Jeff Marion | January 9, 2024 | Personal Injury

Depending on whose statistics you’re using, there’s probably somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 personal injury attorneys practicing law in the United States alone. That is, to put it mildly, a whole lot of lawyers. And while each one has (presumably) graduated from law school, passed the bar exam, and operates in good standing, the reality is that they’re not all going to be equally skilled.

So, what makes a good lawyer? And how do you know that the lawyer you’re considering hiring is one? That’s a harder question to answer, and there aren’t always absolute rules. A “good lawyer” for your particular case and circumstances might not be as good in a different scenario.

That said, there are a handful of qualities I’d suggest you watch out for when you’re thinking about who to hire. This can improve your chances of not only getting a great personal injury attorney in general, but also one who will be a good fit for you specifically.

1. They Have Relevant Case Experience

You wouldn’t ask a plumber to perform your appendectomy or hire a surgeon to remodel your bathroom. Similarly, you want to make sure your personal injury lawyer has relevant experience with your type of case.

Personal injury is an incredibly broad field of law. It covers everything from minor car accidents to complex truck crashes, defective products, drug-related injuries, medical malpractice, and much more. Each of those case types might require a highly tailored legal approach.

The same goes for different types of injuries. For example, convincing a jury to consider “invisible” symptoms like mood disorders or cognitive deficits (such as from a brain injury) requires a different set of tactics than more obvious symptoms like broken bones.

When talking to your attorney, ask if they’ve handled cases similar to yours and what the results were. Even if a lawyer has been in practice for 30 years, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve acquired the specific legal knowledge and skills your case will require.

2. They Take Cases to Trial

To be clear, this doesn’t mean they take every case to trial. In fact, generally speaking, most successful lawyers end up settling the vast majority of their personal injury lawsuits pre-trial, often during the discovery or mediation process.

However, if you want an insurance company to actually pay out a fair settlement, you have to convince them you’re willing and able to go the distance. If they know your lawyer is trial-shy and wants to settle at all costs, as quickly as possible, what’s their incentive to be fair with you? A track record of trial victories is a powerful source of leverage that good lawyers use to their advantage.

3. They Have Great Research Skills

Investigating a personal injury accident and preparing arguments for trial usually requires a truly staggering amount of research, reading, and analysis.

At minimum, attorneys and their teams sift through mountains of legal documents, medical records, and other reports. Quite often, we’re also looking through medical journals. We’re looking up similar cases, what they settled for, and why. We’re talking with other attorneys.

Bottom line, if your attorney’s organizational and analytical skills aren’t on point, there’s a greater risk that important details that could help your case may get missed. In the worst-case scenario, that could mean a lower settlement—or no settlement at all.

4. They Have Great Speaking and Writing Skills

It’s probably obvious how important speaking skills are for an attorney. Your lawyer is going to advocate for you during settlement negotiations, mediation sessions, and—of course—in front of a jury if your case goes all the way to trial. A lawyer that can speak persuasively, with confidence, in these scenarios is essential.

But for as much talking as they do, personal injury lawyers spend even more time writing.

Your lawyer is going to be drafting all kinds of legal documents for your personal injury case, such as demand letters to the insurance company, motions to the court, and legal briefs. The point of many of these documents will be convincing a judge to make a ruling in your favor or convincing an insurance company to pay you more—because you have a devastating argument that you know is going to go over well with a jury.

It goes without saying that an attorney who can produce concise, persuasive, and powerful legal writing is generally going to write better legal documents, and have more success with them, than a lawyer who can’t.

5. They Have Great Listening Skills

Sensing a pattern here? It’s about communication skills. Listening is just as important to being an excellent communicator as writing and speaking.

Actually, to be honest, it’s more important.

An attorney who listens carefully to their clients can better understand their needs and goals, put them at ease, and craft better legal arguments. More to the point: why on earth would you trust a lawyer to represent you if they won’t even listen to you?

An attorney who listens carefully to what a defendant says in a deposition can ask better follow-up questions, catch contradictory statements, and get to the real truth.

An attorney who listens carefully to what the other insurance company says in negotiations can piece together what evidence they might be sitting on, the strengths and weaknesses of their own client’s case, and what evidence will be most persuasive.

6. They Have Genuine Compassion for Their Clients

I’ll come out and say it: if a personal injury lawyer doesn’t have genuine compassion for their clients, they cannot be a great lawyer.

As an attorney, you have to care. You are going to be pouring hours and hours of your time into representing someone and helping them rebuild their lives as best as possible. The amount of time, effort, creativity, and passion that requires is immense. If you don’t care deeply about your clients, on a human level, you can’t give them your best.

This goes beyond strict legal commitments, by the way. A compassionate attorney won’t just fight harder for you. They’ll also check in to make sure you’re getting the medical care you need. They’ll respond to your questions right away, even at personally inconvenient times. They’ll help you find a support group or financial resources that can help you get (and stay) on your feet. And even after the case is won, they’ll help you negotiate medical bills and liens so you can keep more of your settlement, even though it won’t increase their attorney fee.

7. They Excel at Client Communication

You may have heard that the wheels of justice turn slowly. In Western New York, where I practice, the wait for a trial date is typically 18 months or more after filing a lawsuit. Another observation: the insurance company will settle your case quickly or fairly, but not both.

In other words, chances are your case is going to take time. You’re probably going to be working with the same lawyer and legal team for months—maybe a couple of years. And in that time, you’re going to have questions. You’re going to have moments of stress and anxiety. It’s human nature.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a lawyer who is always accessible and a great communicator. This is something I take extremely seriously in my practice. I work hard to provide concierge service. Any time you call me, text me, or email me a question I’m going to answer you as soon as I can, within 24 hours at most. It’s what my clients expect and need from me.

A lawyer who communicates regularly, promptly, and effectively while being considerate of your needs and concerns can take a massive amount of stress and weight off the shoulders of someone working through one of the hardest chapters of their life. Don’t underestimate that.

8. They’re Honest with You About Your Case

Personal injury cases are lengthy, messy, and results aren’t guaranteed. No matter how ironclad you think your case might be, there’s almost always some “inconvenient facts” the insurance company will zero in on. Maybe it’s a pre-existing injury or the fact that you took a couple of days to see a doctor after a car accident.

A good lawyer isn’t going to blow smoke or sugarcoat anything for you. They’ll be upfront about the good facts, the bad facts, and your chances of success. If you get the sense that your lawyer is trying to hide things from you or guarantees success, that could be a bad sign.

9. They Put Your Needs First

A lawyer’s job is to represent their clients to the absolute best of their ability. Full stop.

To some degree, the contingency fee payment structure that most personal injury attorneys use helps keep their interests aligned with their clients’. The more they win for you, the more they get paid. Simple.

But it’s definitely not always that clean. A lot of my clients want me to fight for the best possible settlement or verdict they can get, and because I’m an aggressive trial lawyer I’m happy to do that. But other clients have other goals. Maybe they’re more comfortable accepting a lower settlement and putting everything behind them. Or maybe they’re getting up there in age, or have a terminal illness, and just want to be able to enjoy the time they have left rather than fighting as long and hard as it takes for every last penny.

Great lawyers present their clients will all the facts and options and provide an objective account of the pros and cons. But the client makes the big choices. And whatever the client chooses, again, it’s the lawyer’s job to represent them as faithfully and effectively as possible—even if it’s not what they would have chosen or results in a smaller payday.

10. They Operate with Ethics and Integrity

Look, I get it—personal injury lawyers often get a reputation for being greedy, unscrupulous “ambulance chasers” motivated only by the next big paycheck. I won’t say that lawyers like that aren’t out there. But most of us take our ethical obligations to our clients, our profession, and the law extremely seriously.

And what’s more, you definitely want a lawyer with integrity representing you. An attorney who is willing to lie, cut corners, or bend the truth probably doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Moreover, a lawyer with a bad reputation is probably going to have less credibility with judges and opposing counsel. This can significantly hurt their chances of making the best possible deal for you.

In many states, including New York, you can look up your attorney with the state court system or bar association and see if they have any pending or previous disciplinary actions against them. While this, of course, won’t tell you for sure whether your lawyer is truly an ethical one, a lawyer that isn’t in good standing is probably not one I would consider hiring.

Bonus Point: They Have the Respect of the Legal Community

Most good lawyers care deeply about the legal profession, and are dedicated not only to lifelong learning but also serving with legal organizations and helping other legal professionals improve

To use myself as an example, I’m a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and have served as a chair, co-chair, or vice chair for multiple AAJ committees, including its committee for the disabled, opioid litigation group, and section leaders’ council. I’ve also chaired or co-chaired multiple committees of the Erie County Bar Association and regularly lecture to other attorneys at regional and national continuing education programs.

Don’t be afraid to ask about your attorney’s memberships, recognitions, and involvement with the legal community. While this isn’t a guaranteed mark of a successful lawyer, having the respect of one’s peers is a good sign.

Another tip: ask your potential attorney how many of their cases are referrals from other attorneys. If a personal injury attorney gets a lot of referral cases, that’s a clear sign that they have the respect and confidence of their peers.

Bonus Point: Bigger Isn’t Always Better

It’s important to understand that building an “effective legal practice” isn’t the same thing as actually being a good lawyer, as measured by the results you get for your clients.

It’s tempting to think that, if a huge law firm has dozens of attorneys and is running ads on TV and billboards, that must mean they’re better lawyers. Otherwise, how would they have gotten so rich?

Now, it could be that they really are great attorneys! Or at least some of them who work at the firm are. But it could also just be volume. Some attorneys are great marketers. They’re great at getting folks in the door. Great at signing a huge number of cases every month. But you can be really great at all those skills without necessarily being great at getting maximum compensation for all your clients.

Again, I’m not saying that all big firms are just “settlement mills” and you can’t have a great experience with one. There are awesome attorneys working at huge firms. There are mediocre attorneys in solo practice. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t trust TV ads or billboards to tell you who the good lawyers are. It’s really not a reliable indicator one way or the other.

Need a Personal Injury Lawyer? Come Talk to Me

I’ve been representing personal injury victims in Buffalo and Western New York for more than 25 years. I pride myself on running an honest, client-centered practice with a concierge level of service. That means working my hardest, putting your interests first, and always being available to answer your calls and emails promptly and personally.

If you need a good lawyer to help you with your personal injury case, give me a call. I’d be happy to give you an honest assessment of your case—for free—and let you know if I think I can help you or not. Dial (716)-589-6655 to request your free consultation today.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING: this blog may be considered attorney advertising under the rules of certain jurisdictions. No one should rely in any manner on the information presented as legal advice. Parties seeking advice should consult with legal counsel familiar with their particular circumstances.