I have been a trial lawyer now for over 50 years. It has been an interesting, challenging, and rewarding career. I can’t think of anything else I would rather have done. My years of experience have given me a good insight into what it takes to be a good trial lawyer. One thing that is crystal clear is that, regardless of what someone trying to get your business might say, not everyone is a good trial lawyer. In today’s screen-driven world, many people use social media to find a lawyer. When the lawyer you need to find is one to represent you in a personal injury or medical malpractice matter, social media is a poor way to go about it.
You don’t have to read much to know social media rankings and star ratings are unreliable. Entire businesses are built on providing five star ratings for restaurants, hotels, services, products for sale on line and so on and so on. When you see a five star rating, you have no way of knowing whether the stars were awarded by real people who really went to the restaurant or bought the product or whether they were working for a company that awards five stars as a business.
It is also clear that some people use ratings to punish or reward businesses on the basis of their politics. A business gets in the news for something that annoys one side of the political divide or the other. People who read about the business but have never been there give it one star and talk about how bad it is. People on the other side rush to defend the business and give it high marks. As someone reading these reviews, you have no way of knowing who is a legitimate rater and who is not.
Even when there is no question that the person rating the business was an actual customer, social media ratings can be misleading. The more straightforward the product or business being rated, the more accurate the rating should be. Everyone can tell if a hammer is of good quality or not. Not everyone can tell if a lawyer is a good trial lawyer or not.
So much of a trial lawyer’s work takes place out of sight of the client. The client knows if the lawyer was polite and responsive. The client knows if the lawyer made a recovery for him or her. The client does not know how thorough the lawyer was or whether the lawyer could have gotten more money, if she were a better lawyer. The client does not know about the experiences of other clients. When it comes to reviews of trial lawyers, keep in mind the old adage, “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while.” Just because a lawyer got a good result for a neighbor or friend, does not mean that the lawyer is a good lawyer who will do a good job for you.
All lawyers graduated from college. All lawyers graduated from law school. All lawyers passed the bar exam. Despite these facts, many lawyers are clueless about the law and what it takes to be a good trial lawyer. They do not understand the rules of evidence or the rules of civil procedure. They do not know how to try a case and will inevitably fold and accept whatever offer is on the table just before trial. The insurance companies know who tries cases and who folds and value cases and offer money accordingly. The insurance company doesn’t care how many stars a lawyer has and you shouldn’t either.
Before I began representing people injured by medical malpractice or seriously injured in a car accident, I represented people at the request of their insurance companies. I encountered poor lawyer after poor lawyer. It wasn’t like taking candy from a baby, but it wasn’t far off either. I also encountered some very good trial lawyers but they were few and far between.
You don’t want the inexperienced lawyer who paid for stars. When looking for a trial lawyer for your personal injury case, look for lawyers who have been certified by the State Bar as Specialists in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death. Look for lawyers who are members of groups that recognize experience and trial excellence, such as the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Watch out for groups with fancy sounding names who sell memberships to any lawyer willing to pay to join.
