4 Secrets to Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured through no fault of your own and you have quantifiable losses, you deserve to be compensated for your injuries. Unfortunately, in most cases, the party responsible for your injury is not likely to freely admit fault and write out a check to cover all of your damages. In fact, you probably won’t be dealing with the other party at all. More likely, you will be dealing with their insurance company.

Recovering compensation from an insurer can be very challenging if you go it alone, especially if you are not familiar with the process. Insurance adjusters are trained negotiators, and their primary obligation is to protect their employer’s bottom line. Since the adjuster’s interests are not aligned with yours, it is best to have skilled legal counsel in your corner working tirelessly to protect your interests.

Not all attorneys are the same and choosing the right personal injury lawyer can also be a challenge. There are many out there to pick from, and there is a lot of information to sift through. 

Here are four secrets to hiring a personal injury attorney:

Choose an Attorney with Extensive Knowledge of Personal Injury Law

Personal injury is a complex area of law that involves many highly specialized rules and practices. There are many lawyers and law practices that do personal injury, as well as several other areas, such as family law, criminal law, bankruptcy, and many others. An attorney that is more of a general practitioner (or you might say “jack of all trades”) may be able to effectively handle some less complicated personal injury cases, such as a two-vehicle fender-bender with minor vehicle damage and minor injuries. However, they may have trouble with the more complex cases, such as a multi-vehicle trucking accident where there could be several responsible parties, or a workplace accident in the oil fields or coal mines of West Virginia. To ensure that you have full confidence your attorney can handle the complexities that may come up with your case, it is best to choose one whose major area of focus is personal injury.

Find out What kind of Reputation the Attorney has in their State and Community

If your lawyer specializes in personal injury law and they have practiced for any length of time, they should be fairly well-known in their state and community and have a solid reputation. In fact, if you can find an attorney who has been part of some groundbreaking litigation or who has partnered with governing agencies (such as the state attorney general) to hold wrongdoers fully accountable for their negligence and reckless actions, this is even better. Bottom line: make sure the attorney you choose is highly reputable and someone you can trust to represent your interests.

Choose an Attorney with the Resources and Commitment to Successfully Pursue your Case

Most personal injury cases do not go to trial, and in general, that is the best outcome for everyone involved. Litigation is costly and can drag on for a while, so if you can reach a reasonable settlement with the other side, you can get paid more quickly and move forward with your life. All that said, your lawyer should have the ability, willingness, and wherewithal to take the case to trial when necessary. Some personal injury lawyers never see the inside of a courtroom. For some, their whole business model is built on volume, bringing as many cases as they can through the door and settling every one of them as quickly as possible. If the other side knows that you are never going to go to trial, you lose an enormous amount of leverage during negotiations. This will almost certainly result in a settlement that is far less than your case is worth. Find out how much trial experience your personal injury attorney has, and be sure they also have relationships with other top professionals who they can bring in as expert witnesses (when necessary) to testify at trial and help substantiate your claim.

Choose an Attorney with a Proven Track Record of Results

At the end of the day, what really matters is the result your attorney is able to deliver. Ask about other cases like yours that they have pursued, their record at trial with these types of cases, and what types of verdicts and settlements they have been able to secure. If the attorney has a successful track record with previous cases like yours, you can be more confident in knowing that they have the ability to secure a favorable result for you as well.

Speak with the Seasoned Attorneys at Bailey, Javins, and Carter L.C.

If you are looking for a personal injury lawyer in West Virginia that meets all of the aforementioned qualifications, look no further than Bailey, Javins, and Carter L.C. At BJC, we have over 40 years of experience successfully representing clients in all types of personal injury cases in the Mountain State. We work closely with our clients, putting our in-depth experience to work to provide the strong personalized representation they need and deserve. 

To schedule a free consultation with one of our attorneys, call our office today at (800) 497-0234 or (800) 296-6979, or send us a message through our online contact form.