How to Hire Motorcycle Accident Lawyers: Everything You Need to Know
Motorcycle crashes can be much more deadly than any other type of accident you can have on the road. They don’t offer the same kind of protection that cars do.
Needless to say, if you find yourself caught up in a crash, you’re going to have an excessive medical bill. It can be hard to pay it while you’re out of work recovering.
If you’re going to get the compensation you deserve to pay for your bills, you’re going to need to hire motorcycle accident lawyers you can trust. We can help you choose the right firm for your needs. Keep reading to learn what you should look for.
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When Should You Consider Lawyering Up?
The guilty party isn’t just going to admit fault. They’re most likely going to take you to court. That’s not the only complication you’ve got to worry about.
If you have health insurance of any kind, the guilty party’s motor insurance company is going to take their sweet time settling. They may even try to short you.
Hiring a lawyer isn’t something that you should wait to do. As soon as you’re finished getting your wounds checked over by a doctor, it’s time to get in touch with firms in your area. The sooner you find a lawyer, the sooner they can start taking in all the evidence and build a case for you.
Things to Consider Before Hiring an Attorney
There are a few things that you should know before you start weighing your options for lawyers. You may want to pick a firm that specializes in motor accidents. You’ve also got to think about your location and the attorney’s experience.
General Law
Many law firms focus more on general law. They may dabble in motor accidents, wills, criminal defense, real estate, and more. They’ll be able to handle your case but not to the same degree as someone who makes their bread taking motor accident cases.
They’ve taken a few jobs, but they don’t have as much experience as a firm that specializes in motor law. The more auto cases a firm’s had, the more likely it is that they’ve seen a case like yours and will know what to do.
Think About Your Location
The next thing you need to consider is your location. You can reach out to a firm that’s out of state, but there’s a chance that they’ll refer you to someone that’s closer to you. If this happens, you won’t have as much say over who you work with.
Even if you do end up working with the original firm that you reached out to, they’re not going to have a lot of in-depth knowledge about the way the court proceedings work in your state.
Experience
Going back to experience for a minute, let’s talk about the courtroom. You need to pick a firm that’s had some experience with going to trial for their clients.
If the claims adjusters catch wind that your lawyer doesn’t have a lot of knowledge in this regard, they may try to lowball the settlement. That won’t end too well for you.
Find the Best
Now that you know why you should find a lawyer to put in charge of your motorcycle accident case experience, let’s talk about how you find the right one. Here are a few steps that you’ll want to take before deciding on a firm.
Look for Referrals and Reviews
If you have family and friends that have been in your shoes before, ask them what motorcycle injury law firm they went through. Doing so will give you a few names that you can look into. It will help you narrow things down, at least.
You could type in “lawyers near me,” but you’re going to get a lot of names. It’s nice to have something more specific that you can work with.
Speaking of looking up names, you shouldn’t hire a lawyer because your loved one told you to. It’s a good idea to run a Google search on them.
You can learn a lot about a firm by reading online reviews. You’ll be able to see comments from clients that they’ve had in the past. Keep in mind, that you’ll need to do some sorting to see a good mix of good and bad reviews.
Not a lot of happy customers bother writing comments, so you’re going to see quite a few negative reviews. You also might be able to find positive testimonials by going to the firm’s website.
Consult the Bar Association
If you don’t have any friends and family that have been through a motorcycle accident before, there are other ways for you to get the names of lawyers near you.
Our recommendation is to get in touch with your local bar association. They have referral programs that will help you find the right motorcycle accident attorney.
Lawyer Directories
If you don’t have any luck with the bar association, you can check the online lawyer directories. You can filter them via their area of expertise.
This way, you only see a list of attorneys that have motor accident experience. On top of giving you the ability to filter your results, some websites will allow you to read online reviews.
Interview Several Lawyers
You should never go with the first lawyer that you find. Conduct an interview with several different firms. You don’t lock yourself into a decision by scheduling a free consultation.
If you get any strange vibes from a lawyer after meeting them, or they don’t answer your questions in a way that makes you feel comfortable with hiring them, you don’t have to. Cross them off the list and move on to the next firm.
Before you meet up with a lawyer, we recommend grabbing the police report, medical reports, photos of the accident scene, and details of your lost wages. The more information you have, the better they’ll be able to answer your questions and let you know how they would move forward with your case.
Know What Questions to Ask
When meeting up with an attorney, it’s important to know what questions to ask. You’re going to be working closely with your lawyer. The more you know about them the better.
Think about it as a job interview. Find out how long they’ve been working as a lawyer. Ask them how many motorcycle accident cases they’ve taken on.
In some cases, you’ll interview one attorney, but a different one will take on your case. Find out if that’s something that you’re going to run into. If it is, ask if you can talk to the person who you’re actually going to be working with.
See how many cases that they’ve taken on that are like yours and learn how many of those cases ended in a settlement.
Think About Your Wallet
The main reason why some people never take their situation to court is the fees. We’re happy to tell you that most motorcycle accident lawyers work off of something known as a contingency fee.
What this means is the lawyer won’t charge you anything unless they happen to win your case. When and if they do win, they’ll take their fees out of your settlement.
It’s a good idea to find out how much of your settlement is going to get eaten up by the fee. You don’t want to be unable to pay your medical bills because your lawyer took too much of the money. Comparing lawyer fees is all a part of the search.
Hire Someone You’re Comfortable With
The last tip we have for you is to only hire someone you’re comfortable with. It doesn’t matter if they come highly recommended by one of your family members or a friend. If you get a strange read on them, you get a strange read on them.
You’re going to have to give your lawyer a lot of your personal information. If you don’t feel comfortable enough to do that, move on to a different attorney.
How to Hire Motorcycle Accident Lawyers You Can Trust
If you’re going to get the settlement you deserve to take care of your medical bills, you’re going to have to hire motorcycle accident lawyers you can trust. Choosing an attorney that doesn’t have that much experience when it comes to motor crash cases could be your downfall.
We hope that you’re able to use the tips that you’ve read here today to choose the right firm for the job. For more advice that will help you navigate your way around the world of law, feel free to explore the rest of our blog.
Biswajit Rakshit is a professional blogger and writer. He loves to write on various topics.
