Other Languages We Speak

You can get a general idea of your attorney’s commitment to personal injury victims by how they answer this question. For the most part, I believe that if at least half of an attorney’s practice is devoted to representing plaintiffs, they may have sufficient knowledge to represent you.

Also, keep in mind that lawyers who substantially work on a contingency fee basis are compelled to move their cases along to get paid. You would not want your case to be ignored while your lawyer is engaged in a divorce or real estate closing.

Even if your potential lawyer says they are certified, you will still need to ask if they have taken plaintiffs’ personal injury cases to trial as part of that certification process. Not all civil trials are personal injury trials. The lawyer may have received trial certification in another practice area, such as litigating business disputes.

Again, if you want good results, the insurance company needs to know that you mean business. They know which lawyers will take it easy on them and which ones will hold their feet to the fire. It’s always a good idea to ask about past trials and results. The insurance companies know this information, so why shouldn’t you?

This is an important question. It’s true that most of a personal injury attorney’s practice will consist of motor vehicle accidents. However, not all personal injury attorneys have experience in handling other types of injury cases like workers’ compensation claims, medical malpractice claims, or product liability claims. Some cases combine different aspects of “subspecialties,” such as the Toyota sudden acceleration cases or the unfortunate situation where a car accident experiences medical malpractice while receiving treatment.

Preparing a personal injury case is like completing a scavenger hunt. Your legal team will need to collect and analyze relevant medical records. They will need to consistently submit documents to opposing counsel. You don’t want your lawyer focusing too much of their time on collecting these volumes of documents. You want to be certain that a qualified lawyer has reviewed and analyzed all potential evidence to use either as part of your case or to anticipate that the defense will use it and find a way to respond. Such pieces of evidence include past personal injury claim files or past medical reports and records. You want your attorney to be backed up by a solid, dependable team that can work together to win. 

In New Jersey, all attorneys are required to attend 24 hours of continuing legal education every two years. While general practitioners must stay up-to-date in all areas of the law, personal injury lawyers will devote almost all of their time to staying current in the evolving area of personal injury law.

Personal injury cases are expensive. They require an expert narrative report, which can cost between $500 and $1,500. Catastrophic injury cases require several other expert witnesses. Other experts may include accident reconstructionists, life care planners, vocational rehabilitation experts, safety engineers, and economists. Expert witnesses can be quite costly, but they are essential to proving that the defendant is liable for injuries.  

Additional expenses like court filing fees, deposition costs, and trial costs continue to add up, but there’s no need to stress about how much you will pay. Our firm will advance all these costs so your case can proceed smoothly.

Remember: any litigation costs advanced will be deducted from the gross settlement amount before calculating our legal fee. What that means is that in the end, the lawyer is actually going to be paying up to one-third of the disbursements since their fee will be reduced by that amount.

If you hire your lawyer on a contingency fee basis, they only get paid a legal fee if you receive payment through a settlement or collected judgment. On a contingency basis, your attorney will get a percentage of the amount collected. Generally, you should want your lawyer to accept your case on a contingency fee basis, especially if significant insurance is involved. If you retain a lawyer hourly, you will pay the monthly amount you are billed based on your lawyer’s hourly rate and time committed to your file. You generally will pay a legal fee whether or not you win the case. While you can hire a personal injury attorney on an hourly basis, you will more than likely be required to give the lawyer an up-front cash retainer and advance all expert witness fees and expenses incurred as part of the claim. If a lawyer asks for an hourly fee arrangement, this could be cause for concern as they probably have little confidence in winning the case.

Lawyers who accept cases on a contingency basis will likely do whatever is necessary to move the case along as quick as possible.

Active personal injury lawyers know which insurance companies will settle or take a case to trial. Insurance carriers consider several factors to determine if they will deny payment on a claim. An experienced personal injury lawyer wil create a different strategy for each insurance carrier. If your New Jersey defendant is insured by Allstate, State Farm, Geico, Liberty Mutual, New Jersey Manufacturers (NJM), Plymouth Rock, Travelers, Selective, or Progressive, you better make sure your lawyer has experience winning in the courtroom.

Lawyers will recognize other lawyers in their community for their achievements. They can do this through agencies like Martindale-Hubbell, an independent lawyer rating agency. The highest rating an attorney can receive is an “AV” rating. This rating is only given after other independent attorneys favorably evaluate a candidate with an AV rating.

Law and Politics Magazine is another group that rates attorneys. Each year, they poll lawyers to determine the top 5 percent of the practitioners in each practice area statewide and nationwide. They recognize these lawyers as “SuperLawyers.”

Many accomplished attorneys will hold positions as officers or trustees of state bar associations, trial lawyer associations like the New Jersey Association for Justice, or local county bar associations. If your lawyer is an officer or serves on the board of governors of such an association, he or she probably has earned the respect of their colleagues.