What Makes the Perfect Personal Injury Attorney? Kim Welch Law Breaks It Down.

Choosing the right Personal Injury Attorney for you and your case is very important. From the fees to simple likability, you need to take time and do your due diligence to find the right attorney for your claim.

There is a series of questions and considerations that you need to think about before hiring an attorney. If you have been in an accident in Colorado Springs or Las Vegas, we have put together a short breakdown of some of the areas you should consider.

Is the attorney experienced in personal injury?

This is very important. You do not want to hire a family lawyer or criminal lawyer to handle your dog bite or car accident claim. They will not have the training or experience in your type of claim to be the best help possible.

Additionally, if the attorney is an experienced personal injury attorney, do they have experience handling your type of claim? Workplace injury attorneys are very different from automotive accident or slip and fall attorneys or someone who only works on disability or social security cases.

You can quickly figure this out by asking for broad examples of the work that they have done recently for your type of claim.

What is their background?

Similar to their experience in the area of law that your claim falls into, hiring an attorney with a strong background is very important. Find out how many years they have been practicing and in what areas. Has the attorney jumped from practice to practice, and do they have a reasonable success rate in their clients’ claims?

Going through their website and looking through client testimonials can help you see the attorney’s strengths and weaknesses. The same goes for Google reviews and comments on their social media pages. This process may take a little bit of time, but it’s always worth doing your due diligence to find the best person for you.

Are they experienced in litigation or trial work?

Going to trial is always a last resort, but unfortunately, many cases do end up in litigation and sometimes in front of a jury. If your case does go this far, it becomes a very different ball game. The attorney representing the insurance company may be very experienced in jury trials, so your attorney needs to be able to go toe-to-toe with them.

Not only that, but insurance companies keep a close eye on the attorneys dealing with personal injury cases. If you hire an inexperienced trial attorney or someone afraid to do so, then the insurance company can use this to try and force a lower settlement out of court.

But of equal importance, if you hire a personal injury who DOES have experience in going to trial, then the simple threat of taking the claim all the way is enough to influence a better out-of-court settlement. This works both ways.

What is their communication like?

If your attorney struggles with communication due to a heavy workload, or they’re just not very good at speaking with their clients, then they may not be right for you.

Many firms will have a secretary, assistant, or paralegal answer your calls, take details and then pass the information onto the case attorney, which is fine to an extent and is necessary at times. However, your attorney should be easily accessible as well.

Many firms or attorneys also require you to discuss your claim with them during the standard 9-5 workday, which is at a time that you’re likely working yourself.  You may try to make a call on your lunch break… but your attorney is taking their break at the same time. This creates an inability to speak to them, and so they might not be the right attorney for you.

During your initial consultation with your attorney, ask them about their communication methods. Will you be able to speak to them directly? And will they work with YOUR schedule to help move your claim forward as fast as possible?

Communication is crucial in any personal injury claim. 

Poor communication may also be symptomatic of the attorney not having enough time for your claim or may be an indication that highly-valued claims or more time-intensive claims may be more of a priority for them, and so you’re left waiting for the spare time that they have to help you. Take their communication as a sign of whether you are a priority for them.

If you are currently in the middle of your personal injury claim process and the lack of communication with your current attorney is causing complications for you, you have the right to move your claim to a new attorney. This is your claim, and you have the right to proper and adequate representation. We have written a guide on changing attorneys that you can find here.

If these communication problems are causing you trouble, and you are considering changing attorneys, please feel free to call Kim Welch Law at (888) 590-5510 to see if we would be a better fit for you.  The call is free!

How much do they cost? What do they charge?

You should ask how much it will cost you to hire them, and when will they take fees? Typically, personal injury attorneys will charge a contingency fee and have costs associated with handling your claim that are collected at the end of your claim out of the settlement money. Getting a clear idea of the fees and costs up front is vitally important when choosing the right person to represent you. If the attorney is unwilling to be transparent about fees and costs from the start, this is a big red flag.

Getting a clear idea of fees and costs is important to prevent any surprises when you settle your case. Extra hidden fees can eat away at the compensation that you take home.

Once you know the fees and costs to be expected, if an attorney ends up being more expensive than others you have spoken with, you need to weigh up whether their service is worth the extra cost. Or would it be better for you to go for a cheaper attorney?  As mentioned in the previous sections, it might be worth paying a little extra to ensure that you get excellent communication, a well-educated and highly experienced attorney, and, as we are about to discuss: someone you like working with.

Do you like them?

This is quite a unique part of the decision process. If you don’t like the person you’re dealing with in an initial consultation, the chances are that you won’t work well with them if things get complicated. You need to have a good rapport with your attorney if you want to get the most out of the process.

They could be the best attorney in the world but making a personal injury claim can be difficult and stressful, and you shouldn’t have someone on your side making it worse for you.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you should want to take them for a beer. But it’s important that you can work well with them on a professional basis. Arrogant, rude, or elitist attorneys that make you feel less than you are worth will not provide you with the feeling of safety and peace of mind that you need throughout the process.

If you need to hire a personal injury attorney, please get in touch.

Here at Kim Welch Law, we are highly experienced in a wide variety of personal injury claims. Kim’s background includes years of litigating on behalf of insurance firms, and she has been in the legal field since 1992. Her wealth of experience in defending and helping clients just like you have helped her develop a strong and impactful strategy to represent your best interest.

Putting you first is a top priority at Kim Welch Law, and we work around your schedule and your needs to ensure that you feel supported and represented in your claim.

If you would like to speak to us about your claim, please call (888) 590-5510 or complete our contact form to have a free, no-obligation initial consultation. We will discuss your claim’s circumstances and see how we can help maximize your claim and make the process as easy as possible. So get in touch today. We’re here to help with your case.