What questions to ask when selecting a personal injury lawyer?

At Howie, Sacks & Henry we know that finding the right personal injury lawyer to help you and your family can be overwhelming.

There are so many ads for personal injury lawyers on TV, on line, on radio and other places.  How can you really tell if someone is a great personal injury lawyer?

Here are the questions that we at HSH believe are important for you to ask before making the decision to retain a personal injury lawyer –

#1 – has the lawyer and their firm successfully handled personal injury trials?  Not every case goes to trial, but we all know that insurance companies sometimes play hardball.  You want a personal injury lawyer in your corner who has successfully beaten them in the Courtroom.  Feel free to ask for copies of the decisions.

#2 – are lawyers at the frim recognized by the LSO as specialists in civil litigation?  The LSO governs all lawyers in Ontario, and they only award a specialist certificate to those lawyers who have met very rigorous criteria.

#3 – has the firm earned the respect of the community by being voted one of the Top 10 personal injury firms in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine?

#4 – have the lawyers in the firm earned the respect of other lawyers by being included on the Lexpert and Best Lawyers lists, which are voted on annually by the legal community?

#5 – have the lawyers in the firm earned awards from the legal and medical community?

#6 – have members of the firm been elected to serve on the Boards of any of the leading legal organizations, such as the OTLA, the AS, the OBA or the TLA?

#7 – can you see yourself working with this lawyer for many years?  You really need to like and feel comfortable with your lawyer.

While there is a lot more information that you may want to get, positive answers to these questions should give you the confidence that you’re speaking with a good law firm, one who can do the best possible job for you and your family.