How To Choose the Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Kansas City

Ryan Bradley | November 16, 2023 | Personal Injury

The research is clear: Without a personal lawyer representing you, you stand to receive far less money for your losses — perhaps even none at all. Insurance companies make it nearly impossible for victims to get what they deserve. Thankfully, that’s where attorneys come into the picture, fighting to ensure that their clients are properly compensated. 

Steps For Selecting the Best Kansas City Personal Injury Lawyer

There are thousands of personal injury lawyers in Kansas City and throughout the state, most of whom are likely able to handle a variety of personal injury cases competently. The following steps will help you go about picking one to represent you in your personal injury matter:

Search Online

Various attorney listings and directories can be found online that typically list attorneys by type of practice and/or location. This can prove helpful in compiling a preliminary list of potential attorneys. These directories also sometimes detail lawyers’ accomplishments as well as any awards and recognition they have received. 

Seek Recommendations

Though the internet is a powerful tool for finding the right lawyer, word-of-mouth continues to be one of the most optimal ways to get in touch with a professional who is right for you. 

Friends, family, and colleagues who have needed and hired personal injury lawyers are all great sources. Even if they themselves have not had to hire an attorney, they may very well know someone who has.

When you get a recommendation from someone, don’t stop there. 

Make sure to ask a few questions about your potential new attorney to the person who suggested them, such as:

• Were you satisfied with their services?
• Were you treated with respect?
• Was the firm skilled and knowledgeable?
• Were there any unexpected issues?

Additionally, when seeking recommendations from those you know, it may be wise to limit your search to the specific area of law involved in your case. If, for example, you need a reliable slip and fall accident lawyer, you wouldn’t want recommendations for firms that only tackle medical malpractice cases. 

Combine your list of recommended candidates from friends, family, and colleagues with a list of your own from the internet, and you will have a great starting point for your search.

Research Candidates Thoroughly

Ultimately, your goal is to reduce your compiled list down to a few candidates with whom you will subsequently meet. Conducting research on each attorney left standing on your list will help you accomplish that. 

Generally, the internet is the primary tool for researching an attorney. Each of your potential attorneys should have a website, which you should thoroughly review, paying close attention to the areas of practice that are listed. If you don’t see your type of personal injury on their site, you should consider its absence a red flag. 

You should also see some sort of reference to a results page that details some of the firm’s top cases. Gravitate toward the attorneys who are confident in their ability to potentially recover proper compensation for you and whose websites bolster that confidence.

You may also find a testimonials page with rave reviews from clients. These are wonderful endorsements of a potential attorney but should be taken with a grain of salt. For more objective reviews, head to Google Reviews or Yelp. 

There, you are more likely to find more rounded critiques, as well as some mediocre and bad reviews. With that said, though, don’t let a one-off bad review sway you away from a potential choice; just be wary of multiple poor reviews all at once.

Screen Each Attorney

When you’ve successfully managed to shrink your list down to a handful or less of candidates, it’s time to start setting up meetings. Fortunately, personal injury attorneys usually offer potential clients free initial consultations, so it should cost you little more than gas and some of your time to meet with each of them.

Given that you’ll want to make the best use of your time with each attorney, you must be prepared before each meeting, which means you must do the following:

• Gather and organize all documents related to your case
• Compile a list of questions
• Prepare a personal account of the events regarding your injury

During your meeting, the attorney will go through your documents and your personal account to provide you with a case review. These reviews can vary from attorney to attorney or be similar to one another, but none should make any guarantees about how much they can recover. 

Regarding your list of questions, you should present your potential lawyer with questions that relate to the following:

• Their experience in the area of law involved in your case
• Their staff and resources 
• Availability to clients
• Fee structure 
• Projected costs

In reference to the final two bullet points, fees and costs are separate charges, though both are typically the ultimate responsibility of the client. 

The following are potential personal injury costs:

• Court and filing costs
• Costs related to legal service of process, summoning, and the like
• Travel costs
• Court reporting fees
• Mediation fees

Keep in mind that, as a client, you will not be responsible for any payments until you receive a settlement or a winning verdict. Only when you do will your attorney recoup their costs, subtracting their fee from your compensation award. 

A Note on Being Personable

Results matter in personal injury cases, which is why you would never hire an attorney you believed would perform poorly. Nevertheless, results, no matter how important, are not the only important aspect of the best personal injury lawyer. 

What also counts is how you feel and how you are treated when in the presence of your lawyer. The bottom line is that if any particular attorney is dismissive, distracted, condescending, or anything similar, you may want to take them off your list, regardless of their record.

Hiring a Kansas City Personal Injury Attorney Pays Off

If you have been injured by someone else, you likely have a strong claim for damages. However, without an experienced personal injury lawyer representing you, you will likely get paid far less than you should or nothing at all, so don’t attempt to go through the claim process alone.

Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm For Help Today

For more information, please contact Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers at your nearest location to schedule a free case evaluation today.

St. Louis Office
1430 Washington Ave Suite #226
St. Louis, MO 63103
(314) 400-0000

Kansas City Office
1509 NE Parvin Rd, Suite A.
Kansas City, MO 64116

Richmond Heights Office
1201 Bellevue Ave
Richmond Heights, MO 63117
(314) 207-4399

Or, if you would prefer to reach out to us online, please visit our contact us page.