Category: Understanding Personal Injury

When-Do-I-Need-to-Hire-a-Personal-Injury-Lawyer?

When Do I Need to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Not all accidents require the help of a lawyer. If you suffered mild injuries in a straightforward accident with uncontested liability, you can likely handle your own claim. However, it can be unclear when you need a personal injury lawyer’s expertise or if you even have a case. 

Without legal representation, it can be easy to make mistakes that harm your claim. Once a settlement agreement with the insurance company is signed, it’s final. That means you can’t seek additional money if your injuries turn out to be more serious. 

With so much at stake, it’s crucial to know when you need a personal injury attorney so you can be represented as soon as possible. Here are common circumstances in which you should always speak with a lawyer before communicating any further with the other party. 

You Suffered a Serious Injury

The more serious your injuries, the more your case is likely worth. 

Serious injuries may involve: 

  • Substantial medical bills
  • A lengthy recovery
  • Long-term disability
  • Diminished earning capacity
  • Significant non-economic losses like pain and suffering

The insurance company has a great incentive to scrutinize and delay your claim, blame you, and find other ways to minimize or deny a payout. 

After a serious injury, you depend on the settlement to not only replace your lost wages and cover medical bills but potentially pay for lifelong medical care. 

An experienced personal injury lawyer will make sure your case is valued accurately and negotiate on your behalf. Your lawyer will defend you against unfair insurance company tactics and fight for the full compensation you are owed. 

Liability Is Shared or Unclear

Legal representation becomes critical if there’s uncertainty about who is at fault or if multiple parties are involved. Insurance companies often exploit murky liability to reduce payouts. The insurance company might try to shift the blame to you or other parties. 

States vary in how they handle shared fault in personal injury cases. Some states use a comparative negligence standard, while others use contributory negligence. In the few states with a contributory negligence rule, any fault assigned to you will bar you from recovering anything. 

Under a comparative negligence rule, you may still be entitled to compensation. However, it will be reduced according to your share of fault. Depending on the state, you may still be barred from recovering compensation if you are at least or more than half at fault. 

A personal injury lawyer will carefully investigate your accident, gather evidence, and work with experts to make liability as clear as possible. Your lawyer will defend you against unfair blame-shifting tactics and help you hold the responsible party accountable. 

Your Injury Claim Was Denied or Undervalued

Insurance companies are in the business of minimizing payouts. 

The insurance company may undervalue your claim or deny it outright by claiming: 

  • You are not as injured as you claim
  • Your medical expenses were unreasonable or unnecessary
  • Your injuries were not caused by the accident
  • You have pre-existing conditions that caused or worsened your injuries

If you receive a settlement offer, it may not even fully cover your medical costs, let alone your other losses. An experienced lawyer understands the tactics insurance companies use to minimize payouts. They know how to negotiate effectively and will not be intimidated by the insurance company’s attempts to undervalue your claim.

Your lawyer can meticulously document your injuries and associated costs, negotiate on your behalf, and file an appeal of a denied claim. If necessary, your lawyer will take your case to court to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Your Case Involves a Complex Area of Personal Injury Law

Certain personal injury cases involve complex and specialized areas of law. 

Examples include: 

  • Medical malpractice: Proving negligence demands an understanding of both legal and medical principles.
  • Product liability cases: Injuries caused by defective or dangerous products require knowledge about manufacturing standards and regulations.
  • Catastrophic injury cases like spinal cord injuries: Calculating future losses and non-economic damages is essential and complicated.
  • Cases involving government entities: Different rules and timelines for filing a claim apply.

These cases involve unique laws and decades of specialized legal precedence. Expert testimony is often needed. 

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney For a Free Consultation To Discuss Your Claim

Not all accidents require hiring a lawyer, but knowing when you do need representation is critical. Hiring a lawyer can greatly impact your recovery and financial future. With a skilled personal injury lawyer, you stand a greater chance of recovering the full compensation you need.

How To Find the Best Personal Injury Attorney in Nevada

How To Find the Best Personal Injury Attorney in Nevada

You could face expensive treatment and therapy when you get injured in an accident. At the same time, your injuries might disable you from working. This puts you in a difficult position. You need medical treatment so you can work, and you need to work so you can pay for medical treatment.

If your injuries resulted from someone else’s negligence, you have another option. You can hire a personal injury attorney and pursue a personal injury claim in Las Vegas and throughout Nevada. Your compensation will cover your medical expenses, lost wages, and diminished earning capacity. This will help you meet your daily needs while focusing on your health.

Here are some suggestions about finding the best personal injury attorney for your case in Nevada.

Gather Names of Personal Injury Lawyers Near You

Gather names of lawyers who practice injury law. You have many sources for names, including:

Lawyer Recommendations from Friends and Family

Talk to friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers about the lawyers they used for their cases. Former clients often provide the most accurate reviews of lawyers because they have direct experience seeing their lawyers in action.

If you do not know anyone who had an injury case, talk to people about lawyers they know. Legal professionals often know who has a good reputation even if they practice in a different field. If possible, gather names of Nevada personal injury lawyers from judges, paralegals, or other attorneys.

Also, look for non-recommendations. If someone has heard negative things about a lawyer or had a bad experience with them, exercise caution if hiring that lawyer.

Legal Directories

Many legal directories, like Avvo and Martindale-Hubbell, give lawyer ratings based on algorithms or peer reviews. Lawyers are rated on Avvo from 1 to 10. A score of six or more is considered a good rating. You should look for an attorney who has an Avvo rating of 9 or higher, such as attorney Justin Watkins, who practices personal injury law in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer Justin Watkins Avvo Rating

As a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, Justin takes pride in earning high ratings from legal directories because they reflect his knowledge, experience, and ethics in the Nevada personal injury law field.

These legal directories also provide client review ratings. Since prior clients can speak directly to a lawyer’s client-handling skills, you might also find these ratings helpful.

Lawyer Referral Services

The State Bar of Nevada operates a lawyer referral service. When you contact this service by phone or online, the service will help you identify the type of lawyer you need. The service then provides the name of a lawyer you can contact for a 30-minute consultation for $45.

The benefit of the lawyer referral service is that participating lawyers are members of the Nevada Bar and have malpractice insurance. The downside is that the referral service does not screen lawyers based on quality. You could receive the name of a good lawyer or an average lawyer from the referral service.

Online Lawyer Searches

Online searches can often identify the law firms with the largest and most successful practices in your area. But sometimes clients want more than the firm that advertises the most. The firms that have the most prominent websites do not always provide the most personalized service.

And online reviews are not always accurate. There is no way to verify that a Google or Yelp review was left by a client. Sometimes losing parties or other non-clients leave negative reviews to try to tank a lawyer’s online rating.

Meet With Your Prospects – Most Nevada Personal Injury Lawyers Offer a Free Consultation

After gathering the names of prospective lawyers in Nevada, schedule free consultations with as many of them as possible. The more lawyers you speak to, the better the chances are that you will find a lawyer compatible with you and your case.

During your free consultation, discuss your case and the lawyer’s process for representing you. 

Ask questions like:

Ideally, you will ask enough questions that you will have no surprises after you hire the attorney. You will have a much better relationship with your lawyer if you minimize the risk of misunderstandings.

The Process of Selecting a Nevada Personal Injury Attorney To Represent You

To pick a lawyer, you must understand what your lawyer will do in your case. When you know the skills your lawyer needs, you will have an easier time picking one.

Some skills your lawyer needs include:

Organizational Skills

Your lawyer will investigate your case and gather evidence. This evidence will help you prove the liability of the at-fault party and the losses you suffered. The law firm and lawyer you hire will need to keep your evidence organized so they can use it in your case.

Your lawyer will also need to keep track of the deadlines in your case. Missing a deadline can have catastrophic consequences, so your personal injury attorney must ensure that your filings and hearing dates get handled on time.

Knowledge of Personal Injury Law

You need a lawyer with knowledge of the law. The lawyer must take the facts of your case and apply the law to determine the likely outcome and value.

Experience Handling Your Type of Claim

The lawyer must have the experience to anticipate what will happen in your case and deal with it. While the same legal principles apply to most personal injury cases, you want a lawyer with experience dealing with your case’s specific issues.

For example, if you were injured due to medical malpractice, you should probably not hire a lawyer who focuses only on car accidents.

Excellent Communication Skills

Lawyers must have skills in two forms of communication. When talking to you, the lawyer must objectively assess your case and provide unbiased legal advice. When negotiating with insurance adjusters or arguing before a judge or jury, the lawyer must advocate for your position.

When you have your free consultation, note the lawyer’s ability to explain the law and how it fits your case. If a lawyer can explain things clearly to you, they will probably do a good job explaining things to a claims adjuster, judge, or jury.

Hire the Best Nevada Personal Injury Lawyer for Your Case

When you settle on a lawyer, ask for a copy of the lawyer’s fee agreement. Under Nevada’s Rules of Professional Conduct, the agreement must explain how the lawyer will calculate their fee and what you will owe at the end of the case. Review the agreement carefully and discuss any questions with the attorney.

Once you sign the fee agreement, the lawyer will start working on your case. If you choose the right lawyer, you should have a productive relationship as you pursue fair personal injury compensation.

How to Find the Best Personal Injury Attorney in California [Updated 2022]

After an accident, you may need an attorney to help you get the money you deserve.

In this post, we share our ideas on how to find the best personal injury attorney. See below to get started.

1. Searching Online

Contents

Google

When choosing a personal injury lawyer, start by searching via a search engine like Google.

You can search by using terms like “good personal injury lawyers near me” or “personal injury attorney” followed by your City and State. So if you live in Los Angeles, CA, you would simply type, “personal injury attorney Los Angeles CA” into the search bar.

This type of search will usually give you a list of attorneys in your area and a list of legal (and non-legal) directories. See more about those below.

2. Legal Directories

Avvo

Legal directories are like mini-search engines of their own, but focus only on attorneys. We’ll go over the most popular ones and one non-legal directory, Yelp.

Avvo

Avvo is one of the more popular attorney directories. Avvo offers a lot of great info including ratings, law school attended, and contact info. More importantly, Avvo tells you if the attorney has ever been disciplined by the California State Bar. Visit Avvo by clicking here.

FindLaw

FindLaw is another popular legal directory that may show up in the search results. FindLaw includes attorney contact info and a bio. FindLaw lacks the robust review system you’ll find in Avvo, but given FindLaw’s search engine placement, we included it in our list. Visit them by clicking here.

Lawyers.com

Lawyers.com is owned by Martindale-Hubble. They’ve been around for years providing info on attorneys. Lawyers.com provides contact info, client reviews, and peer reviews. You can see more by clicking here.

Yelp

Although not a legal directory, Yelp has established itself as a go-to location for those seeking an attorney. Yelp includes contact info, bio, and reviews. Visit Yelp them here.

3. Online Reviews

Yelp Reviews

Many of the online directories listed above include personal injury lawyers reviews. When looking at reviews, make sure you don’t just look at the amount of reviews or overall ratings.

Instead, take the time to read the reviews – especially the longer ones. A long review might give you more insight into an attorney.

Another way to find attorney reviews is by using Google Maps. Once you’re there, type “personal injury attorney” and you’ll see results below with reviews.

4. California State Bar Page

California State Bar

No attorney search is complete without visiting their profile on the California State Bar website. On this site, you’ll see their official contact info, educational background, and further detail on their disciplinary history, if any.

You can look up any California lawyer by clicking here.

5. Asking the Right Questions During the Initial Consultation

People with with attorney

Most, if not all, personal injury attorneys offer a free consultation. This is a great time to ask a lot of questions regarding their practice and your case.

According to Nick Movagar, a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, to ensure you use your time efficiently during the initial consultation and get the answers you need before hiring an attorney, you should make a list of the main legal questions you have.

Attorney Movagar explains, “we typically ask questions to determine if you have a personal injury case, but it’s also important to assess if the attorney will be a good fit for you and your case.

Here is a list of questions you should ask a personal injury attorney:

  • How many years have you been practicing?
  • Have you handled my type of case before?
  • Where did you attend law school?
  • Do you exclusively practice personal injury law?
  • How long have you exclusively practiced personal injury law?
  • Have you taken any cases to trial?
  • Have you been disciplined by the California State Bar?
  • Ask for a list of their previous victories – both verdicts and settlements
  • How much do you think my case is worth?

6. Be Prepared During Your Initial Consult

Prior to meeting with an attorney, take some time to learn a little about personal injury law in your state. For example, most personal injury attorneys will not take a car accident case which solely resulted in property damage.

Additionally, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with tort law and legal terms like negligence.

7. Understand the Fee Structure

Don’t sign a retainer agreement without making sure you understand the fee structure. We’ve all heard personal injury attorneys say, “I get nothing unless you win.” This means they work on a contingency basis. While that may be true, make sure you understand what they get in the event that you do win.

In California, an accident attorney will typically take somewhere between 25% – 40%. However, many attorneys will also require that you pay for any fees incurred throughout the process. Your attorney will charge these fees on top of the percentage. What you’ll want to know is exactly what these fees include. For example, it might include the cost for experts, private investigators, and depositions.

Make sure you don’t get blindsided, as these fees can significantly cut into your award settlement.

8. Personality

People meeting with an attorney

The last thing to consider is how well you got along during the initial consultation. Did you find it easy to speak with the attorney? If not, you might want to consider continuing your search until you find someone who is a good personality fit for you.

Did We Miss Anything?

We hope that this guide will help you find a reputable personal injury lawyer in your area. Did we miss something? If so, please comment below.

Reasons Why You Should Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer:

We put together this infographic dealing with the benefits of hiring a personal injury lawyer after an accident. These reasons include:

  1. Medical Issues: A good attorney will work with a team of experts that can properly evaluate your injuries.
  2. Financial Issues: An attorney will help you with the financial issues that inevitably arise after an accident.
  3. Higher Settlements: An experienced attorney can often help you negotiate higher settlements with the negligent party’s insurance company.
Why Should I Hire A Personal Injury Lawyer?