Being injured is awful! But what is even worse is ending up with a lousy personal injury attorney. There are some things you can do to insure that you end up with an experienced personal injury attorney. Follow these tips and you will likely end up with a personal injury attorney that will do right by you.
Choose a Injury Attorney with Experience and Professionalism
- Interview the personal injury attorney. All quality personal injury attorneys give free consultations. Get to know the personal injury lawyer’s personality and ask about their background. Make sure you feel at ease and comfortable with the attorney. The attorneys at DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers will take the time to meet with you; understand your goals; and allow you to get to know the team that will be working for you.
- Only choose an experienced personal injury lawyer. Ask about how many cases the attorney has had; how many jury trials he or she has had; the number of jury trials they have won; and when their last jury trial was. Many so-called personal injury attorneys have only had a few jury trials or have not had one in a long, long time. Insurance companies know which attorneys will fight for you and which attorneys will settle quickly and for low amounts. At DeVaughn James we proudly show you our past jury trial success rate and the resulting verdicts. We have one of the highest success rate on jury trials in the entire State of Kansas — if not THE HIGHEST! Additionally, our jury verdicts have broken records for personal injury recoveries!
- Ask the attorney you interview whether they will be the attorney handling your case. If it will be another attorney in the firm, ask to meet them. Additionally, ask if your contact person will be, for example will it be the attorney’s secretary, paralegal or clerk? At DeVaughn James we work on a team approach and will be available for you 24/7.
- Check out the attorney on the State Bar website for the State you are in to see if the attorney has ever been professionally disciplined. No attorney at DeVaughn James has ever had any disciplinary problem!
- Ask if the personal injury attorney has professional liability insurance in case mistakes happen. Good attorneys have good business practices and having professional liability insurance. DeVaughn James, LLC maintains $2 million dollars in professional liability insurance — but we have never had to use it!
- Ask them to explain the fee arrangement. Most personal injury cases are handled on a contingency basis, which means you pay attorney fees only if there is a settlement awarded. Typically, personal injury attorneys charge 35% of the gross settlement up until a lawsuit is filed. If there is not a settlement and the case goes to trial, most attorneys charge 40% of the gross recovery. At DeVaughn James our contingency fee agreement is a simple, one page document that is easy to understand. And —- We offer the exclusive “No Fee Guarantee“!
- Ask them about their current case load and make sure that the attorney has the time to actively tend to your case. Ask how and when you will be informed about important developments in the case and ask for a timeline of how the process will progress. At DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers we limit the number and types of cases that we agree to take on We pride ourselves on communication and keep you posted every step of the way.
Contact the injury lawyers at DeVaughn James and you will be impressed!