We have all been bombarded with TV and radio commercials throughout the years by personal injury attorneys. “Have you been injured, call so-and-so.”. It has been pounded into our heads. But, should you always hire an attorney if you are injured?

The simple answer is Yes. The reason for this is manyfold. You may not want to hire an attorney if your car was damaged by another person and their insurance offers you a fair price to fix it. But, when an injury is sustained, that brings the accident to the next level.

Angela, an injury attorney in Melbourne, FL. stated the following: “An insurance company will never have what’s best for you on their minds. They simply want to get out of the situation paying as little money as humanly possible. An injury attorney will gather all of your information and demand a fair settlement or sue them for the appropriate amount of money should they refuse.”

Even a minor neck injury may develop into something worse over time. The damaged muscle tissues may start to pull vertebrae out of joint and cause immense pain. That is the nature of neck and back injuries. You simply don’t know the full scope of them until years down the road. An attorney helps account for this in their lawsuit. 

About 95% if injury lawsuits are settled out of court. The insurance company really wants to keep from having to pay attorneys. The second the suit goes to court they know they just lost X amount of dollars and could potentially lose YZ more. 

Still, having an attorney will guarantee that they understand you are well-represented and will not be taken advantage of. The standard attorney fee is in the range of 25%-40% of the settlement or award. This sounds like a lot but they only collect if you win. The more money you are able to recoup the better for you and your attorney. So, it has a built-in incentive to get as much for you as possible. 

How to Find a Good Attorney

Don’t always call those numbers you see on TV or the huge firms that pay for all the commercial space. They have a ton of overhead and may treat your case as rudimentary. You want a “hands-on” firm that cares about you and the outcome of your case.

You can usually find an injury attorney by word-of-mouth or by checking Google Reviews. Google has a very good system of allowing reviews from most any person with an account. Even though every review may not be valid, if there are a great deal of negative reviews, then you know to stay away. The old adage “where there’s smoke there’s fire” comes to mind.