Any Personal Injury Attorneys In The House?

[Chili Palmer]

My wife was in a Uber and someone down our street backed out and nailed the Uber car at the front right fender. It wasn’t that hard, but hard enough to throw my wife’s head onto the back door glass. She didn’t have any immediate injuries, but about a couple hours later she got a real bad headache. Her head was aching the next day too so I told her to go see her doctor. The doctor said she had suffered a concussion and recommended that she go see a neurologist. The neurologist confirmed that she had a concussion and recommended she have physical therapy for her neck. She’s been having headaches since the accident about 2-½ weeks ago.

Uber’s insurance has been in contact with her and the neighbor’s insurance has been in contract with her also. They aren’t denying anything, my wife got some paperwork from the neighbor’s insurance, but wants to know if she would be better off having an attorney look at the insurance paperwork before she fills any of it out.

Any advice?

 

[4Waters]

Definitely have an attorney deal with it

 

[Deckin Around]

Going with an attorney is the right move.

Without a lawyer dealing with the insurance companies, you get $xyz
With a lawyer, you get $xyz x 2
Lawyer takes $xyz

Same payout but much less hassle for you.

 

[NicPaus]

@Tooms22 to the white courtesy phone.

 

[fat rat]

What they said!

 

[Angler]

Don't talk to either insurance company.
Hire an attorney! The attorney will take care of it.

 

[Tooms22]

@Tooms22 to the white courtesy phone.

Thanks for tagging me

Don't rush anything. The head injuries can get worse over time.

Insurance companies have gotten pretty good at trying to offer some money relatively quickly after the accident.

But sometimes it's worth it when you factor in the fees you'd incur retaining an attorney.

I'm always available for a quick review. Shoot me a PM if you want to discuss it.

 

[LakeMeadLavey]

DO NOT sign anything or settle and as others have said be very cautious talking to them. I went through this with a motorcycle accident and the insurance companies always try for a quick settlement.

I really didn't want to go the attorney route but was literally forced to by what assholes they were. Its worth it to at least get a consultation and when the attorney takes over it makes your life much easier and less stressful.

Head injuries can have lasting issues so you want to make sure any future medical etc is not on your dime. Wishing you wife the best!

 

[traquer]

He's solid, and a great guy. He's in OC. Worked with him in the past: https://www.yelp.com/biz/patzkowski-law-costa-mesa-4

 

[Chili Palmer]

Wow, the personal injury attorneys are a different bunch - my wife called the guy from Yelp, but he didn’t want it and told my wife to call some other guy. Another one that my wife talked to must have been a salesman, he talked a good game and told my wife that she has a strong case and he’d do it on a 33% portion of the settlement - sounds good. He said that he’s got doctors that she can go to who will be part of the lawsuit. That sounded fishy, they should be paid a fee not a percentage of the settlement. He kept pushing her to sign an agreement so he sent it over as a docu-sign as a text to her. I told her not to agree to anything until we look over the agreement. Well, lo and behold, the document will not print out. She called him and asked for a PDF format of the agreement, he asked why. She told him that she wants to see what exactly she’s agreeing to. The he tells her that she needs to call his associate and request the document. I told he to forget this guy, but she already requested it before she called me.
According to the agreement, if the case takes longer than 30 days up to 45 days his percentage goes up to 43%. If it takes longer than 45 days his percentage goes up to 55%. Then all doctors fees and testing comes out of her end of the settlement. When she called him back he was really pushing hard for her to sign, she said she had issues with some of the items in the agreement. That’s when he said “that’s why they prefer not to send out a printable document”. Right there my wife said, well that explains why you were so hot to have me sign this right away. The way presented yourself and what you do is very unscrupulous and gives attorneys a bad name. He responded with, if you sign the agreement we can get to work right away on your case. She said, I’ll
let you know later.

This guy sounded so positive, that when the attorney I wanted her to talk to called back, she told him she found someone else. I told her she needs to talk to them all before she decides instead of taking the guy that tells her what she wants to hear. She’s going to give a call to the attorney I wanted her to originally today. Hopefully things will go well.

 

[TimeBandit]

Wow.

I need to take a shower just reading about that attorneys arrangement.

They all want to settle quick because nobody is going to court in less than 5 years is my very limited understanding.

My neighbor used to chase ambulances, he got out of the business because he couldn't sleep at night. That and he had already made Montecito house money....

I hope your wife feels better soon.

 

[Tooms22]

Wow, the personal injury attorneys are a different bunch - my wife called the guy from Yelp, but he didn’t want it and told my wife to call some other guy. Another one that my wife talked to must have been a salesman, he talked a good game and told my wife that she has a strong case and he’d do it on a 33% portion of the settlement - sounds good. He said that he’s got doctors that she can go to who will be part of the lawsuit. That sounded fishy, they should be paid a fee not a percentage of the settlement. He kept pushing her to sign an agreement so he sent it over as a docu-sign as a text to her. I told her not to agree to anything until we look over the agreement. Well, lo and behold, the document will not print out. She called him and asked for a PDF format of the agreement, he asked why. She told him that she wants to see what exactly she’s agreeing to. The he tells her that she needs to call his associate and request the document. I told he to forget this guy, but she already requested it before she called me.
According to the agreement, if the case takes longer than 30 days up to 45 days his percentage goes up to 43%. If it takes longer than 45 days his percentage goes up to 55%. Then all doctors fees and testing comes out of her end of the settlement. When she called him back he was really pushing hard for her to sign, she said she had issues with some of the items in the agreement. That’s when he said “that’s why they prefer not to send out a printable document”. Right there my wife said, well that explains why you were so hot to have me sign this right away. The way presented yourself and what you do is very unscrupulous and gives attorneys a bad name. He responded with, if you sign the agreement we can get to work right away on your case. She said, I’ll
let you know later.

This guy sounded so positive, that when the attorney I wanted her to talk to called back, she told him she found someone else. I told her she needs to talk to them all before she decides instead of taking the guy that tells her what she wants to hear. She’s going to give a call to the attorney I wanted her to originally today. Hopefully things will go well.

I wanted to apologize that I've been playing phone tag for awhile. Can you tell that I'm not very sales-ish with this stuff?

If she finds an attorney she likes, I'm always willing to give some guidance based on industry reputation.

The bigger the firm, the more likely they have an intake department. The intake department is trying to sign up cases. That's their job. Some firms sign and then drop clients when they figure out the case isn't great. Other firms are more thorough and won't sign a case that doesn't seem like it will work out.

The fees don't seem far off of the norm but some firms will work with you on fees on the back end, depending on how the case turns out.

The hardest part of the industry is getting the clients. That's why there's so much marketing and it can come off very sales heavy in the beginning.

 

[traquer]

Sorry my guy didn't work out. I guess that's the best option though from his end if he's not fully interested in the particular case, no games.

Sucks about the others guys

 

[Chili Palmer]

Sorry my guy didn't work out. I guess that's the best option though from his end if he's not fully interested in the particular case, no games.

Sucks about the others guys

Don’t worry about it - no harm, no foul. Like you say he turned it down, so no games. How else can you vet these guys?

 

[Tooms22]

Don’t worry about it - no harm, no foul. Like you say he turned it down, so no games. How else can you vet these guys?

Sit down with me for a few hours and I'll explain the online reviews game

The answer is that it's almost impossible.

Do you get to talk to the attorney you're working with before you sign? That helps.

Do they own the firm? If not, do they actually have much control or just do what the boss man says? Your attorney could be nice but the boss man says take 40% fees no matter the outcome.

Do the attorneys have enough staff and competent staff to support the caseload? This can make a big difference.

A lot of this you can't figure out before you sign because consultations in personal injury are free. So eventually the attorney is going to want to get off the phone unless you have a severe injury and a big enough insurance policy to chase.

 

[4Waters]

Wow, the personal injury attorneys are a different bunch - my wife called the guy from Yelp, but he didn’t want it and told my wife to call some other guy. Another one that my wife talked to must have been a salesman, he talked a good game and told my wife that she has a strong case and he’d do it on a 33% portion of the settlement - sounds good. He said that he’s got doctors that she can go to who will be part of the lawsuit. That sounded fishy, they should be paid a fee not a percentage of the settlement. He kept pushing her to sign an agreement so he sent it over as a docu-sign as a text to her. I told her not to agree to anything until we look over the agreement. Well, lo and behold, the document will not print out. She called him and asked for a PDF format of the agreement, he asked why. She told him that she wants to see what exactly she’s agreeing to. The he tells her that she needs to call his associate and request the document. I told he to forget this guy, but she already requested it before she called me.
According to the agreement, if the case takes longer than 30 days up to 45 days his percentage goes up to 43%. If it takes longer than 45 days his percentage goes up to 55%. Then all doctors fees and testing comes out of her end of the settlement. When she called him back he was really pushing hard for her to sign, she said she had issues with some of the items in the agreement. That’s when he said “that’s why they prefer not to send out a printable document”. Right there my wife said, well that explains why you were so hot to have me sign this right away. The way presented yourself and what you do is very unscrupulous and gives attorneys a bad name. He responded with, if you sign the agreement we can get to work right away on your case. She said, I’ll
let you know later.

This guy sounded so positive, that when the attorney I wanted her to talk to called back, she told him she found someone else. I told her she needs to talk to them all before she decides instead of taking the guy that tells her what she wants to hear. She’s going to give a call to the attorney I wanted her to originally today. Hopefully things will go well.

33% is normal

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

In what freaking world is it reasonable for an attorney to take 55% of a settlement and have the client pay all expenses from their 45%?

It's no wonder so many consider accident injury lawyers to be scum sucking bottom feeding a-holes.

 

[TX Laramie]

33% is normal

Yep. And additional percentage increases are par for the course when working on contingency. The increase is usually if trial/court room time is needed.
Remember....everything is negotiable with your attorney because that's what they're going to do with the opposing counsel.