Car Accident Lawyers: 7 Tips for Finding the Right One in Long Beach
A car accident can be one of the most stressful times of someone’s life. You’re dealing with car damage, medical bills, and insurance companies. Unfortunately, things don’t always go your way.
You need all the help you can get if you want to get a successful car accident claim. And with over 51,000 personal injury attorneys, you have people who can help.
Car accident lawyers are a great place to turn if you aren’t getting a successful result from your car accident claim. Keep reading to learn seven tips that will help you find a Long Beach lawyer who can help your case.
1. Find a Car Accident Specialist
You have a lot of little details that differ in legal cases, even in the personal injury field. Take a medical malpractice case, for instance. The work that goes into that type of case is much different than one that deals with a car accident.
You want to hire Long Beach lawyers with a track record of winning cases dealing with car accident injuries. Ask your attorney about their case history and their win rate in these cases. If someone can’t produce a case history that shows excellent results, look for another lawyer.
Discover more here about what an experienced car accident lawyer can offer.
2. Look for a Great Communicator
Even though lawyers work in a people-focused profession, not every lawyer is the best at communicating. They stick their heads in legal documents to get the work done but fail to let their clients know what’s happening.
You don’t want this to happen while dealing with a personal injury. You’re already stressed enough dealing with the aftermath of your accident.
Ask your lawyer options about how they handle communication. Do they communicate the way you want and guarantee updates and reasonable response time to your questions?
3. Find Reasonable Pricing
It’s no surprise that hiring a lawyer is expensive. If you hire someone for a lengthy case and that lawyer charges hourly, you’ll be out a lot of money.
Unfortunately, that prevents many people from hiring help for their car accident cases. The good news is that you have other pricing options.
Many accident attorneys offer contingency payments. You won’t pay any cash upfront or if your attorney loses your case. You’ll only pay if you win and will use a portion of your settlement amount to pay your lawyer.
4. Know Who Will Take Your Case
The person you speak with when interviewing at law firms may not be the one who takes your case when you hire them. You’ll likely speak with one of the more high-profile firm representatives. Those individuals are busy, so they rely on associates to handle much of the caseload.
This is something you need to understand before you hire a law firm. While this isn’t something you should consider a bad thing, it’s something you need to know before you sign a contract.
If you do discover that you’ll get representation from another firm attorney, make sure you meet them too. You need to vet them just like you would vet any other lawyer.
5. Investigate Disciplinary Issues
Even if a lawyer does have a lot of skill, that doesn’t mean they follow the law. Many lawyers try to cut corners to win cases and get results. If they get caught, they get disciplinary action taken against them by the state bar association.
You don’t want to work with one of these lawyers when dealing with your car accident case. You want someone that can win by playing by the rules. Otherwise, you risk losing your case because of your lawyer.
Check your state bar association’s website to see if your lawyer has a history of problems. A minor infraction might not be a big deal if it was an accident. However, it should be easy to spot more severe problems.
6. Verify Your Lawyer’s Current Caseload
Not every lawyer gives enough attention to their clients. They load up their current cases to generate as much business as possible. The problem is that you probably won’t get enough attention paid to your case.
In cases like this, it’s not uncommon for a lawyer to miss a critical detail that can be the difference between winning and losing your case. You need to work with a lawyer that will find those details if you want to win.
Ask your attorney about their current caseload and the time they can dedicate to your case. If someone can’t commit to giving you their full attention, look elsewhere to find a lawyer who will.
7. Look for Past Client Testimonials
You shouldn’t just trust a lawyer’s word that they can handle your case. Their job is to try and sign you as a client. Unfortunately, some accident attorneys are good at putting on a great sales pitch but not as good at delivering results.
Look for testimonials from past clients wherever you can. An excellent place to start is the internet. Search on Google for the firms you’re interviewing to see if anyone has posted reviews of their experience.
You can also ask your potential attorneys for references. Speaking with previous clients directly can give you a lot of insight you won’t get just by reading reviews.
The Right Car Accident Lawyers Can Make the Difference
You’re already dealing with a stressful situation when handling a car accident. You don’t want to make things worse by hiring car accident lawyers that don’t do the job right and drag your case down.
You need to do everything you can to find car accident lawyers in California who know how to get results. Use the tips above to find someone that can help you get the help you need after your car accident.
Head back to the blog to find more helpful tips for dealing with other situations in life.
