Regardless of whether you win a courtroom verdict or an out-of-court settlement, a top-notch Houston car accident lawyer can increase the value of your eventual recovery by a margin that is far greater than the amount his services will cost you, because his skills empower him to pressure a stringy insurance company to pay out every dime your claim is worth. Following are some of the qualities possessed by the best car accident lawyers.
A Strong Local Reputation
In a typical car accident claim, the victim files a claim with an auto insurance company. The insurance company responds with a refusal or an inadequate settlement offer, the lawyer responds with a counteroffer, and the back-and-forth process of negotiation begins. Since an insurance company is a business that seeks to maximize its profits, the victim’s only real leverage is the threat of filing a lawsuit that could force the insurance company to pay. A client represented by a reputable car accident lawyer can present an insurance company with the credible threat of winning a lawsuit against them.
Select you lawyer carefully — insurance companies laugh at lawyers without litigation experience no matter how solid their negotiation skills may be. Without the ability to win a lawsuit, your only remaining leverage against an insurance company is your ability to force them to expend the time and money defending a lawsuit they know they will eventually win, which tends to encourage a very low settlement offer.
Negotiation Skills
If you try to “go it alone”, you will be negotiating against insurance company representatives who negotiate with claimants for a living. Unless your negotiation skills are extraordinary, you will be at a disadvantage no matter how meritorious your claim is. A good car accident lawyer is skilled at the art of negotiation and has successfully negotiated with insurance company representatives many times. Negotiation doesn’t necessarily end when a lawsuit is filed, and a good Houston car accident attorney knows how to exploit the pressure of an ongoing lawsuit to prompt the other side to raise its offer.
Evidence Collection Ability
A good personal injury lawyer know the Texas Rules of Evidence inside and out. He knows how to locate witnesses, how to produce physical evidence that the court will not exclude, how to ask the right questions when interviewing witnesses, how to cross-examine opposing witnesses and how to prove every penny of your damages. The more evidence you have, the stronger your case looks and the more likely it is that the insurance company will issue a high settlement offer rather than attempt to slug it out in court.
Understanding of Legal Nuance
Texas car accident law is complex and arcane, and a good Texas car accident attorney understands its subtle nuances. If the defendant counterclaims that you were texting at the time of the accident, for example, your lawyer might retain an expert witness to prove that your texting was not a substantial cause of the accident (thereby defeating the “causation” element of the defendant’s claim against you).
Get a Professional Involved Today
Houston car accident attorney Mario Madrid has been practicing law for two decades, and he has served as a lawyer, a prosecutor and a judge at various times. He is also a proud member of the National College of DUI Defense Attorneys. Regardless of where you are from, if you have been victimized by a car accident in the Houston metro area, call Madrid Law at 713-877-9400 for a free initial evaluation of your case.
