People often ask me what is my “speciality” within the practice of law. As with virtually everything in the law, the answer is less than simple.

First, the Bar is clear about when lawyers can use the term “specialist.” There are certain areas of the law that the Bar regulates and administers with regards to these specialties. Lawyers who want to call themselves “specialists” within these fields have to take and pass a certain exam to use that moniker. Those fields are set out below:

• Real Property Law – Section .2100
• Bankruptcy Law – Section .2200
  (Click Here for information regarding the bankruptcy specialization exams and the alliance between the NC Board and the American Board of Certification.)
• Estate Planning and Probate Law – Section .2300
• Family Law – Section .2400
• Criminal Law (including Juvenile Delinquency) – Section .2500
• Immigration Law – Section .2600
• Workers’ Compensation Law – Section .2700
• Social Security Disability Law – Section .2800
• Elder Law – Section .2900
  (Click Here for information regarding the elder law specialization exams and the alliance between the NC Board and the National Elder Law Foundation)
• Appellate Practice – Section .3000
• Trademark Law – Section .3100

If a lawyer has not passed the specialist exam in one of those fields, he cannot say he is a specialist or specializes in a certain field.

So back to the question, what is Jeff’s “specialty?” Let’s phrase it a different way: What practice areas does he focus on? That’s easier to answer…

My practice focuses on three areas, primarily: personal injury, workers’ compensation, and traffic tickets. The first two I tend to lump together as “injury law.”

You will note there is not specialist exam for “injury law” so I can’t say I specialize in it. There is an exam for worker’s compensation; I practice worker’s comp law, but I have not made the effort to take that exam. Why? I just haven’t. I am too busy working for my clients. I would rather spend my time working on my clients’ cases rather than studying for and taking an exam so I can add more titles on my website.

So back to the answer: I handle injury law cases – personal injury and workers’ compensation claims – as well as traffic tickets. That makes me an injury attorney.  Am I a specialist? The Bar says I can’t say that. But is my practice focused mostly on injury law? You betcha. I am an injury attorney because I handle injury law cases almost exclusively. So if you have an injury, no matter how it happened, and you wonder if you have a claim, call me. Maybe I can help.

Call me: 919-929-2992.

My office is in Chapel Hill, which just so happens to be the location of one of the premier teaching hospitals in North Carolina – UNC Hospital. I’m also not too far from another great hospital (at a horrible school) – Duke University Health Center.

Of course, in a situation where someone is catastrophically injured (from an auto accident, dog bite, slip and fall, or a pharmacy error), their first thoughts are going to be on their injuries and survival. As well they should be. Getting yourself back to health should always be your number one concern. But accident victims and their families ignore the need for counsel at their own peril. So how soon should you meet with an attorney? Really darn soon, in my opinion. I can even meet you in the hospital.

People are sometimes surprised how easy it is for me to meet clients in the hospital rooms. Many people don’t realize how flexible my schedule can be. I can come to clients very quickly when circumstances warrant that sort of immediate, in-person response.

For instance, let’s say you’re in an accident and you suffer catastrophic injuries that require a hospital stay. When you get to a point where you can think about it, you probably want to talk to an attorney. So you think you’ll do that when you get out.

The problem with that is you don’t know when you’ll get out. And when you get out, how mobile will you be? How painful will it be to get in a car, schlep to a downtown office, hobble into an elevator, etc?

And what about what’s happened in the meantime? The insurance company for the other driver is immediately on the defensive, preparing their case and setting things up to help avoid exposure. Is anyone doing anything for you?

Of course, not everyone can be as flexible as I am. There are thousands of associates at big firms whose days are eaten up with depositions and staff meetings and everything else while their bosses are deep-sea fishing, so it’s hard for them to be able to drop what they’re doing to take care of their clients. I have purposefully designed my practice around a flexible schedule to allow for just this sort of availability. On most occasions I can schedule an initial consultation in a hospital with as little as 4 hours notice, and sometimes less.

Don’t wait. Call me, call someone. Generally speaking, I can come to you with fairly short notice and talk to you about your particular situation. I can explain what you might expect with your case and what I can do to help.

When you’re injured, the last thing you want to think about is an insurance claim. But that’s exactly why you get an attorney early on in the process; when you have an attorney you don’t have to think about it because the claim is on the attorney’s shoulder then, not yours.

Call me if you need me. 919-929-2992.

Initial Consultations with Attorneys – Rules to Live By

This is going to sound like a top 10 list of things that clients do that I don’t like.  Maybe that’s what I mean it to be.  Maybe it’s not.  But the best way to look at it, from a positive perspective, is a brief tutorial on what to do and what not to do when consulting with an attorney – or any professional for that matter.

First, let me say that I don’t think any of us should expect that anyone coming to our office for the first time should know exactly what we are looking for and what we are not, or how to deal with some of the little niceties of these interactions.  So should we judge folks for any and every faux pas?  No.  But wouldn’t it all be a little better if we all were working from the same rule book?  Yep.  I think so.  To the point:

The First Call

A client recently said to me, “Look, we are kind of on a date: I’m looking to see if I want to work with you, and you are doing the same with me.”  100% accurate! That’s why every single interaction you have with the attorney (or other professional, but for ease of writing I’ll use “attorney” throughout this post) should be calculated to impress.  You want an attorney who is good enough that he can pass if something about you rubs him/her the wrong way.  So everything you do should impress them.  This includes the first call to the office.  Here are a few tips:

• Pay attention to who answers the phone.  If he says, “Jeffrey Howard,” then don’t ask to speak with Jeffrey Howard.  You got him.
• Before you call come up with a succinct explanation of your situation and what you are looking for.  You are not doing the attorney any favors by giving him the long version of how your day is going.  Get to the point.
• Do your research before you call, not by calling.  You don’t want to call the estate planning lawyer and tell him all about your worker’s comp drama, only to find out he doesn’t do that.  Know whom to call, then call them.
• Use your grown up language.  Act like you are on a job interview.  If you can’t take your case seriously enough to represent yourself well, it’s hard for the attorney to help.
• If you have to leave a message,
  • Speak clearly
  • Leave your phone number…twice!  You never know if there was a blip in the recording that happened right when you said a number the first time around, and without that number, you get no call back.
  • A quick explanation of what you’re looking for helps.  If the attorney can’t help, but calls back, at least if he gets your VM he can leave a message explaining he can’t help, and that avoids a lot of useless phone tag.
  • Before you flag your VM as an emergency, consider whether or not the person for whom you are leaving the message would consider it an emergency.  For example, my wife called me to tell me our house was on fire…she did not flag it as an emergency.  Here are some more examples:
    • You haven’t heard from your attorney in a week: Not an emergency.
    • You have a random question: Not an emergency.
    • You want to talk about the same thing you always talk about when you call every week: Not an emergency.
    • You have a speeding ticket: Not an emergency.
    • You might be going to jail: Trick Question!  It’s probably not an emergency for your attorney, but it might be for your bail bondsman, so use your discretion on that one.
    • Someone is in the hospital or dying: That’s an emergency.

Scheduling and Showing Up for the Meeting

You have to meet your attorney at some point, so you’ll need to set up a meeting.  Here are some helpful guidelines:

• Different folks have different lives, so be understanding and accommodating, and we’ll do the same.  Some folks have lunches free, some don’t.  Some have to drop off/pick up kids at certain times, etc.  Suggest a few different times/days, and you’re more likely to get one of them.
•  Show up.  If you can’t show up, call the minute you know you can’t.  Many attorneys offer free consultations, and they are blocking off their time for you at no profit to them and no cost to you so be respectful of that time.  And if you’re the type of client who won’t show up at a meeting, you’re probably the type who won’t show up at a hearing, which doesn’t bode well for the attorney wanting to help you.
• When you show up, act like you care.  First impressions are important, and your Stunning Steve Austin shirt sends a message.  And remember, it’s not so much important what the attorney thinks; what’s more important is what the attorney thinks the jury might think about you.
• Knock.  It’s just the polite thing to do.  Don’t walk into someone’s office, even if you can see them, without knocking.  They might be on a phone call that’s confidential.  But even if they aren’t, you still shouldn’t do that.
• Bring your documents.  If you think it could be important, bring it.  Err on the side of inclusion.
• No means no.  If they say they can’t help, they can’t help.  Don’t try to lawyer the lawyer.
• To continue on that theme, in the phone call or in the meeting, if you’ve already hear the “no thanks” then please don’t re-characterize your scenario by adding, “But what if…” No means no.

Subsequent Calls and Meetings

AFTER you’re signed up, you can relax a bit.  Heck, I prefer a slightly more relaxed relationship with clients.  It makes things simpler.  That doesn’t mean show up drunk at random hours, but it does mean you can be a little less formal in communications.  Here are some more tips:

• Pay attention to predictions.  If your attorney says he’ll reach out in about two weeks, you should probably wait at least two weeks before calling and asking why you haven’t heard anything.
• Stay consistent in communication methods.  If you have a good email chain going, keep it up!  If you don’t email, that’s fine.  Just return calls.  But it’s not great form to email, then call, then email about not getting a prompt return call.  If you want quicker responses, give the attorney fewer things to respond to.
• One voice mail will do, thanks.  Just one.  I am very proud to say that I almost always call clients or potential clients back within 24 hours.  If I don’t there is a darn good reason why.  But you can rest assured I got your first voice mail, and I’ll get back to you.  Calling me back in 10 minutes to ask why you haven’t gotten a call back on the first voice mail is not going to make me respond any more quickly (see the point above).
• I am of the opinion that email communication is versatile enough that it can be formal or informal, and I’m OK with whatever you are OK with.

There ya go.  Follow those little tips and you will do just dandy.  Good luck!

Durham Injury Attorneys

Any Carolina fan can tell you: Durham is a strange place.  College rivalries aside, the town is interesting for several reasons.  One thing that sets Durham apart, and is interesting to me in particular, is the number of attorneys that practice there.  But it makes sense when you think about it.  There are four law schools within 30 minutes: NCCU, UNC, Campbell, and some other private school whose mascot is named after a French military unit (because those guys are famous for winning, right?).   Regardless, there are TONS of attorneys in Durham, so people searching for counsel in Durham have no shortage of options.  So how do you narrow your choices?

In many small cities you find attorneys that are general practitioners.  They may not say that explicitly, but when they are handling many varied types of cases, then that’s probably a fair label.  Law school does give you a somewhat well-rounded knowledge of different topics, so I suppose it makes sense to dabble in this and that to keep the doors open.

When you’re talking run of the mill stuff, most attorneys can handle whatever.  But when it comes to injury claims, do you really want a general practitioner to handle it?  Maybe you do.  Maybe you don’t.

With very minimal injury auto accident claims, you might get similar outcomes with someone who doesn’t focus mostly on injury claims.  However, if you’re talking about complex injury claims there are more “moving pieces,” so to speak (or write), in the claim and for every moving piece there is a potential mistake to be made.

If you’re not handling injury claims every day like I do, you just may not have the time to stay –up-to-date on Medicaid and Medicare subrogation, lien law, Med Pay, liability coverage UM and UIM coverage, and premises liability claim law.  Each of these issues – and this list is not exhaustive – presents a potential challenge for claim, and if the attorney who’s handling it doesn’t have a strong grasp of the concepts and law involved, they could do irreparable harm to your claim.

Take a look at my website: www.jeffreyhowardlaw.com (which you already are looking at since you’re reading this). What does it tell you?

It tells you I handle Personal Injury claims, Workers’ Compensation claims, Mediation, and Traffic Tickets.  The first two things are injury law, so they make sense to go together.  Mediation is conflict resolution in general, but it can be used in the injury law context.  The only thing I do that isn’t injury-law-related is traffic tickets, but what small town attorney doesn’t do traffic tickets?

To the point: I am not a general practitioner.  I handle injury claims, and I do traffic tickets locally.  I will mediate cases as called upon, but that’s it.  This is essentially all I do.

So if you’ve got an injury claim and are looking for an attorney, do yourself a favor and hire one that handles injury claims frequently.  Check out their website and examine their practice areas.  If they have several unrelated practice areas, you’re dealing with a generalist.   Is that bad?  No, not necessarily.  But think of it this way:  If you have a heart defect, do you want your family doc to treat it exclusively, or do you think the cardiologist might be better suited to that?

I am going to have to Google this, but I’d be willing to bet no other attorney has written a blog post on unsatisfied clients.  There are probably millions of posts about particular satisfied clients but I bet there are very, very few on those that aren’t happy with that particular lawyer.

The reality is that if you are doing anything long enough, even if you are doing it exceedingly well, you will have some people who don’t like what you did or how you did it.  Period.  It’s just going to happen.  I think most of the time that doesn’t necessarily mean you did poorly, it just means that you didn’t meet a client’s particular expectations.

Are these things we like to talk about in advertising or informational pieces?  Generally, no.  Attorneys, as I would imagine other professionals, like to brag about their successes to get more clients.  I just thought I’d shake it up a bit and talk about failure for a second, and what that means exactly.

First, let me say what you expect me to say:  I generally DON’T have unsatisfied clients.  I do my utmost to take care of my clients’ cases and the vast majority has given me good marks when their cases have concluded.  Simply doing my best makes it more likely than not that a client will walk away satisfied so for the most part, I don’t have to worry about unsatisfied clients.

But have I had them?  You betcha.  It just happens.  Let’s talk about why.

Almost invariably, the root of the problem is the client’s expectations.  If you can understand those from the beginning, you can probably avoid an unsatisfied client.  So that’s where you start.

I handle, essentially, two types of cases: injury claims and traffic tickets. No attorney can ethically guarantee outcomes.  But what I do from the outset is to explain what outcomes we can reasonably hope for for their particular issue.  If their expectations are off, I can normally rein them in, and that helps to make sure they don’t walk away unsatisfied.  If I can’t get their expectations within a normal range, then I typically know that I can’t help that client in the way they want to be helped, so I don’t let them hire me.

What?!  You turn down business?  Yes, in fact, I do.  It doesn’t do me much good to take on a case where I’m not only going to be fighting my opponent, but I’ll also be fighting my client at the same time.  It’s best if my client and I present a united front against the opposition, and when we have a unified goal in mind, then my clients will generally be satisfied, whether we hit the mark or not, merely because we both knew what we were going for and fought to get it.

I’m not a card player, but cards are a great analogy for cases: I tell clients that I have to play the hand you were dealt.  Your case might be good, your case might be bad, and I have to do my best with it. I can’t ask for a different hand.  I have to play the one you’ve been dealt, and I’ll do my best to win the hand.  I can’t guarantee outcomes.  I can only do the best with what I have to work with.  And sometimes you just plain have a bad hand.  On those cases, if the client understands that from the beginning, then win or lose, they are normally satisfied because they understood their weaknesses and had reasonable expectations.

When a client doesn’t understand their weaknesses is when they have unreasonable expectations, and unreasonable expectations are hard to meet. Every time I’ve had a client that was unsatisfied, the root of the problem was this: I failed to see that their expectations were not in line with what was likely to happen, and I should have dealt with that sooner.

The biggest slap in the face I can take, other than an actual slap in the face, is when I explain to an injury client the legal weaknesses in their case, and then they say something along the lines of, “I think you’re working for the insurance company!”

Ugh.

I can’t even stand to type it.  But it has happened.  It’s like telling an oncologist, “I think you work for cancer.”  Do you really think we somehow benefit by making our clients lose their fight?

Seriously. It baffles me.

My job is to give advice and advocate.  Clients can forget that in giving advice an attorney is often going to tell them things they do not want to hear, things that will not make them feel good about their case (and maybe themselves).  But our job is not to paint pictures of sunshine and puppy dogs; it’s to tell our clients exactly what they are up against and what they can expect, good and/or bad.  To do otherwise is to do our job poorly.  Sadly, sometimes the truth hurts.  But this is what we do.

If you want an attorney that is going to tell you everything is great and you can expect to own a significant portion of downtown San Francisco real estate by the time your case is done, then keep looking.  If, on the other hand, you want an attorney who will call it like he sees it and give you a fair and honest evaluation of what you are up against, then call me.

919-929-2992.

Trucking Accident Cases

Auto accident claims are one thing.  Trucking accident cases are another.  Period.  People often ask me if they can handle their own accident claims, and I tell them they probably can, but their outcome may not be as good as if they hired a professional.  With trucking accidents, the answer is, “No. Way.”  While you might think one accident with an automobile is just like another, that’s not really the case when it comes to claims involving commercial tractor trailers, transfer trucks, 18 wheelers, or whatever else you might call them.

What makes these claims different?  I’m glad you asked because that’s what I’ fixin’ to write about…

What begins to make these claims different is physics, specifically related to the size of the vehicles involved.  The stark reality is that accidents caused by gigantic commercial vehicles often involve forces that are orders of magnitude greater than those generated in common conveyances.  This in turn creates in many cases a much higher likelihood of catastrophic and life-threatening injuries.

The likelihood of serious injuries caused by these accidents then creates a great deal of what we call “exposure” to the defendant.  Bad injuries mean higher value claims; the worse you are hurt, the more they likely owe you.  In other words the truckers, the owners, the companies who employ these vehicles might face huge verdicts against them for the injuries caused by their drivers.  At some point in your life you’ve heard not to corner an animal because that’s when it’s most dangerous, right?  Well, it’s the same with insurance companies; when a company has a great deal to lose, they feel cornered, and they will spare virtually no expense in fighting these cases.  They will bring out the big guns, so you better get some guns of your own.

That creates a heightened sense of urgency to do whatever you can as soon as you can to document, support, and prove your claim against these entities.  Spoliation letters need to be sent to help preserve evidence of driver’s logs and machinery, investigations need to be made as to who might face exposure (in other words who might be responsible for paying for your claim), and experts may need to be retained to help support the claim you’re making.

For these reasons if you have an accident involving a tractor trailer or other commercial vehicle, you probably need some serious help in pursuing that claim.

If you think you have a trucking accident claim or just want to ask questions about a situation, feel free to give me a call.  919-929-2992.

AUTO ACCIDENT PROPERTY DAMAGE CLAIMS

by Jeffrey Allen Howard

I represent people who have been injured due to the negligence of others, particularly in auto accident cases.  An issue that invariably arises in these situations is the matter of the repair or replacement of my client’s vehicle, or in our parlance, the Property Damage (PD) claim.

As a general rule I do not handle my clients’ PD claims.  I can, but I generally don’t for several reasons.  Most of the time, it’s too late; my clients come to me after the PD claim is resolved.  When it’s not too late I still rarely get involved because I don’t always bring a lot of value to this issue; a vehicle is worth what it’s worth and it costs what it costs to repair a reparable vehicle, so these issues tend to take care of themselves.

When client just has too much on his or her plate to deal with the PD claim, I am happy to intervene or just coach them up if necessary.  Here are a few tips I offer:

□     You have the right to have your vehicle worked on by the mechanic/body shop of your choice, so tell the adjuster if you have a preference.

□     If you’re having a dispute with the adjuster about what damage was pre-existing and what was caused by the accident, consider taking the vehicle to your mechanic to see if he can persuade them to see it your way.

□     If you’re continuing to have a dispute with the adjuster about a property damage issue and have collision coverage on your auto policy, you should consider making a claim with your carrier so the two insurance companies can fight about who’s right.  The upside is you’ll get your car fixed likely in a more expedient manner and you can always attempt to get your deductible from the at-fault carrier.

□     Pay very close attention to where your vehicle is taken after the accident.  In many cases where liability is disputed or the carrier is lagging, the vehicle may be taken to a storage facility and storage charges may be accruing daily.  You should make every effort to get the insurance company to move the vehicle to somewhere where there will be no storage costs, either at your home or a facility they own.  If the at-fault carrier is non-responsive, use your own carrier.  If that is not available, consider having it towed home at your own expense.  It will likely save you money in the long run and you can always ask for reimbursement later.

□     You should be paid the fair market value of your car if it is a total loss.  A total loss is when the cost to repair the vehicle is 75% or greater than the value of the vehicle.

□     Use online resources like Kelly Blue Book and NADA to help value your care.

□     http://nada.com/

□     http://www.kbb.com/

□     BUT what you get from these sites are not definitive figures!  You should also look at private listings of similar vehicles to help buttress your figures with more data.  The more listings you have, the more likely your average number accurately reflects fair market value.

□     Remember, you are not getting retail for your car!  And you’re also not getting trade in value!  What you are entitled to for a total loss if “fair market value” which is defined as what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller at that moment in time.  That’s obviously a moving target, which is why resources like KBB and NADA are valuable to help you get a good target range for the value of your vehicle.

□     If your car is repaired and is not a total loss you may have a claim for diminished value.  In other words, your car may be worth less since it was damaged.  These are rare claims and are difficult to prove and sometimes expensive to pursue.  These do not generally fly very well when you have an older car that is damaged.  But if you have a newer car with low mileage, you might have something.  If you think you have one of these, call me to discuss it.  This is one of the rare instances where my involvement in your property damage claim can make a difference.  There is an argument that these claims must be made within 30 days of getting your vehicle back, so make sure you act quickly!  The statute is actually quite vague about that and you might have longer, but if you get the claim filed within 30 days, you don’t have to worry about it.

These are just a few helpful hints to help you navigate the wacky world of property damage claims.  If you have any questions I’m happy to talk with you about them, but remember to keep it all in perspective; your health is the important part of this claim, not your car.   Call me if you need me!  919-929-2992.

This is a little less relevant now that the big game has passed, but people do use crock pots and slow cookers, and whatever else they are called, throughout the year.

I recently handled a case that surprised even me, the jaded personal injury attorney.  A wonderfully pleasant local woman was using her crock pot to cook for a church function.  She used the handy-dandy handles to carry the thing outside to her car, but on the way, the handles failed and the crock pot fell, dropping molten food onto her foot.  This resulted in a nasty burn injury that required surgical skin grafting, a hospital stay of a week or so, lots of medication, physical therapy, and resulted in permanent pain and discomfort and scarring.

Who would think that a common household appliance would present such a danger?  The problem with this piece in particular was the material that was used to make the handles.  This particular model had rather weak plastic handles that a) weren’t very strong to being with, and b) tended to degrade over time, particularly with heat, so eventually they were simply bound to fail.  The company knew that these handles were dangerous and had done recalls on similar models but not on this one.

How is this information valuable to you?  It’s valuable in a number of ways:

• If you own a crock pot/slow cooker, etc., you should inspect the handles!  If they are plastic you probably want to replace it;
• If you are in the market for one, get one with metal handles that are securely attached;
• If you have been injured by a crock pot, particularly one with failing handles, now you know which attorney to call.

I hope none of you have a tragic crock pot accident.  Just remember that these and other household appliances can be far more dangerous than they look, and they don’t have to be!   Be careful, but if you know anyone who is hurt in a situation like this, please tell them to call me.  919-929-2992.

Any NC State fan can tell you: Chapel Hill is a strange place.  College rivalries aside, the town is interesting for several reasons.  It’s a bastion of liberal politics in a somewhat conservative state.  Half of our population leaves in the summer.  We have nationally recognized chefs but aren’t even the county seat.  It’s odd.

One thing that sets Chapel Hill apart, and is interesting to me in particular, is the number of attorneys we have.  Let’s face it:  It’s a nice place to live and when people get out of law school they decide to stay.  Who can blame them?

In many small towns you run into attorneys that consider themselves general practitioners.  The reality is that’s how they keep the doors to their practices open; if someone wants a will, they’ll do it, if someone has a divorce, they’ll do it, if someone has a fender bender, they’ll do it, and so forth.

That’s fine.  When you’re talking run of the mill stuff, most attorneys can handle whatever.  But when it comes to injury claims, do you really want a general practitioner to handle it?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

With very minimal injury auto accident claims, you might get similar outcomes with someone who doesn’t focus mostly on injury claims.  When I characterize an accident as minimal, I mean one where the vehicles are barely scratched and the victims don’t go to the hospital.   However, if you’re talking about more complex injury claims there are more “moving pieces,” as I call them, in the claim and for every moving piece there is a potential mistake to be made.

If you’re not handling injury claims every day like I do, you just may not have the time to stay up to date on lien law, Medicaid and Medicare subrogation, liability coverage, Med Pay, UM and UIM coverage, and premises liability claims.  Each of these issues – and there are more – present a potential challenge for claims, and if the attorney who’s handling the claim doesn’t have a strong grasp of the concepts and law involved, they can do irreparable harm to your claim, and your bottom line.

Take a look at my website: www.jeffreyhowardlaw.com (which you already are looking at since you’re reading this). What does it tell you?

It tells you I handle Personal Injury claims, Workers’ Compensation claims, Mediation, and Traffic Tickets.  The first two things are injury law, so they make sense to go together.  Mediation is conflict resolution in general, but it can be used in the injury law context.  The only thing I do that isn’t injury-law-related is traffic tickets, but what small town attorney doesn’t do traffic tickets?  It’s a great way to help and meet people, and broaden your client base.

So if you’ve got an injury claim and are looking for an attorney, do yourself a favor and hire one that handles injury claims as a central focus to their practice.  Check out their website and examine their practice areas.  If they have several unrelated practice areas, you’re dealing with a generalist.   Is that bad?  No, not necessarily.  But think of it this way:  If you have a tumor, do you want your family doc to treat it exclusively, or do you think the oncologist might be better suited to that?

Almost every injury client that I interview will ask the question, “How long is this going to take?”

Most of the time my answer is another question, “How long is it going to take you to get better?”  That’s a little cheeky, admittedly, but it gets a point across.  That point is that injury claims are difficult to value until the injured party reaches maximum medical improvement.  Everyone can understand that there is a difference in values of cases where one person makes a full recovery while another only makes a 50% recovery.  So until I know where the victim is going to land in their recovery, I can’t accurately value the claim.  And if I can’t value it, it probably doesn’t make sense to try to settle it.

And even when we can get a good idea as to what the case should be worth, that doesn’t mean we are going to be able to get that through negotiation.  That means we may have to litigate the claim.  Generally speaking, claims that are litigated take about one year from filing to resolve, give or take a few months.

Yes, I know!  This seems like a long time to get anything done.  But remember the old quip, “Do you want it done quickly or do you want it done right?”  While I’m not sure about the grammar, the substance of that holds true here.  Rushing claims doesn’t make any sense.  Preparing a sturdy case with all of our “I”s dotted and “T”s crossed increases our likelihood of success.  The more patient you are, the more likely you are to get a favorable outcome.

If you’re feeling like your case is going too slowly, consider this little nugget:  In the town of Poona in what we now call India in the year 1205 a man named Maloji Thorat filed a lawsuit in an effort to protect his rights regarding presiding over certain religious functions.  It wasn’t until 1966 that the courts made a decision on that, and awarded his descendant Balasaheb Patloji Thorat a favorable decision.

My cases might take a while, but they don’t take 751 years.  So look on the bright side!  And if you are interested in talking to an attorney about an injury claim, call me at 919-929-2992.