Millions of car accidents happen in the U.S. annually, sometimes causing moderate to life-threatening injuries. Injured accident victims may become overwhelmed with the many components of filing insurance claims and consider hiring a lawyer for assistance.
What kind of lawyer should you hire if you’ve been in a car accident? Is one as good as another? Cellino Law explains.
What Lawyers Deal With Car Accidents?
Technically, any attorney can take an auto accident case. However, the level of assistance you’ll receive varies significantly. Personal injury lawyers are typically the best equipped to handle car accident claims, and we’ll tell you why.
Focus Areas
If you have leaking pipes, would you hire a plumber or an electrician to make repairs? Both are handyman-type professions. However, an electrician probably doesn’t have the knowledge, experience, or proper tools to diagnose and repair your pipes.
Similarly, an estate planning attorney is a lawyer, but they likely don’t know enough about car accidents to handle your claim successfully. Personal injury attorneys focus on the laws and regulations governing car accident claims. They have experience dealing with insurance companies, investigations, and performing other necessary tasks to obtain maximum compensation for their clients.
Investigations
Many car crashes require an in-depth investigation to find out what really happened. Investigators must know the types of evidence they should look for and how to find it. They also need to have the necessary resources to accomplish that task.
A small general law firm typically doesn’t have the resources or experienced investigators to perform a thorough investigation. Determining who is to blame for causing your accident is crucial because that’s who compensates you for your damages.
Liability
You can be assured that insurance companies don’t want to accept that their policyholders are at fault for causing collisions because that means they are responsible for paying you. Personal injury lawyers are familiar with the tricks and underhanded tactics many insurance companies use to attempt to avoid paying damages in car accident claims.
We are usually in a much better position to help injured victims because we understand which parties are potentially liable in any crash. More importantly, we know how to prove this liability to make insurance companies pay.
Advice and Assistance
Neurosurgeons typically give better advice and medical treatments than ear, nose, and throat doctors if you have a head wound. Because personal injury lawyers focus on handling car accident claims, we tailor our advice, options presented, and legal strategies toward victims using our in-depth knowledge of how these claims work.
What Questions Should You Ask a Car Accident Attorney?
When you’ve decided to hire a personal injury lawyer to help with your car accident claim, find a few in your area to interview. There are a few questions you should ask each one to determine who should handle your case.
What Experience Do You Have With Car Accident Claims?
Even within personal injury law, attorneys can focus on specific areas. You’ll benefit the most from hiring a lawyer with a lot of experience handling car accident claims. Why? Each state has car insurance requirements, differing statutes of limitations, and negligence doctrines that apply to auto collisions. Your chances of obtaining maximum compensation increase when you choose a lawyer with thorough knowledge of this type of claim.
You’ll want someone who has handled many car accident claims because lawyers gain knowledge through experience. Ask how effective their negotiation skills are because most claims settle out of court. Also, you need to ask if they will take your case to trial if insurance companies aren’t willing to offer a fair settlement.
You need a lawyer who will work in your best interests and tackle challenging issues willingly and aggressively. Cellino Law has handled car accident claims for over 60 years. We won’t hesitate to take your case to trial if necessary to fight for your right to favorable compensation.
How Do You Communicate With Your Clients?
You’ll probably have many questions and concerns during your claims process, and you need to be assured that you’ll get prompt, knowledgeable answers. Find out:
- Will you be able to speak to your attorney, or will communications be routed through office staff?
- How quickly can you expect a response?
- Will you receive an email or a phone call?
- Will you get regular updates without having to ask?
- Will you need to go to the law office for meetings, or will your attorney come to you or use video conferencing?
- Will your legal team treat you with compassion and respect?
- What hours are they available to speak to you?
If you’ll be speaking to certain people often during your case, you’ll want to feel comfortable with them. Talk to them briefly to see if you “click.”
Cellino Law gives every client the personal attention, respect, and compassion they deserve.
Do You Have Sufficient Resources To Handle My Claim?
Some car accident claims are complicated and take lots of resources to handle correctly. Not only must an attorney have sufficient financial resources, but they must also have the right people to handle your case. These people may include investigators and physicians.
Where Is Your Office?
If you need to travel to a law firm, it should be within a reasonable distance from your home. Some firms, including Cellino Law, have multiple office locations for our client’s convenience. If there isn’t an office nearby, you’ll want to find out if the lawyer uses alternative meeting methods.
Do You Have a High Case Success Rate?
When you hire a car accident attorney, you’re trusting them to win your case. You can tell the likelihood of that happening by looking at how many cases they’ve handled successfully in the past and the total compensation they’ve won.
Cellino Law has won more than $2 billion for our clients.
How Much Is My Case Worth?
An experienced car accident attorney can assess your case and tell you how much it’s worth. If a lawyer is hesitant to provide you with a figure, that might indicate they’re not very familiar with car accident claims.
What Are Your Fees?
Most personal injury lawyers handle cases on a contingency fee basis. You won’t owe fees unless your attorney wins compensation for you. Cellino Law uses this plan, so you won’t have any upfront fees. Your initial case review is free, and you’re under no obligation to hire us afterward. You can receive our guidance, advice, and answers at no risk to you.
The amount you’ll eventually pay differs depending on how much work Cellino Law does to win your case. This figure is typically between 25% and 40% of your total settlement.
Why Should You Choose Cellino Law?
Cellino Law has decades of experience handling car accident claims successfully. We are a large firm with extensive resources, but we are committed to giving you personal attention. We have several offices, and we’ll come to you if you cannot travel to us. We understand how the laws in New York and surrounding states affect car insurance cases, and we will use that knowledge to fight for you.
Car accidents don’t only happen during regular business hours. That’s why someone from Cellino Law is available to speak to you 24/7. Call us at (888) 888-8888 or submit our online contact request form.