Hiring a personal-injury attorney in California: what to actually ask.
Not a checklist of platitudes. The specific questions that surface how a firm actually works.
Chapter 01
Who will handle my case?
Many firms advertise a lead attorney and then hand new matters to junior associates or paralegals. Ask specifically: "Will the attorney I meet today be the attorney handling my case for its duration?"
There is no wrong answer, but the answer determines the relationship.
Chapter 02
How do you communicate?
Ask how often you can expect updates, who to reach when you have a question, and how quickly return calls happen. A firm that says "call our intake line" for updates handles cases differently than a firm that gives you an attorney's direct line.
Chapter 03
What does your fee agreement actually say?
Read it. Line by line. In California, contingency agreements must disclose the fee percentage, cost handling, and how deductions are calculated. Ask specifically:
- What is the percentage before litigation is filed? After?
- Are case costs deducted before or after the fee?
- Who pays for costs if we do not recover?
- What happens if I choose to terminate the representation?
Every legitimate firm will answer these directly.
Chapter 04
How do you decide when to settle?
A good attorney will tell you: settlement is your decision, always. Their role is to give you a clear-eyed evaluation, the range of realistic outcomes, and the cost of continuing. But the final decision is yours.
Beware anyone who talks about settlement as their decision.
More guides
Keep going.
Wildfire
The California wildfire recovery guide.
A start-to-finish walkthrough of what to do in the weeks and months after losing property to a wildfire — from insurance to litigation.
Medical Devices
Injured by a medical device: what to preserve.
The evidence that determines a medical-device case is usually collected in the first month. Here is what to save, in what order.
Ready to move forward?
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Tell us what happened. We will listen carefully, tell you plainly what we can and cannot do, and — if we can help — begin quietly, right away.