Do I need a lawyer?
Anyone can represent themself in any legal dispute. If you are dealing with an insurance company, they love to have someone attempt to represent themself. Since their adjusters do the work every day, they know that they will have an advantage over you and your very limited knowledge. I tell people that, if they hire a really good lawyer, the lawyer should be able to get them a better outcome than if they represented themself.
What if I tried to do it myself, but I could not make a settlement, and my case is going to have to go to court?
Again, you could actually represent yourself in court. However, without a lawyer, you may be at a great disadvantage, because the other side will probably hire a lawyer, and you will be in a situation that you know nothing about against someone who does it every day. Unfortunately, there are many legal rules that could be applied detrimentally to your case that someone who does not do the work every day would know nothing about.
Would I be better off hiring a lawyer from the very beginning?
If you hire a very good lawyer, I believe you are always better served by doing so from the beginning. Without a lawyer, you will be forced to deal directly with an insurance adjuster who may record your conversations and take advantage of you, in an attempt to develop evidence to use against you later. If you hire a very good lawyer, they will generally do the speaking for you, which insulates you from the insurance adjuster. I always prefer to get a case before a person has tried to represent themself, because there are less problems for me to have to correct, but I have represented many people who tried to do it themselves first.
How much time do I have to do something after I have been injured?
It is not possible for me to give an accurate answer to this question without knowing the specific facts of your case. However, the time period in which you must act varies with who hurt you and possibly how you were hurt. The time period varies, but generally you will have a period of a few years in which to actually file a lawsuit, but if any government employee was involved, you will have to provide notice that you may file a lawsuit, within just a few months of being injured. The period for filing a lawsuit against the government is also shorter and not a few years.
What should I look for when I hire a lawyer?
The reputation of the individual lawyer is a good place to start. Ask around about the person you are considering. You should be able to meet with the lawyer for no charge. See if you are comfortable with them, and get a feel about the kind of person they seem to be. This is the person who will be your voice with the insurance company and possibly a jury, if the case does not settle. Make sure you are comfortable with them being your voice. If you call some law firm with numerous lawyers, your case will eventually be assigned to one of them, so make sure you can meet with the person they can guarantee will be assigned your case, even if that is the newest and most inexperienced lawyer in the place.
Will my case go to trial or be settled?
The majority of cases settle and do not go to trial. My goal is to make sure that my clients feel that they were treated fairly. I am not satisfied, if my clients are not satisfied. If the other side does not offer enough money to accomplish that, then we will go to trial. Many lawyers are intimidated by the thought of going to trial, but to me, a trial always has to be a possibility. If the lawyer is always afraid to go to trial, the insurance company will know that and offer less money to that lawyer’s clients. I approach every case from the standpoint that one day it will go to trial. I begin preparing for a potential trial from the very beginning, so that we are never caught unprepared, if the case does not settle.
Should I hire a law firm that advertises everywhere and brags about other settlements or verdicts?
When a law firm advertises a great deal, they have to settle cases to pay for all of that advertising. A single billboard can cost thousands of dollars each month. Years ago, a full page ad in the telephone book was $2,000 each month. You do not want your case to be one of the cases that need to be settled that month to pay for the huge advertising bill. Past settlements or verdicts of other cases tell you nothing about a lawyer or law firm’s skills. A settlement for $2 million sounds good, but if the case was worth $4 million, obviously someone did not do a good job. Also, the lawyer working on your case may have had nothing to do with the settlements or verdicts the firm is bragging about.
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Albuquerque NM 87123
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