Most people go their entire lives and never have to engage the services of an attorney. There are those times, however, that hiring an attorney is necessary. This can prove to be an uncomfortable experience, particularly if you do not know where to start.

In the case of hiring a mesothelioma attorney to assist you with important life-altering litigation, such as mesothelioma lawsuits, you want to make sure you have some idea of the right questions to ask. Getting the right mesothelioma lawyer engaged quickly and early in the process will go a long way to ensuring you get the best representation.

So where do you start? Following are five questions you should ask every attorney during your interview process in order to make the right decision:

1. Will your law firm handle my mesothelioma case personally?

ANSWER: You want to know if the firm actually handles the litigation themselves, or if they will be referring the case to another firm.

2. Will my case potentially settle before trial?

ANSWER: You want to understand what percentage of their cases has settled before trial, and if the firm is willing to go all the way with you to see you get your day in court.

3. Will I have to pay attorneys’ fees or expenses?

ANSWER: You definitely want to learn how the firm handles their fees. When choosing to deal with our endorsed legal experts, you will find that there are no attorneys’ fees or expenses unless the firm obtains a financial recovery for you.

4. Will it take long to prosecute my case to completion?

ANSWER: You want to understand how long the firm expects the process to take. Also, ask if the firm can obtain a “preference” or expedited trial setting. It is often possible to receive an earlier trial date than normal due to medical condition of the mesothelioma victim.

5. Why should I choose your firm to handle my case?

ANSWER: You want to learn about the firm’s track record – how many mesothelioma cases do they handle each year, is mesothelioma a focus for the firm, do they have a proven track record of individual client recoveries – and ask how the fees and expenses are handled once a financial recovery is awarded.

A very common practice among just about every industry is utilizing a third-party marketing firm. These organizations target their focus on customer acquisition, spending the majority of their funds on advertising in an attempt to gather potential customer information. For example, Amazon is more of a marketing company. Obviously, they do not produce, create, or manufacture the items they sell. They do, however, a fine job of providing a place for potential customers to gather and potentially purchase someone’s product or service.

You need to be aware that when you search the Internet, or jot down an attorney’s information you saw on television, that there is a high likelihood they are a marketing firm, or a law firm acting strictly in a marketing role.

So how does this work? The attorney firms who employ this practice will do an initial screening, and then pass on the client’s information to another attorney who will actually handle the litigation. This is the person who will go to court with you. The first individual will receive a cut of the financial verdict or settlement you are awarded, and most likely not actually do much, if any, work on your case.

It is important you are aware that this practice exists, and is well-accepted in most industries, including the legal field. Ethically there is nothing wrong with it, but you want to know up front the firm you are speaking to is going to be there for the entire process. After all, you deserve to know which mesothelioma attorney is ultimately going to work on your case. And more importantly, you deserve a firm that has proven expertise and a successful track record with mesothelioma lawsuits.

It is fair, and even expected of potential clients, to ask questions like: “If I hire you, are you going to ‘associate’ with other attorneys or another law firm? Have you personally handled any mesothelioma cases in the courtroom to verdict? Will you ‘refer’ my case to another firm?” You should know if you are actually hiring a mesothelioma attorney who will handle your case, or simply refer you to another law firm.