As a personal injury lawyer with an office in St. Petersburg who practices law primarily in Pinellas County, it always amazes me how clients involved in car accidents with serious injuries hire law firms outside of the county. My experience has been that many people have become so brainwashed by lawyer advertising that they fail to understand the repercussions of their choices. First, when you hire a lawyer outside of Pinellas County, that lawyer is not going to know the court system, the judges, the clerks, or the potential jury pool like a lawyer who regularly practices there.  That puts your case at a disadvantage right off the bat. Second, if you are injured in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Pinellas Park, or any other city in Pinellas County and you hire an out of town lawyer,  that lawyer will likely either not know who to refer you to for treatment or send you to someone near them. It is not always in your best interest to get treatment for your car accident with doctors across the bridge for a case that will end up in front of Pinellas County jurors. Next, the big out of county firms may sound great on TV, but often you are assigned to a case manager or a paralegal and have no idea if the lawyer you hired is actually paying attention to your case. Finally, at a big firm, don’t be surprised if at the end of the case you are presented with a huge bill for costs that is paid to the firm and comes out of your settlement for items such as photocopies, faxes, courier fees, and other miscellaneous expenses.  This is a classic tactic to drain every penny out of you. When you make a decision to hire a lawyer simply off an ad, you become a number and you may be costing yourself thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. The best advice I can give is to hire someone you trust and to ask around before you make a decision because your injuries from that accident are likely going to affect you for the rest of your life.