I Want to be your Personal Injury Lawyer because…

Questions and Answers for the Person Injured by the Fault of Another.

1. These are good cases. They have a beginning, a process, and often a predictable end.
2. The potential client really needs me. He/she/they are often afraid, confused, and uncertain where to turn.
3. The client does not need to pay a large retainer. The fee is “contingent” on the lawyer’s getting results.
4. The size of the fee is directly proportional to the size of the recovery.
5. The fee percentage can vary, dependent on the size of the risk.
6. The injury can be physical, emotional, financial, or, often, a combination.
7. An innovative lawyer looks to maximize the net recovery by the client. For example:
8. A $100,000.00 recovery can take two years, with the lawyer taking fees o$33,000 to $40,000, costs of $25,000, and medical insurance company subrogation claims of $20,000, netting just $15,000 to the client. Or;
9. Or, an $80,000 recovery can take just six months, with a 20% fee, $1000 in expenses, and subrogation costs of $14,000, netting the client $50,000. Here the client gets more, and the lawyer  gets less, but both are satisfied because they get it sooner.
10. An experienced lawyer, in a clear fault case;
    1. Will focus on educating the insurance adjuster;
    2. Will document the medical expenses and lost wages as they come in, providing the insurance adjuster facts she/he need to adjust the “reserve”.
    3. The “reserve” is the fund of money set aside by the actuary to settle the claim.
    4. It makes no sense to hold this information for the end, shocking the poor adjuster, and making it difficult to explain to supervisors why the adjuster miscalculated how much money to set aside.
    5. This critical detail is overlooked by many, many lawyers.
    6. A good lawyer will prepare a letter for the client’s friends, relatives, colleagues, and associates, asking for letters that describe the client, before and after the collision.
    7. These “lay witness letters” are often filled with love or insight. They describe energetic, productive, people, who have to struggle with pain and impairment after a serious injury.
    8. When done properly, the presentment of an array of lay witness letters allows the claimant to avoid looking like a whiner.
    9. Friends and family can describe courageous efforts by your client to ignore pain and physical limitations, or to cope with mood and cognitive disorders.
    10. Clients don’t like to bother friends or family, or to draw attention at work, but a determined lawyer with a pesky paralegal can collect 20 lay witness letters where a “fill in the forms” lawyer may get only five or skip it entirely.

9. These things make a difference.

Do your homework to find the person who can make that difference.

Visit my firm at www.hunterlawfirm.net

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This post was written by Burton Hunter