Episode 01 – How Hiring A Personal Injury Attorney Works
“Ask The Hammer” – Exploring the Legal Matters That Matter Most
Welcome again to the podcast series now available on Spotify! “Ask the Hammer” is the radio show with attorney Darryl Isaacs, “The Hammer.” Do you have a legal question for The Hammer? You can submit your questions via Facebook or Twitter using #askthehammer or give the offices of Isaacs & Isaacs a call at 800-333-9999. We’d love to use your questions on the show!
Episode 01: How Does Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney Work?
Questions answered in this episode:
- I’ve been injured, do I need a lawyer?
- Where do I begin my search for an attorney?
- What actions should I take to find a good personal injury attorney?
- What questions should I ask a personal injury attorney to see if we have a fit?
- What questions should I expect a personal injury attorney to ask me?
- Our social media question of the week – the questions listeners Ask The Hammer
Visit Our Personal Injury Lawyer Page
You can also listen to this episode via Spotify or SoundCloud.
Episode 01 Transcription
[music]
Host:
Welcome to Ask the Hammer, the podcast exploring the legal matters that matter most. I’m your host, Jeremy Kocal, and as always we are here with attorney Darryl Isaacs, “The Hammer,” ready to take on the most popular questions about law.
Today’s episode: How does hiring a personal injury attorney work? Now if I find myself in the tough predicament of being in a car or truck accident, ultimately I will be faced with this question: “Do I need a lawyer? And what is the process for moving forward in that direction?”
Darryl:
Well, if I’m ever asked this question, I tell them, it’s kind of like, check out your legal options. It’s like, if you were injured and you needed medical advice, I mean, you would go consult a doctor, you certainly wouldn’t treat yourself. It’s good to get, you know, what I call a legal checkup. Talk to the attorney and then you can decide, “Hey I wanna move forward, no I don’t. Hey I have a case, no I don’t.” Consults are free so it doesn’t cost you anything to talk to us.
Host:
What would you encourage them to do and include in their search for a good personal injury attorney?
Darryl:
You know, I think I would just investigate, investigate, investigate. Online is one angle. Another angle is you can call the local bar association. Every city has a bar association and you can ask for referrals that way.
Your first contact does not have to be a face-to-face. We like people to call and talk to our representatives, our staff. Anything that is on your mind … whatever you discuss is what they call attorney/client privilege, but the attorney needs to know who you are and you need to know that you are speaking with an attorney. And that confidentiality gives you the full disclosure.
This is always my example — if you went out and killed somebody and you were calling to talk, whether that attorney represented you or not, even if you confessed, that attorney could never disclose that. And they do that so you will be free to speak, you know, whatever you need.
Host:
And as far as the questions that people should be asking personal injury attorneys?
Darryl:
Are they experienced?
Have they handled this type of case?
Do they have the financial resources to fund my case?
Everybody is going through a situation that is important to them, so no question is a dumb question. Whatever information they are willing to give, or whatever question I can answer, or my staff or my attorneys, we’re there to do that. When they call our office, you know, we spend a few minutes, we can tell right away if it’s a case or not.
Host:
When a client and an attorney are ready to move forward with the personal injury claims process, they think they have a fit, you said there’s a step, some questions that you’ll really want to get in depth with as far as what you’re going to ask the client. What kinds of questions are they?
Darryl:
Well, we’ll want to know, let’s say a client was in a bad car wreck and they’re wanting us to represent them. We want to sit down and we want to make sure it’s a good fit. Because, we can’t undo the accident. So, the thing we can do is represent a person, try to get them … you know, we’re like a quarterback.
We try to make sure they get good medical care, or get them where they need to go. We try to get them to get them compensated for their lost wages or damages. We try to get them pain and suffering. We want to make sure they are out for, let’s say, money damages.
I’ve had a few times where the client will come in and they don’t want damages, they want revenge or they want to go try to ruin some person’s life because they ruined theirs. That’s not a case we’re gonna really move forward on. So I always like to make sure that it’s a good fit, that the client wants us and we want them. We always want to be chosen by the client but we just want to make sure we can meet their objective and that we’re on the same page.
We can’t tell them, “Hey we’re gonna guarantee you “x” amount,” but we just want to make sure we’re realistic and what their expectations are, and we also want them to know what we expect from them.
Clients have to keep their doctor’s appointments or their physical therapy. Or they take care of the medical portion and then we’ll try to manage their case and take care of the legal portion.
Host:
We turn now to social media and the questions that YOU would like to Ask The Hammer. Ok Darryl, this one’s from Facebook, kind of a fun one about being an attorney —
“When you are out with family and with friends and the subject of being an attorney comes up, how often do you get asked for legal advice?”
Darryl:
Everyday. But I as a general rule, I always give them a funny thing: “You get what you pay for.” But I always tell them I try not to do family or friends. Now I will, because everybody will come up, “Oh I know someone who had a divorce, or bankruptcy or this criminal proceeding.” You know, if that’s not my area of expertise I’m doing them an injustice. So, if you call me and say, “My friend had a property dispute,” I’ll give you the name of a property attorney, or if you need a divorce, you need a divorce attorney. I really try to go out of my way to just make sure we only talk the cases we handle.
[music]
Host:
If you have a legal question you’d like to Ask The Hammer, reach out to us on Twitter, on Facebook, or the website, IsaacsandIsaacs.com, we’d love to tackle your question on our next show.
And here’s our legal disclaimer:
This podcast should not be used in any legal capacity whatsoever. If you have specific legal questions, contact an attorney to discuss specific legal matters about your case. The attorneys of Isaacs & Isaacs operate nationally with their primary office in Louisville, Kentucky. Listeners should note that legal services may be performed by others.”
Join us next time with Darryl Isaacs on Ask the Hammer. Thanks for listening.
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Get Your Question Answered By Darryl Isaacs
Got a legal question for The Hammer? Reach out using the contact form on this page or give the team at Isaacs & Isaacs a call at 800-333-9999. Be sure to check out the The Hammer’s blog and more podcast episodes from attorney Darryl Isaacs!
