How to choose a good auto accident lawyer: rules and tips

Legislation, including in the section of traffic rules, is quite voluminous and confusing. It is almost impossible to understand all aspects and nuances of applying the letter of the law, which is why the rights of motorists are so often violated by both law enforcement officers and various companies, for example, insurers.

Unfortunately, there is a tradition to turn to a car accident attorney only in the most extreme cases, which is why many citizens lose not only money, but also faith in justice. This material will help readers understand:

• in what cases it is required to contact a car lawyer immediately;
  
• What is included in the competence of lawyers in an accident;
• how to choose a good expert, not an amateur fraudster;
• how to save money on legal services.

How can a car lawyer help a driver?

You can contact a car lawyer when it comes to an illegal fine and deprivation of rights, or when an insurance company underestimates, delays payments or refuses them at all. But much worse than the situation when an innocent motorist is held responsible for an accident - in such situations, the involvement of a lawyer is simply necessary.

Depending on the complexity of the situation, you can choose different services of lawyers. When it comes to appealing a fine, you can get advice, including online. If a dispute with the insurer is brewing, then you can order the preparation of a pre-trial claim, which, most likely, will put an end to the disagreements between the insurance company and the motorist. Some lawyers may go to the scene of a traffic violation or to the scene of a traffic accident in order to resolve the conflict before drawing up protocols. If the incident has already moved to the stage of litigation, then you can purchase the service of legal representation, then the lawyer will be able to speak in court on behalf of his client. In general, there are a lot of situations in which a car lawyer can save a client money, nerves and time.

Ways to get legal advice

As mentioned above, there are a lot of types of legal services now. You can contact a lawyer in one of four common ways:

Through a legal aid website.  Now there are a lot of sites with legal information on the Internet, and most of them have round-the-clock consultants. You can get  legal help online  on our website. You can contact them by simply sending a message in the pop-up chat. The message should be clear and concise; if the question requires a detailed answer, then you should specify a phone number or e-mail.
It is better to contact highly specialized sites whose consultants are used to working in the field of traffic rules. For any question, the visitor will receive a free advice or recommendation. And if necessary, he can order more serious and time-consuming legal services.

By email.  The same sites with legal assistance, as well as sites of law firms, often indicate e-mail in contacts, where you can get a free consultation. The disadvantage of this method is that the answer will have to wait longer. But the motorist will be able to get a slightly more detailed explanation.

By phone or Skype.  In the "Contacts" section, there will definitely be not only email, but also a phone number. On the sites of legal help operators receive calls around the clock, while law firms often set working hours (at night or at lunchtime, the client may not wait for an answer). To receive a video consultation in Skype or another application, you need to make an appointment in advance and set the time of the conversation. You will have to pay for a consultation in this format: if a lawyer offers a free conversation on Skype, then he is most likely a scammer.

In the office.  And finally, the most traditional option for obtaining legal assistance is a personal meeting. Of course, in serious cases, this method of communication is most preferable: the client will be able to more accurately assess both the specialist himself and the office of the company he represents. Face-to-face consultations are paid, but free ones usually come down to a simple offer of their services: the lawyer will tell you what he can do and how much it will cost, without providing the client with any information that could help him solve his problem on his own.

Stages of activity of a lawyer in an accident

When solving serious problems, the work of an auto lawyer can be divided into several stages:

Analysis of the situation.
The first action that a car lawyer must take even before receiving payment for his services is to request the necessary documents, analyze the situation, assess the client’s ability to win the case and develop preliminary options for solving the problem. To do this, a lawyer may need diagrams and photos of the accident site, protocols and other documents obtained from insurance companies, court decisions if meetings have already been held, and so on.

Formation of a power of attorney.
In order to appear in court or file claims on behalf of their client, a lawyer must obtain a power of attorney to represent. After that, the motorist may not even appear at the meetings, and the specialist will do all the work for him (except in cases where the driver is accused in a criminal case).

Making a claim.
If we are talking about a dispute with an insurer or a second party in an accident, then a lawyer can write a pre-trial claim and resolve the conflict at this stage. This option is most preferable for all parties: no one will have to participate in litigation, and the motorist will save money, since writing a claim will cost much less than representation in court.

Drawing up a claim and participation in court.  If it was not possible to reach a compromise in the pre-trial procedure, then the lawyer will appear before the judge. He can either draw up and file a claim on his own, or act on behalf of the defendant.

End of the conflict.
Disagreements will stop either by the decision of the judge, or even at the stage of pre-trial claims. After that, it is necessary to pay the last part of the payment to the lawyer: either in the form of a commission from the amount of compensation, or a clear amount, depending on the agreement. If, even after a court decision, the insurer or the culprit of the accident does not make the due payment, then a car lawyer can help draw up documents for applying for the enforcement of debt collection with the help of bailiffs.

How to choose a car lawyer?

To choose a good lawyer and not run into scammers, you need to know a few rules:

Reach out to professionals who have similar cases in their portfolio.
It doesn't matter how many cases a lawyer won, as long as they didn't look like the current one. Experience in the relevant field plays a key role. It is better to go to an average highly specialized lawyer than to a high-class general practice lawyer.

Learn about the possibility of attracting additional experts.
If a lawyer has acquaintances in other areas, for example, expert appraisers, then the likelihood of a successful outcome increases significantly. You need to find out about the presence of connections and the possibility of attracting third parties before paying for services and drawing up an agreement.

Refuse lawyers who guarantee victory in court.  No car lawyer can predict the outcome of a case with 100% certainty. Even during the most simple and obvious trial, new facts and circumstances can emerge that completely change the course of the case. No self-respecting lawyer would risk their reputation guaranteeing victory in order to attract clients.

Explore the lawyer's website.  In 2022, the site is the “face” of any company, so you can evaluate the attitude of a lawyer to work even before getting to know him. First, you need to pay attention to design. The appearance of the site should be neat and pleasant, and the interface should be clear and simple. Secondly, you need to check the quality of legal content. On many sites, lawyers publish author's articles on a particular topic. If they are written illiterately or simply do not carry any useful information, then you should not trust such a “specialist”. Thirdly, you need to find a price list. The price of each case, of course, is negotiated individually, as it depends on many parameters, but the site should have at least an approximate price list for typical services.

Tips for saving on legal fees

In conclusion, here are some more tips to save money when choosing a lawyer.

Negotiate installment payments.

Litigation is an unpredictable business, so you should not pay for all the services of a lawyer at once. If the proceedings are completed ahead of schedule, then the return of the money, most likely, will not work. And if additional services are required that are not included in the initial agreement, then no one will provide them for free. So it is better to pay for each stage of the process separately.

Contact lawyers through friends.

Many lawyers have some kind of referral program. If you contact a specialist whose client was your friend or acquaintance, you can get a small discount.

If possible, choose online consultations.

Live communication is important to many, but an online consultation will require less time and often costs much less.

Reach out to newbies.

If the problem is quite simple and typical, that even a novice lawyer, for example, a recent university graduate, can cope with it, then it makes no sense to overpay a professional one.