Depending on how the pollsters ask the questions, lawyers are either among the most respected or least respected professionals in America. When people are asked, in general, about how they feel about ambulance chasers, the negatives run high. On the other hand, when asked specifically about their own experiences with attorneys that help them get a just settlement for an injury or other loss, people report high levels of satisfaction. This is right in keeping with what pollsters have long known about people's tendency to rate things differently depending on their involvement. There are many misconceptions about personal injury lawyers, even more than with attorneys in general, and being confused about what they offer in our judicial system can affect your decisions adversely. It is important to know about the many roles of the personal injury lawyer.
Advocates and experts
When you are in an accident (motorcycle, auto, boat, workplace, whatever) you can expect almost as much mental trauma as physical, sometimes even more. It is bad enough when you get into a fender bender, or serious crash, with another working- or middle-class citizen, but it can be downright scary when you come up against a Fortune 500 corporation, the government or other powerful interests. The most important thing to remember after an accident is the same thing you should remember if you are ever arrested. Don't talk! Answer questions of police officers but be circumspect, and absolutely speak with an attorney. The fact is, you need a good personal injury lawyer at least as much for what happens outside of a courtroom as inside.
If this is surprising to you, then you are forgetting the other roles that lawyers play besides courtroom representatives. They are experts in their fields, and you are not, so their advice becomes important immediately. They are also the route to other experts, such as doctors and physical therapists, so that you can be taken care of in every way. In addition, they are advocates, and represent your interests in many ways, and a lot of it takes place before you ever see a courtroom. In fact, you may never have to go to court, as many cases can be settled without a trial. The maneuvers, the paperwork, the filings and the various steps in the legal process are alien territory unless you've been there, so you must rely on your expert, your advocate and your personal representative.
The lay of the land
It is also important to remember that personal injury lawyers that build successful practices in certain locales are well known to both other attorneys, judges, insurance companies and other judicial system regulars. Although we have what is called an adversarial system of justice, the actual adversaries are all members of a professional fraternity, and all lawyers admitted to the bar in your state are officers of the court. This is supposed to maintain the cooperative (though competitive) atmosphere of the proceedings, whether in depositions, meetings, judge's chambers or open court. The lesson to take from this is that you need someone on your side who knows the principals, who understands the lay of the land, who has a reputation for being tough but fair, who can navigate the choppy waters and chart a course for a reasonable settlement.
On occasion people will speak ill of some fixtures of our justice system, such as contingency fees by which lawyers get up to a third of a settlement. What they fail to mention is that, without the contingency fee, many people would not get the representation they need. The fact is, no attorney forces people into fee arrangements against their will, and if an injured party wants to negotiate some other form of payment (hourly, flat rate, etc.) they are free to propose whatever they like. In fact, however, the contingency arrangement has made top-flight legal assistance available to many, many people who would otherwise have no counsel at all. It is a good thing, and keeps the courts open to more people than otherwise would be able to participate.
Bottom line
Whether your accident, injury or other issue is large or small, you should resist the urge to make your own decision about what to do. If a personal injury lawyer does not think you have a case, she will say so. On the other hand, you do not know the lay of the land, nor the law, and should not make any decision without getting the best possible advice. The lawyer you choose will perform many different tasks, play many different roles and do a variety of different things on your behalf. You will need your attorney to wear all the hats she has to counsel you, represent you and make sure you get what's coming to you for your loss.
Author Resource:
At the Law Offices of Mickey Fine Law Firm in Manhattan Beach, California, we are los angeles personal injury lawyer that help clients who have been seriously injured due to the negligence of another party, and clients who have lost a family member in a tragic accident. We also help people whose insurance companies are denying or delaying payment of a legitimate claim.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://misterarticle.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
