How to Find a Good Lawyer

Before you hire a personal injury attorney, be sure to know his background. Would you hire an accountant or health professional without having any knowledge of their background? Certainly not! Don't hire a personal injury lawyer without researching their background when it involves something as important as YOUR case.

Before you hire a lawyer, research them:

• How often has he won your types of cases at trial?


• In how many arbitrations, meditations, or settlements has he been successful?


• Is he a part of the local plaintiff's lawyer associations i.e. in CA: the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and the Consumer Attorneys of California?


• What is his Martindale Hubbell peer review rating?


• What is his position with the State Bar?


• Does he belong to the American Board of Trial Advocates?


• Has he gotten any peer-based awards?


• Does he have a relationship with the judges in your area?

Information is influence!

Tip: Find a local lawyer referral service that doesn't charge you for doing the research.

You may question why they are willing to do this for you at no charge. Because, first, finding the very best attorney for you is how a lawyer referral service makes money. Their job is to match your specific case with a lawyer who has the best record in that particular area of the law. Second, in order for you to refer their services to family or friends, they will want to get you the best lawyer possible.

In addition, some lawyer referral services donate to community groups like charities, religious institutions, and pro bono legal groups.

Even so, it is important to do your due diligence. Much of this research can be done by yourself. You can examine cases at the Superior Court, you can get in touch with the State Bar, and you can get in touch with other lawyers to discover if the lawyer you are thinking about using is a good lawyer; but it is a better idea to allow an attorney referral service to do the job for you, free of charge.

Check the lawyer's Martindale Hubbell peer review at www.martindale.com if you prefer to do some research on your own.

Research on your own: The more you know, the better!

Your purpose is to obtain the maximum amount of money that you can for your situation. To get the most recovery money, you must ask three critical questions of your lawyer prior to retaining him/her:

Question 1: "What is the percentage that you will charge?"

Personal injury lawyers work on a "contingency basis." This means that they will take a percentage of any monetary award from your case; otherwise they do not get paid. Many people do not realize that this percentage is negotiable with your personal injury lawyer. You will learn how to negotiate the best attorneys' fees before signing the contract if you use the assistance of a lawyer referral service.

Question 2: "Will you deduct costs or deduct your fee first?"

This is crucial! The majority of personal injury lawyers don't want you to inquire about this since this is a very easy method you can use to get more money for YOUR case!

Question 3: "Have you ever tried a case such as mine in the past?"

This query might not mean much to you, but it will frighten the greedy smirk right off the face of many personal injury lawyers! It is the quickest way to determine whether or not the personal injury lawyer you are considering retaining has ever argued before a judge. Most people don't realize that many personal injury lawyers never even go to court; they just shuffle papers around and settle your case for pennies on the dollar! Don't allow yourself to be in this situation!

Always get in touch with a certified lawyer referral service which focuses on having information about the highest quality personal injury attorneys.

The other side's insurance company wants you to employ an average or actually a terrible lawyer. Hiring a lawyer that the other side is the most afraid of is one of the best ways to maximize your recovery.

A great lawyer referral service is aware of the competition, knows who the best personal injury lawyers are, who they are afraid of. One of the methods that you will only find with several of the best attorney referral businesses is the thorough research concerning who the defense lawyers are afraid of mostly. They really discover who lawyers that work for the insurance companies are mostly afraid of.

It is possible for you to do this yourself. You can phone the big insurance businesses and their local defense companies to inquire with them for their opinions about the best personal injury attorneys, but it is a better idea to use a lawyer referral service for this.

Following are the two best ways in which you can negotiate a FANTASTIC deal:

A) Negotiate the fee percentage:

Normally, personal injury lawyers work on a "contingency basis." That means that they will receive a percentage of whatever amount they recover for you, as opposed to charging by the hour. Many people don't realize that this percentage is negotiable. Negotiation is something even the very best lawyers are willing to do. If you have a good case, you'll have no problem finding a good personal injury lawyer. Grab the best deal you can get! Asking is all you need to do. It's always possible to find a different top notch personal injury lawyer if their answer is no. There are a lot...

Contingency fees typically vary from about 25% to 50% considering the kind of case, the difficulty of the case, how strong the case is, the place where the case is filed, the experience level of the lawyer you employ, the deal you set for the price, and various different legal and factual conditions. In some cases a sliding scale is available in which case the percentage that your lawyer receives is dependent upon the amount of your recovery. Even so, state laws will govern some fee agreements.

Wouldn't it be great when dealing with your personal injury lawyer to have the necessary information to negotiate? That's what happens if you turn the work over to an attorney referral service.

B) Negotiate costs and deductions:

This means a lot! The personal injury lawyer employed by you, whether recommended by a lawyer referral service, relatives, phone book, CPA, or even someone in your neighborhood... doesn't want you to be aware of costs and deductions, since by knowing about this issue, you can easily increase the amount you receive from your case (and at the same time reduce what the law firm gets).

Here is a summary of the entire issue: In the contingency fee contract you sign with your attorney, you want the section regarding the reimbursement of costs to state that the attorney's costs will be taken out BEFORE the attorney gets his fees. In other words: After subtracting the costs involved in your case, which may include court fees, deposition costs, fees for experts, travel, postage, etc., your lawyer then figure out the contingency fee based on the negotiated percentage.

On the other hand, the lawyer would want it to be the other way around. He wants to figure out his attorney fees using the whole settlement amount. He will wish to get his fee first and then subtract his costs from your share of the case. If you want to get the most for your recovery, you have to request that the costs be subtracted first.

The reason why you will be able to keep more of the money if the costs are deducted first because the fee that you pay the lawyer will be lower! Here is a basic illustration: Let's imagine you get a $100,000 settlement for your case but your lawyer has $30,000 worth of out-of-pocket expenses for things like court reporter costs, depositions, good witnesses, making copies of doctor bills and job records, traveling costs, etc. If it says in the contingency contract that your lawyer is allowed to deduct his attorney fees before anything else and if his fee in the contract is 40%, then $40,000 goes to your lawyer for his attorney fees (which is 40% of the $100,000 settlement) and after this he will take out $30,000 for costs. You would receive $30,000 in this scenario. If you have a contract where the costs are removed first (the $30,000 in costs is taken from the $100,000 settlement, leaving a remainder of $70,000) and the attorney fees are determined based on the remaining $70,000 (40% of that), the attorney's fee will be only $28,000 and your recovery would be $42,000.

You just increased your recovery by 12% and saved yourself $12,000!

You'll want to receive the maximum recovery. You will find the best personal injury lawyer as well as maximize your recovery when you get help from a lawyer referral service. Believe me. The best part is that it won't cost you a cent.

There is a statute of limitations for your case; in other words, it has to be filed before a specific time or your claim privileges will be lost.

Witness statements and other critical evidence will need to be found and preserved before they are lost.

Do not wait! In order to ensure that you will hire the best lawyer possible, you will need to follow these 5 Golden Rules. Though it's not simple, you will be able to take each critical step yourself.