Questions You Should Ask As You Consider Who To Hire As Your Lawyer
Questions To Ask |  | Any Other Firm |
|---|---|---|
Do you have trial experience? | OUR FIRM: Yes, our lawyers have a lot of trial experience. We regularly take cases to trial. For example, in early 2024, we won the largest jury verdict in Georgia history for a bicycle-on-bicycle accident. You can learn more about our record setting verdict here: https://www.tobininjurylaw.com/2024/02/02/tobin-injury-law-wins-1600000-00-jury-verdict-for-bicycle-on-bicycle-accident/. In 2023, we took three cases to trial; one of those trials resulted in a nine-figure verdict. Bottom-line: All our lawyers have substantial trial experience in court. | OTHER FIRMS: |
When was the last time you represented your client in court for a jury trial? | OUR FIRM: Unlike most of the other lawyers who you may meet with at other law firms, we take cases to trial every year. Our most recent courtroom victory was earlier this year. We prepare every case we work on for trial. At any given time of the year, you will find us actively engaged in preparing cases for trial. It takes years for most cases to get to trial due to backlogs in our courts from COVID, but we always push cases to trial as quickly as possible because that puts pressure on the insurance companies to get serious with pre-trial offers. If the insurance company does not make a reasonable offer, we are prepared to present your case in court to a jury. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Did you win or lose your most recent trial? | OUR FIRM: We didn’t just win our most recent trial, we set the record. Our lawyers set the State's record for the largest jury verdict ever for that type of personal injury case when the jury returned a verdict finding in favor of our client in the amount of One Million Six Hundred Thousand Dollars ($1,600,000.00). | OTHER FIRMS: |
Has your law firm set any records for your clients? | OUR FIRM: Few firms in Georgia rival ours when it comes to setting records. Some of our more noteworthy wins include: (1) largest verdict in Georgia history for a bicycle-on-bicycle accident; (2) top five largest loss of consortium settlement in Georgia history; (3) largest verdict in Georgia history for a civil rights violation under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983; (4) top five largest wrongful death settlement in Georgia history; and (5) largest settlement in south Georgia county. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Your website has lots of big numbers. Are those case results real? | OUR FIRM: Yes, every single result you see on our website is 100% real. The results you see listed on our website are actual case results for actual clients. We only identify cases we personally worked on. We also want you to know the year the case resolved so you can see our recent successes. What we may have accomplished ten years ago isn't going to help you today; so we only listed cases we've worked on within the last few years. We encourage you to ask any other lawyer you are considering hiring to share with you their recent successes, meaning what they have done in the last few years. Make the lawyers you are considering hiring to represent you prove to you the case name and the court it was filed in. Do not naively believe what law firm's "Case Results" pages say. Ask yourself: "Are these numbers real? If they are real, why doesn’t the lawyer want me to know who their client was and when that case resolved?” At our law firm, if you have any question whatsoever, we want you to ask it! | OTHER FIRMS: |
Who will work on my case? | OUR FIRM: Once you become our client you will have an experienced lawyer working on your case closely with Darren Tobin, the managing attorney. You will also have a dedicated paralegal working on your case. From the day you become our client to the day your case concludes, you will have the same dedicated team. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Who will be the main person I speak with when I call your law firm? | OUR FIRM: Your dedicated lawyer and dedicated paralegal will be your main contacts at our law firm. When you call us, you will be greeted by one of our receptionists who will direct your call to whomever you ask for. If you would like to speak with your lawyer, then the receptionist will direct your call to one of us, and we will speak with you. If we are unable to take your call because we are at trial or with another client or simply away, you will hear back from one of us as soon as possible. Typically, we return calls the same day. We respond to emails usually within minutes. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Will a ‘case manager’ work on my case? | OUR FIRM: Absolutely not. Some law firms have people who may work on your case called “case managers.” We don’t even know what that means. There’s no such thing as a school for “case managers.” We believe that every client we represent deserves the best, which is why we only have excellent lawyers and experienced paralegals who will work on your case. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Does your law firm give to charity? | OUR FIRM: Yes. Our law firm donates charity to several organizations that do incredible work every year. You can read more about our charitable contributions here: https://www.tobininjurylaw.com/charitable-giving/ | OTHER FIRMS: |
Have you handled a personal injury case like mine? | OUR FIRM: Probably yes, but you will need to tell us more about your case. We have handled all types of personal injury cases from car wrecks to injuries caused by donkey bites. Our law firm focuses on serious cases that require seasoned lawyers who know how to prepare a case for a jury trial. It is highly likely that our law firm has handled a personal injury case similar to yours; however, even if we have not, we are committed to providing white-glove legal services to anyone who has a viable personal injury case no matter what circumstances the case arose from. | OTHER FIRMS: |
How long do you expect my case will take? | OUR FIRM: The truth is you don't want us to give you a definite date by when your case resolves, since no lawyer can give you an answer without guessing. What you want is for us to promise we will do everything we can to work on your case as fast as we can all the while ensuring we maximize your compensation. All personal injury cases have unique timelines based on the complexity of the case, how injured you are, and the behavior of the insurance company involved. Our focus at Tobin Injury Law is to move your case as quickly as possible when your case is at a stage that we can control. There are some parts of a case that are outside of our control because Georgia laws give insurance companies and defense lawyers certain amounts of time to fulfill their duties; often insurance companies and defense lawyers will delay during those stages of a case to put pressure on injured people who are seeking a resolution. But what we can say with certainty is that nothing will stop us from pushing your case to a favorable conclusion as fast as we can. | OTHER FIRMS: |
How many cases does your firm handle at a given time? | OUR FIRM: Very few. Our law firm handles only a small number of cases at any given time. It is our belief that our lawyers should focus all of their attention on just a few cases so that we can do our best work to increase the value of each case. We do not handle hundreds and hundreds of cases like many of the law firms you see advertising around Atlanta. Our small caseload also allows us to easily stay in touch with our clients so that we can answer your questions directly. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Do you do any advertising on billboards, television, or social media? | OUR FIRM: No. You will not see our law firm on billboards or hear us on the radio. We rely on our former clients and other attorneys, both in Georgia as well as in other states, to refer cases to us based on the outstanding results we obtain for our clients. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Do you only take cases in Georgia, or do you practice law in other states? | OUR FIRM: Our law firm will take cases anywhere in the country if the case is one that falls within our law firm’s standards. We primarily handle cases within the state of Georgia, but if a case calls us to another state, we do not hesitate to travel across the country to do what is necessary for the case. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Which law schools did the lawyers at your law firm attend? | OUR FIRM: Darren graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law. Caroline and Campbell both graduated from Emory University School of Law. | OTHER FIRMS: |
How will you guide me through the process of the lawsuit? | OUR FIRM: It is our duty to handle the legal aspects of your case, but at the end of the day, it is your case, and we will honor your decisions. We will inform you about your options and what those options mean for you legally, but we will only take a certain course of action once you tell us that you feel fully informed and comfortable with the next steps in your case. We want you to be happy with our representation, and to understand why we recommend a certain course of action over another course of action. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Will you prepare me for my deposition? | OUR FIRM: Yes. We will make sure that you are well prepared for your deposition should your case reach that point. You will meet with your lawyer personally, either in person or over a video conference, and your lawyer will explain exactly what you can expect during your deposition. We will absolutely make sure you feel ready heading in to your deposition. We will spend as much time as you need in the days before your deposition working with you and making you feel calm. If it takes an hour to get you ready, great. If it takes us ten hours to get you ready, we will spend that time. Whatever it takes, we will make sure you feel calm and confident. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Will you be the one at my deposition defending me? | OUR FIRM: Yes. Your lawyer who you know will sit next to you at your deposition should your case reach that point. | OTHER FIRMS: |
How do you prepare for a jury trial? | OUR FIRM: We spend months preparing for trial so that we are better prepared than anyone else when it comes time to walking into the courtroom. We track down all witnesses; we gather all the evidence available through open records requests; we meet with doctors; we depose the at-fault parties, company owners, and medical providers who will provide testimony at trial; we collect documents we may need for trial; we get blown-up boards made; we spends days rehearsing; and we spent countless hours crafting the right questions. There's a saying that we embrace "Chance favors the prepared mind. The more you practice, the luckier you become." At our firm, before any trial, we prepare meticulously. And we practice religiously. No one is more prepared than us. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Do you write your own legal documents, or do you outsource legal document writing to other lawyers? | OUR FIRM: We draft our own legal documents and conduct our own legal research. We will not outsource the production of legal documents to other lawyers, because we know your case better than anyone else, and we do not want to incur any unnecessary expenses on your behalf. | OTHER FIRMS: |
What, if anything, is difficult about my case? | OUR FIRM: It is exceedingly rare that a case does not have some fact that may adversely affect the case. Every case will have at least one issue that the insurance company and defense lawyers will focus on to try and lower the value of the case. It is their mission to minimize the value of the case and pay as little as possible. It is our job to confront those issues head on and show the insurance companies and defense lawyers that what they believe are big issues are, in fact, not issues at all. | OTHER FIRMS: |
If we lose, will I owe you money? | OUR FIRM: No. You will not owe us a single dollar. The only way we are paid is if we obtain money on your behalf. Our law firm works on a contingency fee which means that we are paid a percentage of the total amount that we win on your behalf. | OTHER FIRMS: |
If the insurance company doesn’t pay a fair settlement, will your law firm file my case in court or will you refer my case to another law firm? | OUR FIRM: If the insurance company does not pay a fair settlement amount, then we will file a lawsuit against the party who caused your injuries. We will not refer your case to another law firm to file a lawsuit like many other law firms do. The same team you hired on day one will be the same team you have standing next to you at trial. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Will you hire expert witnesses to help us win my case? | OUR FIRM: Yes, whenever necessary, we will hire expert witnesses to help win your case. While we are the legal experts in your case – it is sometimes necessary to hire experts in other fields, including medicine, biomechanics, or engineering, to explain more nuanced or complicated aspects of your case to a jury. | OTHER FIRMS: |
Do you ever recommend to a potential client such as me that hiring a lawyer is not their best option? | OUR FIRM: Yes. There are some situations where hiring a personal injury lawyer is not necessary, and we would rather let a potential client know that we think they do not need our services, than have them hire us to represent them in a case that does not require our services. | OTHER FIRMS: |