Legal Question in Personal Injury in Indiana
What should we know when hiring a personal injury attorney? What questions should we ask? How are fees negoiated? Is there a difference between personal injury and tort claims, if so what is the difference?
2 Answers from Attorneys
It is really a judgment call. You should confirm that there are no disciplinary matters pending and that he or she has handled your kind of case before. Availability and willingness to communicate about your case on an ongong basis is also important. Generally, fees are not negotiable, A personal injury is one kind of tort. Another would be for example unfair competition in a business setting.
You should ask for how long they have been handling personal injury cases and how many of them they have tried to a jury. You should ask them whether they have won most of the cases they have tried. Ask them if you can talk to some of their former personal injury clients. Ask them if they return your calls within 24 hours. Ask them if they will be handling your case personally or passing it off to a junior associate or paralegal to prepare. Ask them if they are members of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association. If you have a large damage claim with good liablilty facts, you probably can negotiate some with the attorney concerning the fees. Contingency fees are typically from 33% to 40% of the recovery based upon how complex the case is and at what stage of the litigation the case settles. All personal injury claims are tort claims. There are some tort claims that do not involve personal injuries though, like slander, fraud, etc. Tort simply means a civil wrong not involving a contract dispute.