When Do I Need an Attorney for My Injury Claim in Nashville and How Do I Choose the Best Lawyer For Me?
These are two very important questions for accident victims, so let’s address them one at a time.
First, do you need a lawyer?
If your injuries require medical treatment of more than one or two visits to a doctor, you will need to seek legal advice. The sooner the better and the longer you wait, the more ammunition the insurance company will gather against you to defeat or minimize your case. You won’t know it at the time. Insurance companies will appear as if they are there to help, but they are professionals and their only goal is to minimize payouts on claims like yours. There are many tricks of the trade that are employed for this very purpose. The safest way to protect your rights as an injury victim is to contact an attorney as soon as possible and let them deal with the insurance companies on your behalf.
The second question is how do I decide who is the best injury attorney for me?
I can tell you what to look for, based on over 30 years of experience representing only plaintiffs in claims for injuries like yours.
The first contact you’ll have with an attorney is either by email or phone. It should be by the attorney himself, not someone working for him and not someone screening his calls. A lawyer’s primary purpose when talking to you must be to help you, not how he can make money! You can tell if the attorney really cares or if he just wants your case. Listen to your intuition — does he care? Is he knowledgeable? Does he have experience as a personal injury lawyer? How much of his practice is dedicated to handling personal injury cases?
Ask yourself whether he is only concerned about high value cases or if he is concerned about you as a person. You will want an attorney who is compassionate, understands what you are going through, and wants to make your case as easy as possible for you. You will want a lawyer who will explain the law to you, as well as the entire process, including all of the fine details. A good lawyer will honestly tell you the pros and cons of your case and will not inflate the value to impress you, but rather underestimate the value so as to not give you unrealistic expectations.
Additionally, is this attorney only talking about the top line, the total settlement value, or does he care about the costs, the liens and medical expenses you may have to pay and how much money will be left at the bottom line after all deductions?
These questions are only a few considerations when choosing the right attorney. Take your time and listen to your instincts. What is not said is often as important as what is said.
If at any time you feel you made the wrong decision, you have the right by law to change attorneys at any time. Any costs will be dealt with at settlement, not when you decide to switch. If you do decide to change attorneys, you will not pay more and it will not cost you to change. You must do what is best for you.
I often use what I call the “golden rule” of personal injury representation:
Personal injury attorneys have many cases, but you, the client, only have one and it’s very important to you. Does your attorney deal with the case as if it is his only case or do you feel like you are just a number? If you feel this way, you may want to reconsider which attorney is best for you.
For more information, call the attorneys at Stillman and Friedland at any time for more details. We have over 30 years of experience working for clients in Nashville and all of Middle Tennessee.
We look forward to speaking with you soon.
