Most people are leery of lawyers and sometimes for good reason. So when and why should you hire a personal injury lawyer? The answer, some may be surprised to hear coming from me, is that not all cases require or benefit from having an attorney handle their case.
How can a lawyer help you?
A lawyer can help in 3 key ways.
1 – An experienced attorney can easily guide a claimant or plaintiff through the claims and litigation process. A good attorney should be able to explain exactly what is happening with a case and what the best strategy moving forward should be.
2 – An experienced attorney can successfully negotiate higher settlements or guide the client to a verdict. In most cases, an experienced lawyer will be able to negotiate a settlement higher than the amount of the fees paid to that lawyer if the client was handling the case on their own. My philosophy is to never take a case where my representation doesn’t financially benefit the client, even after fees and costs.
3 – An experienced attorney can negotiate with medical providers and health insurance carriers who want to take a piece of the client’s settlement once the case is over. This is an often overlooked benefit of hiring an experienced lawyer. In most of my cases I have put thousands of extra dollars into my client’s pockets by negotiating with the medical providers who will try to take advantage of a settlement or verdict obtained by the injured party.
When do you not need a lawyer?
So when is a lawyer not necessary? Simply put, when the case is very small. In some cases I advise potential clients to try and obtain a settlement on their own unless they want the ease of having an attorney to simply handle every aspect of their case. At the end of the day, my goal is to have happy clients. It’s in my best interest, and yours, for me to be honest with a client as to the value I can bring to their case.
An honest and experienced attorney will help you determine if your case is one which won’t benefit from a lawyer’s assistance.
