Does your attorney focus on that area of law?
In real estate, you often hear that the most important thing is "location, location, location." In hiring an attorney, it's a little different. The most important thing to consider is "specialization, specialization, specialization."
Lawyers focus their practice on different areas of the law. There are more areas of the law than you can imagine, and the law changes each and every day.
In Tennessee, every lawyer receives a daily email with new decisions from the Supreme Court or Court of Appeals. With every opinion, the laws in Tennessee change. In other words, the laws in Tennessee change every single day. If your attorney doesn't focus their practice on the area you need, then they, and you, are likely getting a world of trouble.
Some lawyers focus on criminal law, some focus on divorces, others disability, others personal injury.
When lawyers get their license to start practicing, it is the last time they ever consider some areas of the law. For example, I don't practice "domestic" law. In other words, I don't handle divorces, custody, baby mama drama, or baby daddy drama. If I started giving you advice on those types of cases, then I wouldn't know much more than what you could find on a Google search.
The more difficult the area of law, the more important it is that you find an attorney who focuses their practice on that area. For example, if you are looking for a medical malpractice lawyer, you will be swimming upstream if you hire someone who doesn't do that type of law.
Same is true for personal injury. Some think that personal injury is probably really easy. Not true.
For example, an attorney who knows what they're doing can take a client with $600,000 in medical bills and a defendant who only has $25,000 in insurance and still turn it into a $10,000 recovery for their client. That happened for one of my clients last week. On the other hand, a lawyer who doesn't focus on personal injury can take a client with $20,000 in medical bills, a defendant with $100,000 in insurance coverage and the client only walk away with $5,000. I saw that last week as well.
Hire a lawyer who isn't shy about the truth.
I was interviewed by a news station not too long ago about one of my cases. I told the reporter the truth about the case and what really happened and why we were so angry. The reporter said: "Well you're certainly not afraid of talking to the press."
My reply: "I'm never shy about telling the truth.
Beside the pictures of my children, you will find a few quotes framed on the walls in my office. For example, when you first walk in to the lobby of my office you will find a "In God We Trust" that was hand made out of iron. Another sign in my office has the quote:
"Never be shy about telling the truth."
Everything I do is built off of this philosophy.
You know when someone is pulling your leg, it's absolutely critical that you hire an attorney who will tell you the truth throughout your case.
What do we charge?
You don't pay us anything up front or as we go. As your car accident lawyer or personal injury attorney, we are paid a percentage of the recovery when the case is over, and a reimbursement for the expenses we pay during the case.
It can be very expensive to develop a case. This is true all across the state including Kingsport, Johnson City, Bristol and surrounding areas. For example, there are costs to getting your medical information, filing a lawsuit, taking sworn testimony, creating re-enactments and animations or getting expert testimony.
At Bates & Associates you don't have to worry. As your lawyer and personal injury attorney, we pay the expenses while we build your case.
How hard is it talk to your lawyer?
Hiring a lawyer is a big deal. It doesn't matter if you're hiring a car accident lawyer, personal injury attorney or any other type of lawyer. You are trusting someone to go to battle for you.
It requires trust, honesty and communication.
Every client at Bates & Associates has the personal cell phone of their attorney.
My clients are encouraged to text, call or email anytime. This scares some other lawyers, because these other lawyers have too many cases, they don't want to be "bothered" by their clients or they want someone else to communicate with their clients.
We don't share these fears with other lawyers, because we are selective in the cases we take and we only represent folks we genuinely care about and we treat them like family.
It doesn't matter if you live in Bristol, Johnson City, Kingsport or any of the surrounding areas, we'll also come to you and make house calls. We introduce you to our kids and we get to know you.
Lawyer Hiring Checklist #5
Will your lawyer fight for you?
I was raised by a cattle farmer. We weren't rich, but I watched my dad fight for everything we had. I used that fight and work ethic playing ball, until I couldn't anymore.
When I was in High School I would move boxes for a law firm in Knoxville. One day, I saw a personal injury attorney just after a trial and I could tell that he had just been in a knock down, drag out fight. It was at that moment I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I didn't know I wanted to become a car accident lawyer, personal injury attorney, represent folks in Bristol, Kingsport or Johnson City. All I knew is that I wanted to fight for folks.
I get the most enjoyment taking cases that other lawyers don't think have value and knocking them out of the park. Or, taking cases against the big hospitals, corporations, etc. that scare too many other lawyers away.