Choosing the right solicitor to represent you following an accident is important. Not all solicitors are created equal, so the best advice we and anybody can give you is to take your time and to review all options available to you. In other words, do not rush into making your claim. However, don’t take too long, because you only have three years from the date that your accident happened or from the date your injuries became clear to make a claim.
Experience
The best claim solicitors to process your claim are those with plenty of experience handling cases that are similar to your own. Ideally, your lawyer will have practiced law for several years although case experience is more important overall. For instance, it is more beneficial to have a lawyer who has practiced law for five years than somebody who has practiced law for twenty years, if the five-year lawyer has processed fifty more similar claims successfully.
Success rate
Lawyers are judged by their success rate, and the success rate is a good way to gauge the suitability of a lawyer for your case. A success rate is effectively a percentage of the amount of cases a lawyer has won – and the higher the percentage the better. Anything over 80 per cent is considered excellent and once you get into the plus 90 per cent range you can be sure that you have access to one of the best personal injury lawyers in the country.
Law firm
It’s also important to assess the reputation of the law firm that a lawyer works to, because although lawyers all practice law, they follow the working policies of the law firms that they are employed by or work with. We recommend that you use a search engine such as Bing or Google to search for “law firm reviews”. Replace law firm with the name of the law firm that you are interested in and see what comes up. If it’s positive, then give them a call.
Additional support
Considerations should also be made for the additional support that lawyers can provide to their clients. For example, many lawyers are happy to coordinate medical care for their clients but not all of them are. In addition to this, some lawyers will be able to refer you to financial services that can help you if you are struggling financially. These additional services can be invaluable during the claims process, and especially so for the elderly.
Finding a good lawyer
Finding a good lawyer is relatively easy if you follow the checklist above. Above all else, though, always ensure that your lawyer is qualified. In England and Wales, you can check that a lawyer is qualified by searching the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) database.
