Car Accident Lawyer in Whittier, CA
Americans are involved in over 5 million car accidents every year. Despite a push from car manufacturers to make vehicles safer, serious car accidents continue to rise. On average, around 3 million people sustain car accident injuries during crashes on an annual basis. They also do billions of dollars worth of damage to vehicles. If you’re ever involved in a car crash and believe someone else may have been to blame for it, you might have a strong car accident case on your hands. You should consider selecting a car accident lawyer to assist you in putting a case together so that you can put yourself in a position to collect compensation.
There won’t be any shortage of options for lawyers when you’re in the market for one. But you should look for one that’s going to check all the right boxes for you.
Here are seven factors to keep in mind when selecting a car accident lawyer.
1. Education
When you’re first trying to track down good car accident lawyers in your area, you should cast a wide net. It would be worth Googling something like “car accident lawyers near me” to see what your options will be.
From there, you can do some digging around to learn about the individual car accident lawyers that operate in your area. You can visit their websites to find out things like where they went to school.
Prior to selecting car accident lawyers, you should always make sure that all your options have Juris Doctor (JD) degrees from accredited law schools. You might also want to see which schools different car accident lawyers attended so that you can select one that went to a school with a stellar reputation.
2. Experience
In addition to looking at the education that different car accident lawyers have received, you should also gauge how much experience they each have.
The car accident lawyer that you hire for your car accident case should have lots of experience handling cases just like yours. They should also have in-depth experience with both personal injury laws and California traffic laws.
Additionally, a car accident lawyer needs to have trial experience. Ideally, a car accident lawyer will settle your case out of court. But just in case, it doesn’t hurt to have a trial-ready car accident lawyer on your side.
3. Location
Even if your car accident case is relatively simple in the grand scheme of things, you’re still going to have to spend a ton of time working with a car accident lawyer to get it settled. So you don’t want to get stuck working with a car accident lawyer who is situated all the way on the other side of town.
Outside of the fact that you’ll have to spend a lot of time in the car driving back and forth to and from a car accident lawyer’s office when it’s not conveniently located. Notably, gas prices have hit record highs recently, which could force you to spend more money than you would like to meet with a lawyer who isn’t in a preferred location.
4. Reputation
Before you begin working with any type of lawyer, you should always read through as many reviews and references for them as you can. Websites like Avvo make it easy for people to see what others have had to say about the lawyers they’re thinking about working with.
You will want to locate a car accident lawyer that has almost nothing but positive reviews from past clients. You’ll know that you’re going to be in good hands when you’re able to find a lawyer like this to represent you.
5. Cost
The cost of legal fees will be a significant consideration when you’re shopping around for a car accident lawyer. You don’t want to end up working with a lawyer that’s going to get you a great settlement in your car accident case and then take most of the money you were awarded from you.
The good news is that most car accident lawyers charge their car accident case clients contingency fees as opposed to charging them by the hour. This means that your car accident lawyer won’t get paid unless you do.
Contingency fees can vary from lawyer to lawyer. Your goal should be to go through the process of comparing lawyer fees so that you can find a lawyer you can afford.
6. Communication
If you haven’t ever tried to take a car accident case to court, it might be more complicated than you think to do it. With this in mind, you’ll need a lawyer who communicates clearly to break things down for you.
From the second that you start communicating with a car accident lawyer, they should go out of their way to make sure you understand what’s happening at every turn. They should also respond quickly to your calls and emails and make it a point to keep you in the loop with all the different details related to your case.
7. Availability
Car accidents are a common occurrence in California. This has resulted in more people filing car accident cases and car accident lawyers being busier than ever before.
For this reason, you’ll always want to inquire about how busy car accident lawyers are prior to picking one over all the rest. You want someone who is going to have more than enough time to devote to you and your car accident case.
Otherwise, you might not feel like you’re a top priority once you select a car accident lawyer. You need to have someone in your corner who is ready to assist you in any way they can.
Contact Our Car Accident Lawyer Today
Don’t be overwhelmed when looking for a lawyer. Considering these factors will enable you to narrow down your list of options for lawyers fast. Contact us today to discover how our car accident lawyer can help you with your car accident case.
