Located in Texas State, Houston is the 4th most populated city in the US, with an estimated population of 2,304,580. There are several life situations when you need the help of legal experts.
For example, suppose you are a road accident or medical malpractice victim or have suffered injuries in a workplace accident. In that scenario, you need to contact a Houston personal injury attorney to file a personal injury claim case.
Choosing an expert and experienced lawyer is crucial for winning the lawsuit. Here are mistakes to avoid while selecting a personal injury lawyer.
Not Choosing a Specialist Attorney
As per 2019 data, Houston recorded around 188 accidents each day. Unfortunately, one of the people’s biggest mistakes is choosing a general attorney for their injury claim. A general attorney can handle various legal matters but does not specialize in any specific area of law.
If you are a car accident victim, you need to hire an attorney who specializes in handling personal injury claims in auto accidents. Specialization allows attorneys to hone in a specific area of law and polish their skills to help clients achieve their goals. In addition, a personal injury lawyer will know more about the difficulties in proving liability in any given situation.
Assuming Total Fees
The lawyer fees vary, and there is no golden rule that attorneys follow when deciding their legal fees. Hence, you should ask the lawyer what the total costs of the lawsuit will be and the payment arrangement. Some attorneys offer a “no win, no fee” option where you do not pay any upfront fees.
In the ‘no win, no fee’ policy, you are not responsible for paying any fees to the lawyer if you lose the case. However, if you win the compensation, the lawyer takes a share of the total compensation.
If you have agreed to a ‘no win, no fee’ offer, you need to ask how much percentage of the compensation amount the lawyer will take as service fees. Most lawyers take 20% or less of the total compensation amount.
However, Texas does not have an upper limit on contingency fees, and the lawyer will accept payments as negotiated with the client. Hence, you should not assume anything about costs and ask about them before hiring a Houston, personal injury attorney.
Hiring a Lawyer Who Is Only Interested in Out of Court Settlement
As per recent data, the Greater Houston area recorded 56 workplace deaths between Jan 1, 2017, and Sept 24, 2018. Some lawyers are not confident about winning the case in court.
Such lawyers force their clients to accept out-of-court settlements even if it results in inadequate compensation. You should avoid hiring lawyers who are not ready to take the case to trial.
When you employ a personal injury attorney, they must study the case’s merits and take decisions that serve your best interests. For example, if the defendant’s insurance company is not ready to pay adequate compensation, the lawyer should be confident of fighting the case in court and get fair compensation for you.
Not Doing Research
There is nothing wrong with considering friends and relatives recommendations when hiring a personal injury attorney. However, you should not blindly trust their advice and base your hiring decision on them alone.
Instead, you need to research the attorney names they provide and see if they are experts in the personal injury area you want and have a good track record of winning cases.
To sum up, it is best to avoid these mistakes while hiring a personal injury attorney to increase the chances of hiring the best lawyer in town to represent you in court.