So you, a family member or loved one is the victim of a reckless driver or person. So, what do you do to find the best possible personal injury lawyer for your situation?
First, there is nothing more annoying than the barrage of tacky lawyer advertisements. I can say without question that choosing your lawyer based upon the number of lawyer advertisements that you see is not the way to choose your lawyer for a case. The reason for this is simple. Simply because a lawyer or firm has a good marketing plan does not translate into the equally effective legal services. This does not mean that quality lawyers do not advertise but simply means that it is not enough to select a lawyer based upon the number of advertisement space their firm purchases. Any lawyer that passes the bar exam can advertise for personal injury cases. It is not required that they have any experience with even one prior personal injury case much less a successful trial.
Second, Florida makes it fairly easy to tell which lawyers are most qualified in a particular area of law including civil cases which include personal injury cases. You see Florida offers lawyers the ability to become board certified in various areas of law. This process however is optional and requires substantial time, experience, testing and peer review. Lawyers who are Board Certified in Florida can refer to themselves as “specialists” or “experts” in that particular area of law. Civil trial specialists are those board certified lawyers in Florida who specialize in filing and prosecuting lawsuits through trial. These lawsuits include personal injury and wrongful death cases. So, you may ask why this is important? This is important since this designation separates every lawyer who can call themselves a personal injury lawyer from those that actually handle these cases from start to finish (a jury trial). For example, when someone goes to medical school and graduates with a MD degree they are not quite qualified to call themselves a brain surgeon even though they are, in fact, Doctors.
Third, it currently cost $410.00 to file a lawsuit in Florida. This does not, however, make you an experienced lawyer in Florida. It is how you handle the case after filing and through trial that makes the difference. Ask the lawyer who is handling your case (sometimes not the same person who is on the Billboard) if he/she has any jury verdicts in the last year that are impressive victories for their clients? Ask them details about what role they played in that case. If you do not get good answers to those questions, then move on. Experience counts in this field. It counts because just like anything else in the world, your record counts and matters to all involved. It matters to you as the client since you want the expert who knows his/her field. It matters to the person who causes your injury as they need to know that the lawyer coming after them is known for not giving up and has taken many folks and companies to the bitter end. It matters to the insurance company involved since they work in this field every day and they become familiar with which lawyers tend to always settle their cases. They also know that there are certain lawyers who they have taken to trial and then were hit with verdicts well over their policy limits. If the lawyer you have hired to work on your case has never made an insurance company “sweat” because they underestimated or under-evaluated a claim only to have a jury slam them, then you may not have the right person.
In sum, in selecting a lawyer for your case. Do not rely just on advertisements. Find a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer and then ask that person about the exact track record in the type of case that you have. Ask for specifics, do not assume that a lawyer is qualified simply because they work for someone who is.
Here is a direct link to Florida Board Certified Lawyershttp://www.floridabar.org/wps/portal/flbar/home/directories/certifications/!ut/p/a1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOINjIxcDf2DDbwszAOcDBx9fdzMnIOMjN1djIEKIpEV-Du7uQAVmLj4mIT4GfqaGhGn39fS0NHQxAKowMTRzcAzzDzM0zzE0MjRz5RI-3EARwNC-sP1o1CVYPEBWAEOJxr4G-JXAPYDxArcjizIDQ2NMMj0THdUVAQAJklOYg!!/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/