Every year, millions of people suffer from a personal injury due to accidents or other situations that are not their fault. Their injuries result in various problems, including physical disabilities, emotional trauma, and financial losses. Sadly, many personal injury cases result from the negligence or carelessness of others.
If you find yourself the victim of personal injury, you could be entitled to compensation. Payment covers your medical care, loss of income, reduced quality of life, physical pain, and emotional distress, among other damages. However, you first need to pick the best injury lawyer to make your case and give you a higher chance of getting a positive outcome from your case.
So, why should you hire a personal injury attorney? There is a simple answer – You need to protect your rights and maximize your case’s value.
Accordingly, you should hire an injury attorney with years of court experience. An inexperienced lawyer could be at a loss when it comes to negotiating and could have trouble preparing or taking your case to trial if negotiations with the other party fall through. As a result, you must get a lawyer with an impeccable track record of successful negotiations and trials.
A well-established leading personal injury lawyer helps you efficiently secure evidence, initiate investigations, file documents, locate witnesses, and generally keep your case moving to a favorable verdict.
Below is a comprehensive guide to hiring a personal injury attorney.
Verify That Your Attorney Has the Necessary Licenses to Practice Law
Before you schedule a consultation with an injury lawyer, you must check to ensure that the attorney is admitted to practice law in Wisconsin and has good standing within the State Bar of Wisconsin.
The Bar’s website has a search feature to help you find licensed lawyers that you can use to find out more about your injury attorney. Among other information, the website lists the bar number, contact information, and mailing address.
You can use the search to determine their admission date to the Wisconsin Bar, when and where the injury lawyer graduated from law school, whether they are a member, and their standing.
Meet With Your Attorney for An Initial Consultation
Get in touch with your personal injury lawyer’s office and schedule a consultation. Most reputable injury lawyers offer clients a free consultation, so this important step will not cost you anything.
Your free consultation will give you and the attorney a chance to know each other. It also offers an opportunity for the lawyer to find out the details of your personal injury claim and explain your legal rights.
Some of the critical factors you can use to rate your injury lawyer following your consultation include:
- Does the lawyer communicate effectively with you?
- Did your attorney satisfactorily address all of your concerns and questions?
- Did you feel that you could be honest and open with them?
- Do you feel that you can trust your lawyer?
- Did the consultation feel rushed and impatient, or did the lawyer appear unhurried and calm when answering questions?
- Do you think the attorney treated you with compassion and respect?
It is critical for the success of your case for you to have a good working relationship with the lawyer.
Prepare Your Questions and Documentation Ahead of Your Consultation
Besides getting to know your injury lawyer, the consultation gives you a chance to get legal advice. To get the best advice possible, you should provide as much information and detail as possible.
Therefore, it would be best to prepare for the meeting by writing down all the questions you would like to ask the attorney. Your questions could relate to your claim, the lawyer’s experience and track record with similar cases, and other subjects you think are essential to you.
One of the critical questions you should ask is who will handle your case directly. It would help if you were sure that their law firm has sufficient staff to work on their cases. When you hire an injury lawyer, you want to know that they supervise your case instead of passing it off to a paralegal or associate.
Lastly, make sure that you bring copies of medical records, accident reports, and insurance claims to give the lawyer a clear picture of what happened.
Discuss Fees with Your Lawyer
Many injury attorneys will accept your case on a contingency fee, which means you can hire a lawyer without paying their fees upfront. Instead, you only pay the attorney once they recover compensation for your injury claim.
The attorneys’ fees are a percentage of the money you receive from winning your injury case. However, you should clarify if the fee percentage changes if your case has to go to court.
You should also discuss who should pay for the costs since lawyers handle costs in various ways. Most lawyers pay costs as the case continues and get reimbursement from the proceeds of the settlement. You should also discuss who bears the responsibility for the costs if you fail in settling the claim in your favor.
Do not sign a retainer until you have agreed on all the fees and costs.
Are You Ready to Talk To Wisconsin’s Leading Personal Injury Lawyer?
In the end, getting a successful settlement in a personal injury case in Wisconsin is not easy as they usually take time to resolve. To ensure you get the payment you deserve, you need highly qualified, licensed accident lawyers in good standing and with a proven track record, such as our experts at Vanden Heuvel & Dineen, S.C.
Our lawyers have access to many resources – a crucial feature since personal injury cases are commonly expensive to prosecute. Generally, proving damages requires you to hire the services of expensive orthopedic specialists, neurologists, engineers, economists, life-care and rehab planners.
Vanden Heuvel & Dineen, S.C. are attorneys in Wisconsin who specialize in personal injury cases and have a proven track record of winning settlements for their clients.
To get the best representation for your personal injury case, Call (262) 250-1976 or visit our website to schedule your free consultation.
