I Have a Question About Finding an
Attorney ©
Written by: Mark Wolfe, Attorney at Law. The following information is provided as general advice and without charge. Questions about specific issues or situations should be directed to an experienced motor vehicle accident attorney. NOTE: The following material is protected by all applicable State and Federal Copyright laws. Published May, 2005.
All Attorneys are not the same. Monetary results and client satisfaction can greatly differ between attorneys and law firms. Just because an attorney handled a divorce or drafted a deed for you years ago does not mean he or she is the right attorney for your injury claim.
Yet finding the right attorney for your claim or case can be difficult and confusing. Television commercials for attorneys bombard the airways. Most of these commercials promise “quick and easy money for injury victims.” There are also celebrity endorsed “1-800” commercials to help victims locate an attorney. The telephone book yellow pages offer page after page of advertisements from lawyers who are seeking personal injury clients. If you found this page while surfing the internet, you know that there are hundreds….maybe thousands, of attorney referral sites on the web.
There is no question that a lot of attorneys want to handle your personal injury claim or case. Attorney advertisements are a fact of life, but a consumer should not choose an attorney simply based on an advertisement. Most attorneys who handle personal injury cases do not charge for telephone consultations or office visits. This means the consumer can call and talk to several attorneys and/or meet with several attorneys before deciding which attorney to hire. If you have a family attorney, ask him or her to provide you with the names of experienced personal injury attorneys. Talk with your family and friends, talk with your healthcare providers about personal injury attorneys. When you meet with a personal injury attorney, you should know what questions to ask to better determine if that attorney is right for your case. Please read What I Should Know About Hiring an Attorney to learn more about interviewing and selecting a personal injury attorney.
IN ALABAMA:
If you are looking for an Attorney in the Southwest Alabama area, we may be able to help you with your claim or case. Contact us at mark@bfw-lawyers.com Please put MVA-Help in the Subject box of your e-mail and provide the date and location of the accident.
If you are looking for an attorney in Alabama but outside the Southwest Alabama area, we may be able to refer you to an experienced motor vehicle accident attorney in your area. Contact us at mark@bfw-lawyers.com Please put MVA-Referral in the Subject box of your e-mail and provide the date and location of the accident.
OUTSIDE OF ALABAMA:
There are numerous attorney locating services on the Internet. These services charge attorneys for listings and advertising space. The fact that an attorney has a listing with one of these services does not necessarily mean that he or she is an experienced motor vehicle accident attorney.
Two of the largest internet attorney locating services are run by LexisNexis and Westlaw. These two companies have been traditional providers of service and support for attorneys. Most attorneys subscribe to and use one of these two service companies. Both of these companies provide subscribing attorneys with standard web sites. Lawyer.com contains the attorney locating service from LexisNexis: http://www.lawyers.com/ FindLaw contains the attorney locating service from Westlaw: http://www.findlaw.com/
American Bar Assoication has a Consumer Guide to Legal Help that contains lawyer referral information for each State: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/findlegalhelp/home.cfm
Some State Bar Associations provide information about locating an attorney in your area. This web site has links to all State Bar Associations: http://proagency.tripod.com/attorneybars.html
