Why Do I Need a Local Personal Injury Lawyer?

If you look around the internet, you’ll see a lot of people advising you to look for a local personal injury lawyer if you’ve been hurt. They’re right, but no one explains why. So that’s what this blog post is about.

The Law is Different Everywhere

This is the biggest reason you need a local personal injury lawyer. In America, each state has different laws. Specifically, the law about personal injuries is almost entirely based on state law instead of federal law. That means you need a lawyer who knows the law of the state where your case is in. That’s why lawyers are licensed by the states. For example, I’m licensed in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. By law, I can’t give anyone advice about the law in any other state. So if a California client wants me to represent her on a California case, I can’t do it.

Judges are Different Everywhere

Even if the law is the same within a state, how it is enforced varies by the area of the state you are in. For example, in Fort Collins, Colorado, where I practice, the judges don’t set trials until halfway through a court case. But 70 miles away in Denver, they set trials right at the beginning of the case. A local personal injury lawyer will know the differences between the local judges and judges in other parts of Colorado. If you’ve been injured, you want a personal injury lawyer who knows how the law is enforced in the place your case is going to be litigated.

Juries are Different Everywhere

In the end, your case is as valuable as a jury in your locality thinks it is. Although only a small percentage of cases go to trial, every case depends on jury verdicts. If you’re in a jurisdiction that has historically had very generous juries, your case is worth more. The opposite is also true, if your jury pool is very anti-plaintiff, your case is worth less. A local personal injury lawyer will know what a local jury is likely to do so is in the best position to evaluate your case.