Personal Injury Lawyer
If you find yourself in a personal injury case, it is vital that you hire a lawyer who specializes in that kind of case. You can trust your lawyer to handle every aspect of your lawsuit. If you try to handle your personal injury case on your own at first, and later change your mind, you may be wondering if hiring a lawyer is still an option. Here’s a list of everything you need to know if you took some steps independently.
- Be Open With Your Lawyer
The most important thing for you to remember if you’ve taken steps on your own before hiring your lawyer is that you should tell your lawyer everything you did. There are some things that you could have done that may hurt your case, but it is always best to make your lawyer aware of them, rather than to hide them out of embarrassment. Your lawyer should know what these harmful actions are, and ask you about them. As a general rule of thumb, you should not discuss anything with the defendant in the trial, so be sure to tell your attorney exactly what you said.
- Sooner Is Better Than Later
You always have the option to hire an attorney early on in a personal injury case. Even if it has already gone to trial, the judge will almost certainly allow you to hire legal representation. Judges do not like having their time wasted, so they are almost always against anyone representing themselves, as it bogs down the legal process. However, new lawyers do need time to catch up on the trial, so hiring an attorney does slow things down. If it is late enough in the case, the judge may not allow someone to hire a new attorney, even if they are simply changing attorneys.
- Do not Try To Do it Alone
It is always better to hire an attorney than to try to handle your case on your own. Besides knowing what the best way to present the case, lawyers have studied the legal process. Unless you know the ins and outs of a court case, you will likely be confused and make mistakes, which hurt your chances. A lawyer can also advise you on your pleas, legal decisions, and accepting settlements. If you have not started your personal injury case yet, you should make sure you have someone to represent you right now. That should always be your very first step.