Tips When Selecting a Trial Attorney to Represent You in Your Nursing Home/Severe Personal Injury/Commercial Litigation Case
Litigating a personal injury, elder abuse or nursing home claim, or business claim, can be one of the most stressful experiences that an individual or family is forced to endure. This is especially true in complex or catastrophic injury cases. The selection of the right lawyer can significantly impact the outcome of your case. Here are some tips to consider in the selection process.
A. Selecting the Right Lawyer Can Make a Difference Between Losing and Winning and You Want to Win
In every trial, there is a winning party and a losing party. There are no guarantees in any case who each will be. Lawyers can neither predict the future nor control how a judge or jury decides your claim. A common scenario is a lawyer promising you the world so that you will hire him or her, who continues to offer confident predictions, up until the eve of trial. As game day approaches, you notice that your lawyer’s evaluation of your case is suddenly grim. Surprisingly, after months of hearing “slam dunk” talk, your counsel recommends that you accept a low-ball offer.
What changed? A common answer is that many lawyers do not want to go to court. They talk boldly in their conference rooms, where there is no experienced adversary pouncing on every gaffe; no judge eviscerating the case excluding evidence improperly introduced; and no client wincing when watching each stammering blunder. Simply stated, when looking for a trial attorney, obviously select a lawyer who takes cases to trial. When litigating cases in a courtroom, adverse rulings are inevitable. Seasoned attorneys know to expect the unexpected. Your lawyer’s ability to manage surprises at trial should depend on prepared counter-arguments and not charged defibrillators. Avoid a trial attorney whose “Trial” appearances have mostly been in the mirror or on television ads. As an experienced trial attorney, litigators earn their money and reputations in the courtroom.
Although results vary in every case, being represented by a courtroom savvy lawyer increases considerably your chances of a favorable verdict or settlement. Defense lawyers do not recommend large settlements when they expect to bulldoze a young lawyer, who will be learning the process at the same time that you are.
Some of these nervous young lawyers settle cases on the courthouse steps primarily to settle their stomachs. In contrast, Defense Lawyers are less likely to risk trying a case when they know that your lawyer will fight them at every step . You deserve an attorney who is familiar with your type of case and who knows how to present evidence and arguments in the arena. If it is your lawyer’s first rodeo, then your advocate will usually get thrown quickly.
If you believe that the attorney you hire does not make a difference, then consider how you would react in a different context when receiving professional services. All new doctors must perform their first surgery on someone. No thanks—after Dr. Tremble Hands sweats his way through his first procedure, I want to be available when litigation predictably arises. Choosing between lawyers is similar. Some big firms pass your case off to a younger lawyer for training, where Attorney Tremble Voice sweats her way through her first mistrial after making a procedural mistake. Both the patient and litigant learned valuable lessons. Experience matters. If it did not, then save the trial costs and try your own case. The money that you save can fund either your appeal or bail bond.
I have been trying cases in state courts and federal courts throughout Virginia continuously for over thirty-five years. Preparing a case for trial includes preparing you and every witness that will testify for trial. We are both more effective when you know what to expect and understand the points that we are trying to make. A common case collapse is evident when a witness chooses the path of least resistance once realizing the futility of verbally sparring with a trained cross-examiner. The beaten-up and underprepared witness just agrees to opposing counsel’s leading statements masquerading as questions to avoid verbal beatings that every stupid response guarantees. Unprepared witnesses are prone to “deer-in-headlights” syndrome, characterized by barely audible and comprehensible testimony from a bug-eyed and nervous witness who seems to be meeting with her lawyer for the first time. Many times, those lawyers who do not take the time to educate their client about questions to expect and the key evidentiary points in the case, watch helplessly as the person who has to sell the case self-destructs in the witness box.
There are no questions to ask on redirect will stop the witness from sweating or erase the credibility killing images from the jurors’ collective memory when reaching their verdict. The uninitiated lawyer often realizes too late that it would have been a better trial strategy to call an actual deer to the witness stand because the animal could not speak.
B. Avoid an Attorney Who is Learning the Subject Matter Alone with You
Some lawyers take cases to branch out into a new practice area and hope to get a legal fee while learning something new. A lawyer “dabbling” in a new practice area can quickly be overwhelmed and out performed. You deserve better. The legal nuances in the ever-evolving subject matter are profound and inexperience is magnified in the courtroom. The last thing you want is a lawyer who suddenly realizes that he or she is in over his or her head. While the novice lawyer in “My Cousin Vinny” may have won his case in the end, being regularly chastised by the judge for rookie mistakes in the presence of the jury is no laughing matter when a family is relying on you to provide competent and professional services. Judges and jurors sense quickly when lawyers are “pretending.” Sure we learn from our mistakes. Primarily, we learn that it is a huge mistake to try a new type of case alone, especially in the legal minefields of medical malpractice, nursing home injuries and wrongful death, and severe personal injury cases . If not for any other reason, the “dabbler” will quickly become miserable as the attorney starts the Hitchcockesque freefall of the inexperienced. Guess whose case then gets settled for pennies on the dollar because the lawyer wants out?
I do not pretend to know every area of law, just to get you in the door. Let others handle criminal cases, family and domestic relations suits, and bankruptcy and tax cases. I am fortunate to be recognized for distinction in my focused areas, and I stick to what I know. I have no problem being upfront and telling you that I am not the right lawyer for your situation. When I do so, however, I usually can give you the names of some other lawyers to try. I want you to find the right attorney for your case even if that is not me. If you or someone you know has a personal injury, wrongful death, or commercial claim in the future, then hopefully you will remember me as a person who put your interests first when we first spoke.
C. Avoid a Lawyer Who is Too Busy or Too Arrogant to Treat You with Respect; The Best Lawyers Serve Their Clients, Not Themselves
Pompous, dismissive, too busy to listen to your input, and always in a meeting when you call sound familiar? When your lawyer behaves in an unprofessional or undignified manner, it is at best counterproductive to the orderly progress of your suit. If your attorney cannot seem to cooperate with anyone, then you will incur delays, extra costs, and professional judgment that is clouded by ego and personal animosity toward opposing counsel (and in extreme cases, toward you).
I interact with lawyers every day and most are undeserving of the characterization above. But there are some lawyers that have forgotten that you are not used to litigation, are naturally anxious and have questions, and may feel intimidated by brusque responses, “legalese,” or even worse, no response at all.
The best lawyers remember that the practice of law is a privilege. I try to honor the fundamental principle that lawyers serve the interests of their client. You deserve to be informed and involved in a case that directly impacts you and your family. When I represent you, I realize that you have put your faith and confidence in me. I take your trust seriously.