Accidents happen, as we all know. Newton’s first law states that “an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force” and sometimes that interaction from an outside force comes in the form of a motor vehicle accident. Unfortunately, sometimes those accidents result in injuries, and if you’re on a motorcycle these accidents leave you in an especially precarious position. If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, there’s a good chance that you’ve considered getting a motorcycle accident lawyer so you might be able to get a bit of money for the pain, suffering, and time you’ve had to be out of work.
Lawyers are an interesting sect in our society. Many people despise lawyers, but for what reason? That’s a topic for another day, but today we’re going to be looking at if it’s worth getting your motorcycle accident lawyer. Of course, everyone agrees that having some help to navigate the intricate legal system in the U.S. is a good thing, but is the help worth the sometimes steep price tag that comes with it? That’s a question that we hope to help you come to your very own answer to.
Years of Experience on Your Side
Lawyers have to do a lot to get their title. First, they usually need to go through years and years of schooling. They first have to go through the normal school years of K-12, then four years of college, then at least then years of law school on top of that. That comes out to a total of 20 years of study, and that’s assuming that they do their schooling full time. This number can be inflated to thirty or more years of schooling if they only do school part-time.
All of this schooling isn’t even the hardest part of their journey to earn their title as lawyers. After all of that schooling, they have to get their license to practice law. This process is different than any other profession. Doctors have to successfully defend their Ph.D. thesis, which isn’t an easy task. Lawyers have an even more difficult task ahead of them called the Bar Exam. This exam is a test that many people consider to be the most difficult test of their lives. It’s not uncommon for people to realize that they’re in over their heads and walk out in the middle of the test.
Once they’re licensed they can be hired by a law firm. It’s pretty common for new lawyers to be hired by big firms. Newbies are often handed the cases that no one else wants to work because they lack seniority and thus can’t refuse a case. These cases are often grueling and teach young lawyers real courtroom experience so they can be better equipped for their future cases. Law school teaches the law, but the courtroom is the only place for one to learn how to be a lawyer.
Every single lawyer has to go through the same steps. Of course, the specifics might change. One lawyer might go to an Ivy League law school and another go somewhere else. One might get hired by a big firm and another by a smaller firm. Regardless of that, every lawyer had to pass the bar, get their license, and learn how to be an effective lawyer on the courtroom floor. When you hire a lawyer for your motorcycle accident, you’re hiring the years and years of schooling and experience that led up to them representing you in your case.
Generally, You Can Expect Bigger Payouts
Now, we can’t say how every single case will go. We know nothing about your specific case, and nearly every lawyer loses cases from time to time. That being said, assuming that your case is defendable, you can expect to get a bigger payout with a lawyer than without one. Lawyers not only know the law, but they know when and how to play hardball. Many lawyers are cunning and will do whatever it takes, so long as it’s both legal and ethical, to make sure that their client comes out ahead.
People that don’t use a lawyer have to represent themselves. There’s an old adage among lawyers that can be attributed to Abraham Lincoln himself, who was also a lawyer if you didn’t know. The saying goes “he who represents himself has a fool for a client” which means that not even a lawyer would represent themself. The reason for this is actually pretty simple if you think about it for a moment. You’re too close to the issue to make the correct moves about it. The opposition doesn’t care about that, and the court only wants to hear about the facts.
Between the fact that you’re too close to the issue as well as the fact that lawyers can usually get bigger payouts, it seems like a no-brainer. There are even lawyers that don’t charge you unless you win, and then they take a percentage off the top for themselves. That could sound like a good or bad deal to you, depending on your perspective, but either way that means that the lawyer is not only motivated to win but also motivated to get the biggest payout possible. In these types of arrangements, lining your pocket also lines the lawyer’s pocket.
The Only Way to Win a Case is to Play by the Rules
If you’ve seen a lot of courtroom dramas or even read a good number of them, you may feel confident in your understanding of how court cases typically work. Hours and hours of shows, movies, and books could leave you feeling like you understand exactly what’s going on. Unfortunately, a lot of the things that happen in courtroom dramas would get you thrown out of court. The inaccuracies range a lot in both scope and size. Some pieces of media are really inaccurate and you can tell, while others are sneakier and only lawyers and other people that frequent court would be able to tell.
On the most ridiculous side of this kind of media is an anime series and video game series by the name of Pheonix Wright, Attorney at Law. This piece of media is clearly for entertainment purposes and hopefully, most people realize that yelling “objection” at everything and bringing in bombshell evidence isn’t how the court works. On the other end of this spectrum, you have shows like Law and Order, which are just as wrong as Pheonix Wright but are more believable to people.
The truth of the matter is that being in court is boring. There is little to no excitement in the courtroom, and when there is excitement the judge will always try to calm the room down. Nobody’s bringing in bombshell evidence or surprise witnesses. Court cases are boring and methodical by design. Both sides review all of the same evidence, and that evidence must be logged before the court date through a process called “discovery.” No evidence is accepted after this discovery process, and that’s to make sure that the case is fair for both sides.
Being in court is less like a fencing match and more like a game of chess. Both sides have their arguments based on testimony and evidence and both sides are working towards their end goal. The defense and prosecution have entirely different goals in their cases, naturally, which can be interesting to the right people but there are definitely not many courtroom dramas that really properly display what a real court case is like, and for good reason. It just wouldn’t make for good T.V. for most people if everything they showed was completely accurate.
With that in mind, if all you know about court comes from courtroom dramas, you’d be woefully unprepared for court and judges typically don’t like it when you don’t follow their rules. When a judge doesn’t like something that’s going on in the courtroom it can lead to a variety of bad things for your case, ranging from being scolded for your behavior to your entire case being thrown out with prejudice. Lawyers already know the whole song and dance, so they know how to avoid getting on the judge’s nerves. That’s great for you because it gives you a much higher chance of winning than you would have otherwise.
Deciding What’s Best For You
We can confidently say that in the vast majority of cases, it’s best to get a lawyer. Lawyers know what they’re going and know how to play the game right so you can walk out of the courtroom with the highest payout possible. Even the smallest cases go better with a lawyer just because of the experience and expertise that they provide. If you had a plumbing issue, odds are you wouldn’t try to fumble around with the pipes yourself, you’d call a plumber. So why wouldn’t you call a lawyer if you have legal issues?