Do I Really Need a Lawyer to Handle My Personal Injury Case?
If you ask a personal injury lawyer, they will almost universally tell you that you need a lawyer. Do you really? Probably, but it depends on the individual facts of the case. There is only one reason not to retain a lawyer: you do not want to pay the lawyer's fees. Because attorneys' fees are often 33% of the total recovery and sometimes more, it can be a significant amount of money. And, in spite of what many lawyers will tell you, there certainly are personal injury cases where the client would have been better served by not having a lawyer in the first place.
Before we talk about why you might not need a lawyer, let's discuss why, in most cases, you are better served by having a lawyer, even if your ultimate goal is to settle the case. There are number of reasons for this. First, an experienced personal injury lawyer can evaluate the offer for you so that you can know whether you are getting fair compensation. The insurance companies' goal is not to mete out justice but to pay you as little as possible. Without knowledge of what the fair value of the case is, you are in the dark as to what the settlement and trial value is of cases similar to yours. Is $400,000 a fair value for your case? It sure is a lot of money. But is it what your case is worth? Unless, you have seen hundreds of these cases and have had the opportunity to take similar cases to a jury, you really have no idea if you are hitting a home run or if the insurance company is taking advantage of you. Insurance companies are more likely to settle your case for a bargain when you represent yourself, because they know you do not know the value of the case.
Second, when you are not represented by an attorney, the insurance companies also know that you do not have a hammer in the event that your case does not settle. The leverage a personal injury lawyer has, particularly a lawyer who has a proven track record with the insurance companies, is that a lawsuit will be the response to an unreasonable offer. Insurance companies know who the serious lawyers are who are willing to try cases; they also know which lawyers settle almost all of their cases. Your settlement offer typically reflects this.
Third, more work often needs to be done to be able to put your personal injury case in the position to receive a reasonable offer. Many cases require additional work to prepare a demand package beyond the collection of the medical bills. You might need, just to name a few examples, an additional report from a doctor with respect to the scope of your injuries or future required medical care, an economist's report to calculate your real damages, or a vocational rehabilitation expert to assist in determining your economic loss. A personal injury lawyer can provide the expertise to figure out what you need and how to go about getting it.
The fourth reason to hire a personal injury lawyer is that a lawyer that is a skilled advocate and negotiator can often make a meaningful impact on your case. You need someone to explain why your case deserves more money than the insurance company thinks it is worth. The insurance companies are going to construe every fact where reasonable minds could differ against you, unless you have someone advocating your case.
You might think you can advocate your own case to the insurance company. Who is more qualified than you to discuss your own injuries? In some ways, you will be able to advocate your own case better than anyone because you actually experienced the pain and suffering that you are discussing with the claims adjuster. The biggest problem with doing this is that you often say things that end up hurting your case when you handle your own claim. This leads to the final major problem with handling you own case: that you might screw it up. So many people handling their own personal injury cases miss a filing deadline, fail to understand all of their rights, or say something to the insurance company that they should not have said, and this gets used against them later. Clearly the safer play to hire a lawyer for any case.
While we at Rad Law Firm hope you choose our firm to represent you, we hope at the very least you choose an attorney to fight for you instead of trying to handle complex personal injury matters by yourself. The Greek philosopher Socrates chose to represent himself at his own trial, and it did not turn out well for him at all. We are one phone call away to answer all your questions for free,
In Dallas and surrounding counties call us at 972 661 1111.
In Tarrant and surrounding counties call us at 817 543 1999.
In Harris and surrounding counties call us at 713 590 1111.
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