By Omid Rejali, Esq.
You are most likely only going to hire a car accident or personal injury lawyer once in your lifetime. More importantly, depending on the extent of your injuries you are entrusting your future livelihood in the hands of this person. It is not a decision that should be taken lightly by any means because any mistake made could cost you a lot of money. Here are three questions your should ask your San Diego personal injury lawyer before hiring him or her.
1) Have they personally taken any cases to trial
This is one of the most important questions you should ask your lawyer. It’s important because insurance companies and their representatives know which attorneys go to trial and which ones don’t and make decisions on how much money they will give you partly based on that information. If the attorney you are hiring has a reputation for settling all of the cases and has not taken any of its cases to trial, you will certainly be getting less money than an attorney who has taken cases to trial and continuously does so.
2) Will the attorney be paying for all of the costs of your case
Many San Diego car accident and personal injury lawyers claim in their advertisings that they will not collect any fee unless they win. However, when the going gets tough, meaning once they know they have to start expending money out of their pocket, they try to do one of two things: 1) they either try to make you settle your claim or 2) they try to make you pay for the costs, knowing that you do not have the money, therefore forcing you to settle your case. To prevent this from happening, make sure you read the contract closely to make sure that they are paying for all of the costs. It is reasonable for them to recover those costs if they have advanced them. But, make sure the language does not say that should costs become due, that you would need to pay for those costs.
3) Have they handled any similar cases
Personal injury cases arise in a variety of situations. Depending on where and how you have been injured you want to make sure you ask your lawyer before hiring them whether they have handled a similar case. More importantly, you want to make sure that they have dealt with the type of injuries you are involved in. This is particularly true with brain injury cases. These injuries require extensive experience and you want to make sure that your attorney is familiar with them.
Thank you for reading my blog.
I hope this information helps you. If you need help feel free to text me at 619-485-6313 or call my office at 619-887-4148 or fill out the form on our website here and we will contact you.
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