Industry Insights: What They Won’t Tell You About Being a Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury laws present a legal avenue for victims who sustained injuries because of no fault of their own. The laws apply to a multitude of cases including medical malpractice, product liabilities, premises liabilities, and dog attacks. Under the laws, victims can seek compensation from the accountable party.
The laws determine if there are any caps for the monetary awards, and what statute of limitations apply to the case. For personal injury lawyers, there are often steps that are required, and they must make snap judgments about what cases they take on.
You Won’t Win All Your Cases
Personal injury attorneys cannot guarantee that they will win the case. When filing a legal claim, no attorney can give their client a guarantee. This is a factor that many clients do not understand and may assume. The attorney can present the evidence in the case to the court and complete their job according to the current state and federal laws that apply to the case. Victims of personal injuries can get started by contacting a Corpus Christi Personal Injury Lawyer now.
You Get Paid When Your Client Wins
The attorneys get a percentage of the monetary award when their clients win their cases. The victim’s attorney identifies the percentage they acquire when the client hires them for the case. The type of personal injury case defines what percentage the attorney is allowed to get from the monetary award. For example, Social Security disability cases may restrict the attorney’s fees to 25% only.
Insurance Companies Hire Attorneys for the Defendants
When going to court, a reality is that major corporations and other businesses are more likely to get an attorney through their insurance provider. For example, a manufacturer facing a product liability case could get a legal representative through their product liability insurance policy, and the settlement they present will also come from the insurance company initially.
A problem with this aspect is that the insurer will make attempts to contact the victim and get them to commit to a settlement offer. This is why attorneys advise their clients not to speak to anyone on their own.
Evidence Can Disappear If You Don’t Get It Quickly
Attorneys file motions to gather evidence. The type of case defines what evidence there is. For example, a worker’s compensation case requires medical evidence that shows the worker’s injuries, and they need evidence of a denied claim. It is important for them to get evidence of the accident that caused their injuries. This could mean video footage from inside the workplace, and if the attorney doesn’t get the video footage through a court order, the footage could disappear.
Some Jurisdictions Can Stop Legal Claims
A personal injury case against an elected official introduces a more restricted statute of limitations. The victim must acquire images of the conditions that cause their injuries when it happens. For example, if their child becomes injured at a playground the official is responsible for maintaining, the victim must get images of the defective product that caused the injury right then. If they don’t, these conditions could get corrected, and there is no way to show the court why the elected official was liable.
Lawsuits Are A Matter of Public Record
When a lawsuit is filed, it becomes a matter of public record. As an attorney, the public records also show if the attorney lost the case or not. These details could be the element that defines who hires them. If they aren’t honest about their success rate, potential clients can review the public records and reveal the accurate success rate.
The clients can find out more about the attorney through the public records and make a well-informed decision when hiring an attorney. If the attorney misrepresented their services, they can face legal issues themselves.
Clients Won’t Get the Attorney on a 24-Hour Basis
Most attorneys are not at their client’s disposal on a 24-hour basis. The attorneys will have other cases and will attend court for these cases. The clients may speak to the attorney’s paralegal more often because of the attorney’s busy schedule. This doesn’t mean that the attorney won’t call their clients, but it does mean there won’t be significant delays.
The attorney will meet with the client to prepare for the case and to get information about the case. The client may not see their attorney after the case starts until the case goes to court, or the attorney acquires a settlement offer that is sufficient for the victim’s demands.
They Can Refuse to Take A Case
The attorney is not required to take on any case, and they will conduct assessments for the claim to determine if it is viable. They review all evidence that is available for the claim currently. If the evidence doesn’t present a high probability of a win, the attorney is less likely to take on the case.
Since the attorneys get a percentage of the client’s monetary award, the lawyers are less likely to take on a case that doesn’t present a higher probability of a win. Some attorneys may refuse to take on the case according to the projected monetary award. They calculate how much the victim can expect to get in a lawsuit and determine if the case should be managed in court, or if they should try to negotiate with the defendant.
Personal injury laws dictate what attorneys can and cannot do in a court of law. The laws impose some restrictions on the lawyers when they are bringing a case to the court, and the victims do not always win their cases. Being a personal injury attorney requires the person to decide what cases are viable and what they could get if they win the case.
What most clients don’t understand about personal injury laws is that the attorneys won’t get paid unless they win the case, and the attorneys get a percentage of the monetary award. By understanding the laws and how attorneys manage these cases, victims get a better understanding of what to expect.