Accident victims can use personal references, online research, client recommendations, and individual consultations to find a high-quality personal injury lawyer.
Summary
- Following an accident caused by another person’s recklessness, hiring a competent lawyer is crucial for securing compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages.
- Seek recommendations from trusted sources, check online resources for qualifications, read client reviews, and schedule a free consultation to gauge whether someone is the best injury lawyer for you.
- Look for a local injury attorney who will actively work to maximize your compensation and possess the knowledge and skills necessary to do so.
- Beware of attorneys with poor communication, unclear fee structures, unrealistic promises, high-volume settlement practices, and unethical behavior.
After a personal injury accident, recovering compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other related expenses is of paramount importance to many families. Usually, this involves filing a personal injury claim against the negligent party’s insurer.
During this stressful time, you’ll need someone to coordinate all of the moving parts of your case to secure a fair settlement. This is where many people get stuck; they know they could benefit from professional legal representation, but they don’t know how to find the best injury lawyer for their personal injury claim.
Let the reputable personal injury lawyers of Sand Law LLC put our skills and resources to work for you. We will go above and beyond to ensure that you are satisfied with the outcome of your Minnesota personal injury claim. Give us a call at (651) 362-4162 or use our online contact form to schedule a free consultation.
Tips for Searching for the Best Injury Lawyer to Handle Your Minnesota Personal Injury Claim
There are several ways you can approach your search for the best injury lawyer to recover compensation for your financial, physical, and psychological damages. These are a few suggestions to get you started:
Ask your family, friends, and other people you trust for a recommendation. This is a good place to start looking when you need a personal injury attorney because you can get a detailed and nuanced perspective on a potential attorney from someone you know.
Check out online resources to vet suggestions and review qualifications. You can read about their educational and professional background from multiple sources. For example, you can check the State Bar’s website to see if a lawyer has any reprimands. Also, you’ll want to confirm that they have experience handling the type of personal injury claim you are pursuing.
Listen to clients who have had first-hand experience with the accident injury lawyer that you are considering. This means reading client reviews on multiple platforms, not just their website, and listening to client testimonials. Look for consistent compliments or complaints.
Schedule a free consultation as soon as possible. First impressions are important, and a private meeting with a personal injury lawyer allows you to see how they treat you before you are their client. Make note of whether they listen to and address your concerns, take time to explain the jargon, and set realistic expectations for the process.
Positive Qualities to Look for in a Personal Injury Lawyer
Keep these traits in mind as you are getting ready to hire a Minnesota personal injury attorney to represent you.
Proactive: The best injury lawyer for your case will offer regular updates on your personal injury claim, actively investigate possible sources of negligence and key evidence, protect you from efforts to shift the blame for the accident to you, and anticipate the tactics of the defendant’s legal team in negotiations.
Specialized: Within personal injury law, there are many areas an attorney can focus on. Some subsets of personal injury law use different negligence standards, offer different types of damages depending on the plaintiff, or involve other unique challenges. The best injury lawyer for you has the expertise to juggle the nuances of your type of claim.
Experienced: A personal injury attorney who has some years on the job is an asset in many cases. They will have a clear understanding of what they need to prove and the most efficient way to accomplish it. Additionally, they can use their investigative resources, contacts with expert witnesses, and accrued knowledge to aid your case and maximize your compensation.
Local: In most instances, hiring the best injury attorney means hiring a local firm. It will be more convenient for you to meet to discuss your personal injury claim. Additionally, they should be up to date on the state and local laws that could impact your case. Finally, they are more likely to have knowledge or first-hand experience with the area, such as a notoriously bad intersection with a high car accident rate.
Persistent: You don’t want a personal injury attorney who just accepts the first offer on the table. Instead, you’ll want to seek out a lawyer who advocates for the compensation you deserve, even if that means going to trial.
What to Avoid When Hiring an Accident Injury Attorney
Spotting a shady or unsuitable attorney is an important part of the process of finding the best injury attorney for your case. If you notice any of the following behaviors, it’s probably a good idea to keep looking for another Minnesota personal injury attorney to represent you. Look out for:
- Lack of clear communication. Sporadic or disorganized communication is cause for concern. It can mean that you are not a priority to them, either due to their high case volume or because they think that your case won’t produce a lot of profit for them.
- Firms that are cagey about their fee. In personal injury law, the industry standard for legal fees is about a third of what your attorney recovers for you. It’s pretty straightforward, so there’s no reason your attorney should evade this question. They should also explain that you don’t owe them a contingency fee unless they secure a settlement for you.
- Attorneys promising unrealistically large settlements. Providing an inaccurate estimate of the value of your damages likely indicates that they are either not component enough to make a reasonable assessment of your losses or they are trying to manipulate you.
- Settlement mills. These are personal injury law firms that only care about collecting their fee. They take on a high volume of cases and settle them as quickly as possible, even if that means leaving considerable compensation on the table.
- Dishonest or unethical practices. If a personal injury attorney encourages you to exaggerate or lie about your case, keep looking.
Call Sand Law LLC and End Your Search for the Best Injury Lawyer in Minnesota
With the Sand Law LLC team in your corner, you can feel confident that you chose the best injury lawyer to advocate for you. Our team is equipped to build strong personal injury claims and represent clients at trial, if necessary. We will tirelessly seek to maximize your compensation for your damages so you can focus on recovering from your injuries.
We encourage prospective clients to set up a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys so they can observe how we operate. Reach out to us at (651) 362-4162 or fill out a contact form to schedule your free case evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to hire a lawyer to represent me in a personal injury claim?
Although Minnesota law does not require personal injury victims to hire an attorney to negotiate their civil claims, trying to do it on your own is risky. The legal team for the insurance company won’t hold back just because you aren’t an expert. If anything, they will try to exploit that fact and get you to agree to settle for less than your claim is worth.
How long will it take to settle my personal injury claim?
Every personal injury claim has its own quirks. You can’t necessarily compare the timeline of one claim to another, even if they are both motorcycle accident claims, for example. If your personal injury claim doesn’t have any major issues and your lawyer is on top of your case, you can probably expect a settlement agreement approximately six to eighteen months after filing.
What can I do if I think my first lawyer messed up my personal injury claim?
If your original attorney was negligent in representing your case, you may be able to pursue a legal malpractice lawsuit. Usually, there is a six-year statute of limitations on legal malpractice claims in Minnesota.