If, unfortunately, you have been injured in an automobile accident in Ontario, you will need to file a car injury lawsuit against the at fault driver and their insurance company to obtain a settlement. This can be a challenging process, but our adversarial system demands that you employ such lawsuits to obtain the deserved compensation most of the time. Because of the difficulty involved, and the reputation of some car injury attorneys, many people choose not to file a car injury lawsuit. They often find, years later, that their pain and suffering did not go away. They come to regret not hiring a traffic collision attorney to handle their case because, despite how challenging it may seem, if you hire the right car accident injury law firm, you have a good shot at getting the compensation you deserve.
Meeting your car injury lawyer
After you decide to seek compensation for the pain and suffering caused by your car accident. You need to start meeting traffic accident attorneys and other personal injury lawyers. This is perhaps the most important stage of your lawsuit because the collision attorney you choose to represent you can make or break your case.
When you are meeting with a car accident injury lawyer look for someone who you can trust. A good personal rapport is key, as is getting along with the car injury lawyer you hire. You need to share very specific, and sometimes personal, details with your collision attorney if you want to be successful, so trust is absolutely key to this process.
If English isn’t your first language, you should look for a car injury attorney that speaks your language as well. Communication is a crucial part of success in these cases, and the ability to communicate without impediments can help your case.
Assessing your car accident law firm
Even if you know and trust one traffic collision attorney, you should also take a close look at the car accident injury law firm they work for. Many of the most famous firms in Ontario are deeply invested in advertising, but sometimes forget to take a personal approach to cases. In fact, sometimes the case is referred to another lawyer for handling the claim, yet with the permission of a client but a traffic accident attorney that the client might not have comfort or close familiarity with.
Just as you look for a car injury lawyer you can trust, you should look for a car accident law firm you can trust. Look for a smaller, dedicated and hardworking team of professionals who you can develop a relationship with. You will need to work closely with the whole team and, as the client, they should be all dedicated to serving you and your case.
Look at the reputation of the car accident law firm on ratings websites, and ask for testimonials from past clients. Ask your own network of friends and family if they have worked with or heard of this firm before. Question to rely on the advice of one single individual, though, as subjective experiences can colour how a team of car accident injury lawyers might be viewed. Instead, try to aggregate all of the reviews, testimonials, assessments and insights you can find to determine if this is a car accident law firm you can trust.
Find out the strategy for your car injury lawsuit
A lawsuit is a bit like stepping into battle, a football match, or a game of chess. You need a strategy if you are going to win. When you are looking for the right car accident law firm, ask about what their strategy will be for you, and look out for a few key words and phrases in their answers.
The first, and maybe most essential thing to find out is how they will gather evidence. Collecting evidence is absolutely crucial to any case. Find out if their strategy involves a deep look at your medical records as well as how they will collect any photographic or eyewitness evidence from the accident.
One of the most important pieces of evidence will usually be your own testimony. When you are telling the story of your accident to a potential car accident injury lawyer, pay attention to how well they listen, to the questions they ask, and whether they are taking notes. A strong personal injury lawyer will interrogate you and probe for any holes in your story. This is not to make you uncomfortable, remember that they’re on your side, this is to ensure your evidence is solid. Remember, if your lawyer can interrogate your evidence to the point where it becomes ironclad, it will hold up in the face of any other lawyer.
Ask them to talk you through every stage of the lawsuit process. There’s a flowchart of if/then statements that they should be able to lay out, with expectations and goals based on the particulars of your case. To win your trust, a good personal injury lawyer should have plans for each stage of the journey, with enough flexibility to account for the unexpected.
When choosing a car accident law firm, don’t be afraid to trust your gut
The final piece in this major decision is the intangible. It comes down to questions like, ‘how do you feel when you visit the office?’ or ‘what was the lawyer like to talk with?’ or even, ‘did you feel like you could trust the team?’
A lawsuit is a personal thing, and even if a lawyer is doing the heavy work of legal representation, you need to be working alongside them, doing your part to ensure you end up with the compensation you deserve. You’ll need to be completely honest at all times with your lawyers, and let them understand you as a client and as a person. That’s why feeling is so important. If you feel you trust this firm, you feel you can speak openly with you personal injury lawyer, and you feel like you can win this case, then you are very likely in the right hands.
