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The first contact you will have with a lawyer will likely be on the telephone.
When you call a prospective law firm or lawyer to discuss your claim you should pay attention to the following:
1) Who do you talk to? You should be transferred to or speak directly with a lawyer. You should not be asked to give the details of your case to a paralegal or an assistant.
If this does happen, it is a good indication that a paralegal or assistant will be
doing a large part of the work on your case and not the lawyer. You should look
for a Maryland lawyer who will be working your case not supervising non-
2) If the lawyer is out of the office and you leave a message (keep in mind most personal injury lawyers go to trial), you should get a call back within 24 hours.
Lawyers can not be in the office for every call. This will happen much during your case. The initial callback is a good indication of how well a lawyer returns calls.
3) You should be weary of a hard sell.
A lawyer who promises the moon or gives you a hard sale (think car dealer) may be hurting for business.
4) Be careful of the lawyer who does not want to talk on the phone but rather wants to get you into his office (or meet at your place) to talk.
The reason lawyers do this is because they know that by meeting in person, you are less likely to decline hiring them. A good lawyer will talk to you as long as you want without insisting on a face to face meeting first.
Conclude Your Education Here
By now you have a good idea of how to find a good lawyer and how to spot a not so good lawyer. Here is where you learn to spot the really bad ones, the ones that should be avoided at all costs.
There are many good personal injury lawyers in Maryland. The following are things to look for and things to ask a lawyer when deciding which Maryland personal injury lawyer you are going to hire.
**Disclaimer: The following advice and information is the opinion of the writer based on experience. It does not guarantee that you will find the right lawyer for you nor that the lawyer you choose will be competent or successful in your claim. This advice and information is provided to give you a starting point in making your own choice of a Maryland personal injury lawyer. This is not and should not be construed as legal advice.
What To Look For In A Good Personal Injury Lawyer
You should ask the personal injury lawyer many questions in your first contact.
These questions should be designed to give you an idea of the lawyers experience, availability, business model and skill.
Some examples of questions are:
1) How many years have you been practicing law and what areas do you focus on?
This will give you an idea of the lawyer’s experience. It will also tell you how many types of law this lawyer practices. This can be important. Do you want a one stop shop that can handle other issues (like wills or divorce) in the future, or do you want a lawyer who specializes in one or two fields of law.
2) How many (insert your type of claim here) claims have you handled.
If you are talking about a car accident the answer could be hundreds or thousands, but if you are talking about a dog bite case or assault, that could be a different story.
3) Can I speak to a past client?
Lawyers can’t pay for referrals, so a past client would likely give you an honest opinion, however, a smart lawyer will give you the name of a client he or she knows was very happy. This obviously makes this opinion less telling but that does not mean you can not benefit from speaking to a past client.
4) What is your fee structure and how are miscellaneous expenses such as copies and travel handled?
Are you going to get nickled and dimed? Obviously lawyers do not work for free, but if they charge for stationary or postage, be very careful!
5) Have you practiced in other states?
The reason for this question is so that you can call the bar association of that state to see if the reason they no longer practice there is because they were disbarred.
6) Do you offer a complimentary first consultation?
If they charge for an initial meeting, they either do not have a lot of confidence
in their ability to turn you into a client or they are looking to squeeze every
dollar out of their clients.
What everyone is looking for in a good personal injury is someone who will pursue their claim diligently, communicate with them regularly and most importantly win for them the most recovery possible for their injury.