Now that more and more people are choosing to ride a bicycles overtaking the car, there will be a logical increase in bicycle accidents. Being in a bike accident is potentially far worse than a car accident as you have very little protection. And since bicyclists are often sharing the road with cars, the potential is there for some serious injuries.
If you’ve been in a bike accident and have some physical or emotional trauma that you are dealing with then you will need to make sure to have a good lawyer on your side. In fact, there are many firms like Polito and Harrington that specialize in bicycle accidents.
In this article, we will go over the things to look out for to make sure that you choose the best bike accident lawyer for your case.
What is their success rate?
Many firms will have a lawyer that specializes in bicycle accidents so you would assume that they would have a better chance at winning a case than those that don’t have the same experience. However, this may not actually be the case. The only way to really determine if a specialized lawyer can help you is to see what their success rate is with these types of cases.
Good lawyers are keen to share their numbers with prospective clients so make sure to ask them what their success rate is. Not only that, but ask them if they settled out of court. Those numbers may not show in their success rate figures. If they have a lot of settlements then ask them why they chose to settle rather than continue to fight it through the courts.
If you see that they have had a few losses then ask them why they thought those cases didn’t end up in the win column. It may signal that they will take on any case that comes before them even if it has little chance of standing on its own. This would be a bad sign as you want to make sure your case is solid.
Find out who will be in charge of the case
Having a good rapport between you and your lawyer is essential. It puts you at ease and that makes the lawyer’s job that much easier. The problem is that sometimes the person who you talk to initially will not be handling the case. They send the report to the person who will be handling it and sometimes things get confusing. Not only that, but the person in charge may not have much experience and this can be the difference between compensation and losing a case. Find out who will be handling your case so you can speak with them directly.
What do they charge?
Don’t be afraid to ask them how they will be paid and how much. Some personal injury lawyers ask for a contingency fee and will take a percentage of your compensation if you are awarded any. How much of a percentage depends highly on the firm. Make sure you understand how much they will receive before you hire them to take your case.
This post was last modified on November 12, 2022 12:47 am