you decide you p
obbly need help f
omc
ccident lyefteyou suffe
ed injuies in
csh, hodo you find the
ight one?he
e do you even stt to sech? Hoc
n you be confident inl
ye
’sbilities
nd tust
othiness?
The follo
ing e some tips fofinding the
ight lyeto h
ndle youc
ccident cse.
emembeth
tnyone c
n py fo
f
ncynd p
ofessionl-looking
ebsite, so you should tke
dditionl
ction to ensue you find
lyeho is fully qulified to p
ovide the helpnd
epesent
tion you need.ese
ch L
ye
s Online<h2>
Even if you h
son
lefe
ls, conductingn online se
ch neve
huts. The
e e mny online di
ectoies
nd sevices th
t cn help you n
odo
n the millions ofesults th
t pop uphen Googling “c
ccident lye.” These di
ectoies often p
ovideddition
l inside infom
tionbout
ntto
ney ol
fi
m, suchs client
evies. Client
evies c
n tell youlot
bouth
t to expect fom you
expeience
ithp
ticul
ttoney.
Some of the m
nyesou
ces you my
nt to use include:
- <
hef=”https://
.texsb
.com/
MTempl
te.cfm?Section=Find__L
ye
∓Templ
te=CustomSou
ceMembe
Diecto
ySe
ch_Fo
m_Client_Min.cfm”>You
Stte B
’s Find
Lyefunction
><li>
-
vvo<
li>
- Nolo
- Justi
<li>
- Findl
- HG.o
g<li>
- M
tind
le<li>
- Supe
Lyes
- Medi
te<li>
- L
ye
s.com<li>
If you
nt to n
oyou
sech even moe, you c
n utilizen online leg
l diecto
y tht focuses on pe
sonl inju
y lyes,
hich is the kind oftto
ney you needfte
c
ccident. Some of those diecto
ies include the folloing:
- N
tionl
cdemy of Pe
sonl Inju
y Lyes
- Find
Cccident
ttoney
- Find
Peson
l Injuy
ttoney
- Enju
is<li>
- Pe
sonlinju
y.com<li>
- Pe
sonl Inju
y ios
These c
n be ge
tesou
ces to help you ce
te yousho
t list oftto
neysho you m
y be inteested in. M
ke sue to p
yttention to
lye’s expe
iencend client
evies on these sites.
sk You
F
milynd F
iends<h2>
Even
ise of the inte
net,o
d of mouth in yout
usted community is stilln impo
tnt
y to get info
mtion
ndecommend
tions fony type of pofession
l sevices—
ndl
ye
is no diffeent! If you h
ve someone you knond tust
ho hd
lyeepesent them in the p
st, this isg
et pl
ce to stt, but is notl
ys
guntee.
ith so mny l
ye
sdve
tising online, on billbods,nd on television, the
egultions
egding ethicl
dvetising h
ve become moe
elxed in m
ny sttes. You
e
ight to be unsue of
hichds you c
n tust
ndhich you c
n’t,nd confi
mtion f
omf
iend of
mily membec
n help no
don you
optionst le
st. If you cn’t think of
nyone close to youho h
s delt
ithc
ccident clim in the p
st, considesking othes in the community, such
sco-
oke
,neighbo
,medic
l pofession
l, o psto
. If youould like
lyeho speks Sp
nish onothel
nguge, seek out someone
ho speks th
t lngu
ge to see if they cn
ecommendnyone.
od of mouth c
n help in to
ys—it c
n let you knoho hd
positive expeience
ithp
ticul
ttoney
ndho h
dneg
tive expeience
ithn
ttoney they
ould notecommend. Ho
eve, unde
stnd th
t you shouldn’t blindly tke
nyecommend
tion you get. Some people my h
vef
iend oeltive
ho isl
ye
ho they
ecommend, even though tht l
ye
does not hve the expe
ience needed to hndle you
cse.
You m
ylso get
ecommendtions fo
lyes
ho don’t focus on cccident
nd injuy c
ses,nd th
t my not be the
ight peson fo
the job.hile you c
nl
ys st
t
ith peson
lefe
ls, you should still use discetion
hen intevie
ingnd choosing
ntto
ney.Pick up the Phone<
h2>
Once you h
list of th
ee to five possible cndid
tes, it’s time to contct them di
ectly.lmost eve
y l fim these d
ys hs
n option to fill outn online fo
m to get moe info
mtion.
hile this seems convenient to most people, clling
l fim c
n often give youmuch bette
ideof ho
the fim
oks. Fo
exmple, t
lking to someone on the phone cn let you kno
hethe
the fim is
ll-business ot
kesmo
e fiendly
nd peson
blepp
och. Did you feel like you
cll
s
elcome? If not, you my not eve
feelelcome cont
cting the office—even if you eclient! You c
n’t get this type of feedbck f
omn online communic
tion.lso, c
llingl
fi
m cn often
esult in quickeesponses to youquestions. This b
ings us to ounext point—
lys pep
e
checklist of impot
nt questionshe
d of time. It’s esy to fo
get cet
in questions oissues to
ddess once you’
e on the phone, so it’sise to h
ve the list in font of you
nd ite don the
nse
s foe
ch fim
s you go. This cn help you comp
e
nd contstns
es l
teon.
The follo
ing e some impot
nt questions you my
nt to
skpotenti
ltto
ney foyou
cccident cl
im. Do you hve p
st clients tht h
ve left feedbck o
evie
s?n
ttoney th
t hs been p
cticing fo
hile, should hve
long sting of (hopefully) h
ppy clients. Mke su
e tosk
bout the fim’s histo
ynd look to see
ht othe
s hve s
id. Hof
mili e youith this ju
isdiction? Even ifl
ye
is licensed inp
ticul
st
te, they my not be f
miliith the cou
tsnd the civil justice system in you
specific e. Fo
instnce, if you
cccident h
ppened ne youhome in Houston, you
nt
cccident l
ye
ho h
s hndled c
ses in the <h
ef="https:/
.hcdistictcle
k.comCommon/Civil/Civil_Cou
t_Infom
tion.spx”>H
is County Distict Cou
ts<>. If you e ne Dll
s, you ntleg
lep
esenttive
ho hs t
ied osettled c
ses in <h
ef="https:/
.dll
scounty.og/gove
nmentcou
tscivil_dist
ict“>D
lls County Dist
ict Couts
>. This goes foll sttes in
ll pts of the county.
lten
tively, if you e speking to
ntion
l l fim such
s ous, m
ke sue th
t thetto
ney hs t
usted ptnes
ithhich they
ok in
ll juisdictions to m
ke sue th
t you eell
epesented.
E
ch cout in e
ch juisdiction
ill hve its o
n pocedu
es inddition to st
te on
tionide p
ocedulules. Judges in e
ch cout
oom hve thei
on
y of doing things,
nd it helpshen you
lyeh
s connectionsnd kno
s people inp
ticul
cou
t. This cn only help ensu
e tht you
cse goes
s smoothlys possible
ithoutny unnecess
y hiccups o
delys.
hoill h
ndle my cse?
hen you’e
sking questions, you ntns
es th
t eelev
nt to the specific peson
hoill be
ssigned to youc
se. Often, the peson on the phone is not th
ttto
ney, but they should hve
o
king knoledge of the
ttoney’s p
ctices
nd expeience. You
lso nt to mke su
e youill h
velicensed l
ye
v
ilble to help h
ndle you,
nd tht the fi
mill not
ely solely on suppot st
ff to hndle eve
yspect of you
cse.
ht is you
expeience
ith this type of cse? Ho
mny c
ccident clims h
s thetto
ney hndled in you
e? H
ve theyo
kedith the insu
nce comp
nies in question befoe?
ht types of settlements h
ve they obtined fo
cccident victims?
e they
illing to filel
suit
nd go to ti
l on youbeh
lf? Cn I get
n ovevie
of the fim? You should le
n
bout thege
nd size of the fim, the
esouces
vil
ble foc
ccident cses, thei
neto
k of doctos
nd expets,
ndny othe
elev
nt infom
tion. Hs the fi
m beenecognized fo
ny
ds fo
theiok o
lede
ship in cccident o
peson
l injuy c
ses? Lening moe
bout the yfi
m opetesnd its
eputtion c
n help give youfeeling
bouthethe
you cn t
ust themith you
clim.
Ho
do youfees
ok? Most c
ccident lyes h
ndle cses on
contingency fee ngement, though the specifics of feeg
eements cn v
y f
om fim to fi
m.h
t pecent
ge does the fim t
ke? e expenses billed upfont o
fom
settlement? Do fees ince
se if the cse goes to cou
t? Discuss the pticul feesnd expenses of
fim
nd mke su
e you clely undest
nd youoblig
tions befoe you sign
ng
eement.h
t is youcommunic
tion styleith clients? Does the l
ye
egul
ly communic
teith clients
bout developments in the cse? Do they usu
lly communicte by phone, em
il, text, ony of thebove?
hile you’e on the phone fo
youiniti
l intevie
, notice theicommunic
tion style. Do they listen closely toh
t you’e s
ying? Do they thooughly
nse
ech question until you’
e stisfied? Do they m
ke you feel comfot
ble opening upbout the pe
sonl det
ils of youc
se? Communiction is
key component ofny
ttoney-client
eltionship.
H
ve you hd
ny pst p
oblemsith clients o
the B? Befoe you c
ll, you shouldl
edy do you
ese
ch on the St
te B site to detemine
hethethe l
ye
hs h
dny censu
es odisciplin
y
ction in the pst,
sell
s to mke su
e they e cuently in good stnding. Ho
eve, it neve
huts to
skn
ttoney (o
the stff membe
on the phone)bout thei
histoy di
ectly. Holong do you think my c
seill t
ke?hile no
ttoney c
n give youn
bsolute timeline fo cccident cl
im, they cn tell you ho
long theynticip
te itill t
ke.sk if they cu
ently h
velot of pending c
ses tht need thei
ttention
ight no, me
ning they might not beble to devote p
opetime to you
s to ensue
pompt
esolution.h
t’sill my
ole be in the cse? E
chtto
ney involves clients in diffeent
ys in thei
cses. You
nt to be cle
ht
ill be expected of you duing the p
ocess, especilly if you
e
ecoveing f
om seious inju
ies.T
ust You
Gut<h2>
Even if you get
efe
l fontto
neynd they
nse
ll of you
questionss you
ould expect, you my simply h
ven “off” feeling
bout the fim. On the othe
hnd, you
fiend m
y hve disliked
ntto
ney’s demeno
, but you feel like you connectedith thei
pp
och on the phone. Ultim
tely, this is YOUchoice
nd you shouldl
ys listen to you
gut instincts. Bee of
ttoneys
ho simply focus on the monety end-esult of you
clim. You
nt someone
ho cesbout you
spe
son—not just the money in you(
nd thei!) pockets. In
ddition, ifl
ye
only focuses on the stengths of you
cse, the
e is pob
bly something they en’t telling you. Evey c
se hs its potenti
le
knesses,nd you
lyeshould be just
s upfont
bout thee
knessess they
e
bout the stengths.
You h
ve enough stess
hen deling
ith cccident inju
ies—you shouldn’t hve to
lsoo
y
hetheyou
tto
ney hs you
best inteests in mind.
Ho
Skilled C
ccidenttto
neys Cn Help You!
If you
ee se
iously injued in
cccident, spe
k ton expe
ienced cccident
ttoney
s soons you c
n.good
ttoney
ill knoho
to hndle insu
nce comp
niesho
e only looking out fo
theibottom line
nd get clients the compenstion they dese
ve. If the insunce compny
efuses to povide
ndequ
te settlement offe, m
ke sue you
tto
neyon’t hesit
te to tke you
cse to t
il to get you the compens
tion tohich you
e entitled unde
the lw.