If you’ve been injured and would like to press charges, a quick Google search reveals an overwhelming amount of “personal injury attorneys near you.”
The main challenge isn’t finding a personal injury attorney who’ll take you on – it’s finding the attorney best suited for you and your specific case. With the right personal injury attorney in San Antonio, the frustrating filing process gets a whole lot easier.
Are you looking for a great personal injury attorney like a car accident lawyer or a Motor Vehicle Accident Injury Attorney in San Antonio? After reading this blog, you’ll be better positioned to find the best personal injury lawyer for you.
What Type of Cases Do Personal Injury Attorneys Handle?
Before we start, let’s see if a personal injury attorney is right for you. Personal injury is a legal term that describes a physical or emotional injury caused to you by another person, organization, or entity. Personal injury lawyers work with you to file a claim and create a case that holds this other party accountable to provide you with financial compensation.
Here are some standard cases in which you should seek a personal injury attorney:
- Motor vehicle accidents (all forms of transportation)
- Medical malpractice
- Assault and sexual assault
- Wrongful death
- Faulty products
- Premise liability – examples include slip and fall, negligent security, animal attacks, nursing home malpractice, etc.
Questions You Need to Ask Any Personal Injury Attorney
We recommend interviewing at least 2 different personal injury attorneys until you find one that you are fully comfortable with. Below, we’ll cover 10 questions that you should be asking potential personal injury attorneys:
- How much time can you devote to my case?
- How much involvement will I have in my case?
- If I lose, will I be responsible for any case-related expenses?
- Have you had experience winning a case similar to mine?
- Will my case go to trial? If so, how prepared are you for that situation?
- What’s your success rate if a case goes to trial?
- Who will handle my case? (in the case you are working with a firm)
- Can I speak to a past client?
- What is your contingency fee?
- How long will my case take to resolve?
In addition to these questions, the next section will cover the 7 steps to take if you’d like to find a great personal injury attorney in San Antonio.
1. Consider What You Want and Need as a Client
The best personal injury attorney is one that can meet your specific wants and needs. Before you start searching for an attorney, take the time to consider your case. What exactly are you looking for? Consider these points:
Small Vs. Large Attorney Firm
Are you interested in a 1-on-1 relationship with a personal injury attorney, or are you looking for an attorney who has the most resources to help you win?
A smaller personal injury firm is better if you’d like to work with a local firm that’s more client-centric and affordable. On the other hand, a larger personal injury firm is better if your situation is more complicated. Larger firms allow you to work directly with partners or higher-ups, and they’ll also have the manpower to offer services like paralegals and file clerks.
Generic Vs. Specialized Personal Injury Attorney
Personal injury is already a subsection of all attorneys, but there’s a deeper level. If you get into a standard car or slip and fall accident, a general personal injury attorney will have the expertise to help you.
But, some cases may require a specialized personal injury attorney. For instance, some personal injury attorneys may specialize in cases where the client gets a traumatic brain or spinal injury. Or, a specialized personal injury attorney may specialize in animal-related or boat injuries, and so forth. Specialized personal injury attorneys understand the intricate details and laws in their niche that may help you get more compensation.
Frequent Vs. Infrequent Communication
Something you should consider is how frequently your personal injury attorney contacts you. Do you want your personal injury attorney to contact you every day or even week? Also, consider what forms of communication are best for you. Should your attorney call or email you?
During the usually free initial consultation, bring these topics up to your attorney and see if they are willing or able to do that for you.
2. Utilize the Right Resources to Find Your Personal Injury Attorney
There are several resources that you can use to find a great personal injury attorney in San Antonio beyond just the typical Google search. We suggest you first ask your friends and family for recommendations and then consult experts second.
Asking friends and family about their experiences with personal injury attorneys is a great first step to take. These reviews tend to be more trustworthy than what you can find online, and you can also ask questions. If they have good things to say, add that attorney to the list of people you want to consult. However, each case is different and a good review shouldn’t be your only deciding factor. The rest of this blog will cover more criteria to look into.
You can also ask an expert. Reach out to organizations such as the American Association of Justice, the American Bar Association, and local law organizations to see if they can point you in the right direction.
One last resource we’d like to point you towards is our very own LegalStream personal injury attorney directory. If you live in the San Antonio area, LegalStream offers a 100% free directory with over one hundred current personal injury attorneys and healthcare provider solutions in San Antonio.
3. Make Sure the Attorney Practices Law in Your State
Credentials are important for your personal injury attorney because it validates their education, and it means that they can actually practice law within that given state(s).
In the event that you were injured in a state different from the one you reside in, it is important that the attorney has a law license in that state. As long as an attorney is licensed in both your home state and the one where you got injured, you can retain an attorney in your home state.
If you’d like to confirm an attorney’s license(s) – which we strongly encourage – call your local state bar association and verify through them.
4. Seek an Attorney That Works on Contingencies
A personal injury attorney that works on contingencies is an attorney that doesn’t get paid until you get compensated. Most reputable personal injury attorneys work using this contingency model, so you don’t have to worry about sacrificing expertise or experience. Contingency amounts can vary anywhere between 25% to 40%.
We strongly recommend seeking an attorney that works on contingency because it minimizes risk in the case that your case is dismissed. In the case that you lose, you won’t be burdened with paying your attorney.
5. Schedule a Consultation to See If an Attorney Will Take Your Case
Even if you’ve found an ideal personal injury attorney, note that they may reject your case. They put a lot of effort and resources into their cases, and in the event that they aren’t qualified or they believe the case isn’t winnable – they may not take your case.
Many personal injury attorneys will offer a free consultation to get to know you and your story. We recommend using this chance to ask questions, clarify your case points, and see if there’s good chemistry between you and your attorney.
6. Ask About Their Success Rate
More than just experience, you want to work with a personal injury attorney in San Antonio that wins cases. You want a personal injury attorney that has a proven record where they have successfully negotiated settlements and litigated personal injury cases to a favorable jury verdict. If you ask a personal injury attorney for their success rate, and they have a difficult time providing it, then it is likely not high.
7. Find Somebody You Can Get Along With
As unscientific as a “gut feeling” is, you know yourself better than anyone. It’s important that you feel comfortable and confident when choosing a personal injury attorney in San Antonio. If you feel that there are red flags, it is within your responsibility to ask more questions to try and clear things up.
Though losing a case may not cost you anything financially, you are still investing a large amount of time and energy into the process. You also deserve to be compensated!
Use LegalStream to Find the Best Personal Injury Attorney for Free
Filing a personal injury claim can be stressful and frustrating at times, and we feel you. LegalStream can’t offer a magical button to instantly find the perfect attorney for you, but we can make the scouting process much easier.
LegalStream offers one of the biggest personal injury attorney directories in the United States. Find information on each attorney (address, website, phone number, etc.) at the snap of a finger and for free. Find a personal injury attorney in San Antonio today.
