Does My Personal Injury Lawyer Have to Be Local?

Jeff Marion | January 5, 2024 | Personal Injury

If you’ve been hurt in a car accident, slip and fall, or other personal injury that wasn’t your fault, one thing is for sure—you have plenty of choices when it comes to hiring a personal injury attorney. An overwhelming amount, even.

One of the first and most basic questions many accident victims have is whether they need a local attorney—whatever that really means. Should you try to get someone five minutes down the road? In the same metro?

Heck, now that we’ve all gotten a lot more used to video conferences in the post-pandemic world, you might even be considering whether hiring an attorney on the other side of the state—or even an out-of-state attorney—is an option. Today’s technology can make it just as easy to work with someone on the opposite side of the world as someone at the end of the block.

So, does your lawyer have to be local? The short answer is no. In some cases, there might be some good reasons to look outside your immediate neighborhood. But there are some potential downsides to choosing a non-local attorney, too.

So how do you choose?

I have a little bit of experience in this matter. I practice mostly in the Buffalo, NY area, but I’m also licensed in a few other states (and federal court), and I do take cases from outside my home turf from time to time. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the pros and cons of each choice and, hopefully, provide some insight on what your next steps might be.

Who Can I Hire?

You can’t just hire anyone—at least not without jumping through some hoops.

At the absolute minimum, personal injury attorneys are licensed to practice law within the state where their law firm is located. So, if you live in Buffalo but want to hire someone from Rochester or even New York City, that should be no problem—presuming they’ll agree to take you, anyway. (Not every attorney has the desire or resources to take cases far outside their local market.)

It’s also likely that they’d be licensed to practice in the U.S. District Court that has jurisdiction in their local area (for example, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York), and possibly other federal courts. Occasionally this ends up being relevant if a personal injury case could be filed in either state or federal courts, and there is an advantage to choosing one or the other under the circumstances.

That said, many attorneys are licensed in multiple states. I’m licensed in Pennsylvania and Colorado, for example, in addition to New York. So an “out-of-state lawyer” could theoretically be selected without jumping through too many hoops if they are licensed to practice in the state or court system that has jurisdiction over your case.

Reasons to Hire a Local Attorney for Your Personal Injury Claim

You don’t necessarily have to hire the attorney whose office happens to be the closest to your house, of course. But there are several good reasons to pick somebody in town, or at least someone within a reasonably convenient driving distance of your home and/or where the accident took place.

Familiarity with the Local Court System

The reality is that every court is different. Different judges have different rules and procedures for their courts, different judicial philosophies, and different personalities and preferences. For example, some courts push the parties hard toward alternative dispute resolutions like mediation or arbitration, while others are more willing to set a trial date. Some courts have large backlogs while others have a lighter schedule.

An experienced local attorney should already be very familiar with the local courts and have strong working relationships with the people who work there (including, quite frequently, the opposing attorney you’re going to be up against).

That “insider knowledge” can help personal injury victims in many ways. For example, if you have the option to file in multiple different courts, a local lawyer could advise you on which would be most beneficial for your case. And familiarity with a particular court can help your attorney avoid unnecessary delays, provide better legal advice, and tailor more persuasive arguments based on the audience.

Familiarity with Local Resources for Clients

A good lawyer’s job is more than just investigating cases and crafting legal arguments. We’re here to help our clients any way we can. That often includes helping them get appointments with doctors and medical specialists. It might also mean connecting them with emotional support groups, financial resources, and other people and services that can help them.

Local attorneys, if they truly care about their clients, should already be well connected to these kinds of services and can give compassionate, knowledgeable advice. Out-of-state lawyers (or even those a few hundred miles away) are less likely to have those connections.

Ease of Investigation

In many types of personal injury cases—especially car accidents—evidence can start to disappear quickly if you don’t act to preserve it. If you call soon enough, your attorney might even have an investigator get out to the crash scene that same day.

It’s not that unusual for lawyers and law firms to have relationships with “on call” investigators across a large geographic area. A well connected and experienced attorney can handle crash cases throughout the state (and I certainly have). That said, when in doubt, an attorney who is local to the area where the crash took place should (in theory) have a fairly easy time getting to the scene and collecting evidence. They’ll also be familiar with local roadways and traffic.

Furthermore, your attorney will probably want to interview eyewitnesses and, if the case proceeds to a lawsuit, conduct depositions with key individuals (eyewitnesses, doctors, family and friends, etc.). Most of these people will likely live and work near where the accident took place. While a dedicated attorney operating on the other side of the state certainly can make this work if they have the resources to do so, there may be a greater risk of delays.

Ease of Access

This comes down to personal preference, to some extent. Technology has radically closed the “access gap” in the last few years. People who need legal services today tend to be a lot more comfortable communicating with their attorney by phone, email, or other digital means than they were 10 or 15 years ago.

However, many people still really like to be able to sit down and talk with their attorney, face-to-face. A lot of lawyers really like this too. There’s a personal connection and comfort to that human experience that you can’t always get over the phone. It also can help you and your lawyer get to know each other better, which actually can result in better legal outcomes.

If being able to meet with your attorney in person is important to you, it goes without saying that you’ll want to hire someone within easy travel distance.

Reasons to Consider an Attorney Located Farther Away

While there are lots of good reasons to look close to home, certain circumstances might lead you to choose an attorney that isn’t quite so close by. Here are a few of the major ones.

Experience with Your Specific Type of Case

Personal injury covers an incredibly broad range of case types, each with its own set of legal challenges. Most attorneys don’t regularly see all types of cases, and many attorneys choose to focus on a couple of specific niches.

For example, most personal injury attorneys can handle a simple, straightforward car accident with mild to moderate injuries. But not all firms have the resources to take on a big, complex auto product liability case (like a rollover case or exploding gas tank). Those require in-depth knowledge of complex state and local regulations, as well as filing claims against multiple liable parties.

Another example: if you’re in a crash and suffer a mild traumatic brain injury that progresses into post-concussive syndrome and has an ongoing impact on your quality of life, you probably want to work with an attorney who has experience in brain injury cases specifically. These cases (and others involving “invisible injuries”) often require a lot of evidence and carefully tailored legal arguments in order for victims to maximize compensation. An attorney who knows what they’re doing can make a big difference.

Track Record

One thing basically every personal injury victim asks their attorney: How much is my case worth? The answer, of course, is that it depends. But certainly, the skill and disposition of your attorney can make a huge difference.

For example, some lawyers are all about getting settlements quickly. They actively avoid taking cases to trial. They might get you a settlement, but it probably won’t be the best one you can get. On the other hand, an aggressive lawyer with a track record of trial victories gives you more leverage at the negotiating table. It might take a bit longer, but the outcome could be much better in the end.

Long story short, if there’s an attorney who has a great track record of winning big cases that are similar to yours, that’s worth considering even if they’re a few hours away.

Communication Style

A complex personal injury case requires open, honest, transparent communication between the attorney and the client. There are going to be massive, life-changing decisions you will need to make. There may be times where you’re lost, confused, scared, don’t know what to do, and you need your attorney to provide not just legal advice, but also emotional support. So trust and mutual respect are critically important.

If your attorney just rubs you the wrong way, isn’t answering your questions promptly, or doesn’t seem trustworthy—that’s a red flag. Chances are you’ll be working closely with your attorney and their legal team for anywhere from six months to two years, or more. That’s a long time to have to deal with a situation where you don’t feel like you are trusted, understood, or cared for.

If you have to go outside your local area to find an attorney that you can build a trusting relationship with, that may be for the best.

Sometimes You Can Use Both!

Here are a few scenarios that are more common than you might think:

You’re on vacation in a different part of the country—Texas, for example—and get injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault, caused by a driver who also lives in Texas. That would mean you have to file your case in Texas, even if you live in New York.
You’re considering joining a class action lawsuit, but the case is being filed in a district far outside your local area. For example, if you or a loved one were affected by toxic water at Camp Lejeune, you need to file your claim for compensation with the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of North Carolina, regardless of where you live today.
You suffered a relatively rare kind of injury that requires your attorney to have knowledge of a very specific type of product or niche area of the law—think something like helicopter crashes, or electrocution. You can’t find a local or even in-state attorney with much experience, but there’s an out-of-state attorney who handles your type of case all the time.

Generally speaking, your case will always need to be associated with at least one lawyer from the jurisdiction where you filed your lawsuit. (Typically, that means where the accident took place, or alternatively where the defendant lives if it’s a different state.)

However, as you can imagine, it can be extremely inconvenient to work with a lawyer from another state, especially if you need a lot of medical care and all the doctors, medical records, and many other key sources of evidence are close to home. On the other hand, it can be just as frustrating if a lawyer with the exact experience, skills, and temperament you need isn’t licensed in your state.

Is there a solution to this problem? There is! (At least some of the time.) Under certain circumstances you may still be able to work with the attorney of your choice.

Most courts across the U.S. allow “pro hac vice admission,” which basically means that a lawyer is given special permission to participate in a case even if they’re not licensed in that state.

Different states and courts have different rules about pro hac vice admission, including when it can be granted and how involved a local in-state counsel must be in the case. Typically, an attorney licensed in the state where the case is taking place still needs to sponsor the out-of-state lawyer and handle procedural matters with the court.

Another plus: this option doesn’t usually end up costing the injury victim any extra on attorney fees; the two law firms simply form an agreement on how to divide the originally agreed-upon fee. There typically is a court filing fee that a lawyer from another state must pay, but it’s usually no more than a couple hundred bucks (depending on the state and jurisdiction).

Questions About a Potential Personal Injury Case? Call Jeff Marion

I’ve been helping people injured in car crashes and other personal injury accidents for more than 25 years. A lot of my work serves clients who are local to Buffalo, Rochester, and throughout Western New York—I have an office conveniently located in Williamsville just outside Buffalo. However, I’ve also taken and been referred cases and clients from other states, as well as Canada.

One of the things I pride myself on is my commitment to first-class communication and “concierge service” to all my clients. Whether you live a few miles away or much farther afield, you can call or email anytime and get a personal response—usually from me—within 24 hours. My goal is to ensure nobody I work with ever feels like a number, nuisance, or low priority.

If you think you might need to hire a lawyer, reach out. We’d be happy to talk with you and see if we can help. Call (716)-589-6655 or use our online contact form to request a free case evaluation today.

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