Guest Posts

October 23, 2012

5 Top Tips When Selecting a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have had an injury that was not your fault, and feel that pursuing a compensation claim is your best option to get justice against the liable party, the likelihood is that you will need some legal representation to properly establish your claim to get it right the first time around. However, hiring the right lawyer or solicitor to take on your case requires a lot of thought, as they are hugely important in terms of whether your compensation claim will ultimately succeed or fail.

Some might think that, in order to get compensation, all they have to do is go directly to whoever they believe is at fault for their injury claim. However, specialist legal help will make the whole process of claiming far less complicated, not to mention simplifying the standard of proof and who this duty rests on. With that in mind, here are five top tips when choosing a personal injury lawyer to represent you:

  1. Make sure you hire someone who has a background in personal injury law. By hiring a specialist, you will improve your chance of winning compensation substantially. You may be able to find personal injury specialists from providers such as First4lawyers, your local yellow pages or from a referral.
  2. Think about how much you want to pay in legal fees. Hiring a lawyer to help fight your cause can be expensive, so it might be worth looking to a lawyer or solicitor who works on conditional fee basis. This means that, if they lose your claim, you don’t have to pay them anything, so there’s nothing to lose in hiring them.
  3. Try and hire someone who can work with you as soon as possible. If you want to make a personal injury claim, you’ll want to get it done quickly, especially if money is an issue. Someone who will do the job swiftly and thoroughly is ideal, especially if you have medical bills piling up and a low income on which to survive.
  4. Hire a personal injury lawyer who specialised in your type of claim. If you’ve suffered a medical injury or a traffic accident, you might want to look at firms which provide medical solicitors and road traffic solicitors respectively. This makes perfect sense if you’re trying to pursue compensation relevant to your injury or illness, as your specific type of solicitor may have more specialist knowledge of the system and thus stand a better chance to get the compensation you desire.
  5. Look for the lawyer’s qualifications, and see if they’re genuine. A good lawyer will always have the relevant qualifications and credentials, as this will distinguish them from some of the more dubious legal professionals operating. Do some research and find out what qualifications all lawyers and solicitors should have, and if they have the right level of certification, then they may be worth hiring.

It is worth doing a thorough research before you ultimately select one representative to avoid the hassle of switching lawyers halfway through your claim, thus restarting the whole learning curve of your case all over again.






11 Comments


  1. Nice post. I’ve never been in need of a personal injury attorney (thankfully) but I can see how many of your points would be valid. I think in the end you’ll want someone who’ll work for you and is upstanding and ethical.


  2. Good advice here. I think point 4 is extremely important – there are so many different types of claims, how can every attorney know everything?


  3. Great tips!

    I’ve never had a personal injury lawyer before but I almost had to after getting into a car wreack a few years ago. I ended up doing all of the work myself. I did ok, but would possibly get a lawyer next time.


  4. I actually disagree with some tips here:

    1. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use yellow pages. I suggest asking a friend for a referral first. Then call up the first attorney that strikes you as a good lawyer, and ask them for 3 referrals. Call those 3 instead and select 1.

    2. All PI lawyers (almost always) charge the same amount: 30% contingency fee. If they ask for money upfront, AVOID THEM.

    3. This tip is not an issue at all. All lawyers will work with you as soon as possible, don’t you think they want to get paid as soon as possible?

    4. I agree here, they should specialize in that practice area. The only way to find out for sure though is to ASK FOR A REFERRAL. Most lawyers will say they specialize in this and that when they really just do general practice. Its a marketing thing.

    5. Instead of looking for “qualifications” because most of them have that JD, check to see how young they are. Personally, I wouldn’t hire any PI Lawyer without a beard. The older the better. In a law firm, all the young lawyers ask for advice from the older ones. That’s how it works. Take my advice here and go with the older guy/gal.


  5. [...] 5 Top Tips when Selecting a Personal Injury Lawyer – Savvy Scot [...]



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>


UA-33795699-1