
The 5 Traits To Look For When You Need A Car Accident Lawyer In Miami
So, there you are. You’re vacationing or traveling for business in lovely Miami, FL and boom. You’re in a car accident. You’ve sought the medical treatment you needed right after the accident, and now you need an attorney to help you with your claim against the negligent party.
Because you’re from out of state, finding an attorney can be more challenging. Normally, you might reach out to friends and family for recommendations. But you’re not from around here and so don’t have that referral system in place. (In fact, the reason you’re reading this blog right now is probably because you were searching online for recommendations and referrals.)
So, as you perform your search, how do you go about choosing the right lawyer for your case? Here are five traits I recommend your attorney have…
**1) Licensed To Practice Law in Florida
**You probably know a personal injury attorney that you like and trust back home and would hire that attorney immediately to handle your case. The chances are slim that your attorney back home is licensed in the State of Florida. To pursue a lawsuit in Florida though, you’ll need to be working with an attorney licensed to practice law in this state. If you have an attorney back home that you trust, I’d be happy to chat with you and them about your accident.
**2) Personal Injury Experience
**Personal Injury Law is very intricate here in Florida. To win your suit, your lawyer needs to show that the elements for a defendant to be considered negligent were met. An attorney that’s a generalist and who doesn’t focus on personal injury matters may not know how to handle your case properly.
**3) Trial Experience
**There are quite a few personal injury attorneys who have no trial experience, so hire one that does. Either they just haven’t gotten the opportunity, or they view going to trial as a hassle they’d prefer to evade. Regardless, this could negatively impact your case before and after a lawsuit is filed. How can you get the best offer to settle your case if you can’t use “we are going to trial” as your ultimatum?
**4) Set Up To Handle Your In-State Case While You’re Out Of State
**It’s tricky, but we’re set up to efficiently manager this process for you. For instance, no matter where you’re located, we’ll coordinate with your doctors, tracking all medical records and expenses. We also use videoconferencing to conduct conversations remotely and try to limit the amount of time you will need to travel back to Florida to handle matters relating to your lawsuit in person. Similarly, if possible, we will schedule your deposition and mediation over zoom or some other video conferencing platform to minimize the stress of traveling back to Florida. If you are required to come back to Florida for a compulsory medical exam or other legal proceeding, we’ll do our best to combine these proceedings into the same trip, even going so far to file a motion with the court that makes it a requirement that the defendant coordinate with us to schedule complementary proceedings on the same visit. Of course, if we go to court, you’ll need to plan on attending the trial in person. That is unavoidable.
**5) Feel Comfortable With Them
**How you feel with them is an important component that’s often overlooked in the effort to find a “real shark” when it comes to an attorney. But the truth is you should feel good about the person you’re hiring. Do you like their style? Do they listen to you? Do they put in the effort to effectively explain the process so you understand? After all, if they can’t explain it to you, they may not be good at detailing important elements of the case to a mediator, judge or jury. You’re going to be spending a long time working with this individual. Find someone you feel you can work with throughout your case.
Thought it through? Contact me. I’m happy to walk through my bonafides in the above areas.