If you have ever been to a restaurant serving gourmet burgers to suit all dietary needs, with generous portions, farm fresh healthy sides, real cutlery and menu prices which make it a worthy special date night destination? Now compare that experience to grabbing a sack of processed food from the nearest drive-thru, which you eat in the parking lot in ten minutes or less, simply because you need something resembling food to fuel your body between appointments on a busy day.
Both experiences technically count as ‘dining out’, but they meet very different needs, and so it is in the world of the judge, jury and courtroom. There are times when ‘lawyering by numbers’ is all you need, simple cases which are processed easily and rarely contested, and there are times when a case needs everyone’s full attention. It demands research, effort, nurturing and planning.
If you are caught up in a personal injuries nightmare and looking to pursue legal options which kind of lawyer experience do you really want? We vote for the gourmet burger equivalent, as although it is more of an investment the chances of it leaving you satisfied are so much higher it’s well worth it.
Defining personal injury
The term ‘personal injury’ covers a wide range of damage which causes physical injuries, emotional distress, or even damages to property, and personal injury (tort) law exists to help victims get compensation when they experience any kind of injury caused by someone else’s negligence, (which can be either deliberate or unintentional.)
The most common areas people make personal injury claims in are:
· Automobile accidents
· Medical negligence
· Slip and fall incidents
· Libel and slander
There are more triggers, but these are the most popular issues which drive lawsuits.
Why you need a good personal injury lawyer
From the moment you instigate an insurance claim you are going to be up against a team of expert lawyers and claim adjusters who work for whoever you are making the claim against. You need a top practitioner like Attorney Marvin Walden to have a hope against big name companies for sure.
Let’s talk about money
There are lots of different options out there when it comes to personal injury lawyers, and various options on how to finance their services. It is critical that you are completely clear from the start on how you will finance a lawyer, and especially before you make any agreement for someone to take your case on.
There are three elements of cost to think about – the lawyer’s fees, costs, and expenses, which should be agreed on and recorded in writing before going ahead.
Lawyer fees
The most common system for payment is known as a ‘contingency fee arrangement’. Instead of an agreed sum for taking the case the personal injury lawyer agrees to take a percentage of the final award should they be successful. These can be steep though, and it’s not uncommon for the lawyer to take 30-40% of the final settlement; (after costs and expenses are deducted.)
This fee may seem high but it reflects the risk the lawyer takes. After all, if they lose then there is no settlement to share. It’s for this reason that personal injury lawyers are unlikely to take on a case where they believe there is either little chance of winning, or that the money awarded will not be enough to make it worth it.
Costs and expenses
These are fees for essential expenses such as filing fees, copying paperwork, expert fees, and so on.
The major benefits of paying for a top end personal injury lawyer’s services
In no particular order here are just some of the main benefits you can enjoy when you hire top dollar legal representation:
· They will get you the very highest payout possible.
· They have an excellent reputation or winning cases so many insurance companies will settle handsomely outside of court to reduce their costs overall.
· They know all the tricks that insurance companies may try to play to avoid paying out, and they have legal strategies to block or avoid them. Cheaper lawyers are just looking for a deal and won’t bother with anything like this.
· They have the knowledge and experience to negotiate cleverly and fiercely for enough cash and more to cover things like large medical bills, as well as the cash to pay upfront fees for experts who testify on your behalf.
· They have good connections to a range of experts they may need to call on to testify on your behalf.
· They have experience of the way individual insurance companies work, so can negotiate with insight on how best to get the desired result.
· They are not afraid to go to a jury. (A fact which tends to bump up settlement offers.)
· They have the staff and dedication to be thorough, for example in a medical case they will research every single medical treatment a client ever had to defend against insurance company accusations of pre-existing issues affecting the current claim.
Closing thoughts
It’s human nature to be tempted by a lawyer offering a cut price fee deal rather than pay extra for the services of a more costly personal injury lawyer. However, if we come back to the burger analogy we started with, there are days when you just need fuel, and others where you want an experience.
If you are content to settle for a smaller payout (or risk getting nothing) because you hired a lawyer who is perhaps at best, inexperienced, or at worst lazy and/or incompetent, then you are of course free to take that route. However, if you are committed to getting the compensation and support you deserve when you have suffered a personal injury of any kind there’s no question about it – the benefits of paying for a top dollar personal injury lawyer are almost immeasurable.
Image credit: Personal Injury Lawyer via ALPA PROD/Shutterstock