Each state has slightly different laws. That’s why, before you start any personal injury case, you must meet with a qualified lawyer who can answer your questions. While you can Google any query you have regarding personal injury, an attorney who practices this kind of law in a particular state can give you information from personal experience.
The little differences in each state matter if you’re getting ready to bring a civil suit against a person or company who you allege harmed you. For instance, Nevada has a punitive damages cap, but some other states don’t. You might not easily find out about that on your own, but a Nevada-based attorney will know it instantly.
Let us take some time to talk about questions you should never fail to ask your lawyer before you bring a personal injury case against a person or company in Nevada. The consultation with an attorney should cost you nothing, and you must educate yourself before you jump into a complex legal situation that may not resolve itself for weeks or months.
Have You Ever Handled a Case Like This Before?
You should probably start by asking your prospective attorney if they’re ever handled a case like yours. If they do personal injury law, that does not necessarily mean they’ve involved themselves in a lawsuit that closely resembles the situation you’re describing.
Maybe you found a personal injury lawyer who does premises liability law, but you have a dog bite lawsuit. Perhaps you found one who does primarily car wrecks, but you had a product harm you or make you sick instead.
If your lawyer says that they’ve handled many cases much like yours, that’s a positive sign. It means they know this aspect of the law.
However, you should still ask them whether they won any previous cases that resembled yours. If your lawyer says they’ve handled many such cases, but they lost all of them, then you probably want to go with someone more competent.
How Long Have You Been Practicing Law?
You likely don’t want to hire a neophyte lawyer who passed the bar the previous week. While giving someone their first chance might appeal, you need an attorney who has real-world experience.
Someone who’s fresh-faced and ready to tackle their first big case might make a mistake right out of the gate. Even if you can produce plenty of evidence that proves what you say happened, that doesn’t mean getting incompetent legal representation might not still induce a loss at trial.
Also, the defendant will presumably have a lawyer or legal team helping them. If they sense that you have a brand-new lawyer who doesn’t know the ropes, they will likely try to take advantage of that. The law can get cutthroat in a hurry, especially when there’s large sums of money on the line.
Have You Ever Argued on a Client’s Behalf in Front of a Judge and Jury?
You should next ask the lawyer if they’ve ever stood up in front of a judge and jury and argued a case on a client’s behalf. If they have done this many times, then you should feel a lot more confident about hiring them. If they say they only know about this kind of law in theory, though, that should probably give you pause.
An experienced trial lawyer differs from one who only knows the law from books. Again, it becomes a matter of confidence.
If the defendant’s lawyer senses that the individual you hired doesn’t have the real-world experience that gives them poise and a commanding presence in the courtroom, they might instruct their client to go to trial rather than to try and settle with you. That’s another reason why getting the right lawyer to represent you matters so much.
How Much Do You Charge, and What Payment Method Do You Prefer?
You will probably want to discuss payment next. Very seldom will you find a lawyer who will represent you for free.
Maybe you have someone who practices law in your family, and they’re feeling particularly generous. Most of the time, though, you must pay your lawyer, and personal injury cases usually bring top dollar.
You will want to agree to a contingency payment plan with your lawyer in almost all cases. This setup means that you will pay them only if they induce a settlement offer or they win your case for you. If they can’t manage either of those things, then you will pay them nothing.
That’s a structure to which you can probably agree. Giving your lawyer an hourly fee makes little sense if they can’t win your case or get you a settlement offer. If they lose your lawsuit, you might have to pay them, and then you’ll have less money than before the trial began.
You might have to pay your lawyer as much as 35%-40% via contingency. That might seem like a lot, but it’s worth it. You’re getting this attorney’s expertise, and you probably can’t win your case without their help.
How Long Might It Take to Resolve This Case?
Before you sign anything, conclude by asking your would-be lawyer how long they think it might take to resolve the lawsuit. They may not know exactly, but hopefully, they can at least give you a timeline of some kind.
These cases can sometimes take days or weeks, but often, they will take months. You need to have your lawyer tell the defendant you’re suing them. You must give them a chance to get their own legal representation.
After that comes the discovery phase, where you try to collect as much evidence as possible. Your lawyer should have an investigator, if not more than one. They will work to collect physical evidence, find eyewitnesses who can help you, etc.
If you ask your lawyer all of these questions and you like their answers, you can hire them and move forward.
