After an Injury – How to Choose Your Legal Representation
Accidents and injuries are a natural part of living life, even if they are often frustrating impediments to the life you want to live. But accidents – particularly those suffered outside of the comfort of your own home – can also introduce major long-term impediments, from life-interrupting delays relating to work and personal milestones to life-altering injuries and chronic pain.
In many cases, accidents where the victim was not at fault can be successfully litigated via civil court. These cases, known as personal injury claims, enable victims to garner compensation for the physical, emotional and monetary damages suffered as a result of a negligent or otherwise at-fault party.
Seeking compensation is a right you are afforded by UK law, but not a guarantee – and also only properly accessible through the hiring of an appropriate legal professional. But, with over 160,000 practicing solicitors in the UK, how can you choose the right representation for your own case?
Specialism
First and foremost, you should narrow your search by specialism. Law is an extremely broad and extremely deep field, and one which no one solicitor could ever hope to ‘master’. As such, legal professionals pick specific fields and sub-fields within which to specialise. Some solicitors will specialise in family law, others conveyancing, and others – of course – personal injury.
But there are sub-divisions still, even within niche fields of law. Personal injury can describe a number of experiences and incidents, from road traffic accidents to clinical or even workplace negligence. Finding the solicitor that works in the region of your personal experience is your best bet for a positive outcome.
Experience
Further to specialism, you also want to choose a solicitor or legal firm with storied experience in litigating your kind of case. For instance, if you tripped and fell in a public place due to an unaddressed pothole or kerbstone, you would want your case seen by a firm with experience taking trip and fall accident claims to local councils. On a more general note, solicitors with more years of experience behind their belt may be more likely to achieve a positive result for you – though they may also charge more for the privilege.
Reputation
Reputation is a factor which should be considered alongside experience – and with two different applications in mind. You are not likely to want a solicitor who has been historically unsuccessful litigating cases of your type; as such, you’d want to select for solicitors with impressive track records.
Likewise, you are not likely to want to deal with a solicitor who does not have a good reputation for customer service, so to speak. Client reviews and testimonials, whether shared on the firm’s website or elsewhere on the internet, can be indispensable for you to pick the right professional for the job. Ultimately, your final pick should be experienced, well-reviewed and local to you.