How to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Searching for the best
Many clients ask us how to find the best personal injury lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada, or how to know if a lawyer is indeed the best.
Injury law:
Specialties and sub-specialties
Personal injury law is a specialized area with many specialties (e.g., car accidents, truck or semi-truck accidents, bus accidents, dog bite accidents) and many subspecialties. Ride-sharing accidents involving Uber or Lyft drivers are an excellent example of a subspecialty law that emerged in Nevada only after 2015 when ride-sharing was finally allowed in Las Vegas.
If you are involved in an accident in Las Vegas involving an Uber or Lyft driver, you should not consult a human rights lawyer.
Below are a few helpful hints to help you find the best personal injury lawyer.
Lawyers on Las Vegas TV commercials and billboards
Is the personal injury lawyer who runs daily TV commercials or has dozens of billboards in Las Vegas, indeed, the best?
Not necessarily. It is far better to find a trusted person in a similar situation and ask how their attorney handled their case. Did their attorney return their calls? Did they keep them informed about their case's progress? Have they explained any problems or setbacks related to their lawsuit? No liability claim is perfect.
At the end of every personal injury case, the attorney provides a client with a disbursement sheet detailing every individual or entity that received payment from the settlement and the reasons for each payment. Did your attorney review the disbursement sheet and explain why these payments were made? If the answer is no - they didn't have a good lawyer.
Internet advertisement
Is the lawyer who appears on the top of every page of Google's search results the best?
No. Appearing at the top of every page of Google search is a Paid Advertisement, and it often means only one thing—the lawyer has a high advertising budget.
Today, you can find a lot of information on the Internet about Las Vegas personal injury lawyers. You can view a lawyer's photos and profiles and learn about their focus area, firm philosophy, and approach to negotiating personal injury liability claims.
Is consultation free?
Most personal injury lawyers in Las Vegas provide free initial consultations. If a lawyer practicing personal injury law asks for money for a consultation - you are better off calling somebody else.
Best personal injury lawyer:
E-mail exchange or phone calls?
Personal injury law is a complex subject. To give you any sound advice, a personal injury lawyer has to do a complete analysis of your situation. It is hard to do this over e-mails.
It is much better to call a personal injury lawyer and talk on the phone about your case or make an appointment to meet in person. Most of the time, during a one-on-one consultation, a personal injury lawyer can tell you if you have a legal claim.
What questions to ask?
Ask some very practical questions:
- How long do you expect this case to take?
- How many cases like mine have you handled?
- Have you dealt with this insurance company before?
- What is the process?
- What are the fees that I have to pay?
- Will you be handling my injury case or another attorney?
- Will you be available to answer your questions over the phone, or will I communicate only with a Case Manager?
Best personal injury lawyer:
Expensive or cheap?
Is the most expensive lawyer the best?
Not really. A lawyer with a small office can be as good as somebody running a flashy law firm. Some lawyers have very low overhead, still making their name in the field, or are philosophically against charging a very high fee.
In Nevada, most personal injury lawyers take all cases on a contingency basis, meaning you don't have to pay a penny until the attorney settles your claim with the insurance company or wins your lawsuit at trial. Fees should be specified in the contract you sign with your lawyer.
Is printed material practical?
Look at printed materials the attorney gives you on your visit.
Are they useful? Are they designed to explain the process and your lawyer's role in it? Or do they look more like very expensive advertising?
Having excellent marketing materials doesn't make a person an excellent personal injury lawyer.
Will the best personal injury lawyer guarantee the result?
No. No lawyer can guarantee the result. Each case is unique, and no case is perfect. Sometimes, new information the client didn't mention before (e.g., pre-existing medical conditions, injuries from previous accidents, etc.) becomes available. This information can affect the settlement and, ultimately, change the case outcome.
Good communication is the key
See if you can have a good rapport with your lawyer. Some people feel that hiring an overly aggressive lawyer may help their case, but it is not true. If the lawyer is very aggressive with you - he or she is also very aggressive with insurance adjusters, other lawyers, and judges, and it may produce a lot of bureaucratic backslash - for you.
You want to hire a lawyer who has a good working relationship with insurance companies and, if your case goes to trial, with judges.
Changing attorneys
The best personal injury lawyer will always have an open dialog with you. If you feel your lawyer doesn't pay enough attention to your injury case or are not in the loop, make an appointment and tell your attorney about it.
When it comes to legal representation, not everything is black and white, and sometimes, an honest conversation can solve the problem. If, after that discussion, you still feel your attorney isn't doing the best job or nobody is working on a case - you can always change your attorney. Read our article, Changing Attorneys in Las Vegas, Nevada.
When changing attorneys, you are still responsible for some miscellaneous expenses (e.g., document photocopying, FedEx fees, etc.) paid by the attorney.
Heshmati & Associates
Heshmati & Associates Law Offices (H.A.L.O.) is a Las Vegas personal injury and criminal defense law firm.
We represent clients in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin, and Nevada.
We take all personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don't have to pay until the attorney wins your case.
If you got injured in an accident and are planning to file a lawsuit, call Heshmati & Associates at 702-432-1000 and ask to speak with a personal injury lawyer.
The initial consultation is always free and confidential.
Walk-ins are welcome!
Additional Resources:
Personal Injury Claims
Personal Injury Claims. Proof of amount claimed for personal injury cases. The Legal Information Institute of Cornell University prepared this helpful list of documents.
