You are a victim of a car accident. You are in pain mentally and physically. You are in need of financial help as you have to pay for your car repairs, you might have missed some work, you have doctor’s bills that are piling up and so on. This is the kind of stress that keeps people up all night. When the auto accident results in financial hardship then the first thing you need is a good accident lawyer.
When it’s time to find a lawyer the best thing to do is obtain a personal referral from friends, family members or doctors whom you may have seen for injuries resulting from the accident. Following that, try looking for someone listed online with The Arizona State Bar. The Bar will provide you names and numbers of accident lawyers. Please perform your due diligence in order to be sure to choose the best lawyer who suits you and your needs, and is someone with whom you are comfortable with. Many lawyers are not interested in accident cases at all so be sure to weed them out of your search. When you have found a lawyer who suits you then take a few minutes to perform a background check. While doing this you should keep the following points in mind:
– FIND OUT IF THE LAWYER HAS TRIAL EXPERIENCE
Many lawyers have never entered the courtroom to argue a case. Before committing to a lawyer with your case you should check to make sure that the lawyer is experienced, that the lawyer will be comfortable in front of a courtroom. Furthermore, the better experienced your attorney the more the insurance company’s attorney will realize this, and will not want the case to go to trial – meaning your case settles easier and quicker. However, please keep in mind that the vast majority of auto accident cases will be settled out of court – so this only becomes an issue in a very small percentage of cases.
– CHECK THE LAWYER’S SUCCESS RATE WITH ACCIDENT CASES
When you are looking for a good lawyer to represent you don’t be shy to ask them how successful they have been in the past with accident cases. Keep in mind though, a lawyer can win many accident cases but you might also ask what the average value of the award was in those cases as well.
– MAKE SURE THE LAWYER REPRESENTING YOU WORKS ON A CONTINGENCY FEE
Some lawyers ask for retainers but most PI lawyers will work for a certain percentage of money. This will vary from 1/4th to 1/3 of the total settlement.
– IS THE ACCIDENT LAWYER PART OF LOCAL, STATE OR NATIONAL ASSOCIATION?
Discovering this will let you see what lawyers are the most dedicated to their profession. The most dedicated are often the best choice.