Those of you who have been hurt in a car accident will know just how difficult the experience can be. There are so many thoughts that rush through your head, such as, “how will I fix the car”, “will my insurance carrier pay me out”, “will my medical bills get covered”, and more importantly, “how can I get justice for someone else’s recklessness?”. It is important to prevent the mind from racing through these thoughts and think with a clear head.
The first task on your agenda should be to hire a Carrolton car accident lawyer to get you on the right track. Getting in touch with an experienced lawyer however, is easier said than done. There are so many titles for lawyers, each with different ranges of skill set, expertise and education levels that narrowing the search for the right person can be an exercise in patience.
It is important to hire an attorney who has the right knowledge set to handle your case without floundering about. For instance if you were injured in a car accident, then your legal counsel should have experience in dealing with auto accidents – not just a generic title for personal injury.
Going to a lawyer with a different level of expertise is the equivalent of giving your case to a general practitioner than a neurosurgeon for troubleshooting a brain tumor.
Choosing the right attorney requires a multilayered approach, but once you have the right legal counsel on your side, you have won half the battle.
Being decisive on what you want
The best way to narrow down your pick of the best possible choice for an attorney should be to pick out certain patterns and traits in the potential attorney. Something as simple as a small chat can easily bring these traits out.
Your search parameters should include the following traits
- The enthusiasm and zeal of the person
- Their prior commitment to cases before yours and how they handled those cases
- Their ability to explain the court processes in regard to your case
- The attorney should have coherent speech patterns which is useful in getting the point across to jury members and judges
- Their ability to lay down a clear and transparent price structure which should also include all ‘hidden charges’
- The attorney is not a salesperson, in that, they should not give you false promises and guarantees to get you on board. A good attorney will let you know your realistic options
- The attorney is available for all your future queries and doesn’t miss a phone call (important!)
The red flags are easy to spot
Once the red flags do manifest, they are easy to spot. If the attorney shows any of the following behaviors, it should be your cue to find legal counsel elsewhere.
- Extremely unusual promises which in all likelihood, are too good to be true.
- The person is more often than not, unavailable to answer your phone calls. This is an early sign that they are probably not the right person for the job.
- Ignores paying court bills
- The lawyer becomes aggressive when you push them to give you an answer. This should be a sign that it’s time to search for a different Carrolton car accident attorney, because the last thing you want is an uncompassionate person handling your case.
- The attorney goes out of their way to keep you in the dark about your case proceedings. They do not update you with information because they are afraid you will catch on to their lackadaisical attitude in regards to their commitment to your case.
These red flags are not the traits of a committed, passionate and empathetic attorney. If your lawyer exhibits the above traits, it’s time to replace them.
Choosing an attorney from Texas (or your state)
It doesn’t matter how much of an expert a lawyer from a different state may be, the fact remains that the laws in Texas are different than those in many other states. An attorney from a different state is essentially, a layman when it comes to Texan laws and will likely have gaps in their knowledge which your insurance carriers and defendant will utilize to their advantage.
Their reputation matters
An attorney’s reputation precedes them. But some of the more clever ones are able to mask their darker under a clever disguise. The best way to check for a lawyer’s reputation is to observe their records at State Bar Associations. The website allows you to check for any petitions that might have been filed against them, together with all the information it can be used to formulate a more rigorous opinion of them.
Going to a courthouse
Perhaps a hands-on approach could be more enlightening. Since courthouses are public places, you can always visit those when your attorney is handling their cases and get firsthand experience on their expertise. It can be a good place to meet other attorneys as well to formulate a thorough opinion.
Relying on reviews
It can be worthwhile to go through professional reviews of potential attorneys. Learn about their behavior with their past clients and ask them important questions such as,
- Would you recommend this attorney to your friends and family?
- How satisfied were you on a scale of 1 to 10? (or any other suitable metric)
- Were they honest about their price structure?
- Were there any hidden costs?
- How available was the attorney during times of need?
In addition you can also search for the reviews, accolades and awards given to the attorney. It is important to verify that the reviews are genuine and not faked. It has become a norm for reviews to be ‘bought’ online and you can often see through their fakeness by looking at the age of the account which gave highflying testimonies. This should serve as your red flag.
The answer to these questions is a reflection the treatment you can expect from your attorney.
The trauma can be life changing
Researchers have found that the trauma associated with motor accidents place an unusual amount of burden on their resources. A study found that the most frequent traumatic event that men experience are related to motor accidents. The resources that are spent in remedying the damages caused by such accidents can weigh heavily on one’s wallets before the insurance carrier starts paying you back.
It is a goliath of an industry where over 100 billion dollars are being spent every year in damages. Insurance companies and resourceful entities that are often times responsible for accidents (such as companies and government agencies) hire watchdogs to make sure they don’t have to cough up damages.
The statistics show that 1% of the US population is going to be injured in minor vehicle accidents. These can place lasting damages on their psychological and physical well being.
For this reason we recommend hiring a Carrolton car accident attorney to relieve some of that burden and put you on the right track to extract justice for someone else’s wrongdoing.
