Pick a Personal Injury Lawyer

Pick a Personal Injury Lawyer by Eric Parker	Click on icon to download PDF version

To be a personal injury lawyer is to live in two very different worlds. In the regular world, we are regarded mostly with disdain. To most, we are the people that you see in tacky daytime television commercials. That lady that spilled hot coffee in her lap and recovered millions seems to come up a lot. People of my generation mostly seem to remember the Brady Bunch episode where Mike Brady throws the briefcase, and the faking Plaintiff turns her head, proving that she didn’t really have whiplash after all. The common thread is that personal injury lawyers and lawsuits are unethical, frequent and excessive.

Within our office, things are quite different. Every day, we hear from regular people, whose lives were unexpectedly derailed by a personal injury. A typical example is Fred. Fred worked for the railroad and earned a decent salary. He’d hardly missed a day of work in 15 years on the job. About a year ago, a trucker driving way too fast rearended his car and left Fred with a herniated disc in his neck. Fred was out of work for seven months while doctors tried everything from physical therapy to spinal surgery to fix the problem. The surgery helped a little, but Fred is still in a lot of pain. He’s now trying to go back to work. He’s got $125,000 in medical bills and he’s in danger of losing his house because of the months that he couldn’t work. Fred’s case is not unusual.

The problem we face as Fred’s lawyers is that jurors mostly live in the first world. When they show up to decide cases, most believe that personal injury lawsuits are frivolous and unnecessary. And they don’t think much of personal injury lawyers either. Given the way that some personal injury lawyers practice, it is hard to blame them for that viewpoint. In truth, the research has shown that there really is no glut of personal injury lawsuits. Jury verdicts are not spiraling out of control. Very few lawsuits are frivolous. Still, if jurors believe that they are, the best thing we can do is to prove that your case is different.

It’s not just a matter of improving the public perception of personal injury attorneys, it’s a matter of winning cases. If the jury senses that your attorney is exaggerating, overstating the case, or worse yet – lying; the case is lost. At our firm, we seek to avoid this trap by ensuring that each time we set foot in a courtroom, we are respectful of the jury and the process. This means that we are prepared, organized and timely. When we tell the jury that we will prove something, we prove it. When we make an argument, we make sure that there is proof to support it. By the end of the trial, if we have done this well, we have credibility. With credibility, the jury really listens when we tell them that Fred deserves compensation.

If this sounds like a pitch for you to hire Stotis & Baird – in a sense, it is. But, the larger point is that if you need a personal injury lawyer, you need a good one. There are a lot of good personal injury attorneys – not just us. By taking the time to seek out a true professional, you will greatly improve your chances of getting a good result. So what can you do?

If you know a lawyer, ask them for a recommendation. Meet with a prospective lawyer and make sure that they are responsive and willing to answer your questions. If they don’t do it at the beginning, they certainly won’t later in the case. Make sure they explain the attorney’s fees to you. You may not like it, but it’s better to know up front. If you are unsure about an attorney you interview, meet some others before deciding. And, of course, feel free to call us. If we can’t help, we are more than happy to recommend an excellent attorney who can.