Seek, and You Can Find: 5 Areas to Focus on When Choosing a Personal Injury Lawyer

When someone is injured in an accident, they are trying to navigate many difficult issues, usually for the first time in their lives. Their questions include:

• What medical attention do I need?
• What treatments or medications will work best?
• How will I make an income?
• Who will take care of my family and home?

These are a few of the issues my clients at Lerners are typically struggling with when we first meet. Clients also have the added stress of trying to figure out “who is the best lawyer to help me through this”?

 If you search online for personal injury lawyers in the London or Windsor area, you will come up with a list of hundreds of names. There are 5 aspects you should focus on to make your choice easier.

1. Personality
2. Communication
3. Honesty/Integrity
4. The Team
5. Referrals

1. The most important piece of this puzzle is personality. You need a lawyer that works with you. Take a look at the lawyer’s website. See if the lawyer has social media accounts. Try to get to know the lawyer as best you can. You can often learn a lot about a lawyer by their online presence. The unfortunate reality is that a personal injury lawsuit can take a long time and you will likely have a lot of questions along the way. You and your lawyer should get to know each other quite well throughout the process. You need to find someone you are comfortable with.

2. Your lawyer needs to be a good communicator. Once you have narrowed down a few choices, give them a call or schedule a consultation. How much time does the lawyer give you at the outset? Do you understand the language being used? Write down all of your questions and see which lawyer can give you answers in a way that makes sense to you. You may experience some confusing and difficult issues during a personal injury lawsuit. It is important that the lawyer helping you is able to effectively communicate those issues, and help you understand the best way to handle them.

3. Look for a lawyer that will be up front with you. When difficult issues arise, you want a lawyer that will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. As difficult as some conversations will be, it is better for you to be informed along the way, about both the good and the bad. As difficult as this may be at the beginning, a lawyer with integrity will help you manage your expectations and emotions throughout the course of your lawsuit.  

4. Most personal injury lawyers do not work alone. Most work with a team of law clerks, assistants and other lawyers. It is important to meet the team that will be working with you. Most times, the team members will be your direct contact and a great resource for information. I can honestly say that the law clerks and assistants that I work with at Lerners LLP are an extremely important part of our team. We could not operate without them. Try to meet the members of your “team” and, similarly to the lawyer, make sure they are the right personalities, have good communication skills and have honesty and integrity.

5. Ask those close to you for referrals. Hospital staff, treatment providers, family and friends all may have experience with a lawyer that they have liked, or didn’t like. The more information you can gather the better.

Remember that most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations. Do not hesitate to take them up on that offer. I will often travel to clients’ homes or even meet them in the hospital following an injury. Take your time and make sure you find someone who is a good “fit”.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. Please give me a call!