QuestionMy husband and I were involved in an accident on March 29, 2005 and we both sustained some injures. We were rear-ended by a semi truck on the highway. My car was totaled. The police report indicated that we were at no fault. My doctor diagnosed me with lower back sprain with spasms in throughout cervical spine and weakness in left flexors among other things. I guess my real question is after all legal stuff was done my attorney sent me a copy of the demand letter he sent to the insurance company, stating that a fair settlement for ME would be $15,000.00. I have $2920.00 in medical expenses and no car (by the way they did not pay the full amount of the loan, just the value of the car,leaving me to pay $1,700) and I still deal with some pain from the accident, which makes it hard to nurse a newborn. I called my attorney quite often to ask how things were going, but I always got the secretary who would say things are going okay "we are working on it". They never asked me if I thought what they were asking for in the settlement was fair. Is this okay? Should I have been more involved with this? and if so, Why was I not? Should the settlement they came up with be enough to start with? This is my first and only accident, so I don't know. I need some good solid advice and what is going on here. PLEASE HELP!
AnswerAttorney will not return phone calls
Lazy attorney?
NO input to value my claim?
Attorney valued claim too low?
Dear Kashawn,
I am saddened to hear of the way your attorney handled your claim to date. Let’s hope he knows what he is doing, and that he gets you a settlement somewhere in five figures.
On the other hand, part of our history is that we take on too many projects, and those cases that do not need immediate attention just sit on the floor waiting for us to do something. I will acknowledge that I have been guilty of that, and it sounds like your attorney did the same thing.
However, your attorney also did three things that I ALWAYS tried to avoid. These three things are bad news and might tell us that your case has not been handled properly.
Three areas where you may have not been well-served by your attorney are:
1. COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENT. Always, always answer the client’s phone messages. One or two calls with the staff may be OK if I am in trial, but even if I have to call from home or on the weekend, I am ALWAYS going to get back with the client personally. The fact that your attorney did not communicate with you tells me that he did not give your claim the attention it needed. How is he going to know what the damages are?
2. GET RECENT EXAMINATION AND COMMUNICATE WITH DOCTOR. Never ever settle a claim of semi-serious nature without a most recent check up by the doctor and a conversation or narrative letter about continued pain and suffering. This is a PRIMARY DUTY of your attorney. Now, for all we know, you had recent doctor appointments and a closing exam and the attorney communicated with the doctor and so he was well informed. But based upon his failure to do #1 and # 3 of this list, I am guessing that he also did not complete this important step.
The reason I think that you needed this attention is that your injuries, although not disabling, are of a pretty serious nature, and there is a good likelihood that if they are not resolved after 18 months, they are NOT GOING TO GO AWAY on their own.
In fact, I have seen pain and suffering from this kind of injury bother my clients for years and they sometimes have had to go to a pain clinic for shots or electronic therapy. It can be a nagging pain that comes after any physical exertion, and it will rob its victim of her ability to do the things she used to do.
This is an element of damages that your attorney could not have possibly known about since he was not in touch with you to discuss how you were doing.
3. CLIENT MUST BE INVOLVED IN VALUATION AND SETTLEMENT OF CLAIM. How can I possibly value the claim without talking to my client? Worse yet, how can I possibly represent the client if I just send off a demand letter without explaining to her how the process works and what we are expecting in settlement? :What if my client disagrees with my strategy? Haven't I foreclosed her ability to lobby for a higher amount when I select a figure she may not agree with?
I cannot understand how your attorney could do this, unless he was pretty much on top of the claim. He likely knows the values pretty well, and if your last treatment was six months ago and the reports are of no lasting injury, then you probably were not harmed at all by his making the demand as he did. Sure, it would have been nice to have been a part of it, but you probably were not hurt if you have no lasting injuries.
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4. IS THE CLAIM UNDERVALUED? HAVE YOU BEEN DAMAGED IN ANY WAY BY HIS SETTLEMENT DEMAND LETTER?
I have no way of knowing the answers to these questions, but I will venture two guesses. Absent a doctor’s opinion regarding continuing pain and suffering, it appears that you have healed well. In that case, the value he set is certainly right in the ball park of values for soft tissue claims. In other words, if you are done treating and have had no treatments of continuing episodes [as opposed to an occasional time of pain] of pain and suffering in the past six months, then likely no damage was done at all.
The only thing you could ask for is that he should have explained to you and thus let you know what to expect. In all likelihood this is the case.
5. SHOULD YOU COMPLAIN TO THE BAR ASSOCIATION? Every state has a bar association http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php
that can help people with their relationships with attorneys. Your bar association has a competent assistant at the other end of the phone who can help you through a complaint process. But he will NOT get into giving advice over the phone. You first have to make some kind of written inquiry.
You might think of calling the bar association if any of the things I mentioned above in #2 are true regarding continuing pain and suffering. That is because you might have a more serious injury than your medical records reveal. In that case, you will need a fresh medical workup and to rescind the demand letter and start fresh.
6 WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW? I would first get a realistic opinion of your medical condition and make sure that the records in hand that the attorney and adjuster have are accurate and complete. That means you have to read the records or via phone find out what is in his file. It may also mean that you have a lot of catching up to do with your doctor if she basically released you six months ago.
So, your medical condition is what is going to determine what will be done. If you are pretty much OK, just let the attorney know that you want very little compromise in his demand. Or write to him and insist that he take the time to go over the letter and the valuation with you.
7 WHAT IF YOU ARE NOT OK, AND THE MEDICAL RECORDS ARE NOT ACCURATE? In this case, you will have to do three things, AND DO THEM ASAP:
• (a) inform your attorney to rescind the offer at this time pending updating your medical condition;
• (b) get your medical condition evaluated by your doctor or GO TO A NEUROLOGIST OR TO A PAIN CLINIC if your doctor does not make a good thorough exam and report regarding the seriousness of your condition.
• (c) go for a SECOND OPINION from a competent personal injury attorney. If that attorney believes you are in the ballpark for valuation, so much the better. But, as could be likely if you do have continuing problems, if she feels that your case is worth more that the offer signals to the adjuster (a $15K offer signals a settlement of $9K to $11K total money), you will have to relieve your attorney ASAP. Do not do this yourself. Have your new attorney do it for you.
I trust that my extra time here has produced some information that has been of value to you, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.
Best Wishes,
Dr. Settlement, J.D. (Juris Doctor)
http://www.SettlementCentral.Com
