Have you been in a car accident or experienced a personal injury in Detroit that resulted in serious and expensive injuries? Have these injuries left you with temporary or permanent disabilities that impact your ability to work? If this sounds like you, you need to hire the best lawyer for personal injury cases who can enable you to recover damages for medical bills, lost wages, loss of future earnings, pain and suffering, and more.
Before deciding to hire an attorney or legal team, you should have the opportunity to make sure that they’re the right fit. Consider preparing some interview questions beforehand to ensure that they’re your best legal option going forward. These questions should reveal the attorney’s overall legal experience, whether they have a positive track record for your type of personal injury case, and what to expect when it comes to communicating with them.
Here are some crucial questions to ask a Detroit personal injury lawyer before hiring them for your case.
How Many Years Have You Practiced Personal Injury Law?
Experience is one of the most critical aspects of winning personal injury cases, so you need to ensure that the lawyer you’re interviewing has already handled many cases. Just because they’re labeled as a personal injury attorney doesn’t necessarily mean they have the knowledge and expertise to handle your unique case – they should have a history of representing personal injury victims in Detroit and Michigan.
What’s Your Experience In My Type of Personal Injury Case?
Not all personal injury cases are the same, and the lawyer you’re interviewing may not have a great deal of experience with representing injured individuals who suffered a particular type of accident. For example, you could interview a personal injury attorney who has a great deal of experience handling car accident cases but may not have much experience with slip and fall accident cases.
During the interview process, inquire about their specific experience handling your type of injury case, such as a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury. If they’ve successfully represented past clients who suffered from similar accidents, you’ll be able to rest easy that they can handle the complexities of your specific type of case, such as medical malpractice, dog attacks, and product liability.
What is Your Success Rate?
Another important part of interviewing your potential legal representative about their experience is inquiring about their overall success rate. Do they have a history of settling cases and winning cases that go to trial?
One important aspect of this question is ensuring that the lawyer has trial experience. Many lawyers have a lengthy history of settling cases out of court, but you need an attorney who can fight on your behalf in court if necessary.
You need to also ensure that the attorney has a history of being able to secure different forms of damages besides medical bills and property damage. Did your accident cause catastrophic injuries or keep you from working? Your personal injury lawyer should have experience helping injured victims recover different types of economic damages, such as lost wages and loss of future earnings, as well as non-economic damages like pain and suffering. Your injuries could cause a lifetime of physical and emotional hardship, so you need a lawyer who can help you recover all possible damages.
Can I See Some of Your References and Testimonials?
If the lawyer has plenty of legal experience handling your type of case, they should have no problem supplying you with client testimonials and references. They may also have results and testimonial pages on their website.
Although the most important aspect of finding the right attorney is their likelihood of settling or winning your case, you’ll likely also want to consider their professionalism, communication, and tact. You’re going through a tough period with your injury, so you should hire an attorney who will be patient, respectful, and sympathetic to what you’re going through. Fortunately, client testimonials are a great way to gauge the lawyer’s sensitivity.
Additionally, you can check their Google reviews, Better Business Bureau rating, and rating on Martindale-Hubbell, a peer-reviewed attorney ratings service.
What is the Communication Between Lawyer and Client Like?
As mentioned above, communication is an important part of finding the right Detroit attorney, and lawyers have different styles when it comes to communicating with their clients.
If you’re the type of person who wants frequent communication, you should try to find an attorney who will be willing to communicate with you regularly.
Alternatively, you may not want to communicate with your attorney often, but you should still be able to contact them for updates regarding your case when necessary. If your attorney is unable to communicate with you directly, they should at least have a paralegal, junior attorney, or secretary who can take your calls and keep you informed.
How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
The amount you should expect to pay will depend on your specific lawyer, but many personal injury attorneys receive compensation on a contingency basis, meaning that they’ll take a percentage of your settlement to recover payment for their services.
When the attorney collects payment based on contingency, you should ask what percentage of your winnings they’ll take. This will usually be anywhere between 20% and 40%.
How Much is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
Because most personal injury attorneys receive compensation based on your settlement amount, you can rest assured that a skilled and experienced lawyer will work to maximize the amount of money you’ll receive. Depending on your case, they’ll be able to recover damages for past and future medical bills, property damage, lost wages, loss of future earnings, pain and suffering, and other possible damages.
Your attorney will not be able to guarantee a specific amount you’ll receive for your injuries, but they’ll be able to provide a ballpark estimation.
One important note regarding compensation is that if the attorney typically only settles cases out of court, they will likely be more willing to accept a lower amount of compensation than attorneys with a great deal of trial experience. Cases go to court when the two parties are unable to reach a settlement agreement, and insurance companies almost always lowball the amount of compensation they’re willing to pay victims. If you hire an attorney who’s willing to settle for the insurance company’s discounted amount, you’ll miss out on the full compensation you deserve.
Contact a Michigan Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you want a legal team that’s willing to fight on your behalf both in and out of court, contact the Detroit personal injury attorneys at Lee Steinberg Law Firm. We have many years of experience assisting injured individuals in a variety of cases, including car accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, and more.
Schedule your free case evaluation today online or by calling 800-533-3733.
