FINDING THE RIGHT LAWYER FOR YOU
All lawyers are not the same. Most lawyers have been to law school, all have passed the state bar examination, at some time in their lives, but lawyers are human beings too and are just as diverse, and different, as any other collection of people.
Certainly they all have different interests, abilities and experience that vary greatly. They also have very different personalities, perspectives, attitudes and values. All of these things effect you, their ability to work with you, and how effective they will be in their representation of you.
The law spans a vast body of human knowledge. Because of that, it has become increasingly specialized. Just as the "old family doctor", making house calls, is a thing of the past, so is the "old family lawyer" who took care, as best he could, of all a family's legal problems like wills, divorces, the sale of property, and the probating of estates.
While there are relatively few certified, or officially recognized, specialties in the law, most lawyers, as a practical matter, "specialize", or focus, on one or two major areas, such as estate planning, real estate, family law, criminal law, tax law, personal injury, etc.
They do so out of necessity since developing expertise in even one of those areas can be a full time job requiring a life time commitment. And, within those specialized areas there are
frequently "sub-specialties", such as the personal injury lawyer that handles only medical malpractice cases or the criminal lawyer who concentrates on representing only persons accused of "white collar crimes".
Not all lawyers have the same experience or training. Not all are skilled negotiators. Not all have the same writing and organizational skills. Not all devote the necessary amount of time and energy needed or pay the attention to detail that is necessary.
If you have been seriously injured in a truck accident, make no mistake about it, you need, you deserve, to be represented by an attorney who is experienced in handling truck accidents; preferably someone who knows the difference between a "tractor" and a "trailer", a "bill of lading" and a "log book".
A basic knowledge of truck anatomy, federal and state trucking regulations and industry practices (both legal and illegal) are essential.
Large trucking companies frequently try to insulate themselves from legal liability by hiding behind a series of leases, and sub-hauler agreements, and by using "independent contractors".
In an accident involving just one big-rig, there could easily be ten, or more potential defendants who could have some legal responsibility for your injuries!
Just identifying, sorting out, and making certain that the proper parties are sued can be a very complicated task requiring careful analysis by a knowledgeable lawyer familiar with the trucking industry.
"Trucking lawyers" are a bread apart. Generally they tend to be low profile specialists who know more about trucks, and trucking, than any other lawyer ever wanted to know. A good one will be very selective in the cases that he accepts and will tend to have a relatively small case load.
No "trucking lawyer" can handle 300-400 major truck accidents and do his clients justice. He generally will be content with a few carefully chosen cases that have real merit and offer a genuine opportunity to make a substantial recovery for his client.
Because of the inherently uneven playing field, all truck accident cases are "high-risk" endeavors but some are more high-risk than others. The pro will tend to leave the marginal cases to his less experienced, less knowledgeable, colleagues.
Avoid "Tv lawyers" and Big Firms. Typically, the personal injury lawyers you see on television are engaged in high-volume, assembly-line, practices. They have to in order to pay thoseoutrageously high tv advertising rates! And, while they are always hoping to "land the big one", they tend to "feed" on a volume of poor quality, low impact, soft-tissue injury cases.
I once worked for a big firm. It had somewhere between 2,000-2,500 personal injury cases in its inventory. No one knew for certain. There were so many no one could ever get an accurate count! However, each of the firm's lawyers carried a case load of 250-350 cases!
At one point, the firm started taking pictures of each new client, and placing them in the file, so that the lawyers could recognize their clients when they saw them!
That is generally the problem with big firms. They're big and always interested in getting bigger. They generally are multi-million dollar corporations and, like all large corporations, tend to be cold, impersonal and fixated on their bottom line.
Another problem with big firms: unless you have a multi-million case, or are in position to steer millions of dollars in fees to the firm, don't expect your case to handled by one of the partners or anybody whose name is on the letterhead.
Your case will be assigned to an associate based upon your perceived "importance" to the firm. That can mean the kid who just past the bar exam and was hired last week!
To try and hide that fact, a lot of firms now days, at least, nominally assign your case to a partner in the firm, or to a "team" of lawyers, but, all too often, the only person you ever get to see, or talk to, and the only person who actually works on your file on a day-to-day basis, is -- you guessed it -- the newest kid on the block!
If you want personal attention, or what passes for personal attention in the legal world, you will have to go a solo practitioner, or small firm, where the lawyer who will be representing you is actually the one with the experience, the knowledge, the special expertise -- and the one who you will be dealing with on a day-to-day basis!
Always avoid any lawyer, or law firm, that uses "runners", "cappers", or other illegal, or unethical, means of soliciting your
legal business. Unfortunately, there are a certain number of bad apples in every barrel and the legal profession is no different.
Sad to say, there are greedy lawyers out there who want to represent everybody in the world, who see every injury victim as a dollar sign, and who will, literally, do almost anything in order to sign you up including committing the felony of employing "runners", or "cappers", to directly solicit you at the scene, in the ambulance, in the emergency room, in your hospital room, even in your own living room. They will call you at all hours of the day and night!
The practice is wide spread and is the source of the derogatory term "ambulance chaser". Except for occasional blatant exceptions, it tends to be tolerated because it so common, is usually done undercover or in circumstances that are hard to prove, is seldom complained of, and is engaged in by some of the biggest, most prestigious, personal injury firms around.
The most common practice involves having an "investigator" contact you, under the guise of investigating the accident, to recommend the firm, leave you a business firm, or, preferably, sign you up!
In reality, the "investigator" isn't investigating anything. He is simply a "solicitor", illegally and unethically soliciting you just as a prostitute might solicit a "john" on the street!
Be alert, however, there are many variations: the tow truck driver, the ambulance attendant, the emergency room nurse, who are paid, or given gratuities, to mention, or recommend, the law firm, or place its business card in your hand, or in your pocket, or among your belongings.
Avoid all lawyers who engage in such illegal, and unethical,
practices. You need, and want, a lawyer you can trust. The last thing in the world you need is be represented by a lawyer who is committing a felony for which he could be sent to prison if caught!