Selecting your personal injury, worker’s compensation, or social security disability attorney is a very important decision and will completely determine whether you receive a great settlement or not. It is best not to leave this important decision to chance. Injury attorney Richard S. Griffin of 877-PAIN-LAW recommends that research three specific areas when evaluating any attorney that you are considering. These categories are client reviews, awards, and recoveries. I have discussed these three important factors for my website (www.old.877painlaw.com) below:
(1) Client Reviews: Our website at wwwold.877painlaw.com allows potential clients to read or watch client reviews to see how happy our clients are with our representation. This is very important because client reviews allow you to verify that the law firm provides excellent representation.
(2) Awards: This allows you to see that the legal community has recognized our legal skills and ethics as excellent. Attorney Richard S. Griffin has been awarded a rating of Superb on AVVO and of AV Preeminent on Martindale-Hubble. These are the highest possible ratings for legal ability and ethics are based on client and attorney reviews.
(3) Recoveries: This section allows you to verify that our firm has a track record of great recoveries for our clients for nearly 20 years. Our PAIN LAW attorneys have recovered over $50,000,000 for our injury clients.
Common ways to find a lawyer listed from worst to best?
Runners:
Runners are people who are paid to approach injured people and ask them to go to particular doctors or lawyers. Runners often offer to pay injured people to go to doctors and lawyers that are paying them. This approach is unethical and demonstrates that the doctors and lawyers. Engaging in this should be avoided since they are not acting in an ethical and honest manner.
[Rating: Worst / Unethical]
Referral Services:
Referral services are companies that advertise for personal injury cases, but they aren’t real attorneys. One of the ways to know it’s a referral service is if there is no specific attorney or law firm mentioned in the advertisement. Often times referral service will have disclaimers that they are a referral service and not an attorney and that they cannot offer any legal advice. Clearly attorney referral services are one of the worst ways to select your attorney. These companies use marketing to sell injury leads to whoever pays them for these leads. This means that the referral service who is owned and operated by non-lawyers is directing your case to any attorney willing to pay for their service. Willing to pay for a lead does not establish that that lawyer is good only that they have money.
[Rating: Bad]
Yellow Pages:
Yellow pages is better than a referral service since they do not attempt to “guide” you into a particular lawyer, but it is just like any other form of advertising. It is one way to find lawyers to consider, but it does not remove the need for the client to perform a thorough review to determine if the lawyer is right for them.
[Rating: Neutral]
TV and Radio Advertising Attorneys:
Lawyers who advertise on television or radio are attempting to get their name out there. There is nothing wrong with legal advertising, but a thorough review of the attorney you are considering is still needed. I would recommend reading the reviews, awards, and settlements to further evaluate the lawyer.
[Rating: Neutral]
Legal Directories:
These are directories that lawyers pay to advertise on that also provide a list of lawyers to consider. However, just because an attorney has a listing on a legal directory does not mean that a thorough review of the potential lawyer is not important. The careful review of the awards, recoveries, and reviews is still recommended.
[Rating: Neutral]
Doctor Referrals:
Doctors are great for treating injuries, but selecting your doctor first and then simply going to the attorney they recommend to you may not be the best approach. Just because the attorney has a good relationship to the doctor doesn’t automatically mean that the attorney is good. Researching the lawyer as described below is needed.
[Rating: Neutral]
Website Research:
This is a good way to find an attorney, but it is also a type of advertising. The web does allow you to review many different sites quickly and compare the lawyers you are considering. However, a careful review of the lawyer’s website is needed to verify that they are good, capable, honest attorneys who deliver great recoveries.
[Rating: Good]
Expert Appearances:
This allows the lawyer to be evaluated for a period of time in a situation that is often an interview style. This can be very helpful in getting to know the attorney. Often viewers can evaluate the lawyer to determine if he or she is honest, compassionate, likable, and talented. This is helpful, but a review of the attorney’s website for client reviews, legal awards, and settlements and verdicts is still needed.
[Rating: Good]
Google Reviews:
This can be a great way to see how real clients felt about the attorney’s work. This is one factor, but utilizing the above mentioned review is still important.
[Rating: Good]
Client Referrals:
Referrals of attorneys from friends or family can be a good source for beginning your search for your lawyer. However, you still need to perform the review of the client testimonials, awards, and recoveries to make sure that the attorney you are considering is the right attorney for you.
[Rating: Good]
The most important decision you can make if you have a personal injury, worker’s compensation, wrongful death, or social security disability claim is which attorney you hire. This single decision will determine if the following occurs or not:
(1) Good communication with your attorney;
(2) Good customer service from your attorney and his staff;
(3) Assistance in getting the medical treatment you need;
(4) Complete documentation of your damages;
(5) A quick resolution to your claim;
(6) A fair resolution (settlement or verdict) that fully compensates you for your claim.
Free Consultation: Call injury attorney Richard S. Griffin and his PAIN LAW attorneys today at 877-PAIN-LAW (877-724-6529) or submit your case through our contact us form for our careful evaluation.
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