Searching for a lawyer who practices in the area of medical malpractice in Chicago, Illinois is as easy as opening up you web browser and Googling “medical malpractice chicago.” When i ran this search term Google returned 275,000 search results. The first page of results alone listed more then 30 lawyers, including those who have purchased sponsored ads. I know a lot of these lawyers, and some of them do practice in the area of medical malpractice and are very fine attorneys. The vast majority of others are “brokers”, business men who earn a living referring cases to other lawyers who are capable of actually working on a case and expecting part of the fee as a result of finding the case.
At Goldberg & Goldberg we have been practicing in the area of medical malpractice in Chicago for more then forty years. We do not broker cases out to other lawyers. We work up and try our client’s cases ourselves. Our results speak for themselves. We have collected almost $1 billion in compensation for our clients.
When you interview a lawyer that you have found on the internet about his ability to handle your case you are making an intensely important decision. Can this lawyer carry my banner and accomplish the herculean task of bringing a hospital or doctor to his knees in court. In order to do this you should ask a few basic questions of your potential lawyer to see if he has the right stuff to handle your case. If the lawyer hems and haws when answering your direct question you should consider finding someone else to represent you. Here are some sample questions you should ask:
How Many Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Have You Or Your Firm Tried To Verdict?
This question is a strong indicator of a lawyers intent to actually handle your case himself. You can identify a broker lawyer by asking him or her if the results they have recovered were as primary counsel or whether or not they asked another lawyer to actually try the case on the client’s behalf. The Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter publishes lists of every verdict that has been rendered by a jury in Cook County. Ask to see copies of the lawyers verdicts, all trial lawyers keep them.
Do you Refer Cases Out To Other Lawyers Or Do you Work Them Up And Try Them Yourself?
Again, this direct question will help you identify an untalented lawyer broker who is merely trying to refer your case to a capable lawyer and earn a part of a shared fee by finding cases.
Are You In The Position To Finance My Case?
We routinely spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on each case preparing them for trial. If a lawyer cannot afford to finance your case it is a pretty good indicator of their ability to work up and try a medical malpractice case.
These and other direct questions will help direct your case to a lawyer who can actually try your case.