5 Questions You Should NOT Forget to Ask Your Lawyer
So you’ve finally decided to stand up to your employers and demand compensation for the injury you’ve suffered at work. Bravo! That’s the right things to do, if you know you were not at fault and have been gravely inconvenienced by something your employers could have easily avoided. Now, it comes to down to how much evidence you have, and how good your lawyer is. Actually, if you have a good lawyer, you have a good chance even without much evidence. Here’s what to ask your lawyer to determine if he’s good for you:
1. How much is this going to cost me?
Your lawyer should give you a clear-cut and honest answer to this. Make sure you understand exactly how the fees or commission system works and how much you will have to pay, by when and in what mode. If the lawyer gives you a figure – let’s say 500 pounds, then you had better ask him how much compensation you stand to get. It doesn’t make sense to get 1000 pounds in compensation and then pay half of it as lawyer’s fees.
2. Will I get to keep all of my compensation?
With the no win no fee claim, the amount of compensation is a big question mark for most people. If your lawyer is fighting on the no win no fee basis, make sure you understand under what terms and conditions you will be able to keep full compensation, what exactly ‘full compensation’ means and in what situations will you have to pay the fees and how much. Also, ensure that you don’t have to pay any other amount to anyone else.
3. Are you experienced?
In this case experience in handling your kind of case is what matters. You need to verify if your lawyer has dealt with workplace injury cases before and what percent have ended well for the victims. Don’t be hesitant to ask for references. Also, if your case has some peculiarity, ensure that your lawyer has some experience or at least understands this peculiarity. Also, each lawyer has his specialty – some are good at out-of–court settlements, while some are better at trials. Pick a lawyer accordingly.
4. How long will this process take?
Making a claim can be a lengthy process and different factors could add or reduce the amount of time it takes to do this. At the outset, after listening to the details of your case, your lawyer should be able to tell you honestly how long your particular claim will take. Again – different lawyers will take longer or shorter – depending on how much experience they have with the law.
5. What about current expenses?
While you’re making the claim, you will need to undergo treatment for which you will need to pay. If you’re not in a position to do this, your lawyers should have some kind of arrangement which allows them to pay for your treatment and then claim the expense as part of compensation. Along with that, there should be some way of claiming other expenses that you have to bear while making the claim