Have You Ever Handled a Case Like This?
Not only do you want to choose good injury lawyers of Nevada for your case, you want to be sure that the lawyer has handled a case like yours in the past. Like other professionals, lawyers often concentrate in certain types of cases. If you are talking to an attorney whose background has been mostly in family, they may not have enough experience to handle your car accident case.
The State Bar of Nevada recently began certifying attorneys as personal injury specialists in Nevada. In order to be a personal injury specialist, an attorney must have a significant amount of trial experience and pass a comprehensive written and oral examination. Additionally, a personal injury specialist must attend nearly double the amount of yearly continuing education classes than other attorneys. As of today, there are only 18 board certified Nevada personal injury specialists listed by the State Bar in the entire state of Nevada, including Jordan Schnitzer.
How Many Cases Have You Taken to Trial?
Although accepting a settlement without the expense of a trial can be the best option, an attorney who has never taken a case to trial may be too quick to settle the case. This means they may recommend a lower settlement than you could get in court simply because they do not want to deal with a trial or know how to go to trial. It is true that trials are expensive and time-consuming, but you want to be sure your personal injury lawyer Las Vegas is fighting to get you all the compensation you are entitled to receive. Insurance companies know which attorneys are willing to go to trial and which ones will always settle. In addition, even if your lawyer recommends a settlement, you are under no obligation to accept it. If this pushes your case to trial, your attorney may not have the experience necessary to adequately represent you. An insurance company will know that a Las Vegas personal injury attorney certified as a personal injury specialist is always willing to go to trial to obtain fair compensation.
More importantly, not all trial experience is equal. Being the lead trial attorney on a case is different than helping prepare a case for trial but ultimately sitting and watching during the trial. Similarly, trying a case worth $20,000 is different than going to trial on multi-million dollar cases. An important question to ask is whether or not the attorney has ever had a jury return a million dollar or multi-million dollar verdict in his favor. An attorney who has received a multi-million dollar verdict, like Jordan Schnitzer, is eligible to be inducted into the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Membership in this organization is another indicator of an attorneys’ skill and experience.
Who Will Actually Handle My Case?
Large law firms often assign legal assistants, paralegals, and law students to handle personal injury cases. Although support staff has a place in a law office, they should not be the only contact with the client. There have been instances where someone suffering from an injury never speaks to the attorney of record and deals only with support staff assigned to the case. You want an attorney who will speak to you when you call his office and who will be hands-on with your case. In addition, the attorney should meet with you during your initial consultation. If your initial meeting is only with an investigator or paralegal, you may want to consider whether your case will get the attention it deserves.
Other questions you may want to ask include the areas of law the attorney specializes in, how long the attorney has handled plaintiff cases, how long the attorney has been in practice, whether the attorney has any disciplinary history with the state bar, are you able to communicate by text with the attorney, the length of time it could take to resolve your case, the number of cases the attorney is currently handling and what their contingency fees may be. If you are looking for injury lawyers of Nevada, contact the Schnitzer Law Firm by calling 702-960-4050 or fill out the easy form online to arrange for a no-obligation consultation.