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Washington DC Personal Injury Lawyer Blog | Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata, & Siegel P.C.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
What to Look For in Selecting a Personal Injury Law Firm
Needless to say, when searching for a lawyer to handle your personal injury case you must be certain that the lawyers you have selected are experienced in the issues that are part of your claim. For instance, if you were in a collision with a tractor trailer and left with a brain injury, or had a family member with a brain injury, you are well advised to assure that the lawyers you are considering to represent you or your family have experience in all of the relevant subjects to your case. Accordingly, you should determine if the lawyers in the law firm you are interviewing have experience suing tractor trailer companies. Most importantly, do the lawyers in the law firm you are considering have a particular interest in representing individuals with brain injuries and have a demonstrated ability to do so successfully irrespective of how the brain injury took place.
Accordingly, when you consult lawyers that you are considering to represent you,
ask whether they have significant education, experience or leadership within the personal injury lawyer’s associations in representing individuals with brain injuries. Clearly, lawyers with experience in all of the relevant subject matters would be the lawyers you would want to represent you in your time of need. Finally, when consulting lawyers to determine who will represent you after having sustained personal injury as a result of the carelessness of others, attempt to determine the success of that law firm representing other individuals under similar circumstances with similar injuries. This research may not seem as a hard to conduct as it may first appear. The law firm’s website will be a ready source of information regarding the subject matters litigated and the success regarding those subject matters. Additionally, searches of local newspapers and magazines such as the “Washingtonian” in Washington D.C. would reveal information concerning lawyers successful in areas of interest to one looking for a competent, experienced and successful personal injury lawyer and law firm.
Accordingly, when consulting with a lawyer you are considering to represent you or your family, ask them about their success and to show you examples of their success in the subject matters that are relevant to you as a result of the injuries sustained by you or your loved one.
By Ira Sherman, Esq.
posted by Jori Taylor at 2:40 PM
Monday, March 26, 2007
What to Look For in Selecting a Personal Injury Law Firm
Part II: Responsiveness to You, the Client
The leading cause of complaints to local bar associations about lawyers is dissatisfaction with the lawyer’s responsiveness to a client's phone calls. In seeking a law firm, interview the lawyers to assure yourself that it is a common practice for the law firm to respond to client phone calls within 24 hours of your message. Moreover, assure yourself that the law firm has an answering machine or service, which would permit you access to your lawyers on virtually a 24 hour basis, in case of an emergency. A sign of a law firm that cares is the lawyer’s willingness to place their own personal home or cell phone numbers on their answering machine or service to assure their availability to you.
Additionally, assure that the law firm has adequate support staff to care for all of the needs you may have as a result of the serious personal injuries sustained by you or your loved ones. For instance, assure that the law firm has personnel experienced in the insurance industry that understands how the insurance industry works and what “buttons” need to be pushed in order to get you the assistance you need. Assure yourself that lawyers have assistants that can be at your call to help you with matters such as property damage, medical pay payments, obtaining a rental car, and similar inconveniences caused by the carelessness of others. Law firms that have the proper support demonstrate that they care about you, the client, to assure that you are adequately cared for and protected with regard to matters other than filing the lawsuit. They care that your life is as “normal” as possible under the circumstances.
Finally, you should assure that a lawyer as well as a member of the support team is assigned to you personally to be your “Case Manager” so that you would always have someone to call if the question does not relate to a legal question but just one to provide assistance to you with all of the problems that arise as a result of a tragedy that befell you or your family as a result of the carelessness of others.
By Ira Sherman, Esq.
The leading cause of complaints to local bar associations about lawyers is dissatisfaction with the lawyer’s responsiveness to a client's phone calls. In seeking a law firm, interview the lawyers to assure yourself that it is a common practice for the law firm to respond to client phone calls within 24 hours of your message. Moreover, assure yourself that the law firm has an answering machine or service, which would permit you access to your lawyers on virtually a 24 hour basis, in case of an emergency. A sign of a law firm that cares is the lawyer’s willingness to place their own personal home or cell phone numbers on their answering machine or service to assure their availability to you.
Additionally, assure that the law firm has adequate support staff to care for all of the needs you may have as a result of the serious personal injuries sustained by you or your loved ones. For instance, assure that the law firm has personnel experienced in the insurance industry that understands how the insurance industry works and what “buttons” need to be pushed in order to get you the assistance you need. Assure yourself that lawyers have assistants that can be at your call to help you with matters such as property damage, medical pay payments, obtaining a rental car, and similar inconveniences caused by the carelessness of others. Law firms that have the proper support demonstrate that they care about you, the client, to assure that you are adequately cared for and protected with regard to matters other than filing the lawsuit. They care that your life is as “normal” as possible under the circumstances.
Finally, you should assure that a lawyer as well as a member of the support team is assigned to you personally to be your “Case Manager” so that you would always have someone to call if the question does not relate to a legal question but just one to provide assistance to you with all of the problems that arise as a result of a tragedy that befell you or your family as a result of the carelessness of others.
By Ira Sherman, Esq.
posted by Jori Taylor at 2:29 PM
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
What to Look For in Selecting a Personal Injury Law Firm
Part I: Credentials
When you or a loved one are seriously injured as a result of the carelessness of another, you find yourself in the difficult position of selecting competent representation to assure that you, your loved one, and the remainder of your family receives the benefits of competent and aggressive lawyers that will assure that you receive a full cup of justice-all of the compensation to which you are entitled. The first step in assuring that you have competent counsel is to determine the credentials of the individuals you are considering to represent you or your family. The most obvious starting point is to assure that the law firm you are considering has attorneys competent to practice in the state in which either the incident occurred or the one in which the Defendant resides. Additionally, there may be times when because you have complete confidence in a group of personal injury lawyers in your area that are so well-established nationally, that you can be comfortable knowing that they will select out-of-state, competent counsel in the event that the injury to you or your loved one took place out of state.
Additionally, there are several independent sources to determine the competency of the lawyers you are considering. Martindale-Hubbell is a publication that the rates lawyers according to their competency and ability to perform within a particular subject matter of the law. The highest rating available and given to the best law firms and lawyers is an “AV” rating. You should also inquire whether the lawyers and the law firm which you are considering have received recognition national or locally from the American Association of Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association) or the local branch of the American Association for Justice. For instance, if lawyers at the law firm you are considering have received “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award”, have been past president or another officer of a trial lawyer bar association or are on the Board of Directors of that trial lawyer bar association, that is indicative of attorneys that are active within the community and respected among their peers. Additionally, you may search the magazine representing the city in which you searching for an attorney. For instance, in Washington, D.C. the “Washingtonian Magazine” lists the “best” lawyers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area approximately every two years. If attorneys in the law firm you have been considering have been named repeatedly as the “best lawyers” in the metropolitan area in which you are seeking representation, then you have another strong indication that the lawyers in that law firm and that law firm have an excellent reputation in the community, are competent and have the credentials to represent you and your family.
Finally, there is a National Board of Trial Advocacy. If an attorney in the law firm which you are considering is “board certified” by the National Board of Trial Advocacy you have found a law firm that not only has lawyers licensed in the state, but a firm whose lawyers are on local trial lawyer bar associations and board of directors and/or officers. The lawyers in this firm have also reached the level of competence where they have been “board certified” as trial lawyers, arguably the pinnacle of credentialing for a trial lawyer.
By Ira Sherman, Esq.
When you or a loved one are seriously injured as a result of the carelessness of another, you find yourself in the difficult position of selecting competent representation to assure that you, your loved one, and the remainder of your family receives the benefits of competent and aggressive lawyers that will assure that you receive a full cup of justice-all of the compensation to which you are entitled. The first step in assuring that you have competent counsel is to determine the credentials of the individuals you are considering to represent you or your family. The most obvious starting point is to assure that the law firm you are considering has attorneys competent to practice in the state in which either the incident occurred or the one in which the Defendant resides. Additionally, there may be times when because you have complete confidence in a group of personal injury lawyers in your area that are so well-established nationally, that you can be comfortable knowing that they will select out-of-state, competent counsel in the event that the injury to you or your loved one took place out of state.
Additionally, there are several independent sources to determine the competency of the lawyers you are considering. Martindale-Hubbell is a publication that the rates lawyers according to their competency and ability to perform within a particular subject matter of the law. The highest rating available and given to the best law firms and lawyers is an “AV” rating. You should also inquire whether the lawyers and the law firm which you are considering have received recognition national or locally from the American Association of Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association) or the local branch of the American Association for Justice. For instance, if lawyers at the law firm you are considering have received “Trial Lawyer of the Year Award”, have been past president or another officer of a trial lawyer bar association or are on the Board of Directors of that trial lawyer bar association, that is indicative of attorneys that are active within the community and respected among their peers. Additionally, you may search the magazine representing the city in which you searching for an attorney. For instance, in Washington, D.C. the “Washingtonian Magazine” lists the “best” lawyers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area approximately every two years. If attorneys in the law firm you have been considering have been named repeatedly as the “best lawyers” in the metropolitan area in which you are seeking representation, then you have another strong indication that the lawyers in that law firm and that law firm have an excellent reputation in the community, are competent and have the credentials to represent you and your family.
Finally, there is a National Board of Trial Advocacy. If an attorney in the law firm which you are considering is “board certified” by the National Board of Trial Advocacy you have found a law firm that not only has lawyers licensed in the state, but a firm whose lawyers are on local trial lawyer bar associations and board of directors and/or officers. The lawyers in this firm have also reached the level of competence where they have been “board certified” as trial lawyers, arguably the pinnacle of credentialing for a trial lawyer.
By Ira Sherman, Esq.
posted by Jori Taylor at 1:04 PM
