Lawsuit Information Center
If you have been in a serious car accident that was not your fault, you find yourself shopping for the best and most successful accident lawyer to take your case. Top-level auto accident attorneys have the skills to aggressively stand behind your case and push as far as necessary to get to the maximum out-of-court settlement, even if that means taking it to trial.
So who is the best and most effective auto accident lawyer near you? The answer to that question often depends on what your specific needs and circumstances are. Below are some of the most effective criteria for evaluating personal injury attorneys, and picking the best car crash lawyer near you.
What to Look for When Selecting the Best Car Accident Lawyer
Below are some of the most essential elements to look for when selecting the best possible personal injury attorney to represent you in your auto accident case.
Location
It may seem obvious, but you should always try to find a car crash lawyer with an office that is conveniently located for your purposes. Someone with an office close to where you live or work. Most personal injury lawyers (including our firm) offer virtual and online consultations, but at some point, you will need to physically go to your lawyer’s office if you want to file a car accident lawsuit.
Being close to your lawyer’s office will facilitate and speed up much of the paperwork that goes into a car accident case. You may need to sign things or drop off medical records that can’t easily be emailed. All of this can happen faster and more effectively if your lawyer is close. Also, you will obviously need to select a licensed lawyer that regularly handles auto accidents in the area where your case will be filed.
So how do you find a list of the best accident lawyers in your area? One of the most effective ways to look up auto accident lawyers near you is to do a Google search for things like “best car accident lawyer near me” or “accident lawyers near me.” Including the word “near me” in the search will prompt Google to deliver search results based on proximity to your geographic area. So the highest-ranking lawyer websites for “best car accident lawyer” within a 5 or 10-mile radius of your location will appear. You will also get a map result that shows you a list of search results on a map with the location of the lawyer.
Look for Lawyers Who Focus on Car Accident Cases
You should always look for attorneys or law firms that focus their practice primarily on personal injury cases, particularly auto accident cases. Handling auto accident injury cases requires a specific skill set that is developed through experience over time. So you want someone who has lots of experience with auto tort cases.
Some lawyers may focus their practice on family or criminal law but will take auto accident cases that come their way. The best car accident lawyers will be those that devote most or all of their practice to auto accidents and personal injury cases. These are the car accident lawyers that will be best able to deliver you the results you are looking for.
Look for Auto Accident Lawyers With the Resources to Handle Your Case Properly
In an auto accident injury case, you will go up against big insurance companies like State Farm, GEICO, or Progressive. These are massive companies with almost limitless resources. You need an auto accident attorney with the staff and resources to battle with these big insurance companies and not be overwhelmed.
When shopping for a good auto accident attorney, try to look for a lawyer or firm with enough support staff and other resources. Also ask about their caseload and whether they can devote the appropriate time and attention to your case.
How Much Will the Attorney Charge for Your Case
When shopping for a good car accident attorney, you should always consider how much that attorney will cost you. Almost all personal injury lawyers handle auto accident cases on a contingency fee. This means that they get a percentage of whatever money they collect in your case and are reimbursed for their expenses.
Most auto accident attorneys charge a contingency fee of 33%-40%, but this is negotiable, and some lawyers are willing to reduce their contingency fee. Just be careful, however, because car crash lawyers are just like everything else in life. You usually get what you pay for.
One thing that can make a significant difference in how much money you end up with in your auto accident case is how much your lawyer spends on expenses on your case. Lawyers get reimbursed for expenses on your case. This is NOT included in the contingency fee. A good auto accident lawyer will try to limit the number of unnecessary expenses in your case. You don’t want someone who is hiring lots of expensive and potentially unnecessary medical experts.
Avoid Legal Ranking Sites With “Best Accident Lawyer” Lists
If you do a web search for “best car accident lawyers” your search results page is going to include a lot of hits from third-party lawyer marketing companies like FindLaw, Super Lawyers, Law.com, etc. These websites make it seem like they will provide you with some sort of list that objectively ranks the “best” auto accident lawyers in your area.
What you get from these companies, however, is not any sort of meaningful or objective ranking of accident lawyers based on their skills, success rates, or client approval ratings. Instead, what these companies show you is a list of lawyers who have paid that legal marketing company to get “ranked” at the top of the list for the key phrase you searched for. So if you click on FindLaw’s list of “Best Baltimore Car Accident Lawyers,” what you are going to see is a list of FindLaw’s advertising clients. The only thing this list shows you is who has paid the most to FindLaw to get their name at the top of the “rankings.”
Questions to Help Find the Best Car Accident Lawyer Near You
Once you have identified potential auto accident law firms with convenient office locations, and the resources to handle your case, you may need to ask questions to refine your search further and select the best one for you. Below are some basic questions you should consider when evaluating accident lawyers and law firms.
What is the law firm’s track record in auto accident cases?
A law firm’s track record or recent history of results in other car accident cases is probably the most important fact to consider when evaluating an injury attorney. A good auto accident lawyer or law firm should have a long and consistent track record of success and positive results in prior cases. This is like a win-loss record for a sports team. It may not tell the whole story, but it is the best overall indicator of who is good. Be very wary of accident firms who cannot boast about their successful track record.
Getting the best car accident lawyer mean a lot ot the ultimately settlement compensation or jury payout you receive. A lawyer with a successful track record has earned a reputation among their peers, judges, and insurance companies. This reputation can play a crucial role in negotiations, as opposing parties are more inclined to offer a fair settlement payout if they believe the attorney is capable and willing to take the claim to court.
This is a hard question for many to ask. But you have to push past it and ask the hard questions. The first answer you get might be confusing or unclear. You have to ask for details and specifics in your follow-up to any vague answers that do not tell you what you need to know. How many million dollar verdicts do you have? Have you ever taken a case to trial against this insurance company? How many trials have you had in the last year? These are not hard questions for the best car accident lawyers to answer. They welcome the questions so they can brag without having to the one to bring it up. The lawyers that start talking in circles? You should worry about these.
Has the firm handled cases similar to yours in the past?
Another essential thing to consider is whether the law firm or lawyer has handled prior cases similar to yours. If your auto accident case involves a unique type of physical injury, unique liability circumstances, or specific insurance companies, you should look for law firms that have handled cases with similar characteristics.
If your accident case involves something unique, like a degloving injury, you may want to look for a car accident firm that has previously handled that injury and had success with it. If the insurance company in your accident case is GEICO, you should find out whether the accident law firm has experience dealing with GEICO on claims.
How Much Does the Lawyer Think Your Case Is Worth?
You should always ask how much the lawyer thinks your case might be worth. Many auto accident lawyers will be cautious when answering this question and don’t expect to get a concrete value estimate. But you should still ask anyway. The lawyer has an opinion on how much your case might be worth.
The best auto accident lawyers are those that can answer this question by giving you a reasonable estimate range and supporting that estimate with evidence-based opinions and prior comparable results.
How Often Does the Firm Take Cases to Trial?
When selecting an auto accident lawyer or law firm, you should look for someone that is willing to take cases to trial. Everyone wants to settle out of court because its faster, easier, and usually cheaper. But in order to get the most money out of the insurance company, you need to have the threat of going trial. If your lawyer has a reputation for settling cases and being afraid of going to trial, you will get lower settlement offers.
Work With the Best Car Accident Lawyers
The auto accident lawyers at Miller & Zois work with local counsel in all 50 states on serious auto accident cases. If you have an accident case, contact us today for a free consultation at 800-553-8082. You can get a free case evaluation online as well.