If you have an injury, you may be looking for personal injury questions and answers to help explain what you can do and what your options are. Hiring an attorney is a good first step. But you want to make sure you find the right one and make an informed decision about your legal options. To do so, it helps to know what questions to ask and even to have a rough idea of what the potential answers are.
Suggested Personal Injury Questions and Answers
A good place to figure out what to ask is through research online. That’s probably the reason you’re reading this blog right now, so you’re off to a good start. Some important questions to ask include:
● What is your contingency fee? Most personal injury attorneys will charge between 25-40% of any award recovered, but this percentage is negotiable, depending on the severity of injuries and difficulty in trying the case.
● How are your fees calculated?
Some attorneys will charge their clients for costs that other attorneys may not, such as filing fees. Also, attorneys will differ on whether these fees come “off the top” of any monetary award or after the attorney has already taken his or her contingency fee percentage.
● Have you ever tried a case like mine before?
Ideally, you will find an attorney who has plenty of experience trying cases similar to yours.
● Who will actually try my case?
Part of choosing an attorney is finding someone you like and trust. You may hire an attorney thinking it will be Person A handling your case. In fact, it may be Person B. This is usually not a good thing for you as the client.
● What’s my case worth?
This is impossible to predict, but your attorney should have a ballpark idea of what your potential recovery would be. If your attorney doesn’t, they probably won’t take your case because they’d be afraid of losing money on it.
● Do you anticipate my case to settle or go to trial and why?
There is no right answer. But it’s good to know what your attorney’s plan is and how he or she intends to proceed. This will also bring up the possibility of a settlement and what your strategy should be for negotiating that.
● How much involvement will you need from me?
Depending on the facts of your case, you may not need to have much involvement. Showing up for a deposition, providing your attorney with documents and answering any questions your attorney may have may be all that’s needed. In other cases, you might have to submit to medical examinations. You may also have to testify at several depositions and be subject to vigorous and potentially embarrassing cross-examination during a public trial. How much work you need to do will be an important consideration when deciding how to proceed with your case.
Need to Discuss Your Potential Personal Injury Case?
Schedule your complimentary consultation with Williams & Williams, LLC to discuss personal injury questions and answers by calling 770-823-2711.
