By Peter C. Riley

“Buy Local” initiatives across the country are thriving.

From California to Maine and from Texas to Minnesota, citizens and governments are encouraging one another to patronize local businesses, ensuring that money stays within a community and is reinvested. Even Cedar Rapids is promoting the Buy Local philosophy with its new program, “Buy Here, Give Here, Grow Here.”  

I propose that the Buy Local concept is not applicable solely to the retail environment.  The Buy Local philosophy can – and should – also apply to legal services.

Hiring a local lawyer can mean the difference between reaching a successful conclusion to your claim and receiving justice – or wasting thousands of dollars on an unsatisfactory resolution.  The mission of our firm is to seek justice for those who have been injured or damaged by the wrongful acts of others, and over the years, we have represented thousands of clients and obtained more than $350,000,000 in recoveries on their behalf.  Our attorneys have largely been successful in this effort because they are expert in their fields and also have the local expertise necessary in individual cases.

Failure to hire a local lawyer can lead to sky-rocketing out-of-pocket costs as a result of the out-of-town legal firm not knowing the territory, being inexperienced in choosing a favorable trial venue, or just being plain lazy in its representation of your interests.

A case in point of why hiring a local lawyer is imperative.  Our firm was involved in the case of a child of unmarried parents who was killed in a motor vehicle collision. The father had hired an out-of-town lawyer who was in the process of negotiating a settlement with the insurance company. When the mother came to our office, we searched the court records, found that no estate had been opened, and promptly had the mother appointed as Administrator of her son’s estate. As a result, our client was now in control of the settlement process because the out-of-state firm had not taken the time to open an estate – something a local lawyer would promptly do whenever an unmarried parent contacts a lawyer with a wrongful death claim for a child.   

The Tom Riley Law Firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa makes people whole. Be it workers compensation or personal injury and wrongful death occurring outside the workplace, such as: car accidents, dram shop actions (where a bar or restaurant serves a customer to the point of legal intoxication), medical malpractice, defective products, construction accidents, premises liability (e.g., slip and falls based on failure to provide a safe place to walk or play), or any other type of preventable injury or death. When it comes to making you whole again, experience matters.

The next time you see an advertisement for “Buy Local,” remember that it doesn’t just apply to retail sales. Hiring a local lawyer guarantees your better representation and increases your chances of a successful conclusion to your claim.