How to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles

The responsibilities of a personal injury lawyer include filing legal complaints, offering legal advice, and preparing legal documents to represent you in court. That's the concise version. However, depending on the case, your personal injury lawyer will also collect and examine the evidence, which may include hiring an investigator to get testimony from any witnesses who saw what happened to you. 

Furthermore, your personal injury lawyer will be responsible for dealing with any insurance companies. Once you've hired a lawyer, the insurance companies and their attorneys must conduct all communications through your lawyer, taking the burden off of you. 

Your personal injury lawyer will prepare and file pleadings which will consist of any number of documents presented to the defendant and the court. During this process, you'll be in close communication with your lawyer as they will need to confirm the information that is being presented.

They will also represent you at the disposition, which is the process of giving sworn evidence to the court. A disposition is also a chance to define the most critical issues of the case before a trial. It provides both parties a clear view of the evidence. 

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, your lawyer will represent you should you need to go to trial. That's why it is critical to retain the services of a trial-ready lawyer that is experienced in laying out cases to a judge and jury. Many would rather just settle during litigation or out-of-court. However, if you have a strong case, you may get a better settlement by going to trial. 

• How long have you been practicing law in Los Angeles?
• How long have you been specializing in personal injury cases?
• Are you preparing my case as if we are going to trial?
• How many cases have you taken to trial, and what were the results?
• Have you handled a case similar to mine in the past?
• Do you think we'll have issues with this case?
• How much do you think I could win with my case?
• How long do you think it will take to conclude my case?
• Do you think my case will be resolved out of court?
• Do you have the time to dedicate to winning my case?
• What will communication be like between us?
• Will I be able to speak directly with you?
• Do you have past clients I can speak with for references?
• Who else will help you with my case, and what is their experience?
• If we do not win the case, what are my out-of-pocket expenses?
• What are your fees?

A personal injury lawyer typically handles cases that involve the negligence of others. Some examples of negligence that may warrant a lawsuit are car and truck accidents. Also, slip and falls, aviation accidents, medical and legal malpractice, negligent child care, and wrongful death. However, this is not an exhaustive list. To truly understand if you have a personal injury case, you need to speak to a qualified personal injury attorney.

If you've been injured, you may already have been contacted by the wrongdoer's insurance company. It may seem that they are acting in good faith by offering you compensation, condolences, and generally behaving in a professional and friendly manner. However, you have to ask yourself, whose interests are the insurance company looking out for? The insurance company is always looking to protect its bottom line, and you should too.

Before taking the settlement they offer, think about your future. Will the insurance company's compensation cover future medical bills? If your injury requires physical therapy or possible future surgeries, will it be covered? What about all those follow-up doctor visits that are required?

The next thing to think about is your lost wages. The settlement the insurance company offers may not include covering your inability to work overtime because you're still recovering from your injuries. Also, what if you're no longer able to do the work you used to do. Are you going to have to accept a lower-paying job to survive?

What about pain and suffering? It's not easy to translate pain and suffering into a dollar amount as a layperson. Pain and suffering is a real thing. You shouldn't let the insurance company get away with minimizing or lowballing an offer because they know you don't have the skillset to calculate what the compensation should be.

The length of a lawsuit is perhaps one of the hardest things to answer. Every accident is different, and the health of every person injured in an accident is different. Some settlements come as quickly as a few weeks; others can be drawn out for years. Much of the timeline will be determined by the severity of your injuries. 

Because of this, it is important to get a physician's care after you've been injured. Obviously, because of your health, but it's also easier to prove the severity of an injury with an expert's opinion. If you don't seek care, it makes it more difficult to prove damages. 

Contacting a personal injury lawyer should be your next step because they will swing into action and begin an investigation. Your lawyer will want to know everything about the accident, your current condition, and they'll ask about your medical background.

Your personal injury lawyer will negotiate with the insurance companies on your behalf. If the injury is minor, they may settle out of court. If your injuries are severe or you need ongoing treatment, your lawyer may want to take your case to trial. In either instance, a demand won't be made until you've reached a point of maximum medical improvement. That is when all treatments due to the accident have been concluded. Thus the severity of your injury can dictate the timeline.

You've already read a lot about what to expect from a personal injury case, but finding the right Los Angeles personal injury lawyer is crucial with everything that is at stake. Working with Morgan & Morgan gives you a distinct advantage over hiring just any lawyer, and here's why. With over 1,000 trial-ready lawyers across the U.S., we offer a wealth of knowledge that is unparalleled. In every case we take on, we also provide access to an incredible support system. Our resources include highly regarded expert witnesses, investigators, and legal staff ready to give you the backing you need to win your case.

We've had over 70,000 cases successfully resolved just this last year and have recovered over $20 billion for our clients. Why settle for less than your case is worth with a less qualified team? Our motto is "For the People," and that's what we strive for every day because each client is special. You deserve to get the right kind of compensation you need to get on with your life and be happy, and that's what we want to deliver. Let us take the burden off your shoulders by contacting us for a free case evaluation today!