Hiring the Wrong Attorney can ruin your Personal Injury Case

Your choice of a lawyer can make or break your personal injury case. The moment you hire a lawyer, you take a back seat and their expertise comes into play. For this reason, you want someone you can trust, someone who is willing to protect your interests and use all their resources to build a strong case for you. Above all, you need to be sure they are qualified and experienced.

Be careful though, just because they have the papers doesn’t mean they are good enough to handle your case. Finding a seasoned personal injury attorney in Los Angeles is easy, but chancing upon an incompetent or unethical one is not all that hard either.

Many lawyers will sell their services as personal injury attorneys but will struggle navigating a simple case because they haven’t been there before. What you need is a specialist lawyer, someone who knows the claim-filing procedure like the back of their hand and is willing to march to court with you if need be.

Your case hinges on the information you and your lawyer are able to come up with to support your claim. An experienced attorney will know what documents to review, which specialists to consult, and what people to bring on board as witnesses. Insurance companies have some pretty smart lawyers. Unless you come with a legal eagle yourself, chances are you will lose the case or receive less compensation than you actually deserve. Here is how to know you are dealing with the wrong personal injury attorney:

  1. When you are hardly seeing the lawyer. Communication is key to the success of any case. If your lawyer won’t be available for one-on-one meetings, get yourself another lawyer while you still can.
  2. The law firm works with dubious experts. Some of the experts you need in a personal injury case are a qualified medical officer and accident reconstruction experts. Often, it is your lawyer who refers you to a doctor for a checkup and treatment. Some greedy attorneys work with suspicious, potentially unqualified low-budget experts, paying little regard to the impact this could have on your case. Medical reports are central to personal injury cases, and any erroneous information on yours could easily crumble your case.
  3. Your attorney doesn’t bother to conduct an independent investigation. A good attorney will gather as much information about your accident as possible and try to cover all potential vulnerabilities that the defendant may look to exploit.
  4. The attorney is quick to accept a settlement offer. Getting a befitting compensation from the at-fault party’s insurance company is the reason you hired an attorney in the first place. If your attorney is going to accept the very first offer, especially one that doesn’t chime with your own calculations, then you are better off without the attorney.

It doesn’t matter the severity of your injuries or the amount of money at stake – with an incompetent personal injury attorney by your side, you are riding for a fall. Be sure to vet your options thoroughly and choose someone who has the qualification and zeal to help you.

Related posts