7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Bicycle Accident Lawyer
In 2018 alone, 857 bicyclists were killed in bicycle accidents.
Have you been involved in a bicycle accident? Aside from the injury and recovery from the case, you are sure to be experiencing some real emotional trauma. You might be wondering how to get the help you need because of your accident.
Maybe you have a long term injury or haven’t been able to go to work. You might have mounting medical bills to cover. It might be time to hire a bicycle accident lawyer to help you through the process.
But you don’t just want to go to Google and pick one. Being in a bicycle accident is pretty unique. How do you find an attorney who has experience with bike accidents?
Read on for a list of questions you can use to help find the best bike accident lawyer for your case.
1. What Experience Do You Have Accident Cases?
You don’t want to hire a divorce attorney or commercial banking attorney to handle your bicycle accident case. You want to ask what kind of law the attorney practices.
Ask about their areas of specialty. Does the lawyer practice on personal injury cases? More specifically, has the attorney handle bicycle injury cases before your case.
You want to hire an attorney who understands the complexities of a bicycle accident case. You want to know they understand how to handle the types of injuries you have experienced and what the long term effects could be from those injuries.
2. How Will You Communicate With Me Through My Case?
You need an attorney who has excellent communication skills. You want your attorney to be able to communicate through the phases of your case with you, the other side, and any witnesses that are necessary.
You want to sit and talk with your attorney to get a sense of how they will communicate. You need someone who is both understanding and yet tenacious in seeking the justice you deserve following your accident.
Also, be sure you know how they will work with you on the case. How often will you get updates on the case and how will that be handled.
3. Do You Have Areas of Specialty?
We’ve already covered that you want an attorney who knows how to handle your type of case. But you want an attorney who has actually handled bicycle accidents before.
They are not the same as other types of personal injury cases. You have unique needs that are different than say a slip and fall accident or a dog bite injury. Even your case is different than a personal injury from a car accident.
Ask about how often the attorney has handled bicycle accident cases. Also, ask them to talk you through how those cases progressed so you get a feel for what to expect from your case.
4. What Is Your Success Rate?
You not only want a lawyer who knows how to handle this type of case but one who wins with them.
Any lawyer you are willing to hire should be willing to share the results they have had with this type of case. How often have they won? Even have them explain what they consider a victory in this type of case.
How often have they settled out of court? Ask for an explanation of why they chose to settle versus fighting the case.
The lawyer should be forthright about the success and failures. If they have had cases they haven’t won, what went wrong?
5. How Will You Charge Me for Your Services?
The last thing you need through this process is more bills and expenses. You want to know upfront how you will be billed for the services being provided by the attorney.
In many cases, attorneys take this type of case on a contingency. This means that when your case concludes and you get money, they get paid from that money.
You want to know before signing with an attorney what percentage of the compensation you get will go to the attorney. Don’t be afraid to compare rates with other attorneys.
But remember, sometimes it’s worth it to pay for better services. Less money can often mean sub-par services too. The adage applies here that you pay for what you get.
6. How Do You See My Case Progressing?
Ask the prospective lawyer to talk you through your case. As an experienced practitioner, they should have an idea of how the case will proceed. While they can’t guarantee how the other side will respond, they should anticipate what to expect.
What will the steps be? What will happen first? How long is the process likely to take before you get the compensation you need?
7. Who Will Handle My Case?
This is an important question for a firm where there are large numbers of lawyers. You want to know who will handle your case.
Will the lawyer who you are sitting and talking with actually be the one who will also handle your case? In some firms, they have the face of the firm meet with and talk to clients.
This lawyer might be the most well known at the firm. Yet, when it comes to handling the case, it’s handed off to someone with less experience.
You want to be sure to know who will actually be handling your case with the other attorneys and in the courtroom if needed.
Find the Best Bicycle Accident Lawyer
Being in a bicycle accident is traumatic enough. It requires both physical and emotional healing to get over the experience. You want to hire a bicycle accident lawyer who understands the unique complexities of this type of case.
You also want someone who will fight on your behalf to get you the compensation you deserve following the accident.
If you’ve been in a bicycle accident, we can help. Contact us at Polito & Harrington to set up a consultation about your case. We can even do a virtual consult if that works better for you.
