How to Find the Best Injury Lawyer for Your Case

This video features John H. (Jack) Hickey, a Medical Malpractice attorney based in Florida.

Why Board Certifications and Trial Reputations Matter

Video Transcript:

I’m going to settle for the maximum amount of money for my client that's absolutely possible in this particular claim.

Rob Rosenthal:

If you're hurt because of someone else's negligence, do you know how to find an attorney to help you out? Well, we're going to find out today because that's what we're going to ask the lawyer.

Hi again, everybody, I'm Rob Rosenthal with askthelawyers.com and here to help us out and answer our questions is Miami attorney Jack Hickey. Jack, good to see you. Thank you for helping us out again.

Jack Hickey:

Good to see you, Rob.

Rob Rosenthal:

Let's talk about personal injury attorneys. Maybe people don't know what they are, or what they do. Why don't we start there? Tell us what injury attorneys do.

Jack Hickey:

Well, injury attorneys really solve problems. We usher and lead you the injured person through the process and try to get you as much money as possible.

Rob Rosenthal:

So when people are trying to decide, “Okay, I need an injury attorney. I've been hurt and I think it's because of someone else's negligence.” Maybe they see a bunch of TV commercials or a sign on the side of a bus, is that the best way to pick somebody?

Jack Hickey:

I don't think so. Quality over quantity is what I say. People who advertise on TV are usually someone who spent a lot of money on TV advertising. That's all you are assured of. So look at the background. Do your research; quality over quantity. I can go into that if you want, Rob. You know, the things to look for in a Florida attorney, because Florida has a board certification process.
Look for a lawyer who is board-certified as a trial lawyer. And if it's a maritime case, board-certified as an admiralty and maritime lawyer. This indicates that this lawyer has proven to the Florida bar that he or she has a significant amount of their practice in that area, that they've been involved in it for a certain period of time, a number of years, five years minimum. In the case of civil trial, that they have had a certain number of trials. And also that judges and lawyers in their same field and lawyers they go against have said that this lawyer is a great lawyer. So it's a rigorous process, and that is one thing to look for any lawyer you hire.

Rob Rosenthal:

These board certifications are difficult to get. To be double or triple board-certified, that’s very rare, is it not?

Jack Hickey:

It is. It's very rare to a very small percentage. For example, in Florida we have over 110,000 people who are certified as Florida lawyers with only about 70,000 actually practicing. Of all those lawyers, people who are board-certified are less than 20%; people who are double board-certified are less than 7%.

Rob Rosenthal:

Wow. You mentioned a trial attorney and then somebody who has verdicts. What does that mean? And tell us why that's important.

Jack Hickey:

Well, you know, anybody can take in a personal injury claim. Any lawyer can take one in, and any lawyer can make calls and send letters and try to get the claim settled. Very few lawyers know what to do to work it up. You need a lawyer who knows how to do that. You need a lawyer who knows the medicine, frankly, because lawyers need to know at least a basic amount of medicine. And you need lawyers who the insurance company knows that if push comes to shove, this lawyer can and will go to trial, and can and will get great results.

Rob Rosenthal:

And why is it important that the insurance companies know them? What difference does that make?

Jack Hickey:

Well,you might say, “I want to get my case settled. I don't want to go to trial necessarily if we can avoid that.” But the insurance company has to know that at the end of the day, if they don't offer a maximum amount of money that they are going to get hit. The insurance companies are all about saving money, and they're all about projecting the future. You know, “If I pay so much now am I going to avoid paying later.” And that's what it's all about. So it's a power game, it is. So you need somebody powerful on your side.

Rob Rosenthal:

Are there some personal injury lawyers, Jack, who just try to settle very quickly just to get through as many cases as possible?

Jack Hickey:

Yeah, there are unfortunately. It's a problem because they set the bar very low. The insurance companies will say, “Gee, for this type of injury last week I settled for X amount of dollars.” And I say to them, “I don't care. That wasn't my case.” There are lawyers out there who settle quick and cheap. But my philosophy always has been, even when I started out, my philosophy was that I'm not going to settle quick and cheap. I'm going to settle for the maximum amount of money for my client that's absolutely possible in this particular claim. I don't care if it takes me a long time; I can hold out. I can hold out forever. So that's my thinking. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't like a settlement that is at the right time. We don't always have to wait a long time; there's an old expression, no wine before its time. A case is kind of like that too. I have no problem with settling at the right time, if in fact it's a good number for that claim.

Rob Rosenthal:

I’ve got to think that's where years of experience comes in, knowing when it's the right time.

Jack Hickey:

Yeah. You need the experience and the talent to understand the big picture, all of the problems, or not problems. That's where you’ve got to know personal injury and you’ve got to know some medicine. I know medicine and I think it's good. I think it's great. But you have to have a basic feel for medicine and a basic feel for the problems in that particular case. You’ve got to get in and get the details of each particular case. One of the issues in our society is that doctors don't listen to people, and they put stuff down in medical records that are maybe not so accurate about how the accident happened or about the injuries. And it's partly because we don't pay doctors by the hour, we pay doctors by the patient; so they rotate them through. They have all the examination rooms in the office, and you go into the reception area, you wait there, then you go into the examination room and you wait there, and then the doctor comes in a very hurried fashion, in a very fast fashion, he or she's asking you a lot of questions and then they want to leave and go on to their next patient. If you’ve got 15, 20, 30, 40 patients a day, it's very difficult to do a thorough job. So that's what we do.
In my office, we have a lot of checklists and I ask a lot of questions. I'm told by people that run through this process that I and other people in my firm have asked more questions than other lawyers, and even more than their doctors. So it's really important for the lawyer to listen to the client. “What is wrong with you? What are your complaints? And how is it related?” Let's talk about that. Then we do talk to the doctors, of course, because they have more medical knowledge and we need their testing.

Rob Rosenthal:

Let's talk about when it comes to picking a personal injury attorney. I think people are used to attorneys charging by the hour, but most personal injury attorneys are contingency-based. Explain how that works.

Jack Hickey:

Right. So we charge a contingency fee. If we don't recover, you don't pay. And that goes not only for the fee, but also the costs. If we don't recover, you don't pay. You do not pay the cost or the fees. So what's the difference? Why is there a difference? With every personal injury attorney there's a difference. The fee is the attorney's fee paid for the services of the attorney, and you're paying for that attorney's experience and talent and everything that goes with them. The costs, or what is out of pocket, is for example, experts. Experts are necessary in almost every case now, whether it's a medical expert, paying even the treating physician just to talk to us, or whether it's some other kind of expert. Experts are very expensive. We have the luxury and the ability to fund whatever case and into whatever degree we can, but if we don't recover, you don't pay. That's the bottom line. And you really don't pay, because it comes out of the recovery in the lawsuit. So it's only at the end and only out of the recovery.

Rob Rosenthal:

Super helpful information as always, Jack. Thank you for making some time and answering our questions. I appreciate it.

Jack Hickey:

Okay, Rob, thank you.

Rob Rosenthal:

That's going to do it for this episode of Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been Miami attorney Jack Hickey. Remember, if you want the very best information or you would like to be able to choose a lawyer that lawyers choose, head over to askthelawyers.com. Thanks for watching. I'm Rob Rosenthal with AskTheLawyers™.

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