WHO IS THE BEST PENNSYLVANIA PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY FOR YOUR CASE?

I often hear the question: "Who is the best Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer for my case?" The answer to that question depends on a number of factors:

• What type of case is it -- how did you get injured?
• How badly injured are you?
• How complex is the case?
• How much money will it take to properly prepare your case?
• What do you want/expect your lawyer to do for you?
• How do you want/expect your lawyer to act?
• What kind of personality do you have?

There is no single lawyer who is the best personal injury lawyer for every personal injury case in Pennsylvania. Some personal injury lawyers are flashy and brash. Others are careful and studious. Some personal injury lawyers are openly aggressive and even angry in the manner in which they go about their business -- they treat witnesses and the opposing lawyers as mortal enemies. Others are calm and courteous toward their opponents and clients alike. Some personal injury attorneys have hundreds or even thousands of open cases and rely on a high volume of cases to make their living. Others choose to handle a relatively small number of cases and focus on high value results rather than a large number of modest results. Some personal injury attorneys regularly handle cases involving minor or modest injuries. Others only handle cases involving serious or catastrophic injuries. Simply stated, Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys come in every "flavor" imaginable. These range from some of the most brilliant, creative, highly professional and courteous individuals you could ever hope to come meet to people who you may not feel comfortable having a professional relationship with.

Clients -- the accident victims -- are just as diverse as the lawyers. Their injuries range from minor strains and sprains to life-altering conditions such as brain damage, severe burns and paralysis. Some accident victims have a preference for attorneys who are loud, table-pounding, publicity hungry individuals. Other accident victims want and need a counselor and advocate who is a calm and comforting influence in their life at a time of extremely high stress. Some accident victims need a lawyer who will "get them something" for their minor neck pain after a fender bender. Other accident victims need an attorney who is experienced in obtaining full and fair compensation for catastrophically injured individuals who may never be able to work again and who may require a lifetime of future medical care and treatment.

No single personal injury attorney is the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorney for all of these accident victims. The person who would be the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorney for "Case A" may not be the best personal injury attorney for "Case B". The person who would be the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorney for "Client A" may not be the best personal injury attorney for "Client B".

In a serious or catastrophic personal injury case, the relationship between the client and the attorney necessarily becomes a close, intimate professional relationship. These cases are all about the impact of the injuries on the victim's life. In order for the attorney to properly and fully present that evidence, it is necessary for the attorney to learn all sorts of information about the client. These things include what the client enjoyed doing before the injury, what the client's plans for future employment were, the nature of the client's relationship with his or her spouse, the hopes and dreams he or she had for their children, and the like. This is very personal information. However, it is the type of information that can and should be utilized by the attorney to demonstrate the full impact that the injuries have had on the client's life. This is the type of information that can greatly affect the value of a personal injury case.

It takes a lot of trust and a very high comfort level for an individual to share this type of personal information with a relative stranger. Therefore, it is very important for a seriously injured individual seeking "the best" Pennsylvania personal injury attorney to make sure that they have the trust in, respect for and comfort with the attorney before they retain that attorney.

Some personal injury cases involve complex factual scenarios that require the investment of very significant sums of money. Certain cases -- products liability cases, industrial accidents, professional negligence cases, construction site accident cases, to name a few -- require the plaintiff's attorney to retain multiple expert witnesses -- engineers, accident reconstruction experts, safety code or OSHA code experts, etc. These individuals are called "liability experts." Each of the liability expert witnesses charge a retainer and an hourly fee for their time working on the case. Computer accident analyses and reconstructions are often done. Scale models of accident scenes are sometimes built. These steps are often necessary to prove that the defendant in a case is legally responsible for the accident and the resulting injuries. Doing all of these things can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Only an attorney who has the resources to properly fund the case can be considered among the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys for that particular case. An attorney who handles serious cases on a shoestring budget is probably not among the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys for that case.

Developing and presenting the medical evidence in a serious or catastrophic case can be every bit as expensive as developing the liability evidence. Treating doctors charge for their time spent preparing reports, meeting with the plaintiff's attorney and testifying. When there are multiple treating doctors, this can become very, very expensive. In addition, it is often necessary to retain consultants to develop certain aspects of the serious personal injury case. For example, Life Care Planners often must be retained to itemize the nature and frequency of the plaintiff's future medical care and to estimate the cost of that future care. Vocational Rehabilitation consultants are often retained to determine the residual earning capacity or employability of the seriously injury accident victim. Forensic economists are often retained in these cases as well. These consultants are necessary to determine the cost of future medical care, future lost earnings and the like.

These costs can easily reach the high five figure range or above. When a case demands this level of economic investment, only an attorney who is willing and able to invest these amounts can truly be considered among the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys for that case.

Simply put, there is no single "best" Pennsylvania personal injury attorney for every case. When it comes to the serious or catastrophic injury case, the consumer of legal services -- the accident victim -- should ask many questions, including the following:

• Does the lawyer have the financial wherewithal to properly develop and present my case in order to maximize my chances of obtaining a positive outcome?
• Does the lawyer have the time and qualified personnel to properly and fully develop my case?
• Does the lawyer have a track record of success with serious personal injury cases?
• Is the lawyer a serious player in the personal injury field, or does he or she just dabble in personal injury work, along with doing other types of work such as criminal defense, DUI defense, will preparation and divorces?
• Is the lawyer someone I want to have a close, intimate professional relationship with for the next few years?
• Is this someone I'm comfortable being around and confiding in?
• Is the lawyer someone I trust instinctively?
• Is the lawyer someone who I'll be proud to be associated with?

If you have found a lawyer for whom you can answer yes to these questions, there is a good chance that you have found the best Pennsylvania personal injury attorney for your case. If you cannot answer these questions affirmatively, you should probably keep looking. The best Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer for your case is out there. It's just a matter of asking the right questions to find that lawyer.