If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence, you have a lot of choices as to a Buffalo MN Personal Injury Lawyer. It’s a very important decision and not one to take lightly. The right choice can make things much better for you and your family; the wrong choice could make a bad situation even worse.
To get the information you need, the attorney’s website is a good place to start. Other places include reviews on social media and the attorney’s professional activities (e.g. speaking engagements or books authored). During your search, try to keep the following things in mind.
Availability
Part of this inquiry involves geographic location. Injured victims often struggle with mobility issues. So, driving all the way across the county to see your lawyer will get very old very quickly. Try to find someone with a nearby office. If the lawyer can come to you, perhaps in a hospital room or a coffee shop, that’s even better.
The office atmosphere is important as well. It’s best to choose a lawyer that is reasonably available, but not always available. If the lawyer answers the phone on the first or second ring and responds to your emails within minutes, that may be a bad sign. That might indicate that the attorney has few clients and scant resources.
Then again, no one likes phantom lawyers. If your Buffalo MN Personal Injury Lawyer is seemingly always unavailable, that may indicate a lack of commitment to the law or to your case. It’s also very frustrating to have a question and wait several days for an answer.
Compassion
One of our colleagues (who will remain nameless) likes to say that if you want a nice lawyer, go see your grandmother. Many attorneys share this sentiment. They press every issue and contest every inch of legal ground. That unbridled aggression is not always a good thing, especially in Buffalo personal injury cases.
About 97 percent of injury cases settle out of court. So, your attorney needs to be a good negotiator as well as an aggressive advocate. Good negotiators are compassionate people. That simply means you can understand both sides of a story. If your lawyer is not compassionate, these negotiations will most likely fail, and the case will drag on needlessly.
A good Buffalo personal injury attorney must also feel compassion for clients. It’s important to consider the victim’s pain and suffering and factor these things into the legal case. An inability to show empathy is very frustrating for clients.
Just as with availability, it’s important to find a Buffalo personal injury attorney who walks the line between aggression and compassion. You do not want too much of either one.
Good Reputation
Reputation has a lot to do with success in any field of endeavor. That’s especially true with regard to Buffalo MN Personal Injury Lawyers.
Some lawyers have good reputations when it comes to things like preparation, attention to detail, and zealous representation. Insurance companies respect these individuals and do not want to go against them at trial. As a result, attorneys with good reputations often get more favorable settlements for their clients.
Unfortunately, many lawyers have poor reputations. They do sloppy work or seem uninterested in their clients’ cases. More often than not, insurance companies take advantage of these lawyers. They discount their settlement offers because they are not afraid of a courtroom confrontation.
Reputation among court personnel is important as well. We all need a little help from time to time. Some lawyers have a reputation for treating court clerks with respect. These lawyers usually get the help they need. Other attorneys have a reputation for demeaning court clerks. These lawyers are on their own, because the clerk’s naughty list is a very bad place to be.
Experience
This is by far the most important quality in a Buffalo personal injury attorney. But it’s important to note that experience goes beyond years of practice.
Your lawyers should be experienced in negligence matters. If you cannot hear well, you do not go to a podiatrist (foot doctor) even though they are both physicians. The same thing applies in the legal context. If you have a negligence case, do not go to a corporate lawyer.
Every type of negligence case is different. For example, even though they both involve negligence and injuries, a dog bite case is almost nothing like a car crash case. Your legal claim is incredibly valuable. So, your lawyer should not be learning on the job.
On that same note, your attorney should have experience in Wright County or wherever your claim is located. All courts have their own unique procedural rules, and these rules are often unwritten.
CALL TODAY TO SPEAK WITH A BUFFALO MN PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER AT CARLSON & JONES
Your attorney is your partner in your negligence case, so choose wisely. For a free consultation with an experienced Personal Injury Attorney in Buffalo, contact Carlson & Jones, P.A. We successfully handle cases in Wright County and nearby jurisdictions.