Picking the Right Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer for Your Case

There are many lawyers in the country, in the State of Pennsylvania and even in your immediate area. How to choose the right lawyer for your particular case takes some time and some gathering of information in order to determine who is the best lawyer for your particular legal matter.

We are all bombarded by lawyers selling themselves on television, in the yellow pages, in newspapers, on billboards, and now the internet. Here are some of the questions and answers you should be getting before choosing the best lawyer to represent you.

1. Does the lawyer handle the kind of legal problem that you have. Pennsylvania lawyers are not permitted to advertise that they specialize in any particular are of the law. Nevertheless, the first question you need to know is whether a particular lawyer does “specialize” because like so many other professions, law has developed so that no one lawyer can be expected to know more than a few specific areas of law. For instance, many lawyers, especially in the counties surrounding Philadelphia, still consider themselves “general practice attorneys”. There are many fine such lawyers. We need them to handle routine matters such as simple wills and estates, residential real estate transactions, minor criminal matters, routine family law issues such as uncontested divorces and agreed upon custody and support issues, and other such matters. In fact, these lawyers serve a useful function in handling these matters more efficiently and economically.
2. However, if you’re in a serious accident involving a work related injury, an auto accident, or an accident involving premises liability, you will need an attorney with the training and experience and who limits his practice to these specific types of cases.
3. How do you find such a lawyer? Many accident attorneys advertise on television and the yellow pages. Some lawyers advertise that they handle a variety of personal injury cases. One such local yellow page ad lists no less than a dozen type cases that they handle.
4. But you need to get answers to a number of questions before you make a decision on which lawyer is best for you and your case. Here is a summary of the questions and answers you need to get before selecting the right attorney for your case.
5. Is the law firm going to personally handle your case or will they just refer it out to another law firm. Many law firms merely act as referral mills to sign up your case and then refer the matter to another firm. As you can expect, both firms expect to be paid and often times because of the referral fees between firms, you will end up paying a higher fee than you would if you had done some simple research.
6. Even if that firm is going to handle your case, you have to determine who in the firm will actually be working with you. Many firms hire a number of paralegals to work on and settle your case before a lawyer even looks at the matter.
7. Next you need to determine if the lawyer that you see in the ad or on television is the lawyer in the firm with the training and experience to handle your particular case. You should want to meet the actual attorney who will be trying your case because you will be working closely with this lawyer during the entire process if the firm takes your case to trial.
8. Does the lawyer have the necessary qualifications, training and experience to handle your particular kind of legal matter. What experience does the lawyer have trying cases in front of a jury. While many cases do settle before trial, you should pick an attorney experienced in trial skills in the event that your case must be tried.
9. Specifically, you need to ask how many years of experience your lawyer has handling these kinds of cases; does he have the training through continuing legal education and specialized trial advocacy programs such as the Academy of Advocacy or the National Board of Trial Advocacy; has the lawyer written articles or books on the kind of case you are asking him to handle; can the lawyer tell you about his previous successes and provide you with testimonials from past clients; can the attorney provide you with materials to review in advance regarding his practice through written information or on a web site; will the attorney show you a Fee Agreement before the meeting when you are asked to sign on the dotted line.
10. What criteria does that lawyer use in accepting your case or do they take every and any case and work on a volume basis. Serious cases deserve serious attention. There are many cases that I don’t accept because the time and effort necessary to successfully win that case isn’t justified by the potential recovery. If I’m required to work on a multitude of small cases, I cannot devote the time and effort demanded by my more serious cases. You should know whether the firm or lawyer you chose limits their number of cases. Many attorneys are equipped to handle a volume of small cases and do a fine job doing that. However, if you’ve been seriously injured, you need to know whether your case is going to get the attention it deserves.
11. My personal philosophy is that there is only so much time in the day, week or year, and I want to balance my work life with both my family and personal life. Since I can only work on so many cases at any one time, I limit my practice to particular types of cases involving serious injuries; they include work related injuries, auto accidents and premises liability. I cannot handle medical malpractice cases, toxic tort matters and mass tort litigation, and pharmaceutical claims. I can give you the names of many excellent attorney who do, however.
12. Whether you chose to work with a large firm or an individual lawyer, you should pick a lawyer whose staff is friendly and accessible and answers your questions. There will be many times when I am unavailable, for instance, because I am in court or devoting concentrated time to a particular case, giving it the same attention I would give your case. In those times, you need to be assured that the lawyer’s staff is someone you feel as comfortable with as the lawyer.
13. You need to have access to your lawyer. In this era of instant messaging, faxes, cell phones, and email, we may expect professionals to be constantly available 24/7. Of course, this is not possible especially if you want your lawyer concentrating on your case at certain times. But you need to know in advance if the lawyer (a) has a policy of communicating with the lawyer, (b) will the lawyer return emails and phone calls within a prescribed time period, (c) will the lawyer keep you informed of the progress of your case with periodic reports and phone calls, (d) will the lawyer be personally available at crucial times to meet and consult with you.
14. You must know if your attorney has been disciplined by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the past. That information is available to the public through the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board. Furthermore, lawyers are required to advise you in writing if they “don’t” have malpractice insurance. You should require that they show they “do” have malpractice insurance.

In the past thirty years I have gained the education, the experience and the recognition to understand what I do best. I enjoy helping people to obtain fair compensation for significant injuries. I want a close relationship with my clients from the beginning of the case until the conclusion. I prepare and try every case with the assumption that we will eventually go to trial before a jury. I want to be able to look that jury in the eye and convince them that my client deserves the compensation that the law allows and that fairly compensates them for all of the injuries and losses they have suffered.

The Monahan Law Practice
300 North Pottstown Pike
Suite 210
Exton, PA 19341-2233

Phone: (610) 363-3888
Fax: (610) 363-2429