The typical personal injury attorney grants a free consultation to any potential clients. Those accident victims that get a chance to consult with such an attorney need to take advantage of that opportunity. They should walk into the consultation with a list of questions, such as these:
Do you have experience with this sort of case?
Some personal injury lawyers specialize in helping victims of a car accident. Others favor clients that have experienced a slip and fall injury. Still others focus more on the nature of the potential client’s injury, rather than the type of accident that caused it.
Different legal problems tend to trigger the development of specific legal issues. You want your lawyer’s experience to include a familiarity with the issues that are most often associated with your sort of case. In addition, your attorney should have ready access to helpful experts.
Do I have a good chance for winning this case?
Normally, a personal injury lawyer will not take a case unless he or she feels confident of winning it. Remember, the typical personal injury attorney relies on the money from a contingency fee. If you do not win, there is no fee.
Still, your consultation should help you to learn about any possible challenges. Once you know to expect such challenges, you can prepare yourself for the anticipated questions. If you can anticipate specific questions, then you can prepare good answers.
What is your fee, and who pays the added costs?
As mentioned above, most personal injury lawyers in Calgary, charge their clients by seeking a contingency fee. That means that the lawyer gets some percentage of the client’s compensation package.
Still, all lawyers need to pay certain expenses, as they work on winning a given client’s case. For instance, there is the cost for copying documents, and sometimes even for obtaining a particular document. Those added expenses are normally subtracted from the compensation package.
Smart clients want to know when that added money gets taken from the compensation. Some lawyers subtract that money from their percentage of the client’s award. Others subtract it from the entire award.
A consulted lawyer’s method for getting re-paid for those added expenses determines the amount of money going to the clients. If the lawyer covers the expenses using his or her cut from the client’s award, then the client gets a better deal. Alternatively, if the attorney has chosen to cover the expenses by using some of the money in the whole compensation package, then there is less money to be shared, and less money for the client. Potential clients should keep that fact in mine, when creating a list of questions for a possible personal injury lawyer.