Assessing Whether You Have the Correct Richmond Auto Accident Lawyer

If you are involved in a serious car mishap, you may not even have to search a phone directory to find auto accident lawyers in Richmond. Some lawyers and law firms may call you, within hours (which may or may not be appropriate), to offer their services.

Some may be qualified to handle your case, while others might be what are referred to as settlement mills, firms that represent hundreds of plaintiffs against insurance companies and are known for expediting the process. While what they can achieve might be a quick settlement, it may be woefully inadequate for covering long-term expenses.

No matter where you live in Virginia, Richmond auto accidents of a serious nature can place enormous costs on victims over time. For that reason alone, you need to consider what your auto accident injury means in terms of medical and therapy costs, how it will affect your ability to work, and how it might require adaptive construction costs to your home or reduce your ability to care for other family members.

How to find a good automobile accident lawyer in Richmond: Some important questions to ask

These are among the many reasons why you may need to be more thorough and systematic in your automobile accident attorney search. Here are four questions to ask yourself while sorting through your options:

• Does the firm have experience handling wrongful death? If the accident resulted in death of a loved one, the nature of the case escalates. It is to your advantage to work with a firm that has experience in this area of practice.
• How much experience in auto accidents does the firm have? No one wants their lawsuit to be a training exercise for the attorney. Select a firm that understands the laws and the courts, and in particular, how insurance companies handle such cases.
• Does the firm have trial experience? Avoid the aforementioned settlement mills. All Richmond automobile accident lawyers work on a contingency basis, meaning they are paid when a case is settled. By working in volume, settlement mills move quickly toward settling before a trial—this maneuver reduces their costs. But insurance companies generally negotiate for a lesser amount with firms that take this approach. A firm known to sometimes go to trial is usually more successful at pre-trial settlements.
• Is the attorney sympathetic to your current financial challenges? An attorney should explain how to adeptly handle financial burdens between now and when a settlement is reached. If you can find a lawyer who shows true interest and care in your case, the process is sure to be much more bearable.

Note also that it is okay to ask questions of lawyers. If you live in Richmond and have suffered a car accident injury or death, you are entitled to be selective.

Contact an automobile accident lawyer in Richmond

It is also okay to acknowledge being new to hiring an attorney. Almost no one is experienced at being injured or suffering a loss of a family member.

…Now let us work for you
If a loved one died as a result of a car accident in Richmond, or if you were injured in an auto accident, we want to hear from you. For a free consultation with a Douglas A. Lines, P.C. automobile accident injury attorney, call 804-762-4878 or contact us online.