How do you find the best lawyer for your car wreck?
Kervin Law is trying to help prospective clients figure out who the best lawyer for their car accident will be. I have been representing people injured in car wrecks for about 20 years now.
I have created a rating and measurement system to help people choose the best attorney for their car wreck.
Here are our criteria:
- Experience — Does the law firm have a significant amount of experience representing people injured in motor vehicle accidents?
- Results — Has the law firm obtained favorable results for their clients whether in settlements or in trials? Favorable results means has the lawyer settled cases for policy limits or above policy limits? Has the lawyer been able to also get UM/UIM (uninsured/underinsured motorist) insurance payments too? If so, have they settled for UM policy limits on top of the underlying at-fault driver’s policy limits?
- Time — Does the lawyer move as quickly as needed to obtain a a favorable result for the client? You’d be surprised how many lawyers move slowly and make the client wait longer than necessary for the case to conclude.
- Trust — Does the lawyer have any ethics violations on file? Are they known in the community as being honest, transparent and trustworthy? This is important because you want to know that the lawyer, as your advocate and fiduciary, has YOUR best interest at heart.
- Expertise — Does the lawyer know how to creatively and legally win a complicated case? I’ve had cases where the police report blames both drivers. But when I investigated the scene of the accident, took video and pictures and interviewed the driver, I knew the other driver was 100% at fault. And I settled that case for policy limits because I pursued the truth of what really happened.
- Resources — Does the law firm have the technical and financial resources to pursue your claim to the fullest extent? You ideally want a lawyer who can cover your medical treatment until the case is resolved since medical treatment (especially surgeries) is expensive!
How do I know if a lawyer is great at handling car accident cases?
Choosing the best traffic accident lawyer isn’t easy, but we are working on helping you make an intelligent decision. Each criterion is important but some are more important than others. Results usually matter more than experience because many young lawyers are often much better at maximizing the value of your car wreck claim than older, less skilled attorneys.
Likewise, “Trust” is crucial because what good does it do you to work with someone you can’t trust? You want to know that the lawyer has your back.
“Resources” is an often overlooked criterion because it sometimes takes a lot of money to bring a case to bear on the insurance company. Surgeries and treatment from medical specialists like neurosurgeons is expensive. Expert witnesses are also expensive. You want to know that your lawyer has the means to hire the right people to present your case in the best light.
It’s therefore hard to judge the quality and capability of your car accident lawyer based on reviews or their website alone. You want to know if they have settled cases for policy limits without having to file suit. This means the lawyer knows how to present a compelling case to the insurance adjuster. The car insurance adjuster is the actual person who makes the decision to settle or go to trial, not the insurance defense lawyer. You therefore must convince the adjuster that your car accident claim is meritorious.
There are a lot of car accident attorneys to choose from because the money can sometimes be really good.
There thousands — maybe tens of thousands — of personal injury attorneys who primarily focus on automobile accidents. Why do these attorneys do this? Because auto liability cases are usually pretty straightforward and there’s insurance that can pay. Thus, a car wreck claim can lead to a pretty quick and painless payday for the lawyer.
Let me explain…
Whenever someone causes a car accident, the police are usually called who in turn arrive at the accident scene and investigate the collision. The officer then writes a “crash report” and files it with his law enforcement agency.
In that crash report generally contains important facts such as, the weather conditions, the traffic control devices, whether there were any defects in the cars or the road, who was at fault and what specifically they did wrong. The officer also usually draws a diagram of the collision at the end of the report. This diagram shows the movement and positions of the vehicles in order to demonstrate how the accident occurred and who was at fault.
The police report also usually contains statements of each driver and passenger, and any witness statements if bystanders saw the crash.
Importantly, the report contains the insurance carrier and policy number for each driver. The personal injury lawyer takes this information in order to file an insurance claim on the at-fault driver’s insurance policy.
If liability is clear from the crash report and the other evidence (photos, witness statements, medical records, etc) then the adjuster usually settles the case. The lawyer will usually get 1/3 to 40% of the total settlement amount. The lawyer knows the insurance company is good for the money so they don’t have to worry about not getting paid.
If the case is clear and treatment for the injuries is resolved in a finite period, the case can usually be settled. The lawyer knows he or she will get paid. And sometimes the injuries and medical treatment is such that the amount if high — maybe over $100,000. This is why lawyers really want car accident cases.
Do you want a billboard lawyer or a smaller, more “boutique” car accident firm?
A top rated auto accident attorney doesn’t have to be the one that runs a bunch of TV commercials or has billboards along the highway. The best attorney for your car crash might be a small, local law firm nearby.
You should therefore call around and ask if the lawyer handles car accident cases and, if so, ask them about their recent results. If they hesitate, maybe they aren’t the right lawyer for you. You want to work with a lawyer who deals with car accident claims on a regular basis. They don’t have to handle hundreds of cases a year, but they should do them on a regular basis. Your skills as a car accident attorney grow as you experience grows in this field.
