If you have a personal injury case you may consider representing yourself, so that you will not have to pay attorney's fees. However, a lawyer earns every penny that he or she is paid, because they are instrumental in obtaining a judgment in your favor as well as in making sure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation that you are entitled to. There are a few reasons that a lawyer can help you better than you can help yourself that we will go over here.

First, a lawyer has their knowledge of the law working for you. While the law may seem straightforward on the surface, the truth is that there are many subtle facets of law that may be difficult to understand. A lawyer can interpret difficult to understand passengers or past decisions by judges and juries to work in your favor. A lawyer is a professional, much like a doctor, and the expertise that they bring to your case takes years to learn on its own, not to mention the years of experience that they will be using for you.

Another reason that you should use a lawyer rather than represent yourself in a personal injury case, is that it is difficult to be taken seriously by the company that you are filing a lawsuit against if you do not have an attorney. They may refuse to consider a settlement if you are representing yourself and in many cases are happy to take the case to full trial because they believe that you will not be able to win the case on your own. They are, for the most part, correct. A lawyer is vital to winning or settling any personal injury case.

The negotiation process is one of the biggest reasons that you should use a personal injury lawyer rather than representing yourself. For one thing, they will know when the settlement offer is too low and what to counter it with. They will also have an idea when the settlement has reached the peak, where the company will not raise it any more during negotiations. The paperwork involved in a personal injury settlement can be extensive as well and a lawyer that specializes in personal injury can help you complete in quickly and correctly.

Many people assume that the cost of a personal injury lawyer is prohibitive and that they would be better off representing themselves and keeping what would have been the attorney fees. This is a mistake for several reasons. First, the settlement will likely be much less if you don't use a lawyer and the money that you "saved" will be lost in the lowered settlement amount. Also, you may find that the filing fees, research and copying, not to mention all the time that you will spend researching law may make representing yourself more costly than hiring an attorney.