Finding legal representation is key to the success of your personal injury claim. Other than the subject of cost, hiring a personal injury lawyer must involve a level of ease and trust between the client and their legal representative to develop a working relationship regarding the case.
Establishing a working relationship is critical in personal injury claims, given the complex factors and sensitive information that must be freely discussed between the client and their personal injury lawyer. Specifically for car accidents claims, the lawyer and the client must have a mutual trust in what has transpired in the motor vehicle accident and the extent of the injuries and complications that the client may have suffered. Thus, having a trustworthy and experienced car accident lawyer is critical in ensuring that your legal interests are adequately represented.
The Power of Word-of-Mouth
The adage of “word-of-mouth” is believed to be the best marketing for any product or service. After all, “word-of-mouth” tends to be informal and has some stock of recommendation from people that clients may trust or perceive to have gone through the same legal ordeal as they have. However, “word-of-mouth” may also represent the negative aspect of a product or service provider, so it is vital to ask follow-up questions to the source, if possible.
Research, Research, and More Research
Given the availability of information within our fingertips through the power of technology, researching your potential legal representation is a must before making any decision. On the flip side, the massive free availability of information on the internet can be overwhelming or misleading if not assessed correctly. Thus, there is certain information that a client must review and evaluate to find the proper legal representation that they need.
The client must assess the information before deciding on which legal representative to hire, including the personal injury lawyer or their law firm’s website. The law firm’s website generally includes the personal injury lawyer’s credentials, including where they obtained their degrees, possibly a list of their career experiences, any articles or blog entries that they have published, and news stories or speaking engagements they have participated in as a subject matter expert.
In addition to the law firm’s website, a potential client can also verify the personal injury lawyer’s reputation by checking third-party independent review sites such as Google reviews, Yelp, or other social media platforms. However, it is crucial to tread lightly as the reviews you may find on these sites and certain specific platforms may be a product of manipulation through paid partnerships with influencers. Thus, it is essential to evaluate the integrity of the source before deciding on accepting the review you had read. Sometimes you can tell by reading a review that it does not sound like it was written by a real client. Often it will sound spammy with an overuse of key words used to attract the attention of search engines for search engine optimisation benefits.
Moreover, a potential client may conduct a quick internet search with the personal injury lawyer’s name or law firm to see any positive or negative news stories associated with the lawyer or the law firm. However, it is essential to evaluate the integrity of the story’s source before deciding on hiring a particular personal injury lawyer for your case.
Furthermore, clients can also search the Western Australian Bar Association or The Law Society of Western Australia to check their potential lawyer’s status and membership to these reputable organisations.
Attend the First Free Interview or Consultation Meeting
As noted above, developing a successful working relationship with your legal representative is vital to the success of your case. To fully evaluate the potential working relationship with your legal representation, it is best to reach out to them and have an interview or a consultation meeting regarding your personal injury compensation claim. Generally, law firms offer this evaluation meeting for free to assess your claim quickly and see if they can work with you on your legal concerns. This is also an excellent time for you to evaluate whether you can establish a connection with your potential personal injury lawyer, like communicating with them clearly. It is also important that you feel at ease in their presence and confident in their demeanor. Moreover, this is an excellent opportunity to address any concern you may have regarding pursuing a working relationship with the lawyer.
We wish you all the best with your claim and hope that the tips in this article help you pick the best personal injury lawyer to assist you through the journey of your claim.
