First of all, I’d be very careful about asking a lawyer how to select a lawyer, because there is a tremendous incentive to say “Pick me.”I’m not going to do that. There are plenty of lawyers who will do a good job representing you on a personal injury case. The problem is: how do you find one? I suggest you look at three factors. One: Does the lawyer have a documented reputation for excellent legal ability and high ethical standards? I don’t mean, ask the lawyer, “Do you have a good reputation?” I mean research objective sources. The gold standard is The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, which rates the legal ability of all lawyers in the United States as A, B, C or no rating. A rating of V is also given for high ethical standards. Why hire a lawyer with anything less than an AV rating? The directory is online at martindale.com. We are proud of our Martindale Hubbell AV rating, the highest available. You can also go to a firm’s website, and see where they were educated. For example: our lawyers graduated from Whitman, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, University of Washington and Tulane. You can check to see how other lawyers rate the lawyer. Are they repeatedly selected as a “Super Lawyer” by popular vote of their peers in the annual Washington Law and Politics survey? Are they members of the most prestigious, invitation only groups, such as the American College of Trial Lawyers? If the lawyer doesn’t list all those qualifications in their website, they probably don’t qualify. Don’t rely on the lawyer’s own undocumented statements about his or her own abilities. Anybody can say, “I’m the best!”Two, does the lawyer have experience handling my particular type of personal injury case? A lot of lawyers do a fine job on family law, or criminal law, or business law, or estate planning. I’d recommend you hire an experienced, focused personal injury lawyer. Relatively few lawyers devote their entire practice to representing individuals with claims for personal injury or wrongful death. And some personal injury lawyers take lots of small cases: slip and fall, dog bites, whiplash claims. If you hire one of them, the insurance company is going to know you are being represented by someone who takes all kinds of personal injury cases. Before you hire a lawyer you should know how many times the attorney has successfully tried a personal injury claim. You should know whether that attorney has ever obtained a verdict in a personal injury case for over a million dollars. 99 out of 100 cases, the answer is no. Don’t allow the lawyer to answer your questions with generalizations. Ask for specific cases with specific results. Remember, when you talk to a lawyer you are interviewing him or her for a job working for you. Look at their resume. That applies to us too. Look at our case results. This website lays out our qualifications. Pick a lawyer who is not afraid to lay out his or her background in full. Three, does the attorney inspire your trust and confidence? You should hire a lawyer in whom you feel comfortable placing your trust and confidence. Remember, the lawyer is going to be employed by you to represent you. You need someone easy to talk to, someone who will explain clearly and advise you on your situation. The best way to determine your comfort level is to personally meet the lawyer. If you want to take things a step at a time, talk to the lawyer on the phone and test your comfort level prior to scheduling an appointment. At our firm, we offer a free initial interview and case evaluation to help determine the likelihood of a successful claim and the likely range of any financial recovery. This is an excellent opportunity to decide if you are comfortable placing your trust and confidence in any personal injury lawyer. And remember, there are many good ones, but they all have three qualifications: One: they have a documented reputation for excellent legal ability and high ethical standards. Two, they have successful experience handling your particular type of personal injury case. Three, you can talk to them, and they inspire your trust and confidence. Good luck in finding the lawyer best suited to represent you
