If you’re a licensed driver, and you get out on the highway, you have to hope that everyone around you obeys the rules of the road. You could make the argument that driving on the highway carries more risk than doing so on local streets.
That’s because, on the highway, you’re typically driving much faster than you would in residential areas.
Florida saw about 340,000 car wrecks in 2020, and many of them happened on highways. Those accidents often saw more fatalities, more serious injuries, and more extensive vehicle damage.
If you got in a highway car accident in Florida or elsewhere, then hopefully you did not sustain any very serious injuries. No matter how badly the wreck hurt you, though, you may need to hire a personal injury lawyer and sue the other driver or their insurance company if the circumstances demand it.
If you’re going to hire a personal injury lawyer who can represent you while you file your lawsuit, then you want to see certain things from them. We will talk about some of those right now.
Extensive Experience with Highway Car Accident Cases
First, you will want to know that you’re hiring an individual with plenty of experience in the car accident niche. In particular, you want to know that this lawyer represented individuals in highway car accident cases in the past.
Usually, their website will indicate what kinds of personal injury cases they take on. You may see car wrecks listed under a dropdown menu or on the site’s landing page above the fold.
If you’re not sure, though, you should make a point of asking your would-be lawyer about it when you go to meet with them for the first time. They should have no problems telling you all about their previous highway car accident cases and how they turned out.
If this attorney tells you they’ve represented victims in many such cases, then you should feel more confident in hiring them. However, you will also probably want to look for a few other things as well.
A Professional-Looking Website
You can tell a lot about the lawyer you’re thinking about hiring by scrutinizing their website. In fact, looking at a website can often tell you a great deal about any company or individual who you might give your business.
The site should seem professional when you visit it. That means it should load quickly on a tablet, smartphone, PC, or whatever other device you’re using. That assumes, of course, that you have a strong Wi-Fi signal at the time.
The site should have plenty of professional-quality pictures. It may have videos showcasing the lawyer in action as well.
You should see lots of website copy that’s clear, concise, and free of obvious spelling and grammar errors. You might also look for an “About Us” section that describes the lawyer’s experience. The site may also have a blog that talks about legal topics in which the attorney or their firm has expertise.
If you see all of that, that’s another point in the favor of this lawyer or firm.
Lots of Positive Feedback
You should see plenty of positive online feedback that tells you this lawyer or firm did a great job for their previous clients. You can look at the feedback on the lawyer’s website. However, that probably won’t give you the full picture, since the lawyer or their firm presumably only picked the most glowing reviews to include there.
You can also look elsewhere online. For instance, looking at the Google Business listing for this law firm can give you a more accurate idea of what former clients have to say about this legal entity or individual.
If you see only positive reviews on the law firm’s website, but they have one star out of five on their Google Business listing, that should give you pause. If you read several scathing reviews there, that probably means that you will want to hire someone else.
A Highly Skilled Investigative Team
You will want to ask the lawyer or law firm about their investigative team before you hire them. Whether you’re bringing a highway car accident lawsuit against another driver or any other kind of personal injury case, you will want your lawyer to have a skilled investigator on their payroll, if not a whole team of them.
The investigator or investigators that assist you lawyer will likely need to uncover as much evidence as possible that supports your claim if you hope to get any money out of the deal. Maybe they will have former police or private detective experience.
If your law firm does not have these resources, then they may have a hard time producing enough relevant evidence that convinces a jury. Without enough evidence, the defendant might feel that they can take the case to trial and win.
A Kind Disposition Toward You
You also want to see one additional thing when you hire a personal injury lawyer before your highway car accident case. You should feel that they value you as a client and that you can turn to them during moments when you feel low.
You and your personal injury lawyer needn’t become best friends. After the trial, you needn’t invite them over for Thanksgiving dinner. However, at a minimum, you need to feel that during the more difficult parts of this process, they will stick with you, give you good advice, and that they won’t let you feel alone or abandoned.
A lawsuit can take a lot out of you. You need to give it your time and energy. While your family and friends will probably support you, you may feel a lot of hostility from the person you’re suing or their insurance company.
Your lawyer can act as your cheerleader if you feel despondent. They should convince you to stay the course. If your attorney seems standoffish, you might go with someone else instead.
