Is your lawyer a real “trial lawyer?”

Many attorneys bill themselves as “trial attorneys” or “trial lawyers.”  The term means something.  It means that an attorney actually has the knowledge, experience, and the financial means to try a case to a jury verdict and has done so in the past, ideally on a regular basis.  In reality many so-called “trial lawyers” or “trial attorneys”, (both terms mean the same thing) have never tried a single jury trial.  That’s a problem, and it’s not just a problem because it’s a lie, it’s a problem because it will hurt you, the client.

The reason it will hurt you, the client, is simple, insurance companies and their lawyers know who are the “real” trial lawyers and who are the sheep in wolves’ clothing.  The poseurs are “last best offer lawyers.”  State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, they all know who is or is not going to take a personal injury case to a jury trial and go to verdict, come hell or high water, and by definition it will impact your settlement value.  No risk, no reward, and when the risk managers at the insurance company know that your lawyer does not have the stones to try your case, your settlement value will suffer from it.  Put in another way, you would not go to a “surgeon” who no longer does surgeries, would you?