This is a follow-up to my last post on this topic.  There I said that the lawyer advertising in other cities is the same as Las Vegas.  Well wouldn’t you know it?  I looked out my window and what did I see? A gigantic billboard for a lawyer that said “One call that’s all.”  As you probably know, we have a Las Vegas attorney who uses the same ad agency and the same ad campaign.

Here is what I say.  If you claim can be handled with just one call, you do not need a lawyer for your claim.  In addition, if you think you are going to talk to the lawyer on the billboard and that he is going to work on your case, you are mistaken.

At Murphy & Murphy Law Offices, we do not take every case.  In fact, we turn down more cases each year than we take.  We have to so that we can give the cases we take the concentrated effort and work that is required.  If you think you have a claim that can be handled with just a few telephone calls, you would be best served by getting a copy of my book, The Ultimate Consumer’s Guide to Nevada Car Crash Cases, so you can handle your claim yourself.

What is the truth about injury lawyer advertising?  I am out of state in another large city for depositions.  While in the hotel room, I looked at the attorney ads in the yellow pages.  As expected, there were pages and pages and pages of lawyer ads.  Guess what?  They were all just like the pages and pages and pages of injury lawyer ads in Las Vegas.  We are aggressive.  No fee is we do not get you a settlement.  We will get you the money you deserve.  And, of course, there are lists of past results obtained.

All I can say is what a bunch of wasted paper and ink.  None of the ads really told you anything about the attorneys.  The ads did not give any useful information about the services that would be provided or how a person’s claim or case would be handled.

If you are looking to hire a Las Vegas personal injury attorney, and you are a thinking person, you must be really frustrated.  What a waste of time to look in the yellow pages.  Are the web sites any better?  Not really.  Just another form of advertising with little or no useful information.

What can you do?  My website gives practical information and is not just an ad for my firm.  Our information pages tell you how to avoid getting hurt and steps you can take to help keep you and your family safe.  Our pages regarding specific types of injuries and cases give you practical information about the issues involved and what you will encounter and what you can expect.  We have a page of frequently asked questions where I try and provide you with answers to common questions.

Not enough information?  Contact my office.  I will send you a copy  of my free book The Ultimate Consumer’s Guide to Nevada Car Crash Cases.  That book gives you detailed information about injury claims.  It tells you how to handle your own claim if you want to.  Here’s a secret, not everybody and every claim needs or requires an attorney!  My book tells you what to do.  Step by step.  It even provides you with forms that you can use and that you will need.  It also tells you how to go about finding the right lawyer for your case if you cannot or do not want to handle it yourself.

In the end what should you do if you are frustrated with the lack of information in the lawyer ads?  Call and talk to a number of lawyers.  Interview them to see who will treat you the best and with whom you are most comfortable in placing your trust.  Remeber, you will never receive better treatment than when they are looking to get your business.  If you did not feel you were treated right, move on.  Find a lawyer who takes the time to talk to you and treats you the way that you expect to be treated.

Last week it was reported that a Clark County attorney was arrested on charges of theft and burglary.  The arrest was the result of the injury attorney misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars of his client’s money.  That means the lawyer is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of client funds.  Apparently the injury attorney took the client’s money out of his trust account.  More than likely the injury attorney received a settlement from an insurance company on behalf of the client.  Instead of paying the client and being satisfied with his fee on obtaining the settlement, the lawyer took it all.

In a recent post, I wrote about attorneys who had been paying employees at UMC for private health information in order to obtain case referrals.  There is an ongoing investigation by the FBI into the illegal activity.  The guilty injury attorneys will probably be subjected to the potential loss of their licenses to practice law.  Consider this.  If a Las Vegas injury attorney will break the law and rules governing the conduct of lawyers, what makes you think that they will not put their interests over yours?  As in this recent arrest, even to the extent of stealing the client’s settlement.

Don’t hire just any lawyer.  Be careful.  Make sure that your attorney is on your side and is not just out to line his pockets with your money.  If you do not know how to evaluate an attorney or find the right attorney for your case, contact my office.  I will send you a copy of my free book The Ultimate Consumer’s Guide to Nevada Car Crash Cases or I will send my free report, The Ten Silver Bullet Questions You Must Ask Before Hiring a Las Vegas Attorney.  Knowledge is power (and it is free).  Take the steps necessary to protect yourself and your family.  In many cases Las Vegas injury attorneys may have access to large amounts of your money.  You will trust them to negotiate the proper settlement of your case.  If the case cannot be settled, you must trust that they know how to and will properly prepare your case for trial.  If the case is settled, you trust that they will pay all of the medical bills and liens, they will pay you your share of the money, and that the case will be resolved in your favor.  You were injured once. Take the steps to make sure that you are properly taken care of after the injury and that you are not taken advantage of either by the insurance company or the lawyer.

Lawyers in Las Vegas have started advertising campaigns claiming to be “discount lawyers”, “reduced fee lawyers”, and and other versions of “cut-rate lawyers.”  You must know a few things about the claimed discounts and how it could affect your case.  Before hiring a lawyer or law firm that claims to be a discount or bargain priced lawyer, read the contract you will be required to sign.  What are the terms of the contract that entitle you to the discounted attorney’s fees that will be charged for your representation?  All of the advertisements for the discounted lawyer fees have disclaimers and conditions.  In most instances, to qualify for the discounted rate, your case must be settled very quickly and with minimal effort.  More likely than not, your claim must not involve any hands on work by an attorney.  Instead, your claim will be handled by an employee who has no legal training or, at best, may have some minimal legal education for the performance of non-legal aspects of case handling.  However, once a certain amount of time has gone by or the case requires more than minimal efforts, the amount charged by the cut-rate attorney will increase significantly.  You will then be stuck with a cut-rate attorney who is charging you full price for handling your case.  Worse than that, your claim will still probably be handled by the non-attorney staff person without any legal training.

What’s a person to do?  Be careful when you hire an attorney.  Avoid slick advertising gimmicks.  Educate yourself before you hire a lawyer.  Order our free book The Ultimate Consumer’s Guide to Nevada Car Crash Cases.  The book will tell you what you need to know about your claim.  You will learn how to handle your claim on your own if you want to (the book even provides you with the forms that you will need to use to settle your own case).  The book also tells you how to go about finding the right lawyer for your case.

If you have a claim for injuries due to someone elses negligence, do not settle for second best.  Do not think that you will get more money because you are going to save a couple of hundred dollars on attorney’s fees.  You need to hire the best lawyer for your case.  If you hire the right lawyer for your case, you will make up for the attorney’s fees by obtaining a full and fair settlement as opposed to a discount settlement because the cut-rate lawyer or law firm did not take the time and effort to properly prepare and present your claim.