A personal injury lawyer is a specific type of trial lawyer who represents people who claim that they have suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence or intentional conduct.

The injury which gives rise to the representation can be either physical or psychological. Physical injury could include such things as a broken or severed limb. Psychological injury can encompass a range of injuries such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or disorders that involve moods or motions such as depression or anxiety.

What does a personal injury lawyer do?

The first step for personal injury lawyer is to interview the prospective client and evaluate his or her case. Not every injury that occurs was due to someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing. Sometimes, accident simply happen and no one is to blame. If no one has legal fault, then there is no one to bring a lawsuit against.

Even where there is negligence or wrongdoing, the personal injury attorney needs to determine whether a lawsuit is feasible. Perhaps the potential defendants are immune from suit (as is the case with some governmental entities) or they have no assets and no insurance to pay a claim even if the plaintiff wins.

If the personal injury attorney decides that the claim is worth pursuing, the lawyer’s job is to help obtain compensation for his client’ s injury. That entails learning all the facts, interviewing potential witnesses,

Qualification and training

Beyond being a licensed attorney in the jurisdiction where he intends to file the lawsuit, there are usually no specific qualification and training requirements for a lawyer to become a personal injury lawyer. Most attorneys who practice personal injury law have extensive trial experience. Many served as associates to established personal injury attorneys or receive trial experience

A personal injury lawyers may also handle other types of legal matters, particularly in a small firm or solo practice, it is very common, particularly in larger cities, for attorneys to limit their practice to personal injury law. Many personal injury lawyers further concentrate on personal injury litigation involving particular types of claims such as medical malpractice, workplace injuries, product liability or even specific types of accidents such as motorcycle accidents, airline crashes or mass tort litigation.

Personal injury lawyers’ fees

Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis – the lawyer receives a fixed percentage of the damages awarded to the plaintiff. Typically, when a personal injury lawyer takes a case on a contingency fee basis, if the claim is unsuccessful, his client has no obligation to pay any fees or expenses.

The contingency fee in a particular case may depend upon the a number of factors. For example, the scope of the plaintiffs injury and the legal liability of the defendant is clear, so that the only question is establishing the amount of the damages, a personal injury attorney may be willing to negotiate a lower percentage of the damages award has his compensation. In some cases, a lower percentage may be negotiated if the case settles prior to trial since the settlement would enable the attorney to avoid the time and expense of preparing for and trying the case. For example, a typical contingency fee arrangement might be one third of the damages if the case goes to trial and 20% if the case is settled prior to the trial stage.

In some cases, a personal injury lawyer may agree to handle the representation based on an hourly rate, a flat fee, or a retainer basis. In some cases, a combination of fee arrangements may even be used.

Finding a personal injury lawyer

While many people with injuries find a personal injury attorney directly, through their own personal contacts or research on the Internet or even Yellow Pages, frequently they contact an attorney who has represented them on other matters or who is known to them as a neighbor or member of their community.

If the attorney the injured party contacts initially does not handle personal injury matters, that attorney will often help the injured party by referring him or her to a personal injury lawyer qualified to handle the claim. For helping to direct the claim to a personal injury attorney who is competent to handle the matter, the personal injury attorney often shares a portion of his fee with the referring attorney. Like the personal injury attorney, the attorney making the referral receives nothing if the claim is not successful.