So you or a family member have been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident or a slip or fall or a construction site accident. Maybe you have been injured or a family member has died as a result of medical malpractice. So let me raise this important question; how should you choose your personal injury attorney? Unfortunately, too many people who are seriously injured will choose a lawyer for all the wrong reasons. Some fall prey to the “I know someone who knows someone” pitch, or maybe the tow truck driver who arrives at the accident scene attempts to steer them to a particular lawyer. Then there are the stories of the total stranger who mysteriously contacts you trying to connect you with a particular lawyer. Perhaps you decide to choose the attorney who has the most TV commercials, or the one who’s face you saw on the side of a bus. The question you need to ask is, do you want a personal injury lawyer who spends more time in a production studio making TV commercials than in the courtroom? Do you really want to be represented in your personal injury claim by a friend or relative who has no trial experience?
Now more than ever it is extremely important to choose a lawyer who has a proven record in the courtroom, trying personal injury cases. Insurance companies know which lawyers can and will effectively try cases. You may ask, why is that so important? With the Courts restricted due to COVID, and no civil jury trials, accident victims and their lawyers have temporarily lost their most effective weapon against an unreasonable insurance company. You see when a case is about to commence trial both sides have to decide whether they want to retain some degree of control over the process, or if they want to place their fate in the hands of the six strangers selected to sit on the jury. This is the moment when plaintiffs and their lawyers can call the insurance company’s bluff. Now in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic many companies realize that time is on their side. Without the immediate threat of commencing a jury trial to decide the outcome it has become too easy for companies to kick the can down the road. During these trying times it is more important than ever that you have a lawyer, the companies know has the skills and the metal to try your case when jury trials finally resume. Most cases are not tried, but having a lawyer who the companies recognize as a proven trial lawyer will help to get you paid a higher value on any settlement that is ultimately reached.