How to Find an Honest Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles

For many individuals who have recently suffered serious injury due to another person’s negligent or reckless actions, they are dealing with financial and emotional stress related to hospital/doctor bills and the inability to work, as well as the pain, suffering, and uncertainty of the injury itself. The idea of seeking out a personal injury lawyer can feel like the last long thing a personal injury victim wants to do. After all, lawyer is perennially one of the least respected professions, with and lawyers often have reputations for being untrustworthy and self-interested. But, it is of course easy to malign lawyers until the day comes when you need one yourself, and an experienced personal injury attorney can be the difference between financial ruin and winning a huge financial recovery for all of your lifetime medical costs, pain and suffering, and loss of income. So how do you go about finding an honest personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles?

Does the Attorney Have a Disciplinary Record?

Any attorney representing personal injury clients in California must be admitted to the State Bar of California. Among other things, the State Bar of California accepts and investigates complaints from clients all over the state regarding alleged ethical violations made by attorneys. They then investigate those complaints and will pursue disciplinary action against the attorney if there is reason to do so.

Any member of the public can see whether the State Bar of California has enforced any disciplinary or administrative actions against a California attorney by simply going to the home page of the State Bar of California and typing in the attorney’s name in the box reading, “Look Up a Lawyer.” Ideally, the attorney you are considering will have no disciplinary or administrative records.

How Long Has the Attorney Been Practicing?

Of course, a dishonest attorney who has not been practicing for very long and has thus had very few clients may not have their true level of integrity reflected on the State Bar website yet because not enough time has passed out for their true colors to come out.

While a new attorney can certainly be an honest attorney, you are probably going to have more certainty in the process of seeking out an honest attorney by looking for one who has a demonstrated record of success for his or her clients over many years. The truth has a funny way of coming to the surface over time, and most of the unethical attorneys in the business are rarely able to make a continuing, successful career out of the practice of law over the long run.

Bring Your Questions Right to the Lawyer You Are Considering

As a personal injury victim, you are placing an immense trust into an attorney’s hands to help you get your back life on track through obtaining the funds necessary to pay your medical bills, support you while you are unable to work, and to compensate you for your pain and suffering.

Thus, you are right to take the process of choosing an attorney seriously, and any honest lawyer will understand that fact and respect your concerns. A solid, experienced personal injury attorney will take your case on contingency – meaning he or she will ask for no legal fee during the process and instead only take a legal fee if they are successful on your behalf – and so you can take the time at the outset to raise any concerns about ethics and honesty then.

If you are not satisfied with the attorney’s response, then you should of course feel free to keep looking. Meet with as many lawyers as you need to before you find the one that you feel comfortable with in trusting him or her to pursue your financial recovery.

Contact Geragos Law Group Law to Discuss Your Claim

At Geragos Law Group, our personal injury team has decades of experience in successfully winning settlements and verdicts for our clients across Los Angeles and the greater Southern California region. We have built our lasting reputation as a champion of injury victims by always placing the needs of our clients first in providing compassionate legal counsel while aggressively pursuing the relief they are owed on their behalf. By contacting a member of the Geragos Law Group today for a free consultation, you can take the first and most important step to recovery in obtaining compensation for your automobile accident.