Reply With Quote
the only costs you be able to recover is down time away from work and medical fees...
do you think its worth it?
Some of you may have seen the thread about my wife's accident/advice on a vehicle. The accident was the fault of the other party and even his insurance has taken responsibility. Thing is, we are probably not going to get what is owed on the vehicle from that portion of the settlement. I have never really messed with lawyers with regards to an accident before, so I don't have any experience to draw from. I never really wanted to sue anyone and didn't feel like I "lost" anything by not doing so. In this case though, I lost a 6 year old van with <50k miles, plus my (at that time) 37 week pregnant wife hurt her foot (though not too badly).
My question is: Are Personal injury lawyers REALLY able to get enough that it is worth it to hire them considering that I would have to pay them 35% of the settlement?
the only costs you be able to recover is down time away from work and medical fees...
do you think its worth it?
Every case is different. You are not going to get rich by hiring a lawyer, but you will likely recover what you lost.
not trying to get rich (thus my lack of lawyer experience), it just sucks that I am not going to be able to get another vehicle with such low miles for my family. I was set for a while with that van. Pisses me off.
You've got quite a few choices and I'm just spitballing here:
Cohen
Goldberg
Goldblatt
Goldstein
Greenberg
Rosenberg
Weinberg
Weinstein
Good luck.
What's to lose?
You rather have 65% of a few thousand or 100% of nothing?
I would consult and find out what you are looking at. At the very least you can make the insurance pay for your wife's medical bills, checkups, physical therapy - if she needs it for her injury, etc...
I used to not believe in suing or felt that it was not an "ethical" thing to do...until I suffered an accident and let it go and years and years later - my body started to show effects of the injury...had I known when it happened I would have pursued compensation - but you don't think of these things and the "macho" thinking of some of us prevents us from making a big deal out of it.
Since your wife is the one injured - I would , personally, consider her FUTURE health and the health of the baby - before just letting it go.
My two cents. Good luck.
The one time I was involved in a serious accident, I didn't initially consult a lawyer. I handled everything through the respective insurance companies. It wasn't until the at fault insurance company refused to pay for any medical expenses that I consulted several lawyers. Ended up using one and they took care of everything. Was an ok experience. To answer your question, I don't think I would have received near what I did if I had not used a PI lawyer.
you never said how ed up the vehicle was
I doubt you will be made whole. In almost 40 years of driving, i have been the victim of two accidents. Each time, between lost wages, reimbursement of less than my vehicle was worth, new registration costs, etc...
Each time, I lost over $2,000.
I don't know if they are legit, but there are radio ads where I live for a lawfirm advertising to get you your "diminished value." It might be worth looking into.
Next time, I'm tempted to fake an injury.
Sorry, it is a total loss. >11k in damages. One frame real was collapsed and the other was bent all in the front end. The whole thing shifted toward the driver side.
you don't have to. just start talking and they'll know.
You have two issues here:
The car, which you admit they paid you book value on.
Your wife's foot which you admit wasn't bad. Wasn't bad = no lawyer taking it on contingency.
Remember you are in a negotiation.
First thing you need to do, is not take the first offer on the part of the guys insurance company.
Ask for more.
That is perfectly free. It is almost certain that they will low-ball you on their first offer.
Their calculus is going to be:
Do we offer a bit more to this guy now, or pay the expenses of a legal battle AND still have to pay out a minimum.
If what you ask for is less than their legal expenses+eventual costs, you stand a pretty good change of getting it.
They will hem and haw and "ask their supervisor" a lot, trying to make you sweat the chance they will turn you down, but if they know it is their fault the only thing left is to decide how much to pay.
You can reasonably say that the loss to you is far more than just losing a vehicle and a minor injury.
I am not sure that a lawyer would end up being cost effective though. You would have to make his fee contingent on earning you a NET amount more than you could get on your own, after his fee gets taken out.
My professional advice:
Deal with the insurance company first and try to haggle more money out of them.
If the insurance company offers you enough to make you happy without a lawsuit, then great. Most suits settle before court, especially in Texas.
Remember, that your losses include the time and extra expenses you have incurred.
You have to spend X hours replacing the vehicle, and your time is worth money. You lost a vehicle worth X amount of money, plus all the time in dealing with the loss, and replacement.
The last couple of cars I ahve lost to other people's stupidity I darn well asked for and got more money for this. It all depends on what the claim settling authority is of the handler.
Most have a modest amount of discretion.
Don't.
But DO ask the insurance company for more. They have a very cold, hard calculus as to what any given claim will cost them, if it goes to trial. They will try to get you to settle for things like blue book value, but if you press them, and what are are asking for is less than what it woudl cost them, it is an easy business decision to fork over $20 bucks extra to avoid $100 in legal/trial expenses.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
