Vehicle accidents happen when you least expect them, and your commitment to driving carefully and responsibly does not insulate you from becoming the victim of one. It’s sad but true.
In the worst cases, an accident on the road can cause death—yours, or a loved one’s. In a matter of moments, car accidents can also cause injuries, complete with hardships that will affect your life for weeks, months, or even years.
That said, if you have been in a vehicle accident, you have every right to seek an attorney who can help ensure that you receive appropriate compensation for the losses and hardship you have suffered. Keep in mind, however, that the law is like the field of medicine. There are specialty areas, and not every practitioner is equally talented or experienced. It’s important to take the time to research a potential personal injury attorney as carefully as you would a physician.
When hiring a personal injury attorney in Maryland after a car accident, here are five things to do:
Meet in Person
We offer a free initial consultation so we can meet potential clients and answer basic questions about Maryland accident law. We take the time to give you an overview of how we imagine proceeding through the system, and give you the opportunity to ensure that you feel comfortable interacting with us.
Agree on Goals
No matter what type of car accident you’ve had, recovering fully from it, both emotionally and physically, will take a team of people. We can be clear, however, that when it comes to recovering the funds to compensate you for losses and damages, the team member you will be relying on is your personal injury attorney.
We will help you recover the money you are entitled to based on the harm the accident has caused you. If this makes you uncomfortable, it shouldn’t. The Civil Justice system is designed to compensate you for the suffering you have experienced and the losses you have incurred. We believe our clients deserve our best efforts to balance out the hardship they have dealt with with monetary compensation.
Discuss Experience
Recovering damages after an automobile accident is no time to give your nephew who has recently passed the Bar his first chance at representing a plaintiff in a court of law. You need to select a lawyer who has years of experience representing people like you in personal injury cases, specifically cases that involve auto accidents.
A word to the wise: the attorneys with the biggest advertising budget are not your best choices. The lawyers with the billboards along the highway and 24/7 TV commercials are often not the ones who have obtained the best results for their clients—many times because the spokespeople for the firm—who appear to be seasoned veterans of the practice of law—are not the ones who actually handle the case. That critical task may go to the young associates of the firm—remember that nephew who recently passed the Bar? How do you know you know most of your case work is not being done by him, even if a more experienced lawyer actually fronts the case in court? You need an experienced lawyer dealing with your case from beginning to end.
Find Out What Others Say
While these are not foolproof, it’s a good idea to refer to review testimonials. Go to a third-party evaluation site, as the testimonials on your prospective attorney’s website have been hand selected by the practitioners themselves. Do you have a trusted friend who has used the services of a local personal injury lawyer? Ultimately, you are going to need to trust your gut after the initial consultation and your own careful research, but factoring the attorney’s recommendations from others into the mix can be helpful.
Research Awards
Has your prospective car accident attorney received recognition from their peers or national organizations? Recognition from the legal community can be another way to evaluate how well the lawyer is respected in their specialty area. Again, this is not a foolproof gauge, but it won’t hurt to see if your attorney has received any accolades for representing clients in cases similar to yours.
If you have been involved in a car accident, you need an attorney with extensive knowledge of auto accident claims, many years of experience in settling and trying cases, outstanding client satisfaction, and a track record of getting monetary awards for its clients.
Call Arthur Crum at 301.662.4088 or email [email protected] for a free initial consultation and start moving toward the compensation you need to get your life back after a car accident in Maryland.
