information.
Understand the nature of the legal problem you face. For many people, they have been injured in an accident and may need an attorney to file a personal injury lawsuit. The first thing you should remember is you should hire an attorney who is experienced with your type of personal injury case.
To do research about your case so you can find the right attorney, please do the following;
Remember that not all the information you find in your legal research will be accurate or useful. But you will have a better understanding of your legal matter before you speak to an attorney. The more you understand about your legal case, the better chance you have of obtaining compensation.
If you have a legal referral, go to the lawyer’s website and see what their verdicts and settlements section looks like. You should look for a strong record of success in verdicts and settlements in accident cases like yours. There is plenty of information out there about how good or bad a particular attorney is, you just need to look for it.
Legal websites such as avvo.com and bestlawyers.com will provide you with objective attorney reviews.
There may be no screening of lawyer quality on these sites. Sometimes the only screening is if the attorney is licensed and has a credit card. Some attorneys will pay top dollar to have an ad on a top spot on their site. Your best bet is to check attorney reviews on avvo.com and bestlawyers.com.
Ask the attorney’s office to send you books, reports, DVDs or CDs they have made for your type of legal case. You should do your research at home without any outside pressure, just as you would on any other vital decision.
Most attorneys provide free consultations, but these are not always the best way to obtain information. Ask them to send you any information that would convince you to hire them.
Keep in mind that the best attorneys are choosy about the cases they take. They usually turn away more cases than they accept. You may not even be able to set up an appointment for the same week. They should be happy to answer your questions because it shows that you have done your legal homework.
Do not hire the first attorney you see. Research the lawyer and make sure they have a good track record in your type of personal injury case. Also, watch out for settlement mills who look for consumers who do not understand legal fees and rules. They use high contingency fees to make a lot of money on simple cases.
Look closely at the terms of the legal agreement they show you. If the attorney wants a 40% fee for a minor car accident, you should look somewhere else. The standard fee for settling a car accident case is 33%, but some may start as low as 25%. If the case goes to trial, the fee can be as high as 40%.
This sounds like a lot of work, right? But hiring a good personal injury attorney when you are injured with property damages is very important. If you have serious injuries, you want to have the right attorney working for you, so you get as much settlement money as possible. You might need months of medical care and be off work for a long time, so you want a lawyer who knows how to negotiate aggressively with stingy insurance companies. Plus, if your attorney is a good one, the insurance company knows he could take them to court and win. This fact can help to speed negotiations.
Always call The Herron Law Firm
if you have any questions about your legal matter.
The short answer is: absolutely not. This depends upon the case circumstances, your damages, and a fault.
It is your legal right to have a personal injury attorney represent your interests against an insurance company. BUT, you are not legally required to have an attorney handle your claim. It is possible to file all the legal paperwork yourself and to be your own representative in court. That said, your chances of prevailing in the case and getting fair compensation are higher if you have a skilled personal injury attorney fighting for you.
Some cases may require expert witnesses, to sort through documents from the defense, and to generally provide strong evidence about the accident and injuries to prove your case so you get as much compensation as possible. If the case does not go to court, you will need to know how to handle negotiations with tough attorneys and insurance companies for the defense.
Remember that the other party’s insurance company handles these cases every day. Their goal is to pay you as little money as possible. Most injured people who lack legal experience will end up with less money if they represent themselves.
An experienced personal injury attorney is able to level the playing field during negotiations, navigate the process of pretrial, take the case to trial if necessary, and fight for the compensation for medical costs, lost wages and pain and suffering you deserve.
In summary, most accident victims who were hurt by the negligence of another person or entity should at least consult a personal injury attorney.