Plaintiffs who file legal claims due to car accidents succeed about 61 percent of the time (per Injured Call Today). An accident lawyer can help to improve the odds of prevailing in a personal injury case. However, many people mistakenly expect too much from car accident attorneys.

When someone survives a car accident and is certain the other party is liable for claims, it takes more than an experienced attorney to file a successful claim. It takes cooperation from the client and actual evidence to make strong legal claims that are hard to beat in court.

What an Accident Lawyer Can Do

An accident lawyer will take the heat off of accident victims that insurers and opposing attorneys typically apply in disputed claims. When an accident victim retains an attorney, all insurers and legal parties must contact the attorney for all case-related communications.

An accident attorney also can depose witnesses and arrange the depositions of all parties to the case. That includes the plaintiffs and defendants. The attorney can prepare clients for depositions and help to identify the evidence that will build the strongest possible case.

The attorney handles all of the legal filings and ensures any filing fees or other court fees are paid. Meanwhile, bill collectors must wait for the case to conclude before taking any negative actions against clients. That includes removing any negative reports made to credit bureaus.

Clients Are Keys to Successful Claims

An accident lawyer can help to ensure an accident victim's legal claims are backed with solid evidence. The accident survivor must gather the evidence that helps to build the strongest legal arguments and win cases. An experienced car accident lawyer can help to determine what the best evidence would be to prevail in a case.

Accident attorneys do not pay medical bills or other costs related to an accident. Those remain the responsibility of the person in whose name the bills are made. That person usually is the client, so clients must do their best to stay on top of related bills.

If a strong case is presented and a client wins the case, the law firm and attorney get a standard percentage of the payout and can recoup costs for filing fees and other payments made to continue the case. The law firm also will pay off any related debts, like medical bills, out of the settlement. Anything left goes to the client.