How to choose a dog bite lawyer without getting a billboard

Anyone with a bar card can take a dog-bite file. A small number of lawyers actually try them, know the homeowners-policy tricks, and will not dump you on a mill. You are hiring judgment, not a slogan.

They should be able to talk about dog bites, not “injuries”

Ask how many dog-bite cases they have handled in the last two years, and what the last one that did not settle looked like. You want someone who can say “strict liability in this state does not cover that knock-down” without looking it up in front of you. General personal-injury volume is not the same thing.

They should know the insurance, not just the statute

Most money in these cases comes from a homeowners or renters policy, sometimes an umbrella, sometimes a landlord’s policy. A lawyer who only talks about “what a jury might do” and never about policy limits, exclusions for certain breeds, or medical-payments coverage is performing.

Fee, costs, and who they will not take

• Contingency is standard. Get the percentage in writing, and whether it rises if a lawsuit is filed.
• Case costs (records, experts, filing) should be explained. You should know if you owe them when you lose.
• A good lawyer will decline a weak file. That is a quality signal, not a slight.

Questions worth asking on the first call

• Who will I actually talk to after I sign?
• Do you try cases, or is everything a demand package?
• What would make this case not worth taking?
• Which state’s law applies if I was visiting?

On this site, attorneys bid to be shown on matching cases. You never see the bids. You see people who already wanted a file like yours. That is the point of a marketplace that is not a billboard.