What to Do When Your Personal Injury Lawyer Drops Your Case
Don’t believe your case is dead when your personal injury attorney tells you that your case no longer seems worthwhile. Find another personal injury attorney. As with all types of careers, there are many lawyers, but not all of them are willing to dedicate their time and energy fully to your case.
Personal injury attorneys often contract with clients on a contingency basis. That is, they will not bill clients unless they obtain compensation for the client through a settlement or a court judgment. In order to reach a settlement with the defendant (usually one or more insurance companies), the attorney negotiates with the defendant and must demonstrate, directly or indirectly, that the plaintiff has what it takes to negotiate, the strength of the plaintiff’s case: proof of a good understanding, and that the plaintiff is willing to go to great lengths at a potential trial to convince the jury that the law is on the plaintiff’s side. In other words, the plaintiff’s attorney must prove to the defendant’s attorney that his argument will prevail in court and that the jury will side with the plaintiff. The amount of settlement your personal injury attorney is able to negotiate is directly proportional to his ability to convince the opposing attorney of the merits of the case.
However, there are attorneys who only take slam dunk cases, cases that they believe will surely lead to a quick and easy settlement with the defendant; for various reasons, these attorneys may be unwilling or unable to spend the necessary time fully researching the case and, if necessary, Expert witnesses are hired to prove the merits of the case. These lawyers may have assumed it was a slam dunk case, but then they discovered they needed to do more work to win a reasonable settlement. Once they realize this, some attorneys tend to drop the case and pronounce it dead, telling their clients they don’t think the case has any merit. They leave customers hanging. Obviously, this is unfair and could jeopardize your case.
In the past few months alone, two clients have brought me two cases that other attorneys have considered dead. The first was dropped twice by two law firms, and the second by one lawyer. I was able to convince the defendant and the insurance company on the merits of both cases and my client won the court judgment. The first case was settled for $300,000 and the second case was settled for $120,000. However, these settlements are the result of the time and effort I put into both cases: researching the applicable law, the facts of the cases, city codes, and obtaining expert and eyewitness affidavits. This is the time and attention every client wants from a personal injury attorney, and every client should expect from his or her attorney.
As a client, you must make sure you find a good attorney to handle your case. Meet with an attorney to make sure your case gets the attention it deserves. Otherwise, you may find yourself without an attorney somewhere, because some attorneys have a habit of dropping cases, and it’s always the same reason. If your case is dismissed as dead by your attorney, don’t give up. Consult another attorney; most personal injury attorneys offer free consultations.
Ramzy Ladah, the other side.
Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyers, PLLC
