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Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer to Represent Your Lawsuit

Choosing a personal injury lawyer to represent your lawsuit

 

Choosing a lawyer is a science and an art. There are some tangible factors to consider, like experience and proven success. But you also need to feel as though it’s a person who will listen to you and with whom you feel comfortable and confident.

There are more than 266,000 attorneys licensed to practice in California. That can make it a challenge to choose the right one to represent you in your personal injury lawsuit.

While the process of selecting an attorney might seem overwhelming because of the number of possibilities, it’s also to your advantage because you have the opportunity to find the right fit for you and the most qualified person or firm to handle your case.

As you embark on the process of searching for a lawyer, you can begin by asking yourself a few questions:

    1. What do I hope to achieve? This could be a no-brainer because it’s likely that your hope is to recover compensation for your financial losses after an injury. But if there are other factors involved, it’s good to know what potential outcomes are available.

 

    1. What are my priorities as I consider the type of claim and possible outcomes? This is important, because you and your lawyer need to align on your styles for reaching your preferred outcome. In other words, you might be willing to take a quick settlement just to have some compensation and pay your bills soon, even though a lengthy trial could provide a greater amount of money—though it could take months or years to reach a judgment.

 

  1. What type of legal team would work best for me? Some people prefer a very large firm with deep pockets, ample resources, and a robust team of lawyers—which can be great, but you can find that it might be lacking in personal attention and your case might end up being handled by a law student, intern, or junior associate. Others prefer a very small group, which would likely provide the attention and hand-holding that’s important to certain people, but might be stretched thin as a smaller operation.

A team like MVP Accident Attorneys offers the best of both worlds because we’re neither huge nor small... we have resources, experience, connections, and relationships in the legal community but we’re client-focused and will give you the time and energy that you deserve.

Why do you need a lawyer?

There are lots of reasons why you might need a personal injury lawyer, and a few reasons why maybe you don’t.

If you were injured in a car accident, slip and fall, or other type of accident that was caused by someone’s negligence, you might be eligible to file a lawsuit or make a claim against that person’s (or business’) insurance policy.

Reasons why you don’t need a lawyer

At the heart of personal injury law is that the injury has to have cost you money. Personal injury law is designed to make the plaintiff (injured person) whole, which means they should be restored to the financial position they would be in if the accident hadn’t happened.

Therefore, if you suffered a minor injury but did not seek medical treatment, lose time from work, or experience property loss, you likely don’t have cause for a claim. A personal injury lawyer will take your case if you have a valid claim.

Along those same lines, if you’ve recovered from your injury and the other party’s insurance has paid for the entirety of your claim (or it was paid to you as an out-of-pocket payment from the other party directly), there would be no cause of action because you’ve already been compensated for the loss.

Reasons why you do need a lawyer

Sometimes, a few calls to the insurance company can get the job done and get you a settlement for your costs.

But it’s not always that easy.

  1. Complete and future costs. If you were seriously injured and require ongoing or future medical treatment, you want to be sure you’re not being shortchanged. Sometimes an insurance company makes a lowball offer that doesn’t cover the entirety of your expenses. If you accept an offer, you can’t go back later for more. If there are future expenses that you didn’t anticipate, you’re stuck.Part of your lawyer’s job is to anticipate what your future related costs will look like. They have experience in valuing accident costs, and if they aren’t sure, they will work with medical professionals and actuaries to be sure that they have everything covered. Your lawyer is trained to make sure that you’re covered for not just your costs today, but your future costs, as well.
  2. Shared fault. Also, California follows a pure comparative negligence system of law. That means if you shared any liability for the accident, your damages could be reduced by the amount for which you were at fault. Your lawyer will work hard to minimize your liability, which would result in maximizing your compensation.

If there are any questions about liability (who was at fault for the accident), your lawyer is the best person to review the evidence and argue in your favor. They will also negotiate with the insurance company or represent you if you decide to file a lawsuit.

How to choose a California personal injury lawyer

It might seem like a daunting task to search for lawyer, particularly because you’re already experiencing a difficult time in your life.

You could begin to search by asking friends, colleagues, neighbors, or family members if they have a recommendation. Often, word-of-mouth is a good way to get a recommendation by a person you trust. If your personal network can’t provide recommendations (or if you don’t want to share that you’re seeking the counsel of an attorney), you can search online sites like Facebook, Nextdoor, LinkedIn, and other local directories.

Be sure to take reviews with a grain of salt—while you want your law firm to have generally positive reviews, you also should keep in mind that every business will have a disgruntled former client here and there and one or two unhappy reviews doesn’t necessarily mean the firm is bad.

Once you’ve narrowed your search to a handful that you’d like to meet with for consultations, you should consider a few questions to ask.

1. What’s the lawyer’s specialty?

You wouldn’t go to an eye doctor if you sprained your ankle. The same concept applies to lawyers. You find one whose area of practice is aligned with the type of case you need. Even within personal injury law, there are specialties. There are lawyers who are especially experienced in medical malpractice, toxic torts, car or truck accidents, etc.

Don’t hesitate to ask the lawyer what it is they do best (or most often).

2. How much experience does the law firm have?

It’s important to consider combined experience over the number of years a particular lawyer has been in practice.

Every lawyer has to start somewhere, and many more experienced lawyers take the future of newer lawyers very seriously. The attorney assigned to your case might be young and newly graduated from law school, but that doesn’t make them unqualified. Rather, they were smart enough to work for a firm with experienced lawyers who mentor them and oversee their cases.

In that way, you get the benefit of a new attorney who’s eager to learn and put forth a lot of effort and time for your case and years of experience from their senior partners.

Regardless of who represents you from within the firm, the firm’s experience is the most important. MVP Accident Attorneys handle a variety of personal injury claims, and our years of combined experience will help you win your case.

3. What’s the firm’s record of proven success?

At MVP, we’re proud of our successes, and we aren’t afraid to share them with you. Our scoreboard lists just some of the cases where we’ve obtained hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for our clients.

Location matters

If you have a claim for an accident that happened in California, you need a California lawyer. Each state has its own laws and you need lawyers who are most familiar with the California legal system.

Contact MVP Accident Attorneys today for a free consultation to see if we’re the right fit for you and your case.

Author

brett sachs2
Brett Sachs
Founder

Brett S. Sachs graduated from Michigan State University College of Law with Cum Laude Honors. While attending Michigan State, Brett was awarded for his service in the Michigan State University College of Law Civil Rights Clinic, where he represented prisoners of the Michigan Department of Corrections from injustices brought upon them. Learn more.

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Last year I had an accident and my car was totaled. I was very upset and didn't know what to do. A friend told me to call MVP and it was the best decision ever. They got my car paid off very fast, set me up with a doctor, and just last week I got a fat check for my pain and suffering. Thank you MVP!
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