Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

Hiring a personal injury lawyer is not like hiring a contractor. You cannot see the work before you pay for it, the outcome is uncertain, and the cost is tied to results – not hours. A free consultation is useful, but only if you come prepared to ask the right questions. Most people do not.

The conversation tends to go one way: the lawyer asks about the accident, assesses the case, and offers some initial thoughts. That is useful information, but it tells you less than you might think about how the lawyer actually works, what they will do specifically for your case, and what the financial arrangement really means. The questions below shift that dynamic. They are not about testing a lawyer – they are about getting the information you need to make a real decision.

Questions That Reveal How a Lawyer Actually Handles Cases

Who will actually be handling my case day-to-day?

This is the question most people forget to ask – and one of the most important. In some firms, the attorney you meet during the consultation is not the attorney who will manage your file. Cases are commonly handled by junior associates or paralegals, with senior partners involved at key moments but not driving the work. That is not inherently a problem, but it is worth knowing before you sign.

What you want to understand is who your primary point of contact will be, who makes strategic decisions on the case, and who will appear at depositions or in court if the case goes that far. The clearer the answer, the more confidence you can have in how the file will be managed.

How many cases do you currently handle, and how does your caseload affect how much attention mine will receive?

A personal injury lawyer with an unmanageable caseload is a practical problem regardless of their qualifications. Volume affects responsiveness, attention, and the quality of preparation that goes into a case. It is reasonable to ask – directly – how many active files the attorney is managing and how that volume is handled. A confident attorney will answer plainly. The answer, and how it is delivered, tells you something.

How do you typically communicate with clients, and how often can I expect updates?

Communication expectations are one of the most common sources of dissatisfaction in attorney-client relationships. Knowing upfront how the attorney prefers to communicate – calls, emails, a client portal – and how frequently you will receive updates on your case sets the baseline for what the relationship will look like. If communication is something you care about, ask about it directly rather than assuming.

Have you handled cases similar to mine, and what did those cases involve?

Experience matters, and it matters specifically. A lawyer who regularly handles car accident claims in Boston is better positioned to handle yours than one whose personal injury work is occasional or scattered across areas. You do not need an attorney to recite a client list, but a general description of the types of cases they handle and how frequently is a reasonable and useful piece of information.

If my case goes to trial, who handles it and has that attorney tried cases of this type before?

Many personal injury cases settle without trial. But the credibility of a lawyer’s willingness to litigate – and the insurer’s knowledge of that willingness – affects how negotiations unfold. An attorney who has never taken a case to trial occupies a different position at the negotiating table than one who has. Ask whether the attorney who will try your case, if it comes to that, has done it before and in what context.

What is your honest assessment of my case, including its weaknesses?

A lawyer who only tells you what you want to hear in a consultation is not giving you the information you need. A candid case assessment – one that includes the challenges, the evidence gaps, the arguments the other side is likely to make, and the honest range of likely outcomes – is more useful than enthusiasm. If the attorney cannot or will not engage with the weaknesses of the case, that is a signal.

What is your approach when an insurer makes a settlement offer that you believe is inadequate?

This question gets at something that matters practically: is the attorney prepared to push back, and how? Some lawyers settle cases quickly because volume is the model. Others litigate when settlement fails to reflect the actual value of the claim. Understanding how the attorney approaches that decision – and what informs it – tells you whether their approach fits your expectations.

Questions About Fees, Costs, and What Happens If You Don’t Win

How does the contingency fee work, and what percentage do you charge?

Personal injury lawyers in Massachusetts typically work on a contingency fee basis: the lawyer is paid a percentage of the recovery if the case succeeds, and receives nothing if it does not. Under Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.5, all contingency fee agreements must be in writing, signed by the client, and must state the method by which the fee is determined – including the percentage, how litigation expenses are handled, and whether those expenses are deducted before or after the fee is calculated.

The most common contingency fee percentage in personal injury cases in Massachusetts is one-third of the gross recovery, though fees vary. Percentages can differ based on the stage at which the case resolves – some agreements provide for a higher percentage if the case goes to trial than if it settles beforehand. What matters is that you understand the specific terms before signing, not after.

Note that medical malpractice cases in Massachusetts are subject to separate statutory fee caps under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 231, Section 60I. Standard personal injury claims – car accidents, slip and falls, and similar cases – are not subject to those same caps, though the fee must still be reasonable under Rule 1.5.

What costs and expenses am I responsible for, and when?

Attorney fees and case expenses are two different things. Expenses include court filing fees, costs of obtaining medical records, expert witness fees, deposition costs, accident reconstruction fees, and related out-of-pocket costs of litigation. These can be significant, particularly in cases that proceed to trial. Some firms advance these expenses and deduct them from the recovery at the end. Others require the client to pay as the case proceeds.

Under Rule 1.5, the contingency fee agreement must state whether expenses are deducted before or after the attorney’s percentage is calculated – which can meaningfully affect what the client ultimately receives. This is a specific, numerical question worth walking through with the attorney at the consultation.

If I don’t recover anything, do I owe you fees or costs?

In a true contingency arrangement, no recovery means no attorney fee. That is the fundamental promise of a contingency fee: the lawyer shares the risk of the outcome. However, what happens to the expenses the attorney has already advanced – expert fees, filing costs, record requests – may be handled differently. Some agreements provide that costs are also waived if there is no recovery. Others provide that costs must be reimbursed regardless of outcome. The fee agreement should address this clearly, and you should ask about it specifically.

What happens to the fee arrangement if I decide to change lawyers?

This is an area where Massachusetts law provides specific protections – and where clients are often surprised. Under Massachusetts law, a discharged attorney may be entitled to compensation for the reasonable value of the work performed before the change – known as quantum meruit – even if the case has not resolved. Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.5(f) requires contingency fee agreements to clearly address what happens in this situation, and the client must specifically acknowledge the selected terms. How it is handled depends on what the agreement says – which is exactly why asking about it before you sign is the right approach.

If a referring attorney sent me to you, does that affect the fee I pay?

Referral arrangements are common and legitimate in Massachusetts personal injury practice, but they must be disclosed. Massachusetts rules require that fee-sharing arrangements between attorneys be disclosed in the contingency fee agreement, that the client be informed of the specific lawyers and percentages involved, and that the client provide informed consent. When a referral has occurred, the client should understand that the total fee – typically the same percentage agreed upon at the start – is divided between the referring and receiving attorneys, not stacked. The client does not pay two fees.

Questions That Help You Gauge If the Lawyer Is the Right Fit for You

How do you decide whether to recommend settlement or push for more?

There is no universal answer to this question, and that is the point. You want to understand the attorney’s framework for making this decision – what factors they weigh, how they assess what a case is worth, and how they balance the risk of continued litigation against the certainty of a settlement. An attorney who makes that decision collaboratively with the client, with full explanation of the trade-offs, is operating differently than one who simply presents an offer and a recommendation. The process matters.

How will you keep me informed about important decisions, and how much input will I have?

The client is not just a passenger in a personal injury case. Decisions about settlement, whether to file suit, how to respond to the insurer’s positions, and the strategic direction of the case belong to the client in consultation with the attorney. Understanding how that decision-making process works in practice – how you will be consulted, how recommendations will be explained, and how much weight your preferences carry – is a reasonable thing to ask before signing a fee agreement.

What does your assessment suggest about how long my case is likely to take?

Timeline is genuinely uncertain in personal injury cases, and a lawyer who gives a confident specific answer is probably oversimplifying. But a range, grounded in the attorney’s experience with similar cases and an honest explanation of what factors affect timing, is reasonable to expect. Understanding the general arc of the case – from investigation through negotiation, and potentially through litigation – helps you plan and sets realistic expectations.

Is there anything about my case that concerns you, or that might create challenges you haven’t mentioned yet?

End the consultation with an open invitation to share anything the attorney thinks is important but has not raised. Sometimes the most useful information comes in response to an open-ended question asked toward the end of a meeting, when both parties have had the chance to cover the main ground. A lawyer who engages with this question thoughtfully is doing their job. One who deflects it is not.

What the Consultation Itself Tells You

Before leaving any consultation, pay attention to what the experience was like, not just what was said. Did the attorney listen to your account of the accident and ask follow-up questions, or did they move quickly to their own assessment? Did they answer your questions directly, or redirect toward reassurances? Did they explain things in plain language, or leave you more confused than when you arrived?

The consultation is the closest thing you have to a preview of what the working relationship will look like. How an attorney treats you when you have not yet hired them is a reasonable indicator of how they will treat you when you have.

At Larson Law, consultations are free, and the answers to all of these questions are ones we are prepared to give you directly. If you were injured in a car accident or any other incident in Boston and are considering your options, the place to start is a conversation.

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