Charleston Car Accident Lawyer

What Questions Should I Ask a Personal Injury Attorney Before I Hire Them?

If you have looked at reviews and you think you have narrowed your choices down but you still are not quite sure who will be the best choice, ask these questions when you have your free consultation. The answers may help you decide who will be the best attorney for you and your situation.

1. What experience do you have in handling personal injury cases?

   This is a question some personal injury lawyers will try to answer by stating the experience of their firm’s senior attorneys. However, you may be assigned to a new attorney who hasn’t been with the firm for a long time, or who’s new to personal injury.

   When seeking a car accident lawyer, it’s important to locate a professional with trial experience in your state who can easily point to specific settlements and awards in your type of case. For example, an attorney may focus more on whiplash cases with small awards or an attorney may focus more on big DUI cases with catastrophic injuries.

   The latter cases take much more time to conclude, and the law firm must be able to advance all costs of making the case against the defendant’s insurance company.

2. What is your contingency fee?

   A typical personal injury firm in South Carolina works on the basis of advancing all fees and cost on behalf of the injured victim. The lawyer only gets paid a percentage of any settlement or jury verdict that is obtained on your behalf.

   This is in addition to any costs that they itemize as being paid out during the case. Examples of costs could be court filing fees, deposition fees, photocopying, notary fees, postage and packaging fees, and trial exhibits.

   Usually, an attorney’s contingency fee percentage is lower if the case is settled out of court and higher if the case goes to civil trial. Even in cases where lawsuits are filed, the insurance company may still settle out of court before the case is resolved.

3. How much do you think my personal injury claim might be worth?

   In a personal injury law firm, it is unethical for a lawyer to promise you a settlement or a jury award. He or she can state the potential value of your medical damages based on your injuries, medical bills (so far and in the future), lost wages, pain and suffering, to name a few.

   However, car accident law firms can’t help a client recover damages if there isn’t an insurance company to sue.

   In some instances, the defendants may have personal or business assets that might be targeted in the lawsuit, even if they didn’t carry the appropriate amount of insurance to cover your damages.
   That said, Frank has built a car accident estimate calculator to give you a rough idea (not a promise or a concrete number) of what you *may* expect to get. Here is the Car Accident Calculator.

4. Will my spouse or child be able to make a claim for this injury?

   You and your spouse could potentially make a claim for your injuries if they can be proven by a doctor as being caused by the accident. Your child may also have a claim, depending on the injuries sustained by the accident.

   Each case is going to be separate in the sense of proving the injuries. However, the insurance company may try to make an offer to you and to your child at the same time.

   Alternatively, they may choose not to settle each injury claim and then take their chances in court. You and your child will try to recover damages from the same defendant’s insurance policy, which has a maximum benefit that can be paid out per accident.

5. How will your accident law firm show that the defendants were at fault in my case?

   A good personal injury attorney has a team of experts and investigators who can fully reconstruct the accident and demonstrate how the defendant caused the accident or injury. Ask the lawyer to give you examples of strategies used in cases like yours.

   You wouldn’t expect to hear a strategy for proving a DUI case in which the person is wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life, when talking about your whiplash case. This is when you get to understand the attorney’s actual trial experience.

   Personal injury lawyers who have been to court many times and won against the defendant’s insurance company can easily talk about these points because there are so many examples to share. They just have to choose which one relates to your situation.

6. How long will the personal injury case take?

   Again, every case is different. In South Carolina, an accident injury attorney should advise you on the statute of limitations. This is how long you have to file your claim or forever lose your right to recover damages for these injuries.An attorney can also explain your rights to how you are represented and treated by the insurance companies. An attorney can estimate the timeline if there is knowledge of enough factors (i.e. whether he believes the case can be settled without filing a lawsuit).

   Serious cases in which the insurance company will go to great expense to fight the claim will take longer than ones that are easy to prove. For example, just because the police write in the accident report that the other driver was at-fault, doesn’t mean that you’re the victim.

   The other driver may also hire a lawyer who will attempt to prove that the accident was your fault. Some cases end up being found in the jury trial as ones involving comparative negligence, with a certain percentage of the liability being attributed to the plaintiff (that’s you) and a certain percentage of the liability being attributed to the defendant.

7. Why is this the best personal injury law firm to represent me in my car accident case?

   Personal injury attorneys with adequate experience seek employment in a respectable law firm or go out and start their own firms. During your first consultation (20-minute free strategy session at The Hartman Law Firm, LLC) with a personal injury lawyer, you have the opportunity for him to explain how his services outrank those of others whom you might consult after the accident.

   A top car accident law firm has many examples of past settlements and verdicts as well as attorneys specializing in different kinds of cases. Other law firms have a smaller number of attorneys, but they aren’t as concerned with volume. They’re concerned with real civil trial work on serious cases.

   If you have an inexperienced attorney assigned to your case, he should be working under the supervision of a board-certified trial attorney with an impressive court record. Frank Hartman has been trying cases in South Carolina for years and is very successful in his cases. You can see by his Google reviews that he has several satisfied clients.

When should I give a statement to the insurance company?

We need to take a moment here to explain that no insurance company is really on your side, not even yours and not even if you weren’t at fault. They only stay in business if they can avoid paying claims to injured victims. You will need to report the car accident to your insurance company and to the other insurance company.

However, calling in to report a claim doesn’t mean that you have to agree to having your statement recorded. They record your calls and twist things you say around in order to pay less. Never agree to a recording.

In fact, it’s better to just speak with your attorney and let them make the call, or be with you while you make the call. This is something that your attorney will arrange and then will only have you answer questions after being prepared for the event.

You can also ask the defendant’s insurance company to help you resolve your property damage claim (because your vehicle was damaged or totaled in the accident), but refuse to discuss your injury claim. Don’t be badgered by the insurance adjuster for your insurance company or the defendant’s carrier.

Can I make a claim against my Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage?

Not every driver who could hit you on the road will have insurance, or enough insurance to cover your injuries. Now that you’re missing time from work and the medical bills are adding up, you need expert help in preparing your personal injury claim.

If you have insurance coverage to protect against uninsured and underinsured drivers, you may have a claim against your own company. Many consumers who are hurt in a motor vehicle accident fear making a claim against their own insurance company will cause them to lose their coverage or to have their rates increased as a condition of policy renewal.

This is not something you should be concerned with. You should worry about how to recover for the medical bills that weren’t your fault because you didn’t cause the accident. It’s the personal injury lawyer’s job to work with the insurance company on your behalf and to negotiate any settlement.

It’s in every party’s best interest, in this type of case, to resolve the matter before going to a jury trial.

Can I represent myself and get a settlement for these injuries?

This is an option that every person has – self-representation. However, knowing how to navigate the civil court system and prepare a claim for review by the defendant’s insurance company is a professional specialty of an accident lawyer.

It’s important to remember that insurance companies work with other insurance companies, police, medical professionals and everyone else involved in the accident business every single day. You don’t have that same experience or exposure.

However, Frank Hartman does. You don’t have to rush into the decision of which attorney to hire, but you do want to ensure that the facts and evidence in your case are preserved.

Remember, it’s free to call The Hartman Law Firm, LLC, and you don’t pay anything until Frank wins your case. So representing yourself doesn’t make much sense.

Lastly, studies show that insurance companies pay, on average, significantly more (40% conservatively) when they’re represented by a car accident lawyer. So even with the contingency fee, you still may be awarded a larger settlement if you hire Frank as your motor vehicle accident attorney. Lastly, accident victims often underestimate their injuries, which can decrease their compensation award.

Get the compensation you deserve and call Frank now for your free 20-minute strategy session. You’re under no obligation to hire him however, here are some of the things you may experience as a result of your accident and things you deserve compensation for:

• medical bills
• missed work and lost wages
• physical and mental pain and suffering
• loss of quality of life, family, friends, and social interactions
• permanent physical disability or dismemberments