Freiberg and Peck

Freiberg and Peck, Finding the Right Lawyer for Your Insurance Claim


When you are caught in a legal dilemma regarding your insurance claim, whether for personal injury, worker’s compensation or social security, you may want to be sure that you have an advocate that will fully support you and your legal rights. That means you must be sure you’re looking for the right lawyer who has the expertise regarding your case. Remember that there are different kinds of lawyers that practices on different areas of insurance. Say you have an insurance claim, which eventually got denied, and you believe that your claim was denied in bad faith. You need to avail of the services of a bad faith lawyer. For injuries while on the job, you need to hire a worker’s compensation lawyer. For social security issues like Medicare and disability benefits, a social security or disability lawyer will be the best fit. There are plenty more other lawyers that fit into different areas, like medical malpractice, slip and fall, premise and product liability and more, and chances are you will be able to look up for a lawyer that specializes on those fields. You can seek for these lawyers thru referrals, yellow pages, websites, or thru your state bar association.

Once you found a lawyer that specializes on your case, find out who he/she primarily represents. In some cases, the lawyer you may get acutally does not represent consumers but instead they do represent employers and insurance companies, which is not a good idea. If your lawyer represents consumers like you, then proceed with making an initial contact with him. You may also try to contact your local bar association to see if that lawyer has a good standing.

Oftentimes lawyers may have websites or ads on yellow pages advertising their legal services. Try to analyze if their ads are compelling or sensible enough. Some lawyers falsely advertise their services so they can get more potential clients, even if they don’t have an actual extensive experience with handling special cases, or worse, haven’t handled even a single one of those cases. Ask for references too, if possible. Some lawyers may disclose information about their previous clients; others may not due to confidentiality agreements. Either way, try to obtain as much references as you can to check the level of confidence and trust that people may have with the lawyer you’re planning to hire. Some law firms’ websites have info about their backgrounds and list of accomplishments, and usually they have an FAQs section in there, so it’s good to check them out as well.

Bringing a lawsuit against an insurance company is a very difficult task. Insurance companies and employers may usually hire good attorneys as well to fight against your claim. So by selecting a good lawyer to hire, you get a better legal representation and bigger chances of obtaining favorable settlements or verdicts. It all boils down to using your common sense and trusting your instincts, plus assessing your confidence and comfort levels with selecting the lawyer of your choice.