Who Should you Choose for a Dallas Personal Injury Attorney?
5 Tips to Choose the Right One for You
Choosing the wrong lawyer can cost you a lot of ways. When you’ve been injured, you need to find a top-rated attorney that won’t waste your time or money and will make your experience as smooth as possible.
Following these steps can make sure you get the representation that you deserve.
1. How to Narrow Your Search
When choosing the best lawyer to fit your legal needs, candidate interviews can be an effective way to narrow your search.
Forbes recommends that you identify at least three attorneys to interview as potential prospects.
First, when choosing Dallas personal injury attorneys to include as candidates, make sure that they offer the specific services that you need.
Then, check your State Bar Association’s website to make sure that they haven’t had any disciplinary actions taken against them.
2. Questions to Ask During Interviews
When you have identified potential candidates, knowing what to ask them can help guide you in making the right choice.
When conducting interviews with Dallas personal injury lawyers, their answers to the following questions can be instrumental in making your final decision.
- Who Will I Work With?
Oftentimes, a practice might have a group of attorneys that work with their clients. In some cases, the person that you interview may not be the person that is assigned to work with you. Find out exactly who will be working with you and request to meet with that person specifically before making your decision. When you hire a partner, they might choose a less experienced junior partner to assign to your case. Furthermore, just because you connect with one attorney in a practice, doesn’t mean you will feel equally compatible with all of the attorneys working in the practice. You want to be sure that you feel comfortable with the exact person that will be representing you. - Credentials and Experience
While all Dallas personal injury attorneys are required to pass the bar, some might have additional credentials or experience that lend to their suitability.
- Payment for Services
Most Dallas personal injury attorneys will be paid off of a percentage of your settlement. However, they may or may not require an upfront retainer. Find out the exact method of payment expected, including percentage rate and when payment is required. - How Do They Feel About Your Case?
While an initial meeting isn’t the time to review every detail of your case, you should offer candidates a general summary of your circumstances. They probably won’t be able to guarantee the outcome, but they will at least be able to tell you if they think your case is legitimate and if they feel confident in providing you with representation. In the event that your lawsuit goes to trial, you want to be sure that the attorney you choose believes in your case.
3. Check The Martindale-Hubbard Law Directory
You can access the Martindale-Hubbard Law directory online or at your local library. It includes virtually all Dallas personal injury attorneys, as well as practically every major attorney in the United States and Canada.
The directory offers profiles on lawyers, which contains a detailed professional biographical description, as well as customer ratings, peer reviews, and other basic data pertaining to the candidate and their practice.
4. Tour Their Law Firm and Meet Other Staff Members
You can often learn a lot about Dallas personal injury attorneys by touring their law firm and meeting other staff members, such as their receptionist, secretary, partners, and paralegals.
Be careful not to judge their effectiveness by the size of their practice. 63% of law firms employ ten attorneys or less. And, there are exceptional practices that include just one or two lawyers.
However, you can make observations based on their standards and professionalism based on their office and others who work with them.
5. Trust Your Instincts
One of the most important indicators regarding Dallas personal injury attorneys can be your gut instinct.
After meeting and interviewing potential candidates you will most likely have formed some level of internal instinct based on your initial interaction.
Your first impression can tell you a lot about a person, and this holds true even with professionals that you are considering for their services.
If something instinctively signals a red flag, then your gut might be trying to tell you something that could be important going forward.
It’s important that your attorney possess traits such as trustworthiness, dependability, commitment, willingness, and empathy.
Many times these characteristics take time to prove. But, often we can determine a general assessment of someone’s character during the first 30 minutes of meeting them.
How long do you have to file a Dallas personal injury case?
Many people who sustain personal injuries in or around the Dallas area are confused about how long they have to file a lawsuit to recover compensation for their losses. Every state is responsible for setting a statute of limitations, or time limit, that dictates how long victims in these cases have to file a claim in civil court. In Texas, this timeline is two years from the date the injury occurs. This means that victims of personal injuries in Dallas have a two-year window with which to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person who caused them harm.
Contact our Dallas personal injury attorney today
If you or somebody you love has sustained an injury in the Dallas area that was caused by the careless or negligent actions of another person, contact an attorney immediately. At the Law Office of Julie Johnson, our knowledgeable and experienced team will conduct a complete investigation into your incident so we can secure the compensation you need. We are not afraid to stand up to aggressive insurance carriers or at-fault parties. When you need a Dallas personal injury attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or by calling us at 214-290-8001.
