When Do You Have to Commit to a Particular Injury Lawyer?

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You feel that you have a strong injury claim. Consequently, you've been checking out different personal injury lawyers who might be able to represent you. You've likely contacted a few of them and even had a couple of consultations. Eventually, you're going to want to commit to hiring a particular personal injury law firm. When do you have to commit to one, though?

Strictly Speaking, It's Not Required

In the strictest sense, the answer is that you don't have to ever hire an attorney. You could represent yourself but that may leave you in an odd spot. This is especially true with injury claims because insurance companies have formal structures for processing cases. It's best to have counsel to help you with filing forms, providing supporting documents, and writing a well-reasoned demand letter.

Moving Forward with a Case

Generally, most folks want to pick a personal injury law firm before they get into the grittier details of a case. If you need someone to investigate, for example, you'd probably want to have a lawyer before you get into that. Perhaps you need to send discovery requests to a local supermarket to obtain video of an incident and maintenance logs. Lawyering up is going to make a strong impression on the defendant, and counsel can help you send a convincing request letter.

Statute of Limitations

Another factor is the statute of limitations. In most states, the statute prevents people from suing more than two to three years after accidents happen. Once you've sent a formal demand letter to the defendant, you've met this requirement. Normally, you want to have hired counsel long before this point. It's also a good idea to speak with personal injury lawyers early. Some types of cases have shorter statutes of limitations, especially ones involving claims against government agencies.

What Committing Looks Like

The centerpiece of the commitment between a client and lawyer in an injury case is the fee agreement. Notably, many injury lawyers work on contingency. That means they do the work initially at no cost based on the belief they'll win and then take a percentage of the settlement or judgment.

Signing the agreement means committing to an attorney or a law firm as your representative. They agree to represent you zealously, meaning they will provide you the best advice they can and strive to represent your interests to the exclusion of all others. Functionally, this means it's the lawyer's job to get the best possible settlement or judgment given the facts of the case.

If you're ready to hire a lawyer, reach out to local law services like Snyder & Wenner, P.C.

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13 July 2021

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