How to Choose a Personal Injury Lawyer

Choose Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or a loved one was hurt in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you have a lot of choices in terms of legal representation.

New York has more lawyers than any other state in the Union.

Effective and aggressive representation is not really an option in these situations.

The auto insurance or property insurance company almost immediately enlists a gaggle of lawyers to analyze the case and aggressively defend its interests in court.

Choosing a New York personal injury attorney might be one the most important choices your family makes.

There is a lot at stake.

Compensation in a personal injury claim usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages might be available as well, in some extreme cases.

Qualities to Look For

Experience

Classroom education is necessary. But we all know there are some things only experience can teach. That’s especially true of lawyers.

So, years of experience is a critical measuring rod. Your injury claim is far too valuable to be a training tool for an inexperienced lawyer. However, years of experience might also be deceptive.

Many attorneys, including many New York personal injury lawyers, practice for years and hardly ever go to court. Instead, they settle injury cases as quickly as possible. Granted, out-of-court settlements usually benefit victim/plaintiffs.

They give the parties more control over the outcome and terminate these claims early.

However, you do not want a lawyer who always takes the first offer or looks for the easy way out.

So, your attorney should have at least some trial experience. Your lawyer needs to be willing to go all the way if necessary.

Dedication

If you need compensation after a personal injury, you need to go to a dedicated personal injury attorney.

Less-than-dedicated lawyers often achieve less-than-ideal results.

Special Issues in Mass Tort Cases

This category includes matters like defective products, dangerous drugs, and other incidents which harm hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people.

Experience and dedication are important in this area.

This area of law is much more complex than standard personal injury law. But general dedication and experience are not enough.

A mass tort lawyer needs sufficient resources.

These cases are usually quite expensive.

Since the victim/plaintiff has the burden of proof, a New York personal injury attorney must have top-notch investigators and work with top-notch experts.

These things cost money. Generally, courts consolidate these claims, at least for pretrial purposes.

So, many victims can pool their resources. But your lawyer must be able to pull his/her own weight.

Additionally, your lawyer needs specific experience with a particular claim, like a particular environmental poisoning issue.

If your lawyer must start from square one, the defendant already has an edge.

We all know that it’s possible to win a game when you play from behind, but it’s much more difficult.

Substantial compensation is available for injury victims, but insurance companies do not simply give it away.

For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in New York, contact Napoli Shkolnik PLLC. We handle injury claims on a nationwide basis.