4 Characteristics to Look for in a Lawyer
If you have suffered a personal injury during a car crash or work accident, then chances are it has been a lawsuit and you are needing a personal injury attorney to make sure that your rights are protected. In a personal injury case, the at fault party but pay a settlement to the injured. This can go smoothly if the at fault party is willing to accept responsibility and offer a reasonable amount. However, if the at fault party contests the case, you may find yourself in court with your personal injury attorney hashing it out before a judge and possibly a jury. With the fact that this is a possibility in mind, here are a few characteristics that you might want to keep an eye out for when looking for a personal injury attorney.
Confidence
A timid and meek person does not a good lawyer make. You want some who is not afraid to confidently stand before anyone and declare not only your innocence, but the guilt of the offending party. Find an attorney who is able to be honest with you and tell you exactly what they think. If they can do that with you, then the chances are pretty good that they would be able to convince and judge and jury also. Confidence also means that they have a loud, clear voice that is easy to understand. They need to be confident enough in their intelligence that they don’t feel it necessary to use extravagant terms that a normal person on the jury might not understand. Layman’s terms are important in court. The facts need to be laid out plainly or the jury may suspect that the lawyer is trying to cover something up.
Availability
The lawyer you choose needs to have enough time for you. During your initial consultation, find out how many cases you lawyer has on their plate right now. You might also ask if you are going to be dealing with them mostly or with paralegals and assistants at the firm. This will give you a good idea as to how important the particular lawyer thinks your case is. Don’t settle for anything less than direct communication with your lawyer. If something happens in court and a piece of evidence or information is brought up that is a surprise to you and your lawyer, you are going to need your lawyer to be willing willing and available to work quickly until the next court session. Employing the help of assistants and paralegals is great and saves time, but handing the case off to them entirely shows you that he or she does not think it important and is too busy to handle your case.
Trust
There needs to be a mutual trust between you and your personal injury attorney. There’s no point in having a lawyer that doesn’t believe in your innocence. This will come across quite obviously to a jury. You need to be able to trust you lawyer to do right by you and the only way that you are going to be able to do that is if he or she trusts you also. Make it clear very early on that you are willing to do the work that it is going to take to win the case. This will help the lawyer see that you are serious about this and understand the gravity of the situation. Once they understand that this is important to you and that you trust them and will listen to them, they will likely return that trust.
Listening Skills
There’s nothing worse than a lawyer you doesn’t listen. This can cause them to make a lot of mistakes in court as well as in mediation, settlement meetings, interviews and pretty much every area of the case. Being able to listen to you, to witnesses, to the other party and everyone else involved is crucial to being able to get a full view of the case. Not being able to listen will cause the lawyer to have to fill in the missing information themselves, which could severely hurt your case in the long run. You’ll know right from the initial consultation if this is a lawyer that is willing to listen as well as talk.
