Where Can I Find the Best Mesothelioma Lawyer in Pittsburgh

Finding a lawyer can be an incredibly intimidating experience, especially if this is the first time you’ve ever been involved with the legal system. Many people find that cost can sometimes be a barrier in finding a lawyer, but fortunately, a large percentage of attorneys who handle civil cases handle all of their cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that you don’t pay anything unless they win or settle your case. If you’re trying to determine how to hire the best lawyer for you or a loved one, consider the following tips:

Talk to friends and family

If you need a lawyer, the first thing you should do is speak with friends and family. See if anyone you know and trust has had to use a lawyer before. If they have, find out what type of lawyer they hired. Even if it isn’t a mesothelioma lawyer, you can see if they’d be willing to ask that lawyer for a referral for a reliable attorney who can handle your specific issue. Getting a recommendation from someone you know and trust can make it a lot easier for you to talk to a lawyer and have faith that they’ll handle your case appropriately. 

Search the internet

If you don’t know any lawyers and don’t have any recommendations from friends or family, the next best option is to look online. Start with Google and search for mesothelioma lawyers in Pittsburgh near where you live. A ton of results will likely pop up. Go through the results, take a look at some of the attorneys’ websites, and pick a few that you think might be a good match for your needs. Once you make a list of those attorneys, you should start looking for reviews that former clients left for them. Look on their websites but be careful not to only look at reviews left on a lawyer’s own website, as those reviews are likely to be hand-picked, and there almost certainly won’t be any negative reviews for you to consider. Search for reviews on Google or see if the lawyer or firm has a Facebook page where clients have left comments. The more reviews you can find, the better equipped you will be to see how the attorneys treat their clients.

Set up free consultations

Once you have a list of attorneys you think might be a good match for you, and you’ve gone through reviews, you should set up free consultations with multiple lawyers. Almost all attorneys who handle mesothelioma cases will offer a free consultation. At this meeting, you can briefly discuss your case and see if they think you will be able to recover any compensation. They can ask you questions about your case as well, and hopefully let you know if they’ll be willing to take your case or not. This is a great way to see if a lawyer will be a good choice for you or not. 

Don’t forget to ask about fee agreements

Even if you hire a lawyer who operates on a contingency fee basis, it’s important to hammer out the details and make sure you know exactly what fees you will be responsible for, if any. If they lose the case, will you be charged at all? Some lawyers won’t charge you anything, but others might charge you court filing fees or other expenses they had to pay upfront, such as the cost of requesting medical records. Other lawyers mean it when they say you don’t pay anything unless they win your case. And what if you win? Do you have to pay for filing fees and medical records? Anything else? What percentage of the award will the lawyer be charging you? Make sure you know the answer to all of these questions before you sign anything and before you decide who you are going to hire. 

Choose someone with experience

While this might sound obvious, it’s an important quality not to overlook. You want to make sure the lawyer you hire has experience handling your specific legal issues. Have they dealt with mesothelioma cases before? Have they filed lawsuits regarding this type of claim before? Have they dealt with mesothelioma and asbestos trust funds?  All of these areas of expertise should be in your attorneys’ resumes. It doesn’t matter if you hire a lawyer who has 50 years of experience; If they don’t have any experience handling the issue you are dealing with, their experience is meaningless. 

Choose someone who will keep you in the loop. Another issue to consider is how easy or difficult it will be to communicate with the lawyer you hire. Many people want to be very involved in their case, while others don’t want to be updated or speak with the lawyer unless it’s absolutely necessary. Determine which kind of involvement you think you want, and make sure you choose a lawyer accordingly. If you want to be updated often, find out how this will happen. Will you be able to call your lawyer? Email them? Or will you only be able to speak to a paralegal or other support staff?