If you've been in a car accident and need an attorney, don't grab the nearest one you see. Your accident may have involved or lead to special circumstances that require experience with those very circumstances in previous cases. Every case is unique to an extent, but if you have any of the following complicated factors, you need to ask each lawyer you consult about how much experience they have with these issues.

Severe and Possibly Chronic Injuries

A serious accident that has left you with long-term, if not permanent injuries needs special care. Your lawyer has to deal with not only the basic accident, but also the need to get reimbursement for future medical costs. The attorney may have to weave social security disability benefit appeals into your case as well. Because medical and care costs for a severe injury can rapidly outstrip the medical coverage on the other party's car insurance, your lawyer would have to know how to set up your case so that you could reasonably expect to have additional damages awarded.

Drunk or Drugged Driving

If your case involved drunk or drugged driving, you would be dealing with an additional set of laws and cases (the drunk or drugged driving laws) that could make your case drag on for longer or make it harder to settle. You may be dealing with a defendant who is a repeat offender and whose license and insurance were previously suspended, making it harder to get reimbursed.

Truck Accidents

If your accident involved a semi, you could be dealing with very severe injuries or property damage. These cases are quite difficult because the behavior of both parties comes under extra scrutiny. You have to treat trucks differently than you would cars when driving near them, and trucks have immense momentum compared to cars. Your lawyer would need to be able to prove that you did in fact act reasonably around the truck and did not contribute to the accident yourself.

When you go to see the lawyer (or if the lawyer comes to see you in the hospital), ask him or her specifically about experience with your type of case. Find out how many cases (approximately) the lawyer has dealt with that were similar to yours, and find out what the outcomes were. If you can get a lawyer who is an expert in your type of case, you'll face a brighter future. To learn more, contact a law firm like True Guarnieri Ayer LLP.