According to the Insurance Research Council, settlements were 40% higher when a lawyer was involved in the process. There are many reasons why this may be true. An experienced lawyer knows how to recognize a lowball offer from the insurance company. An amateur lawyer may not accurately account for the ongoing effects of your accident injuries. They may be willing to accept a settlement that will not cover the full range of costs you may accrue over time.
Deciding when to settle and when to go to trial is more of an art than a science. An amateur lawyer may avoid going to trial because they are unsure of their ability to perform. Alternately, an amateur lawyer may ‘jump the gun’ and take your case trial unnecessarily. An experienced lawyer is less likely to involve his or her own insecurities and emotions in the decision about when to settle and when to go to trial. Confidence and level-headedness come with experience.
Sure, the amateur lawyer’s fees might be less per hour. But does it matter, if it takes your lawyer twice as long to file the same reports and take the same affidavits when compared to a more experienced lawyer? Inefficiency drives up your costs.
An experienced lawyer will be more likely to avoid cases that can’t pay for themselves, whereas an amateur lawyer might take a case and only realize at some point down the road that the case is faulty.
An amateur lawyer may not know what kind of timeline to expect, especially if your case is one of the first of its kind that your lawyer has handled. Although no experienced lawyer can predict the future with 100% accuracy, an experienced lawyer’s expectations will be a lot closer to reality than an amateur lawyer’s.
Future medical appointments, travel costs, missed work, missed opportunities for job promotion, disfigurement, future costs of insurances, mental health therapies, the cost of your pain and suffering, the cost of the pain and suffering of loved ones and dependants – all of these elements and more may be included in a fair compensation award. An amateur lawyer may miss some of the future costs of your injury or lack the confidence to make a full pain-and-suffering adjustment.
An experienced and reputable lawyer has spent years of hard work to earn the respect of paralegals and administrative staff, other lawyers, clerks and judges, and insurance adjustors. An experienced and reputable lawyer has spent years of hard work to earn the respect of paralegals and administrative staff, other lawyers, clerks and judges, and insurance adjusters.
Hiring an amateur lawyer to represent your personal injury case may cost you money and erode your peace of mind. Look for a lawyer who has experience with your type of injury in the Las Vegas area, whether that be a brain injury lawyer, car accident lawyer, dog bite injury lawyer, etc.