“Being best in the world is seriously underrated.” -Seth Godin
How do you find a great lawyer – the best lawyer you can – to help you with all that legal noise and lawyer advertising out there?
It’s an important question. If you’ve had the misfortune of being seriously injured in an auto accident in Michigan, it’s imperative that you find a top auto accident lawyer, because you only have one chance to reach an injury settlement for pain and suffering that will protect you for the rest of your life.
Here’s another way of asking the same question: how can you protect against being lied to by an attorney? There is nothing that makes me cringe more than seeing terrible lawyers proclaim themselves as “the best in Michigan” on websites and advertising/solicitation brochures. Sure, other lawyers may know an attorney is making this up, but it is the unsuspecting client who hires this lawyer who pays the price. It is the client, not the lawyer, who is ultimately punished.
My own clients have shown me marketing materials from lawyers I’ve never heard of, proclaiming themselves as “the best auto accident lawyer in Michigan,” or writing that they have “superb” ratings or that they are “Michigan’s top personal injury lawyer” on mailing materials. One just says to “hire the best!” These lawyers make up and then quote their non-existing legal accolades without any source or attribution — so they avoid getting in trouble for false legal advertising.
Evaluate your attorney with these questions
I created this list of questions below. You can ask your prospective attorneys these questions to get an idea of how qualified they are to protect you. The list is not perfect, but it incorporates as many objective and independent third-party reviews and evaluations of legal ability, results and ethics as I could think of when writing this blog. Hopefully, this will help people with not only finding the best lawyer for a car accident or a truck accident, but for finding the best lawyer in any area of law, personal injury law or otherwise.
o Do you only help people injured in car accidents and truck accidents?
o Do you have proven trial success?
o Are you rated and endorsed by independent, third-party attorney rating services?
o Do you speak to other lawyers as subject matter experts at legal seminars?
o Do attorneys in your firm hold legal and professional leadership positions?
o How many years of legal experience do you have?
o Do you set evening and weekend appointments?
o Do you make house and hospital visits?
o Do you return phone calls?
o Do you advance calls for litigation?
o Do you ever charge a fee if there is no legal recovery?
o Do you charge a flat fee or do you increase attorney fees?
o Do you have real client testimonials?
o Are your attorneys regularly quoted in legal and mainstream news publications?
– Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top auto accident lawyers. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict in the state for a car or truck accident victim in seven of the last 10 years.
Related information:
The worst personal injury lawyer advertisements
Lawyer qualifications and red flags
Finding the best lawyer after an auto accident
Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (248) 353-7575 for a free consultation with one of our Michigan lawyers.
