Judging by your local Yellow Pages or TV commercials, you might think that all lawyers how advertise that the handle personal injury or accident cases have the same experience and background (or at least that someone has certified them as a ‘personal injury lawyer.’)

It’s a myth.

There are no rules regulate what types of cases a lawyer may advertise for. (A lawyer is ethically bound to handle the case appropriately, however.) In some cases, TV ads are running and calls are routed to lawyers who have purchased “territories.” All that takes is a wallet.

What this means is that it is YOUR responsibiltiy to investigate any lawyer you are thinking about hiring for your case. It’s your fault if, based on advertising, you hire someone who is not qualified (or certified) in a particular specialty.
Here’s tip #1 on that: Ask the lawyer for a package of written information before you schedule that “free consultation.” There’s rarely that much of a rush that you have to call today and “rush right in.”

That’s why I wrote The Truth About Lawyer Advertising.