What Are Some Mistakes That Can Harm My Personal Injury Claim?

The use of social media is the biggest mistake that can harm your personal injury claim. You don’t have to advertise your case on social media. Folks have a way of oversharing and it’s a “killer”. Insurance companies may look at social media posts and could see that you are on a ski trip (for example) and out engaging in other strenuous activities but during the same period you claim you are not well enough cannot go back to work. As such, I have everyone sign a social media waiver advising them of the dangers of utilizing social media during the case. If you can live without it, just close your accounts but if you are on social media be aware of your discussions: statements that you may believe are totally innocent may come back to haunt you later. I had a case once where my client went roller skating on Saturdays. I didn’t know anything about it but the other side did and it came up at trial. We got a very low award because of this. The judge saw him as a malingerer.

Trying to get back to work too soon may also be a mistake. It may slow down your recovery. It may also cause gaps in treatment because you stop treatment to work for a week or two, but the pain returns and you have to go back for more treatment. Trying to get back to work and/or your normal activities before total recovery is not a good idea. You may then have a big one month or two month gap in treatment and the insurance company wants to cut off treatment and disregard much of your bills at settlement. The bills are still owed but the insurance company is refusing to pay for it.

Can I Even Afford an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney?

Yes, you can afford an experienced personal injury attorney. We get paid on a contingency basis, which means that we take a percentage of whatever we get from your verdict or settlement. That’s how injury lawyers are paid. There are times where there is going to be a lot of out-of-pocket costs. We may ask the client to provide some money upfront if it’s one of those cases where the liability is kind of iffy, this can result in receiving a low award (or zero recovery) because the jury or judge found that the other person wasn’t responsible. Personal injury attorneys usually provide free consultations. We get paid from the insurance carriers when the case is settled and/or from the other party if assets are available.

What Makes You and Your Firm Particularly Suited to Handle Personal injury Claims?

We are an experienced boutique firm that makes us particularly suited to handle personal injury claims. A lot of times, people go to bigger firms and they are frustrated by the way the case is handled. We are a firm that knows our clients personally, and you know the lawyer who is handling your case. Working with a firm that has the experience and is more of a boutique firm is always better for clients. The number one client complaint is not enough attorney contact. I hear many clients complain that they can’t find their attorney and their attorney doesn’t keep them informed of their case status. It’s not malpractice per se but clients want an attorney who is available. They want to be handled by you; they don’t want to be passed off to someone else. Clients just want to be able to speak to their attorney. It’s usually a conversation of five minutes or less for personal injury cases, questions like “Have you heard from the insurance company?” or “I felt some pain last night, I think I’m going to go back to treatment.” We want to speak with clients and return client calls in a reasonable amount of time. Knowledge and experience is good but a decent level of bedside manner is invaluable when it comes to injury cases and other types of cases; we provide that.

For more information on Mistakes That Can Harm a PI Claim, a free initial case evaluation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (800) 400-2350 today.