Retaining an attorney and filing a lawsuit can be stressful and intimidating for most people. If you find yourself in need of a personal injury attorney, it’s important to be prepared for the experience and to understand the legal process. In order to best familiarize yourself with this process, you must be prepared to ask your lawyer these common questions.

What is a common time frame for this type of case?

While every lawsuit is unique and time frames may differ, it’s not unreasonable to ask your lawyer what the potential time period could be for your personal injury case. Having an idea of how long your case may take can help you determine if it will be worthwhile to prepare your records and schedule to accommodate your lawyer.

How many similar cases has the attorney worked on?

When choosing the right lawyer for your case, it’s important to determine how familiar the lawyer is with your specific case. Personal injury cases can vary among a wide range of injuries, including fall accidents, medical negligence, or wrongful death. While personal injury lawyers are likely to be familiar with a range of injury cases, it’s common for these lawyers to specialize in a specific type of accident. For example, some lawyers may specialize in product liability cases while others may focus on car accidents. An excellent personal injury law firm, like the Dante Law Firm, specializes in a wide range of personal injury practice areas and is not limited to specific types of accidents. A bigger firm like the Dante Law Firm will typically always be able to provide you with an experienced attorney who will be more than familiar with your type of personal injury case.

Will this case go to trial?

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of cases never go to trial. Instead, most lawsuits will settle before trial is even considered. However, it’s still important to ask your attorney’s opinion on whether they believe your case will go to trial, as this could increase the time period and the cost of your lawsuit.

How can you help your lawyer prepare?

A personal injury case will require quite a bit on your end, so it’s a good idea to ask your lawyer how you can help speed up the process. Since these cases involve injuries sustained from accidents, it’s necessary to provide your lawyer with as many relevant medical records as possible. These medical records will likely be one of the first things your lawyer requests from you. If they’ve already requested these documents, you should ask them if there is any additional information that they need. Most lawyers will require further information from insurance companies in order to thoroughly analyze your case. Asking your lawyer what they need will help speed up the process and ensure that your case goes smoothly.

What are the attorney fees?

Before officially retaining a lawyer, it’s important to ask about the standard fees charged by their law firm. Since your case will likely be handled over a long period of time and be worked on by at least one lawyer and their legal assistant, and medical experts, you will be subject to a variety of fees. Determining whether a lawyer is in your budget or not is essential before starting your case, and this is something that you should ask about during your free consultation if you are interested in a law firm that offers this opportunity.

What happens if we lose the case?

While you should go into a lawsuit confident that you’ll win, it’s important to discuss with your lawyer the consequences of losing the case. A loss could result in different legal fees as well as the inability to try the case again. Discussing the possibility of losing your case early on with your lawyer could help you adequately prepare for the financial and emotional burden that this loss could have on you.