Choosing the right attorney for your particular personal injury case is never easy. Legal dramas and movies taught us – wrongly – that the best attorney in town could try everything from car accident insurance claims to criminal defense and from antitrust trials to wills and divorce. It is not the case. Great attorneys can handle a few different legal areas, correct, but the one you need is the one that can prove specialization, experience, and significant success rate in the particular area of your interest. So, let’s see today how to choose the right lawyer for your personal injury case in Georgia.
1. Make the Difference between Dabblers and Specialists
Georgia is quite different when it comes to its legal practices and laws. Every state is, but when it comes to personal injury laws, your lawyer should know all things inside out. When you start your quest for a personal injury attorney in Georgia, the first thing to do is verify the firms that made it on your shortlist.
Large law firms can deal with a handful of legal areas. The movies are right: the same firm can handle trust funds, testaments, criminal defense, workers’ compensation, mergers, etc. However, the lawyer you need is the one with experience and practice in personal injuries of the kind you suffered.
Making the difference between dabblers and pros is to check the caseload of the attorney you want to hire. When you want to find more about personal injury attorneys in Georgia, you need to look at won cases, the number of settlements, sums obtained in payments for the clients, public litigation they won (that you might have heard of in the media), clients’ testimonials, and so on. The best personal injury attorney can prove at any point above-reproach ethical work, a hefty caseload, won trials, and satisfactory settlements for the client.
2. Find an Attorney for the Long Run
When you choose an attorney to handle your personal injury case in Georgia, get one that is not ready to settle before hearing your case from A to Z. Many law firms are what specialists call “settlement mills.” It means that they handle hundreds if not thousands of clients a year and avoid going to trial. The risk with a settlement mill is that even the most unprepared attorney in such a firm could get you a settlement of $10,000 for a $100,000 case.
You want the lawyer that will not settle for just $10,000 and send you to your merry (and severely underpaid) way, but who is willing to get to court and fight for a $200,000 verdict.
Having a worthy personal injury attorney on speed dial is wise for your future and a handful of other practical reasons. You and your family might need an attorney for personal injury matters that you can experience in your future.
Keep in mind that in Georgia, you will have to deal with laws regarding negligence, modified comparative negligence, contributory negligence, joint liability, and more. From a random dog bite to slip & falls or injuries suffered due to medication, a Georgia-based family personal injury attorney is your best bet for safety. Just make sure they are not walking settling factories ready to close your case and leave you confused and financially stretched.
3. The Right Attorney Will Handle Your Case Personally
In vetting a law firm to find the right personal injury attorney in Georgia, you need to make sure that your chosen attorney will represent you personally. Do not fall into the trap of settlement mills, dabblers, or Jacks-Of-All-Trades. A pro lawyer in a pro firm indeed has tens of cases to attend to at the same time.
However, when you ask Annalise Keating to defend you in a criminal trial, Alan Shore to win you an asbestos injury case, or Allie McBeal for your kids’ custody, make sure you get these lawyers, not their assistants.
If the lawyer in charge of personal injuries cannot represent you but sends you some interns to deal with your case, run the other way. You will not always get a senior partner with the name on the door, true. But you could get an associate that does an excellent job and has an impeccable reputation (the likes of Allie, Alan, or Alicia Florrick).
Bottom Line
In a personal injury case, the last thing you want is that the law, lawyers, and insurance companies to treat you like a number instead of a person. Verify tens of law firms if you have the time, but pick a Georgian lawyer who will understand your problem, help you through it, and fight like a lion for every right and every cent you deserve.
