Don’t Just Hire Any Attorney

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Categories: Firm NewsPublished On: October 4th, 2019

There are more than 2,300 attorneys practicing law in Alaska. Many of them practice in the area of “personal injury” law, which may include cases arising out of a car accident, slip-and-fall, trip-and-fall, intentional act (such as assault and battery), medical malpractice, products liability, defamation, or many other incidents. And many of these attorneys are competent and have gotten a few decent results in the past. But you don’t want a good attorney, you want the Best Attorney For Personal Injury to prosecute your claims so that you stand the best chance of a great recovery.

So what does finding the Best Attorney For Personal Injury entail?

First, you should create a list of attorneys with whom to meet. To get names for this list, the best idea is to ask people you trust for referrals. However, if you cannot find a personal referral, there are many resources such as local bar associations, online sites, local chambers of commerce, attorney referral services, local libraries, and more.

Next, you should reduce your list to 4-5 attorney with whom to actually meet. The process of vetting attorneys before meeting them should involve research for (i) how much experience they have and, especially, with similar claims, (ii) their success rate and (iii) their reputation among court staff, judges, and other attorneys.

Once you tailor your list to a few, set up meetings, where you will essentially be interviewing these prospective advocates. Appearance is important—is the attorney is sloppily dressed, with stained clothes, worn shoes and poorly fitting suits, it is likely that their work will be performed with the same sloppy lack of effort. In addition to appearance, you should ask questions such as (i) who will be performing the bulk of work on my case and what experience do they have? (ii) do you have the wherewithal to fully fund my case until resolution, such as paying witness fees, court costs, deposition transcripts, etc.? (iii) how often will you communicate with me about my case and for what reasons will you call me?

After these meetings, figure out the best fit for you based on experience, impression and trust, and make sure you and the attorney sign a retainer. This document—which is a contract between attorney and client—should clearly delineated the responsibilities for both attorney and client, how monies will be handled, and anything else regarding the relationship between legal professional and lay client.

So it may be a lengthy process to find the Best Attorney For Personal Injury, but the diligence is worth it. Indeed, finding a mediocre attorney could result in a significantly reduced recovery.

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