subject: Should I Hire A Lawyer For My Personal Injury Claims? [print this page] When you have a personal injury due to fault of others, you can claim for loss or compensation due to the injury. The big question you face is whether you should hire an attorney to represent you or not. Based on my experience of over three decades in the field of personal injury claims, I have experienced that people take long time to decide whether to hire an attorney or not. What seems so obvious to us is difficult for a victim to decide. He is not a law expert and that ignorance is all cause of delayed or wrong decision. Most often, this results in failed or reduced claims or incurring cost in terms of time and money which could have been avoided.
Here are some common things which will help you decide whether you should hire an attorney or not:
1.Is injury a minor one?
If your injury is a minor one that will not result in time lost from work or substantial medical care, then you may want to settle it yourself out of court or in small claims court. You may get less money but you will save on attorneys fee and your own time. It is worth it.
2.Serious Injury?
If you have been seriously injured, then consult an experienced personal injury attorney. The compensation will depend on the nature of case as well as how you are represented. The calculation of compensation claim is also a very important factor where an experienced attorney can make a big difference. This is one situation where you should always hire an attorney.
3.Not sure about nature and seriousness of your injury?
If you are unsure about the nature and seriousness of your injury, then consult an experienced personal injury attorney before you give any statement or sign papers of any kind. The attorneys who have dealt with such cases will be able to help you by telling you what to do and when to do it. The compensation claim will be based on lot of contingent factors which are yet to unfold and it is best to leave them to experts.
4.Do you have insurance yourself?
Try to settle insurance claim inexpensively and expeditiously. Consult an experienced personal injury attorney before starting claim process. The amount of insurance claim is generally adjusted from the amount of compensation you may finally receive. The expeditious insurance settlement will give you money to meet your immediate expenses. But make sure that you do not settle for unreasonably low amount because you expect to win a compensation claim.
If you follow the above points, you can easily decide in time whether you need help of an attorney or not.
