5 Most Expensive Mistakes When Hiring an Injury Lawyer
When hiring an injury lawyer, you have to be very careful. If you do not make a good choice of the attorney you hire, it can cost you. Below are five mistakes that are common, expensive, and easily avoidable when hiring a personal injury lawyer.
Hiring a Lawyer in Your Neighborhood
Many people feel the need to hire a lawyer that works in their neighborhood.. However, this can cost you. Many great lawyers in New York practiced personal injury law throughout the city.
Often people hire a lawyer from their vicinity because they want convenience. In a personal injury case, clients do not have to visit a personal injury lawyer all the time, and the visits are minimal. You do not even have to come to the lawyer. Since COVID-19 emerged, many lawyers have implemented virtual meetings that made it easier and more convenient for their clients. Also, firms like ours at The Eskesen Law Firm can even come to your home or hospital if your injuries make it difficult for you to travel to us.
Not Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer
Another mistake people make is to hire a lawyer who does not limit their practice to personal injury law. Often lawyers have different fields of expertise, focusing on a specific type of law. If the lawyer you hire has minimal experience in personal injury cases, they may not stand well against an insurance company attorney who spends all their time defending their clients from personal injury cases.
Hiring Lawyers Based On Commercials
Many lawyers spend countless dollars to run commercials. Clients are also bombarded with such commercials by lawyers. You cannot determine whether the lawyer is qualified to handle your case simply by looking at their commercial. Worse, occasionally the company that is running the ad is not the company that will be handling your case. They are often just advertising companies that will hand you off to one firm or another. While you might find excellent lawyers from advertisements, simply put, an advertisement should not make your decision for you. Therefore, relying solely on commercials can cost you a great deal.
Thinking You Cannot Afford It
Typically, personal injury attorneys in New York are paid on a contingency fee basis. This means that you only have to pay the attorney if they help you get a recovery for your damages. Also, in New York, relatively recent changes to court rules allow an attorney to agree to advance the “disbursements” (cases expenses, like court fees, expert fees, medical records fees) involved in litigating your case, meaning that there is no costs to the client if a case is not successful.
Hiring a Lawyer that Does Not Go to Trial
Preparing a personal injury case as if it is going to trial is important because sometimes you only recover fair compensation for your injuries if the defendants and insurance worry you may win a favorable verdict at trial. Often insurance company adjusters or defense attorneys will not offer fair compensation early in settlement. Sometimes, only the threat of a higher verdict persuades them to give you fair compensation. That is why the attorneys at The Eskesen Law Firm prepare our clients’ cases as if they are going to trial.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, your best bet in a personal injury case is to hire an experienced attorney, whose practice focuses on personal injury cases. At The Eskesen Law Firm, personal injury cases are all we do.
