Why Do Personal Injury Lawyers Have A Bad Reputation?

Because Corporate And Insurance Company Lawyers Hate When We Hold Their Clients Accountable

If you’ve ever sustained a personal injury due to someone else’s negligence, you’ve probably considered hiring a personal injury lawyer. You’ve also likely heard many common objections to personal injury lawyers, who often have a bad reputation on the internet or with insurance companies. Why do lawyers get this bad rap?

Personal injury lawyers have a bad reputation for one main reason: Insurance companies don’t like working against experienced attorneys. However, a lot of history exists behind the relationship between personal injury lawyers and insurance companies. If you’re considering retaining a personal injury lawyer and want to know why these lawyers have a seemingly bad reputation, this article will help you understand the history behind this issue and what else you need to know.

What Constitutes A Personal Injury Claim?

Let’s start with the background of a personal injury claim. Personal injury claims occur when an innocent person sustains an injury in some sort of accident primarily caused by another party.

Common examples of personal injury claims include:

• Car accidents
• Big truck accidents
• Motorcycle or bicycle accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Wrongful deaths

If, in any of these accidents, you fall victim to someone else’s careless actions, you may qualify to pursue a personal injury claim. In most states, including Florida, you can bring a lawsuit against anyone who bears at least 50 percent liability for the accident and the serious injuries you suffered in it, and the at-fault party can’t sue you back. In some cases, you may qualify to file a lawsuit against two or more people if multiple parties caused the accident.

You file a personal injury claim against another party; however, the other party’s insurance usually has to pay for the damages. This can cause a lot of frustration among insurance companies and their representatives if personal injury lawyers negotiate a higher settlement claim.

What Process Does A Personal Injury Claim Involve?

Initially, the victim of an accident will need to reach out to a personal injury lawyer for help. While you can pursue a personal injury claim without the help of a lawyer, this will prove challenging. Most who attempt to do so end up with a much smaller settlement amount than they would likely receive with a lawyer’s help.

Once you contact a personal injury lawyer, he or she will start building your case:

1. Your lawyers will gather some important evidence to get started. They will gather evidence regarding the circumstances around the accident (such as eyewitness statements or police reports), evidence of your medical treatments and expenses, and anything else that your legal team deems important.
2. Your lawyers will file a claim against the party responsible for your accident. You must file a written claim, and it will require a written response within a certain time (which varies depending on the state).
3. After filing the claim and receiving your response, your lawyers and lawyers on the other side will work to gather all necessary evidence in the case in a process called discovery. They will collect police reports, insurance information, medical bills and records, and eyewitness statements. They will take depositions (oral statements similar to those taken in a courtroom) of all involved parties and witnesses. They will also send out interrogatories (written questionnaires) to gather important identification information from involved parties, as well as information related to the accident and claim.
4. Lawyers from each party will then negotiate to see if they can come up with a settlement that both sides deem acceptable.
5. If the parties cannot reach a settlement agreement, the injured individual will file a lawsuit in court.
6. In court, the lawyers will present their evidence and speak to witnesses and parties to prove their claims.
7. A judge and jury will decide who bears liability for the accident and how much of a settlement you need to cover the full cost of your injuries.
8. After receiving your verdict, your lawyers will help you retrieve your settlement and get back to your normal life.

The entire process in a personal injury claim can prove long and complicated. It can take months or even years to get through a claim. You should get started with your claim as soon as possible to ensure that you recover compensation that covers the full cost of your injuries.

Insurance Companies And Personal Injury Cases

Every state has specific requirements for how much insurance drivers must have before they can register and use a four-wheel vehicle. In Florida, every driver must have both Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Property Damage Liability (PDL) Insurance.

PIP must cover at least $10,000 in payment for personal injuries, and PDL must cover at least $10,000 in payment for damages to property caused by an accident. This insurance covers your injuries but does not cover injuries to another party.

However, while state law mandates PIP insurance coverage, it technically only covers 80 percent of personal injury medical expenses. You will likely still have to pay part of your medical expenses alone or seek help from your health insurance. If your medical expenses exceed $10,000, though, you can sue the at-fault party in your accident to collect compensation.

In some cases, the at-fault driver may have bodily injury insurance. This type of insurance covers injuries and damages to other people injured in an accident if the policyholder caused the accident. However, Florida law does not require bodily injury insurance, so you may find that the at-fault party doesn’t have the insurance needed to cover your injuries and expenses.

If the at-fault driver doesn’t have coverage to pay for you, you will have to rely on uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage from your insurance company. If your insurance company claims do not have this insurance, personal injury lawyers will search for a rejection of this coverage signed by you. If the insurance company doesn’t have a signed rejection, then it will have to pay for whatever injuries and damages you suffered.

How Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You Pursue Your Claim

As you can see, dealing with insurance companies can prove confusing and frustrating. Because Florida has relatively low insurance requirements, you may have a hard time getting the coverage you need after an accident that another party caused. For this reason, you should hire a personal injury lawyer to guide you through the process.

You will need all kinds of evidence to pursue an effective personal injury claim. You will need to gather:

• A police report, if available, detailing the circumstances of the accident and including important information for each party and witness at the scene.
• Photographic evidence from the accident, including images of any injuries and property damage you suffered.
• Medical records and bills gathered after the accident. These will start with your initial emergency room visit and can also cover future visits, therapy, medication, and other treatments.
• Proof of lost income. You will want to seek documentation from your employer that you had to miss work to recover from your accident. If you had to leave your job entirely because of the severity of your injuries, you will need documentation of that as well.
• Personal journals or testimonies. You and your loved ones have likely suffered a loss of life enjoyment, weakened relationships, and mental health problems. To document this and provide evidence, you should keep journals and write down testimonials of how you feel at different times. This type of evidence will help determine how much compensation you should seek to cover your non-economic damages.

This may seem like a lot of evidence, but you want as much help as you can get in building your claim against the at-fault party. Thankfully, you don’t have to gather all of this evidence on your own. A personal injury lawyer has the training necessary to help you gather this evidence with as little trouble as possible. These lawyers can contact medical providers, police departments, and employers for you by acting as your legal representative. This will make it much easier to gather the evidence necessary to prove your case.

Personal Injury Lawyers Versus Insurance Companies

In most personal injury claims, your lawyers will have to fight against the defensive tactics employed by the insurance companies involved in the claim. Insurance companies exist to help people involved in accidents beyond their control pay for resulting expenses. However, many insurance companies don’t jump at the chance to pay out large amounts of coverage to anyone.

If you sustain injuries in an accident, your insurance company will pay the PIP and PDL required by law. If your costs exceed the amount of coverage you have under those policies, however, you will have a hard time getting what you need. First, of course, you’ll have to go to the insurance company of the at-fault party. Hopefully, this insurance company provides bodily injury liability coverage so that you can receive fair compensation for your injuries. If not, you’ll have to turn to underinsured/uninsured coverage.

However, regardless of what the insurance company offers, your claim will likely involve some negotiation. No insurance company wants to pay the largest amount possible to help victims of car accidents. Most insurance companies will make an initial offer much lower than they really can (and likely expect) to pay as an attempt to save money.

As a layperson, you may not even realize that the insurance company has provided you with a low-ball offer. You may not fully realize the true value of your case and how much you can gain from a personal injury claim. Thankfully, personal injury lawyers have a much better idea of the worth of your case and how much you can expect from an insurance company acting fairly.

Your personal injury lawyer will take into account the damages you qualify to pursue after an accident, including:

• Medical expenses, both present and future.
• Loss of income.
• Loss of earning capacity.
• Property damage.
• Loss of life enjoyment.
• Loss of consortium.
• Pain and suffering.
• Mental and emotional distress.

Your lawyer will then calculate how much compensation you will need to cover the full cost of your injuries and thus should pursue in your claim. In many cases, the amount may merely constitute an estimate or a range you should work within. Using that range, your lawyer will work to negotiate a settlement from the insurance company that fits within what you and your lawyer deem fair.

Personal injury lawyers almost always help their clients earn a higher settlement than they could on their own. According to a recent study by the Insurance Research Council, victims of car accidents who hired personal injury lawyers received an average settlement payout 40 percent higher than a settlement payout won without legal representation.

Insurance companies don’t want to pay more for their clients, so these companies will often fight hard against personal injury lawyers or try to convince clients to fight their claims on their own. This certainly plays a part in why personal injury lawyers have earned such a bad reputation in recent years.

Are Personal Injury Lawyers Only In It For The Money?

Insurance companies and others often claim that personal injury lawyers only handle these cases to make money. However, this simply isn’t true of most lawyers. Almost all personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. This means that they will not charge their clients anything unless they successfully recover compensation on their behalf.

After they win, personal injury lawyers usually take a percentage of the client’s settlement or judgment. That way, no client has to pay out of pocket for help from a personal injury lawyer. In addition, personal injury lawyers offer their clients a free consultation right at the outset. If an attorney feels that your case has a low potential for success, the lawyer can tell you first thing so that you don’t have to waste time or money pursuing a losing case.

If you sustain injuries in a personal injury accident and need help settling your claim, don’t hesitate to reach out to a personal injury lawyer for help. Personal injury lawyers really do care about helping their clients get justice from insurance companies and at-fault parties. These lawyers will do everything they can to help you get the justice and compensation you need to recover after your personal injury accident.