Interviewing Prospective Personal Injury Lawyers? Make A Plan First
If you've been injured in an accident that wasn't your fault, you may be able to get compensation for your pain and suffering by filing a personal injury claim. It's a good idea to hire a lawyer, such as those at Bennett & Sharp PLLC, to represent you throughout the process, as they have the investigative team and experience needed to properly value your claim and optimize the chances of winning your case. To make sure you're hiring the right legal representative for your needs, consider scheduling an initial interview with a handful of prospects before making any commitments. Here's how to plan for those interviews:
Send Letters of Intention
A great way to make sure that you and each prospective lawyer you consult with are on the same page during your initial meetings is to send letters of intention, whether through email or snail mail. The letters should outline everything you plan to talk about and request any portfolio, reference, and licensing documentation you'd like a copy of to ensure that they're brought to the consultation.
Ask each lawyer you'll be consulting with to bring along an outline of how they plan to handle your case so you can compare how each of them differ from one another when deciding who to ultimately hire as your legal representative. These letters will help ensure that each lawyer you meet with is fully prepared to address your questions and concerns, as well as present you with a solid plan for winning your case.
Create a Questionnaire Outline
To make sure that nothing important is overlooked when meeting with prospective personal injury lawyers, it is important to create a questionnaire outline that includes everything you want to talk and learn about. Start by making a list of important questions you want each of them to answer, such as:
- How will the negotiation process with the other party's insurance company and legal team work?
- Who will be working on evidence gathering and processing?
- How will things like medical bills and legal paperwork be managed?
Once your list of questions is fleshed out, make copies of them so you can provide one to each lawyer as you meet with them. Use the paperwork to make notes during your consultations so you can refer back to them when deciding which representative to hire.
Prep Your Meeting Space
Hold your consultations at home where you have access to your own belongings and all the personal paperwork that pertains to your accident in case you need it. Have paper and pens handy, and set your printer up on a table near your meeting space if possible so you can make copies of any paperwork the attorneys want to give you or that you need to provide them with. If you can't schedule the consultations at home for some reason, ask the lawyers to give you a list of paperwork they'll want to go over when you meet so you can prep your to-go bag accordingly.
Don't Forget to Follow Up
After you've completed all your consultations with prospective personal injury lawyers, take the time to follow-up with each of them in case they have any more input to give you or questions to ask. You may find that your meetings bring up more questions for you afterward too, so following up will give you a chance to address them. Call or email each lawyer to thank them for their time and see how they feel about their chances of success if taking on your case. You'll get a feel for how much confidence they have about working on and winning your case after having time to review it, which should make it easier to decide who is most likely going to meet your needs and expectations when all is said and done.
These tips and tricks should help make the process of meeting with and choosing a personal injury lawyer to work with easy.
