Getting the right attorney to handle your legal case can be a daunting endeavor. There are just too many attorneys to choose from and you might not know where to start or how to go about the process. It doesn’t matter if you’re undergoing a hip replacement surgery or have been involved in an accident, it is imperative that you’re getting the right attorney for the job. This will call for due diligence on your part so that you’re not ending up working with a shoddy attorney. There are some key traits you should be looking out for in a personal injury attorney and we’re going to highlight some of them.

Ask Family and Friends

Before you can go through the trouble of looking online, you can start by asking friends and family for recommendations. Word of mouth is not going away soon even with the advent of the internet. It is also the most reliable form of recommendation. Your friends or family will not have any skin in the game. There are just so many personal injury attorneys advertising on TV and digital platforms. Enforcing the regulations could be challenging for stakeholders. You don’t want to be the victim of an incompetent attorney. Ideally, you should be looking for someone that is trustworthy.

Researching Online

If you can’t get the recommendations from friends and family, you’ll have no other choice but to go online. This is not always a straightforward process because of the different variables involved. There are law firms that will be willing to manipulate search results in order to get business. That is why you need to be extra vigilant when looking for a personal injury lawyer online. To make your work easier, you could narrow down to the attorneys that are practicing in your town or state. Such an attorney will be aware of the local laws. They will also have a reputation to maintain and wouldn’t do anything that could jeopardize it.

There is a local bar association in every state which you can use to check the credentials of the attorney. Make sure that the attorney is licensed and in good standing with the bar association.

Experience

The experience of the personal injury attorney is going to play a big role in the selection process. An attorney that specializes in personal injury law practice will have won numerous cases. The success record should be one of the indicators of the experience of the attorney. The more the years of practice, the more the experience. Don’t be afraid of asking for references if you want to be reassured of the experience of the personal injury attorney.

Communication

Good communication is crucial when you’ve been involved in a legal case. For a personal injury claim, you’d want to know what is happening throughout the process. It should be easy to reach out to the attorney in case you need something to be clarified. Take note of how the attorney responds to your questions when you get in touch with them for the first time. How long did it take for them to get back to you? A good attorney will always make time for the client no matter the number of cases he or she is handling. An attorney that doesn’t have time to listen to your concerns will be a bad sign.

Discuss Fees

The majority of personal injury attorneys will work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they’ll only get compensated when the case is settled in your favor. That is why you should be worried when the attorney demands legal fees upfront. What you should be discussing are the legal fees. This should be clear from the onset so that you know what exactly you’ll be paying once the case is settled.

Don’t Ignore Your Gut

You need to look for an attorney that is genuinely concerned about your wellbeing. Such an attorney will have your best interests at heart and will not do anything to jeopardize the case. There are some attorneys who will want to settle just because of the offer that has been tabled when you could be getting a lot more.

Make sure to ask if the attorney will be handling the case personally. If you reach out to a law firm, it is important to know the person that will be in charge of the case. If the attorney can’t spare five minutes in their day to listen to you, there is no need to work with them in the first place.