Why Hire An Attorney For Your Accident Claim?
Sometimes folks who have been in an automobile, truck or motorcycle accident resulting from another person’s negligence ask us: “Why should I hire an attorney, can’t I just deal with the insurance company and handle the claim myself? That way I don’t have to share whatever money I receive with a lawyer.”
Our answer to that question often is: “Well, you could handle it yourself, but would you handle your own brain surgery if you needed it, or would you hire a brain surgeon?”
Of course we are joking with this answer but really only half-joking. While handling accident claims is certainly not brain surgery, maximizing the claimant’s recovery requires a certain amount of skill, training, and experience. When you truly analyze it, it becomes a “no brainer.” (Pun intended). Hire a lawyer!
Dealing with experienced insurance adjusters and attorneys:
If you are trying to handle personal injury claims yourself and you think, because of the insurance company TV commercials you’ve seen, that you are going to be “In Good Hands,” or treated “Like a Good Neighbor,” then you’ve got another thing coming.
Billion dollar insurance companies get to be billion dollar insurance companies by limiting the amount of claims that they pay and you must remember that the insurance adjuster that you would deal with in an accident claim works for the insurance company and his job is to minimize the amount his company has to pay to settle claims. The less money he or she can pay out on a claim, the better he or she has done the job. Typically, that adjuster is going to be very good at his or her job. It’s all he or she does all day everyday; work to save the company money.
Why hire an attorney to handle your claim?:
Actually, studies have shown that, on average, personal injury claimants who hire an attorney receive an average of 440% more compensation than those who handle claims themselves! (Source: Martindale-AVV0 Attorney Compensation Report)
How should you choose an attorney?:
The first thing you should do is your homework. There are many attorneys in today’s market saturating the airwaves with ads showing them doing things like standing on top of an 18-wheeler, throwing axes, fighting alligators and the like. It seems as if every other billboard on the highway is pictures of an attorney begging for you to dial his easy-to-remember phone number.
We feel that in small towns and more rural areas, attorneys from the area, if they are otherwise qualified through skill, training and experience, have a distinct advantage over out of town attorneys such as those heavy advertisers out of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and the like.
While we feel that judges are generally going to be fair and impartial no matter who the attorney is, it doesn’t hurt to know and have a personal and professional relationship with the judge so that at least you have a feel about how the judge rules on certain things and the type of evidence that will most impress the judge.
You would hope that on a close issue the judge has to decide, you would at least get the benefit of the doubt.
Additionally, it doesn’t hurt to personally know law enforcement officers and medical professionals in your area, all of whom can be critical in helping you put together and present a successful case for your client.
Why Hire the Harrington Law Firm to handle your accident or injury claim?
At the Harrington Law Firm, we regularly handle accident claims against insurance companies and deal with them on a daily basis. We are knowledgeable and experienced in how to investigate a claim and best present it to the insurance company, or if necessary to the Court to maximize our clients’ recovery.
We feel that it is vital to form personal relationships with our clients, and they often tell us that we “treated them like family.” We have combined nearly 60 years of handling personal injury cases in this area and have obtained many millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients over the years. We feel that in a mostly rural area like the one in which we live in, or in small towns, the best way to advertise your services is through results and reputation.
At the Harrington Law Firm, we have worked very hard to establish a reputation for handling accident and personal injury cases of all types in this area of the state, obtaining fair and equitable judgments and settlements for our clients, and along the way, treating our clients with dignity and respect.
It is because of this we believe, that many of our new clients come from referrals by former clients.
We know that we are on the insurance company’s radar, and know that those companies keep statistics on law firms and how they handle their claims, and whether or not they are willing to go to court, if necessary. They know that if the Harrington Law Firm is handling the claim, that we will make them pay! We have even had insurance adjusters hire us to handle claims for their family members.
Martindale-Hubbell, the world’s largest attorney rating service and the “Gold Standard” of attorney’s rating services, after conducting a poll of other attorneys in our area, has given the Harrington Law Firm an “AV Preeminent” rating which is the highest possible rating that a law firm can receive, and means that we are included in the top ten percent of all law firms in the nation. We are very proud of that fact. (Source: Martindale-Hubbell.com)
We handle injury cases on a contingency basis, meaning we don’t get paid unless you get paid!
If you’ve been injured in an automobile, motorcycle, big truck accident as a result of someone else’s negligence, or if you’ve suffered as a result of a medical malpractice or a slip and fall, give us a call at the Harrington Law Firm at 352-5900. You’ll be glad you did! (First initial appointment is free.)
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