It’s one of the worst things that can happen to any employee—being injured on the job. A workplace accident can bring your career to a halt, resulting in lost wages, serious injuries, and large hospital bills.

If you’ve been involved in a workplace injury, you may be entitled to compensation from your employer. However, it’s not always an easy road to navigate, with companies often hesitant to pay.

The best thing to do after a workplace accident is to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer to advocate on your behalf. But how can you find the right lawyer for the job?

To learn more, keep reading to find seven key things you should look for when hiring an attorney for your case.

1. Experience with Similar Cases

If you’re looking to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer, one of the first things to look for is their experience with similar cases. Workplace health and safety law is extremely complex and can vary slightly based on location and industry, so it’s not something just any lawyer can pick up and understand.

Workers’ compensation is overseen by the Department of Labor, so your lawyer needs to understand the law, inside and out.

It helps to find a lawyer with experience in your field. For example, if you work in mining and had an accident on the job, look for a lawyer who has dealt with other mining cases successfully.

This gives you the best chance of winning, since you have someone experienced and knowledgeable on your side.

2. Honesty

Unfortunately, lawyers can sometimes have a reputation for not being the most honest of professions. However, when your career and wages are at stake, you need to find a lawyer who is honest, ethical, and trustworthy.

Your workers’ compensation attorney should be someone who is honest and always works hard to do the right thing for their clients, without cutting corners or lying. Although it can be hard to know when first meeting someone if they’re honest, it helps to read reviews from previous clients.

Also, trust your instinct—is this person someone who you feel comfortable with representing you in court?

3. A Track Record of Success

Hiring a lawyer can be a big investment, so you ideally want to win your case and get the workplace compensation you deserve. For this to happen, you need a lawyer with a winning track record.

Look at the firm’s case record to see how many similar cases they’ve won and lost over the years. While no lawyer is going to win 100% of the time, this gives you a strong indication of their skills and track record in the courtroom.

4. Reasonable Fees

How much can you afford to pay for your lawyer? With lawyer fees running in the hundreds of dollars per hour, you need to be clear on how much your lawyer is charging before you let them take on your case.

Look for a lawyer who is transparent about their pricing and doesn’t try to hide the true cost of their services. You need to know, upfront, what you’re signing up for to avoid unexpected bills later on.

Some lawyers may charge a flat fee for their services, while others will charge hourly. Some may also not ask for any money until your case is settled, which can be helpful if you’re on a tight budget.

5. Strong Communication Skills

Your workers’ compensation attorney needs to have strong communication skills—both for the case and for communicating with you. Once you sign up with a new lawyer, you want to know how frequently you’ll receive updates and what amount of detail will be involved.

You’ll also want to ask if you’ll be communicating directly with them or with one of their paralegals or associates.

Workplace law can be confusing, so your lawyer may need to translate complex legal jargon into terms that are easier to understand.

6. Availability

With your case, you’re likely to want to settle as quickly as you can, bringing in money for medical bills and lost wages. For this reason, always ask your potential attorney about their caseload and availability.

You may think you’ve found the perfect lawyer, but if they don’t have availability for new cases for the next six months, then it won’t do you much good. Find someone who is free and available right away to start work on your important case.

7. Positive Reviews

When hiring any service or trade, including lawyers, reviews matter. Take the time to search for your lawyer online and see what comes up.

Hopefully, you’ll find plenty of positive reviews from clients happy with the service they received. However, if a lawyer has bad reviews or seems to have a history of controversy or problems, then they are probably best avoided.

When looking for reviews, try to find unbiased websites, like Yelp or Google, where you know the reviews are likely to be genuine.

You may also be able to ask colleagues if they have any experience with workplace law and can recommend a firm. Often, the best recommendations come from those we know and trust.

Find the Right Workers’ Compensation Lawyer for Your Case

With the tips above, you’re sure to find the ideal workers’ compensation lawyer for your case. Going through a workplace accident or injury is a traumatic and terrible thing, so you need to find the right legal team who can help you manage the settlement process.

Get started today by researching expert lawyers in your area and you’ll soon be on your way to getting the compensation you deserve.

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