[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-involving-personal-injury-wrongful-death-and-accident-cases-9\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-involving-personal-injury-wrongful-death-and-accident-cases-9\/","headline":"Frequently Asked Questions Involving Personal Injury, Wrongful Death and Accident Cases","name":"Frequently Asked Questions Involving Personal Injury, Wrongful Death and Accident Cases","description":"The conclusion to the question: How can I avoid making a mistake regarding my legal representation for my personal injury, wrongful death and accident case? There are differences among lawyers \u2026 huge differences. It is extremely difficult for lay people \u2013 that is, non-attorneys \u2013 to cut through...","datePublished":"2015-06-30","dateModified":"2026-03-25","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/author\/dothanalabamalawyer\/#Person","name":"Aaron Gartlan","url":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/author\/dothanalabamalawyer\/","identifier":6,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d2cf6b9fa253242e9c4d79550a007842dd4738da75634f31cb576c537fb5159?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3d2cf6b9fa253242e9c4d79550a007842dd4738da75634f31cb576c537fb5159?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Gartlan Injury law","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Gartlan-Logo-3Color-Horizontal-NoBackground-2.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Gartlan-Logo-3Color-Horizontal-NoBackground-2.svg","width":0,"height":0}},"url":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-involving-personal-injury-wrongful-death-and-accident-cases-9\/","about":["Frequently Asked Questions"],"wordCount":754,"articleBody":"The conclusion to the question: How can I avoid making a mistake regarding my legal representation for my personal injury, wrongful death and accident case?There are differences among lawyers \u2026 huge differences. It is extremely difficult for lay people \u2013 that is, non-attorneys \u2013 to cut through the thicket of hype that lawyers create. But slick legal marketing does not make a great law firm. A firm can have the biggest ad in yellow pages, billboards over town and a thousand \u201cLikes\u201d on Facebook, but still under-deliver service and settle your personal injury, wrongful death and accident case for far too little.To dig deeper \u2013 to cut through the noiseYou need to look at the whole picture of the firm:Check out the certifications.Read the bios of the lawyers.Check out the awards won, if any.Do not be afraid to ask probing questions, particularly during your initial free consultation.Take your time with your decision, and do not be pressured to rush into action.Law firms that advertise too many services may not be appropriate. It is okay for attorneys to be diverse. Just find an attorney who has ample experience dealing with your specific type of personal injury, wrongful death, and accident case.For instance, if you got hurt in a commercial truck accident, find a commercial truck accident lawyer. If you suffered an injury at an industrial workplace, find an attorney who deals specifically with industrial workplace accidents. This sounds like common sense. But you might be surprised at how uncommon the practice of this \u201ccommon sense\u201d is.The Paradox of ChoiceBeware the \u201cparadox of choice.\u201d In his landmark book, The Paradox of Choice, social psychologist Barry Schwartz convincingly argues that \u201ctoo much\u201d choice in our lives can negatively impact our psychology, our happiness, and our satisfaction. This is very counterintuitive information!It goes against what our consumerist culture has taught us: namely, to get happier and happier, you need to buy more and more \u201cstuff \u201d (i.e. more choice leads to better decisions and more happiness). The research shows that this is just not true. At some point, more choice creates more stress. Why? Because the more choices you confront, the more opportunities you have for regret.Imagine you are trying to figure out where to go for a vacation. Your spouse presents you with two options: a trip down to the beach or a trip out west to see the Grand Canyon. You could turn these choices over in your mind, weigh the pros and cons, and come to a decision. If you go out west, you will miss out on fun-in-the-sun. If you go to Florida, you will miss out on one of nature\u2019s true wonders.Now imagine adding more choices to your pot of vacation choices: a trip to the Cayman Islands, a trip to Tennessee to visit your brother, and a trip to Disneyland. Now you\u2019ve got five choices \u2013 each with costs and benefits. Whatever choice you choose, you now must reject four choices, not just one. So now you have four times the regrets. Let us say you ultimately choose the Grand Canyon. If that trip doesn\u2019t turn out well, you will mull over all the other choices that you could have made. This leads to dissatisfaction.The takeaway here is that there is such a thing as doing \u201ctoo much\u201d research on prospective law firms. There comes a point at which finding out more about your options will actually lead to reduced satisfaction with your choice.One way around this Paradox of Choice problem is to leverage a concept called Parkinson\u2019s Law. This is informally known as the law that \u201cwork expands to fill the volume of time allotted for it.\u201d Practically speaking, it means that you need to make time-bound decisions in order to make yourself efficient.Here is what is really interesting about Parkinson\u2019s Law: according to some theorists, when you restrict the amount of time you give yourself to make a decision, you can increase the efficiency of the decision-making without impacting the quality of that decision. In other words, the decision you make after one week of researching will be the equivalent in quality to the decision you would reach after two weeks of researching. You save time in your life, with no downside! Powerful idea. Remember, the insurance company has a team of defense attorneys and experts working against you while you are making this decision.Visit Our Alabama Personal Injury Law Offices"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Frequently Asked Questions Involving Personal Injury, Wrongful Death and Accident Cases","item":"https:\/\/www.gartlaninjurylaw.com\/blog\/frequently-asked-questions-involving-personal-injury-wrongful-death-and-accident-cases-9\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]