Before discussing exactly what a whiplash lawyer does on your behalf when making a whiplash claim that you may well be looking to pursue, you must first decide exactly how to select the right whiplash lawyer for you.
Firstly, you should do some research, preferrably online research and produce a shortlist of prospective whiplash lawyer candidates. They should be experienced and reasonably local so that you can visit them and discuss your claim on a face to face basis. You need to narrow the shortlist that you have created down to a maximum of three. Once you have selected your top three you need to arrange to meet with them on a face to face basis to discuss the services they can offer you and to initially brief them on the claim details that you wish to make. If they are as good as you hope they will be able to give you an initial assessment of your chances of success in the event that you take up the challenge and pursue the claim you believe you should.
In the interview you should ask them for details of their experience, and in terms of details you should ask them to outline exactly what the case involved, especially focussing on their particular activities in the successful conclusion of those cases and whether or not they were effective. Do not be afraid to ask searching questions or to ask for very specific details. If the information you ask is of a sensitive nature then they are at liberty to refuse to provide it on these grounds. Many times you will find that they are quite happy to provide the detail you are looking for, albeit on an anonymized basis. After all, they are hoping that you will retain their services to make your claim.
You should provide a detailed description of the circumstances that have led up to you making your particular claim and ask for their opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of your case. If they try to avoid answering these initial questions then you should almost certainly consider striking them off the list as if they cannot answer, or wish to charge you for this initial consultation then the chances are that you will end up with a very significant fee at the end of your claim. Most will be quite happy to give you a view. In fact many will take the case on a no win no fee basis and therefore it will be in their best interest for you to win the case and so they will be interested in the detail and happy to give you their initial assessment. You should take detailed notes during this phase of the interview.
Following the initial interviews you should spend some time comparing the responses of the different whiplash lawyers that you interviewed and generally trying to decide which one you preferred.
Finally you need to consider their fee arrangements. A good whiplash lawyer will not necessarily come cheap, but then a good whiplash lawyer will maximize the claim you make and therefore you need to balance the fee charging arrangements against the skill and experience of the particular whiplash lawyers you have seen.