Susan was in an automobile accident and she needed to hire a personal injury attorney. She did a Google search on 'personal injury attorney' and found Joe Jones (name changed) at the top of the search results page. She wrote down only his number, called him up, and hired him on the spot.

Then the troubles began. She found out that although Joe had been an attorney for 12 years, he had only recently started to take up personal injury cases, and he specialized in corporate claims. He had never done automobile accident cases. In the end, she had to settle for a paltry compensation amount owing to Joe's inexperience.

Sharon was in an automobile accident and she needed to hire a personal injury attorney. Like Susan, she did a Google search. She wrote the names of 10 attorneys. John Brown's name was seventh on the search page but he seemed to fit the bill. His 12-years experience in personal injury cases is what made him seem suitable. She was glad she had chosen John Brown to represent her.

Not everyone has time to ask for referrals while choosing an attorney. Most people prefer to do a search on the internet but this is not a fool-proof method. Before you make your choice, you need to ask a few questions. Here are some criteria to select a personal injury attorney.

Experience in court

An attorney who has experience going to trial will be better able to represent you than someone who is new to personal injury claims.

Experience in handling similar cases

There are many different kinds of personal injury cases. If the attorney does not have experience in cases similar to yours, he might not be the best person to represent you.

These standards will give you a fair understanding of the experience and success rate of the personal injury attorney you are considering.