When hiring a lawyer to represent you, it is essential that the attorney have the ability to incur the necessary expenses to properly represent a client who has sustained serious injuries. Pretrial expenses in these types of claims can run between $50,000-$100,000 and sometimes more. Trial expenses can exceed $50,000 or more.

The lawyer will need to hire a team of medical experts. Depending upon your injuries, Doctors who specialize in the area of medicine that relates to your injuries must be hired. For example, if you have sustained a brain injury, a neurologist must be retained in addition to vocational experts.

When retaining an attorney, you want to be sure that that attorney and his/her law firm has the ability to forward the necessary costs and expenses to properly prepare the case, to be able to hire all the necessary experts and prepare the case the case for trial.

What you should know about hiring a personal injury attorney

It is important to realize that in virtually every state in the United States, personal injury attorneys are paid on a contingency fee basis. That means you will only be charged a legal fee if the attorney is successful in obtaining a recovery for you. Under a contingency fee, the attorney will be entitled to a percentage of the recovery. In New Jersey, for instance, an attorney is entitled to 33 1/3 percent on the first $500,000.00 recovered.

It is also important to hire a personal injury attorney or law firm that has access to the financial resources necessary to properly prepare your case. With complex injury cases, unlike when you break a bone and the only medical expert who will be necessary is the orthopedic surgeon, a person who sustains serious medical injuries will often be treated by many doctors from many specialties. Consulting Doctors will be needed to examine the treatment you received from your Doctors. Forensic expert witnesses require the expenditure of over $50,000.00, and will be needed to properly prepare a case which shows vocational loss and reduction in earning capacity.

In summary, when hiring a personal injury attorney to represent you, it is recommended you retain a trial attorney who has experience representing and trying complex injury cases, and who also has the financial resources to adequately prepare your case.