If you have been involved in a car accident, or if you have been knocked off your bicycle on the road - or even if you have received, for example, a 4th DUI (in Florida) - you may have wondered whether you should get in touch with a lawyer. Today, we’re going to discuss some of the reasons that you should speak to a lawyer rather than attempt to represent yourself.

Lawyers get results 

If you’ve ever heard the so-called advice to represent yourself in any kind of car crash claim, you will probably have heard that the reason for choosing to ‘go it alone’ is that you will receive the whole pay-out awarded by the courts without having to pay a lawyer. On the face of things, the whole roll-up-your-sleeves and do it yourself attitude is sort of admirable - we all love to hear stories of the underdog taking on the faceless corporate machine and coming out on top. The only problem is, it’s complete nonsense. 

If you think about the many stages of law school and on the job training that lawyers spend years and years of their life carefully navigating, and if you think that you are going to turn up having completed a few nights of basic online research and be taken seriously, you may as well line up next to Usain Bolt in the 100 metre Olympic finals with your laces tied together and a 500 lb gorilla on your back. Can you win? Sure. It’s technically possible. But the chances are minute. 

Lawyers understand the course your claim is likely to take. They know how to prepare your case for the desired outcome and they know the tactics likely to be employed by the other side. Unless you have been through law school, and unless you have trained for the requisite amount of time on the job to be permitted to handle this kind of thing, you won’t have anywhere near the knowledge or experience required to settle your case in your favour in as short a time frame as possible. Always, at the very least, speak to a lawyer. 

Lawyers know the lay of the land 

Nobody owes you anything. That’s worth remembering when it comes to the law. Unless you fight for your own rights, nobody is going to afford you the privilege of telling you what to do to help your non-fault car crash claim. The courts and the other side have no reason to advise you that any actions taken by you may be wayward, premature, not required, or simply that you are on the right track but may have made a simple error. This means that your case could be thrown out without any explanation that makes sense to you.

Instead, speak to a lawyer. They have experience, and will know how to sort out the correct paperwork, as well as completing it on time and filing it with the courts as necessary. Again, if you know nothing of the legal procedure, don’t waste your time and money in an attempt to represent yourself - always speak to a law firm.