Finding a Qualified Attorney

As I ride around the City, I am amazed at the number of billboard advertisements by attorneys. Occasionally, even though I am working all day long, I also get a chance while I am in a waiting room (usually awaiting a doctor’s deposition) to watch daytime TV. When I watch the TV, I am similarly amazed at the number of lawyer advertisements on daytime television. Obviously, this leads me to consider how the average person goes about finding a qualified personal injury attorney in a case involving either serious injury or death.
My personal recommendation is that any potential client be extremely cautious about relying on television advertising as a way to find a serious injury lawyer. One of the best ways to find a qualified attorney is to make sure that they actually practice in the serious injury field. If an attorney is a member of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, and they speak and lecture on legal topics within the field, the odds are that such an attorney is qualified to speak on issues arising in serious injury cases. I would also recommend that any potential client make sure that their attorney has been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as an AV rated attorney (which is the highest rating an attorney can receive based on an evaluation by his or her peers).
The reason television advertising is so omnipresent is because it works. What this means is that many people rely on advertising as a way to find their attorneys. This process, however, fails to provide any screening mechanism for the client to make sure that their attorney is qualified. Anyone who calls our firm will discover that we are all AV rated attorneys, that we are active in the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and that we are members of the American Association for Justice, which is a group of plaintiff’s attorneys. They will also find that we have written articles in legal journals and periodicals, that we have published them throughout the state and elsewhere and that we have also spoken as faculty members at numerous seminars sponsored by the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. These are the types of activities and qualifications one would hope to find with a competent attorney in the serious injury field.
While we have many professional colleagues who are highly qualified and can competently handle a serious injury case or one involving wrongful death, regrettably, due to the nature of the business, there are many attorneys out there marketing their services through various forms of advertising where the qualifications might not otherwise be what one would like to see in an attorney entrusted to a very important matter. The old axiom: “caveat emptor” still applies when one chooses an attorney. All clients should carefully screen their lawyer’s qualifications before they engage their services. This is the best way to secure good legal service.