How to Choose the Right Car Accident Lawyer

When you are involved in any sort of vehicular accident, it is important to have the knowledge that you need to choose the right attorney for your case. Your case can have very different results depending on the attorney that you choose. For this reason, when you are choosing one you will need to spend a bit of time doing a little research to determine which one will represent you the best.

What is Their Success Rate?

Once you have made a list of lawyers with experience in either car accidents or personal injury cases you will need to find out what their record of success is for cases similar to yours. If they have a strong record of winning cases like yours then that will show that they have both experience and expertise. This will be critical in how your case is handled.

What is Their Trial Record?

Aside from knowing their success rate in cases like yours, you need to know what their experience is in actually going to court and trying similar cases as opposed to just settling out of court. A lawyer who has a good record as a trial attorney will be a great asset even if you do settle out of court. This is because not every case can be settled and some may need to go to trial. If yours does then you will want to have an attorney with a good reputation to represent you.

Additionally, insurance companies tend to make larger settlement offers to those claimants who are represented by good trial attorneys because they do not like having to go to court. This means that an attorney who can give your case the kind of attention that it needs and deserves will be better able to make sure that you get the compensation that you need.

How do They Bill?

It is a good thing to know just how an attorney will bill you. Will they charge you an hourly rate or will it be a contingency fee? Most of the time, this type of lawyer will charge a contingency fee, which means that you do not need to pay anything right now. Instead, they will take a percentage of your settlement. This is typically around 30%. The benefit of this is that if you don't win your case then the lawyer doesn't get paid - which means that he will be doing his best to make sure not only that you win your case but also that you get the maximum settlement. While this is the most used way of payment for this type of lawyer, there are always exceptions to the rule. Check before you hire an attorney to see how they prefer to be paid. You will also need to know what percentage of the settlement they will take if they charge contingency fees as well as if there will be any sort of additional costs for actual litigation and what they will be.

Once you have all of the information that you need, compare each of the attorneys and their qualifications and then choose the one who has the most amount of experience with cases that are similar to yours and who has the best character, most and best trial experience and best record.

Kathryn McDowell is a freelance writer and writes on the various aspects of the law. If you have been in an accident she recommends consulting a car accident lawer to protect your rights and get the compensation you deserve.