Lawyers. They are the people that you never hope you need but could be your most useful ally in dire situations.
There are over 1.3 million lawyers in the United States.
If you are reading this, you are probably a truck driver. What if you have an accident that puts you out of work or even could get you sued?
Well, this is where a truck accident lawyer can come in. Someone that has knowledge on this subject and is a licensed attorney could help you get out of any potential trouble that you may be facing.
How do you find the best truck accident lawyer? What do you need to look for?
These are five questions that you should ask.
1. What Is Your Experience?
The first thing that you should do is ask what a lawyer’s experience is.
How many years have they been practicing law? Have they ever worked in truck accident cases before? If so, how did those cases play out?
These are the things that you need to take into consideration before hiring a lawyer. Ideally, you are going to want someone who has handled these cases successfully before because they will have a better chance of knowing what to expect.
Also, they may be able to find additional details that can strengthen your case that an inexperienced lawyer may overlook. Do not be afraid to ask about their experience and see if that answer is satisfying for you.
2. Where Do You Practice?
The next thing that you need to consider is where this attorney practices. If you are someone that is not from Texas but had an accident here, you may consider hiring an attorney from your home location.
This is a mistake. In the United States, each state has its own set of rules and regulations. That means that if you hire someone from another state to represent you in a case that takes place in Texas, that can put you at a disadvantage.
Luckily, Texas is a state that gives you plenty of options when it comes to finding a lawyer that practices in the state. Texas has over 43,000 lawyers that actively practice. It is fourth in the country when it comes to the most actively practicing lawyers.
Take advantage of this vast selection and hire someone that practices in the Austin area for your case. This gives you an added advantage on top of hiring a lawyer in Texas because major cities like Austin can have their own local ordinances.
Someone who practices in a location daily will likely know that system inside and out.
3. How Much Do You Charge?
Unfortunately, in life, money is a factor in a lot of the things we do. Hiring a lawyer is no different, so you are going to have to keep this in mind when it comes to that.
Luckily for you, you have a little flexibility depending on the type of case that you have. If you are the victim of a truck accident and you are looking for compensation, you likely will not have to worry about paying an hourly rate.
What a lawyer will likely do here instead is charge you a contingency fee that is going to be paid to them after a settlement. A contingency fee is when a lawyer agrees to take a certain percentage of the settlement rather than charging you by the hour.
However, as a catch, that percentage is likely going to be steep. It can be about 1/3 of your settlement but some lawyers charge up to 40% as a contingency fee.
What you do here depends on how comfortable you feel giving that away from someone. You can ask multiple lawyers what they want here and go with the one that takes the lowest percentage. However, it may be worth picking someone with a higher percentage if you feel more confident that they can get a bigger settlement.
4. What Damages Can You Recover?
When it comes to this type of accident, you need to ask a trucking accident lawyer what type of damages you can recover from this. That will not only get you an idea of what you can realistically win but also tell you how much they are thinking about with your case.
The idea is to take notes and see if one lawyer mentions more than the other. These can be things such as medical bills, making up a lost salary from time missed at work, and potentially a settlement for pain and suffering if the accident was fatal.
You need to get an idea of how big your lawyer is thinking here.
5. What Is Your Strategy?
Finally, you need to pick a lawyer’s brain a little bit and ask about the strategy that they plan on using in your case. Some might be hesitant to do this in the initial consultation. However, smart lawyers may reveal it to gain the trust of a potential client.
What angles are they going to take? What are they going to specifically focus on? What do they need from you? How much can you get?
A lawyer should have clear communication here and establish confidence in a potential client with their plan of attack.
Hire a Truck Accident Lawyer
These are the things that you need to keep in mind when you are looking for a truck accident lawyer. You need to get an idea of what their strategy is, what their experience is, how much they are looking to get for you, and what fees they charge.
Once you get these questions answered, you should be able to find a lawyer that is right for you.
Are you ready to get started? Message us today with your case.