People are injured and killed in car accidents every year by the thousands, so many that in the next fifteen years it is thought that car accidents will become the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Car accidents are the main type of personal injury claims, whether you were the driver, passenger or a pedestrian on the street involved in an auto accident. If you have been involved in a serious car wreck you could be entitled to compensation for your pain, time and suffering caused by a car accident that you were not at fault in. If you are one who has been injured in an auto accident you may consider hiring a car accident lawyer to assist you in recovering damages.

Not all car accidents should have a car accident attorney involved in the resolution. To figure out if you should hire a car accident attorney, ask yourself some of the following questions and if the answer is yes, you should call an attorney right away.

• Were you involved in a major accident?
• Were you at fault?
• Are your injuries or the injuries of those you are responsible for serious?
• Is the party at fault uninsured?

A car accident lawyer can assist you with claims such as:

• Claims against an uninsured driver
• Claims for serious injury
• Claims for medical expenses after a car accident
• Claims for loss of income while recovering from a car accident
• Claims for pedestrians involved in an auto accident
• Claims for loss of mobility or life from a car accident

The potential for winning a claim such as these and being compensated for your time and suffering is very high, especially if you have a car accident lawyer representing your interests. Traditionally, only the costs of auto repairs and some medical expenses have been covered by insurance companies, but as personal injury claims have been on the rise, more and more insurance companies have to compensate greater amounts for things such as income lost while recovering from a car accident. Car accident lawyers can assist you recovering damages, and you should always hire one if you are in an accident that was not your fault with an uninsured or under insured driver as they will make sure you are compensated by the driver whether they have insurance or not.

Medical expenses that you can file a claim for can include but are not limited to: fractured bones or multiple fragments, permanent disfigurement, loss of one of your senses such as sight or hearing, loss of a limb, debilitating injuries such as spinal or brain injury, or if a loved one was killed.

When you are seriously injured in a car accident that was not your fault you should seek legal counsel immediately as you may be limited in the time you have to make a claim. Different states have different statutes of limitation for the length of time you have to make a claim following an accident, so be on the safe side and seek a car accident attorney as soon as possible following a serious accident.

Even if you are unsure whether your case will hold water in a court or not, you should contact a car accident lawyer. Most firms have a free initial consultation, so it won't hurt for you to see if your claim has a chance to recover money for your time and suffering.

The great thing about car accident lawyers is that 99.9% of them work on a contingency fee agreement, which means you don't pay them anything until you win your case. If you loose, you don't owe them any legal fees. If you win, you pay them a percentage of your settlement. There are several advantages to working with a car accident lawyer on a contingency fee basis. The first is that your lawyer assumes all the risk of the law suit. You normally don't have to pay anything up front, and if you loose you don't have to pay them any legal fees, though you may have to cover some of the court costs, so all the risk is with your car accident lawyer. The second major advantage to working with a lawyer on a contingency fee basis is that because your car accident lawyer only gets paid if you win, they will work doubly hard to make sure you win. You won't see them slacking on your case. The third and probably most promising advantage for you is that by working off a contingency fee, your lawyer wants and will work for the biggest settlement possible because they are working for a percentage of what you win. They'll maximize your settlement because that maximizes their paycheck.

A contingency fee agreement for a car accident lawyer is usually around 30% of your settlement. This may seem high, but when your lawyer is carrying all the risk for your case and the front the court costs, it evens out in the end and you'll still end up with more money by hiring a car accident lawyer than if you don't. Be glad that you are filing a car accident claim and not another type of personal injury claim. Medical mal-practice contingency fees can be as high as 50% of the settlement because of the work and time commitment medical mal-practice lawyers make when they take on a case.

To choose a car accident lawyer you'll want to evaluate several qualifications to make sure you are getting the best representation possible. The first qualification you'll want to evaluate is their experience with your type of case. The more experience they've had settling cases similar to yours, the better your chances for winning your case. The second qualification is their knowledge or competency about the area of practice your case falls under. Be sure your lawyer knows the laws and can explain the legal jargon of an insurance policy before you hire them. The third qualification you'll want to look at in the hiring process is their reputation. If your car accident lawyer has a good reputation for settling cases quickly, working efficiently, being knowledgeable and fighting vigorously for their clients it can cut the time you spend trying to settle your case down significantly. Insurance companies don't fight quite as hard against lawyers they've lost to before. Another thing to evaluate before hiring a car accident layer is their resources. Do they know the experts needed to win your case? Will they be able to keep your case in their firm or are you going to end up being referred out? If your case involves more than one claim, do they cover all the areas of practice needed? Be sure to evaluate your attorney's resources critically or you may end up going elsewhere anyway. Be sure to find a car accident lawyer that truly enjoys representing victims of car accidents. If they don't love what they do, they won't fight as hard for you. If they love what they do, they'll go beyond settling your case and make sure you get every penny your claim is worth. When you meet with them for the first time, tell them about your case then really evaluate what they can do for you, if you think you will work well with them, and if they believe your case is worth fighting for. It makes a big difference in the end when your attorney really believes in you.

So, now that you know all about car accident lawyers and what you should be looking for, you may be asking how you find one that really suits your needs. The best way to find one is through referrals. If your family or friends know a lawyer they trust, go to them. If they aren't a personal injury attorney, or they don't specialize in car accident cases, they will know someone who does. Lawyers know each other, and they know who is respected within their community for the work they do. You're sure to get a good referral if you ask another lawyer. The best car accident lawyers do little to no advertising for themselves because they get all the work they can handle through referrals. Finding a qualified car accident lawyer through advertisements, even through the phone book can be sketchy at best, and extremely hard at worst. There are hundreds of lawyers willing to represent you, but only a slight few that have all the qualifications necessary to give you the confidence to win your case.