When you’re in a car accident, and you get injured on top of everything else, the last thing you should worry about is your legal team. Your attorney should be someone you trust, someone you know is looking out for your best interests.
This is what should happen, but for one client, the opposite occurred, and a lawyer who was just out to settle the case quickly almost cost our client dearly.
A first pass with a bad personal injury lawyer
After suffering injuries that included multiple broken bones and surgeries, our client hired a personal injury lawyer to go after the drunk driver who’d caused this horrific car accident. It was someone our client trusted to handle the case properly.
However, the personal injury lawyer decided to look out for his own best interests first. The result, the lawyer took a much lower settlement for our client than he could have gotten if he’d put more effort into the case. Wanting to take the quick and easy way out, he settled for only $25,000, took his percentage, and left our client all alone to figure out who he owed money to using what was left over.
The particulars of this case meant the personal injury lawyer most likely could have collected a much larger settlement if he’d put in more time and possibly gone to court, but his desire to move quickly left our client without enough money to manage his own injuries and resulting medical care.
Not only did the lawyer do our client a huge disservice by accepting such a small compensation, but he abandoned our client to deal with bills from healthcare providers and insurance. Technically, all that should have gotten handled before the client received any money from the settlement. This lawyer bailed on many of his responsibilities.
Going after a second opinion
Thankfully, our client felt that something wasn’t right about this initial settlement, and came to Nicholson, Silverbach & Watson for a second opinion. Our experienced legal team investigated the case from every angle, looking at it as if no prior settlement had been reached. Our findings proved the prior lawyer had committed malpractice by taking the easy money and denying our client the ability to potentially collect a much larger sum by taking the case through litigation and trial.
This lack of effort needed to be dealt with so we pursued a claim against the prior lawyer. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any insurance himself to cover his own professional negligence, and there was nothing for our client to collect.
Hitting this dead end though didn’t mean the fight was over. Our client’s best interests were still at the forefront of this case, and we knew there were avenues we hadn’t yet investigated.
Finding a ray of hope
Going on a deep investigation, our legal team discovered an uninsured motorist policy that our client wasn’t aware he even had. The prior lawyer may have noticed the coverage, but never pursued it. We did though.
Through the uninsured motorists policy, we were able to collect more money for our client. Additionally, we surveyed all the existing medical bills and reimbursement claims from other parties, helping our client negotiate some of the debt to a more affordable amount.
Ending in a better place
When our additional investigations and efforts were all said and done, the client was able to settle his debts and walk away with a little extra money to help him return to some level of normalcy.
More importantly though he could be confident that the case was truly over, and that he worked with the right legal team to get the best results possible. No more doubt, which is what his previous lawyer had left him with, among other things.
Questioning a settlement offer
If you’re ever involved in a car accident, especially where you sustain injuries, don’t ever feel like you have to accept whatever offer you’re first given by the insurance company. And, if your legal representation ever makes you feel like they are rushing through your case, or are forcing you to settle before you’re ready, it’s okay to seek a second opinion.
The entire team at Watson Injury Law prides itself on prioritizing your individual needs. Our goal is to handle all the details of your case so you can concentrate on healing both physically and emotionally from your car accident. To that effect, we move as slowly as is necessary to ensure you’re getting the best outcome possible. If that means a long litigation, fine. If it means a day in court, we’ll be ready. We’re here for you.
To learn more, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.