Almost every personal-injury case settles. That is not the problem. The problem is that the size of the settlement is decided by whether the other side believes you would go to trial if they lowballed you.

Insurance companies keep records. They know which firms in your county have taken a case in front of a jury in the last five years and which ones have never once done it. That file is worth more to them than anything on a billboard. If your lawyer has no trial record, the adjuster on the other end of the phone already knows it, and the first offer will reflect it.

So the question to ask is not “are you a good lawyer.” Everyone answers yes. Ask these four instead.

1. How many cases have you tried to verdict?

Listen for the exact words. Handled, resolved, worked on and litigated are not the same as tried to verdict. A verdict means a jury was seated, evidence went in, and twelve strangers returned a number. A lawyer who has done that fifty times has a different relationship with risk than one who has done it twice.

You want a specific figure, not an adjective. A trial lawyer will give you one without pausing, because it is the number their career is measured by.

2. Which side did you used to be on?

Some of the most effective plaintiff’s lawyers started out defending the companies they now sue, or prosecuting cases for the state. That background is not a mark against them. It is the reason they can predict what the other side will do, because they used to be the one doing it.

Ask directly. A lawyer who spent years on defense knows exactly which weaknesses an adjuster is looking for in your file, and how a claim gets devalued before anyone ever mentions a courtroom.

3. Who actually handles my file?

At many firms the lawyer in the advertisement is not the person who will call you back. Your case may be run by a case manager you have not met, with the attorney appearing only if it goes to suit. That arrangement can work, but you should know about it on day one rather than discover it in month seven.

Ask who your point of contact is, how often you will hear from them, and who makes the call on whether to accept an offer.

4. What happens when we turn down the first offer?

The answer should be a plan: what gets filed, on what timeline, what it costs, and what the realistic range looks like at each stage. If the answer is vague, or if declining an offer is treated as an unusual step, you have learned something important about how that office works.

Two lawyers whose answers are already on the public record

You do not have to take anyone’s word for this. Trial records, verdicts, bar admissions and elected service are all matters of public record, and the lawyers who have them tend to publish them. Two examples from different states show what a checkable answer looks like.

How to check the answers

Every claim above can be verified without calling anyone. Your state bar’s website shows admission date, standing and any discipline. County court records show filings and dispositions under the lawyer’s name. Verdict and settlement reporters cover significant results. For anyone who has held public office, the legislative record is published.

Do that for whoever you are considering. If the record supports what they told you, you have found a trial lawyer. If nothing turns up and the firm’s own site never names a single verdict, that absence is your answer.