How Do I Pick a Lawyer?

Work with the Tampa law firm with over 40 years of experience!

For any given area of law, there are scores of lawyers vying for your business, and it can be extremely difficult to choose the best one. If you’re looking for a personal injury attorney in Tampa, Florida, for example, you might need several days of dedicated time to wade through the list of 100 attorneys offered by a single lawyer referral site.

So, how do you pick the lawyer who’s right for your case? Consider the following criteria:

Are they board-certified?

Attorneys in Florida are not required to be board-certified in order to practice in their chosen area of law – and, in fact, board certification is only granted to approximately seven percent of all Florida attorneys. To become board certified, an attorney must demonstrate expertise in the certification area, pass a peer review and an examination, and take a battery of continuing legal education classes specific to that certification area. Then they must recertify every five years to maintain certification.

Board certification in the area of law most vital to your case is a strong indicator that you can rely on the strength of your attorney’s advice.

Do they have years of experience in that area of practice?

An attorney who started practicing in personal injury last week is unlikely to know as much as an attorney who has been practicing personal injury law for decades. Though all attorneys are trained to interpret the law, there is a world of difference between a seasoned PI attorney and a recent law school graduate. If you want someone to bake a magnificent wedding cake, you’re likely to hire an experienced pastry chef – not your cousin who likes to read dessert cookbooks but who has never actually entered a kitchen.

The more experience an attorney has, the less likely it is that he or she will make rookie mistakes on your case.

Are they leaders in the profession?

The most experienced attorneys are generally sought after by prestigious legal organizations such as the American College of Trial Lawyers, which consistently strives to improve the practice of civil and criminal trial law. ACTL is a by-invitation-only organization whose members are among the top 1% of the local attorney population in any given area. In making your choice among different lawyers, keep in mind that a member of ACTL is likely to be ethical, experienced, and respected by the courts.

Are they respected by their peers?

Within the legal profession, attorneys are regularly paid to argue with one another. We fight against our peers over and over again on factual questions, legal issues, and sometimes even moral grounds. It is especially telling, then, when an attorney has been nominated for an award by the members of his or her local bar association and has been recognized for excellence within the legal profession by those who are often opposed to his or her legal positions. Such a lawyer is often able to more effectively advocate for his or her clients because even other attorneys will be inclined to respect his or her arguments and case-related requests..

If an attorney has been given a peer-based award such as Best Lawyers or Super Lawyers, chances are they will be more able to leverage their legal expertise and reputation to help get you the settlement you deserve.

At Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore, we have been practicing personal injury law since 1967, and our firm’s partners are found on the rolls of board-certified attorneys, ACTL, Best Lawyers, and Super Lawyers, among many other legal honor organizations. If you have been injured in an accident or through the negligence of a doctor or lawyer, we would be pleased if your search for a lawyer led you to us. We would fight hard and tirelessly on your behalf. Contact us today for a free consultation.

There are dozens of statewide and local bar associations in Florida — meaning organizations of lawyers grouped by geography, demography, or court practice – but what they do is often a mystery to clients and others who happen not to be lawyers. Based in Tampa, Florida, the Hillsborough County Bar Association (HCBA) serves the members of the association and public by providing training, referrals, and opportunities to serve the less advantaged. Its mission statement emphasizes its dedication to community service: “…to inspire and promote respect for the law and the justice system through service to the legal profession and to the community.” Below are just some of the functions the HCBA serves:

Standards of Professionalism

Though The Florida Bar is responsible for establishing and enforcing Florida’s Rules of Professional Conduct, the HCBA took the commitment to professionalism one step further by proposing its own list of Standards of Professionalism. These standards promote cooperation and civility among attorneys as well as fairness and efficiency within the court system.

Lawyer Referral Service

The HCBA provides a lawyer referral service to any member of the public who is seeking a quality attorney. Clients using this service enjoy a reduced or even waived consultation fee, along with a free referral to an alternate lawyer if needed.

Hillsborough County Bar Foundation

This charitable arm of the HCBA gives member attorneys the opportunity to serve the poor, disabled, and disadvantaged who need legal assistance. Selected in 2009 to manage the statewide Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program, the foundation continued to run the program locally even after the statewide program ended. Each year, the foundation hosts a Law and Liberty Dinner to help fund local legal-related charities. WM has been pleased to be a sponsor of the Law and Liberty Dinner for many years.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE)

HCBA attorneys have access to CLE classes on a wide variety of topics, and even open these classes up to interested members of the public.

At Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore, we’re proud that our attorneys have long been leaders in the community and in the Hillsborough County Bar Association. Currently, WM Partner Kevin McLaughlin is serving as President-Elect, and WM Partner Jason Whittemore serves on its Young Lawyers Division Board of Directors. Involvement in our local bar association is one more way we become educated on important legal issues, network with other attorneys and experts, and to give back to our great Tampa Bay community. If you are in need of a Tampa, Florida personal injury attorney, contact us today for a free consultation.

Why Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore Attorneys are Like Paul Newman & Tom Cruise

The ABA Journal recently published an issue covering “100 Years of Law at the Movies,” exploring Why Hollywood Loves Lawyers. It concluded that “[t]he literature of law values the object lesson over the cheap thrill. Audiences crave universal truths, and by the time the closing credits roll, movies about the law have left behind wisdom to live by.” We agree with that sentiment. Whether it’s Henry Fonda corralling his fellow jurors in 12 Angry Men, or Tom Cruise cornering “you want me on that wall” Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, lawyer movies can and usually do pack a mighty moral wallop. It’s no surprise that Atticus Finch found himself at the top of an American Film Institute list of famous heroes of the last 100 years. As the Institute rightly notes, “Heroism that acquits the falsely accused will hold its own against any nonstop action flick.”

We don’t practice criminal law at Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore, but we feel that our quest for justice is no less rigorous and duty bound than that of Mr. Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird or of Matthew McConaughey in the gripping tale A Time to Kill. We, too, strive daily to see that wrongs are righted. Fortunately, Hollywood agrees that civil practice can be just as compelling – and just as filled with white-hat lawyers making society better and more just, one client at a time.

Below is a short list of some of the great lawyer movies dealing with civil lawyers and our fight to improve the lives of our clients.  We not only love these movies; we are proud of these civil justice-fighters, real and fictional.

Erin Brokovitch: “Not personal? That is my work! My sweat! My time away from my kids! If that’s not personal, I don’t know what is.”

Who doesn’t know of Erin’s true-life story fighting against a massive power company to get justice for hundreds of residents injured by contaminated water? What began as a personal quest for employment culminated in a life-changing verdict for the townspeople poisoned by Pacific Gas & Electric’s dangerous disposal practices. Though she wasn’t a lawyer herself, she and attorney Ed Masry certainly earned their badges as civil law heroes.

A Civil Action: “Now the single greatest liability a lawyer can have is pride. Pride… Pride has lost more cases than lousy evidence, idiot witnesses and a hanging judge all put together. There is absolutely no place in a courtroom for pride.”

Like Erin Brokovitch, A Civil Action is based on a true story of a lawyer who took on a large company responsible for damaging the health of the nearby townsfolk, this time causing terminal leukemia in several children. The story is a wonderful portrayal of a team of attorneys who quite literally risk everything to win justice against all odds.

The Insider: “You are important to a lot of people, Jeffrey. You think about that, and you think about them. I’m all out of heroes, man. Guys like you are in short supply.”

Big Tobacco went to war when a single courageous whistleblower, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (played by Russell Crowe), agreed to a 60 Minutes interview to expose the dangers of smoking. The Insider tells the tale of the legal battle that followed as Big Tobacco pulled out all the stops to suppress the interview.

Rainmaker: “Every lawyer, at least once in every case, feels himself crossing a line that he doesn’t really mean to cross… it just happens… And if you cross it enough times it disappears forever. And then you’re nothin’ but another lawyer joke. Just another shark in the dirty water.”

A fictional story steeped in legal ethics, Rainmaker tells the tale of a medical malpractice case against an unscrupulous insurance giant. Not every medical malpractice case we take rises to the level of a Hollywood blockbuster – but we never forget that every single case we accept is of enormous importance to the health and life of that individual client.

The Verdict: “I came here to take your money. I brought snapshots to show you so I could get your money. I can’t do it; I can’t take it. ‘Cause if I take the money I’m lost. I’ll just be a… rich ambulance chaser. I can’t do it. I can’t take it.”

Another medical malpractice story starring the fabulous Paul Newman, The Verdict features a once-ostracized lawyer who resists enormous personal and industry pressure to accept a large settlement for his client – because he believes, when no one else does, that his client deserves even more than that. This great movie dramatically illustrates why real-life potential clients should not be unduly “wowed” when lawyers advertise their “big-dollar” settlements – because you never know if that settlement, though large, was really as fair for the client as it was for the lawyer.

At Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore, we work hard every day to emulate the commitment and heroism of the lawyers – real life and fictional – who stand up for the rights of their clients despite the strength of the opposition and against the pressure to settle too early, when doing so is not in our clients’ best interests. If you live near Tampa, Florida, and need a personal injury, medical malpractice, whistleblower, or wrongful termination attorney, contact us today for a free consultation. We may not have Paul Newman’s blue eyes or Tom Cruise’s boyish good looks – but we guarantee that our attorneys will work on your case with the same passion for justice that you see in their movies.

 

(Movie quotes from IMDb)

Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore Lawyers receive SuperLawyers Ratings!

SuperLawyers, a national rating system for lawyers, has once again included and recognized the majority of attorneys at Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore.

To be included in SuperLawyers, attorneys must first be nominated by peers or identified by the SuperLawyers research department. Once the nominations are in, each candidate is vetted by the research staff on a variety of factors including verdicts, honors, scholarly contributions, and other activities and achievements. The attorneys with the highest points then go through a process of peer review before final selection. Only five percent of all attorneys in each state are included in this list, and only 2.5% of a state’s attorneys may be selected to be Rising Stars (defined as 40 years old or younger or in practice 10 years or less).

This year, four Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore attorneys were listed as SuperLawyers: Alan Wagner and John McLaughlin are both celebrating their tenth consecutive year on the list, Kevin McLaughlin has been on the list now for seven consecutive years (three years as a Rising Star), and Jason Whittemore is enjoying his third consecutive year as a Rising Star.

At Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore, we are honored and proud to have within our ranks such powerful and respected advocates. Each of these attorneys have made essential contributions in the area of personal injury litigation, and they work hard each and every day to protect their clients’ rights.

ACTL Fellows: Alan Wagner, John McLaughlin, and Bill Wagner

The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), the most selective group of trial lawyers in North America, was founded in 1950 with the goal to improve the practice of civil and criminal trial law. Its mandate is “to improve and elevate the standards of trial practice, the administration of justice and the ethics of the profession.” It counts as “honorary fellows” each of the U.S. Supreme Court justices, as well as the justices of the Canadian Supreme Court.

Membership in ACTL, though much sought-after, is difficult to obtain. ACTL guidelines, in fact, dictate that only 1% of the local attorney population of any given state or province may become an ACTL “fellow,” and its current membership includes a mere 5700 fellows, encompassing the United States and Canada. An attorney can become a member only by invitation after a minimum of 15 years of active trial practice experience. Only those trial attorneys who have earned the respect of the legal community, through their talent and integrity, have a shot at becoming a member.

As part of upholding its mandate, ACTL sponsors awards encouraging judicial independence, justice programs, courageous advocacy, and improvements to the litigation process. The Emil Gumpert award, for example, is an annual $100,000 award given to a program designed to improve the administration of justice.

ACTL is active in educating its own members as well as attorneys throughout Canada and the United States. It publishes codes of pretrial and trial conduct, with forwards by the Chief Justices of the United States and Canada. It has also produced trial advocacy materials for lawyers and judges, and it sponsors law student competitions in trial and appellate advocacy.

Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore is proud that three of our attorneys are ACTL fellows: Alan Wagner, John McLaughlin, and Bill Wagner.

Together with the rest of our committed team of attorneys and staff, these three lead Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore in zealously fighting for our clients’ rights.

If you have been injured through someone else’s negligence, our attorneys have the experience, passion, and reputation to be your voice in court. Whether your case deals with personal injury, legal malpractice, or medical malpractice, contact us today for a free consultation.