Tips For Your First Year In Car Accident Law

5 February 2020 by Jonathan Phillips

If you have recently graduated from law school and are ready to begin practicing, one sector of law worth looking into is car accident law. People are injured in car accidents every day, and they often need legal representation in order to get the compensation they deserve. In this field of law practice, you are working for the "little guy," which can be satisfying from a moral perspective. However, there are a few intricacies in this field, and the following tips are sure to come in handy during your first year of practice.

Be prepared to handle a lot of consultations.

Many people who are involved in car accidents do not immediately know how bad their injuries really are or if their insurance company is going to fight them in providing coverage. As such, they may schedule consultations with attorneys just to get a handle on the situation from the get-go. You will probably have a lot of these consultations, but only a fraction of them will turn into actual cases. So it will pay to become efficient at handling your consultations. Have a list of questions you ask each consulting client. Set a time limit for each meeting so you can move through them quickly. Fifteen minutes should be long enough to get a good idea of what happened and tell the client whether you can help them. Welcome the consultations, but remember that they will not all equate to paying work.

Expect to settle out of court.

You will mainly be dealing with insurance companies as defendants in your cases. Once you work through a few of these cases, you will quickly notice a pattern. Insurance companies really like to settle out of court and move on. Knowing this, you can better plan for the time a case will take, and you can inform your clients early on that they will probably be receiving settlement offers rather than having to wait for their day in court.

You may have to visit hospitals.

Some of your biggest cases will probably come from clients who are very seriously injured. As such, these clients cannot always make it in to visit you in person. Do not be surprised when family members call you and ask if you can go to the hospital for a meeting instead. Be open to offering this service since it is where a lot of income may come your way. Just make sure you set parameters. Once the client is well enough to travel to your office, you want to encourage them to do that so you're not spending half your workday traveling.

You'll need to cultivate relationships with doctors.

Often, you will need a medical professional to act as an expert witness if a case does get heard in front of a judge or jury. Cultivating relationships with doctors who are willing to testify in such cases can be tough. This is one reason why it's best to work at a larger firm when you first get into auto accident law. The firm will already have existing relationships with doctors. After a year or two, you'll have gotten to know those doctors personally, and you can then use their expertise if you decide to branch out on your own after that.

Working in car accident law is not easy, but it is rewarding. You'll spend the first year or two adapting to the field and implementing the advice above, but after that, it should be pretty smooth sailing. Make sure you have a good mentor or two on your side and jump right in. A good career awaits.

To learn more, contact a car accident attorney.

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