There are TONS of things that we look at in order to form an opinion as to what your North Carolina Auto Accident Injury claim might be worth…liability questions, previous injuries, medical expenses, injury types are just a few.

One factor that comes up often in discussions with clients is the length of your treatment. In other words, how long you are under the care of a healthcare provider does greatly influence how your claim is valued. But it’s not as simple as more is more.

With most auto accidents, I see soft tissue/neck and back injuries that tend to take about 4.5 months, give or take, to resolve. During that time, most clients choose to undergo either PT or chiropractic care. That’s fairly normal, and as long as those bills look like similar bills in the area (and not inflated) then we can normally get those covered and then some. But the more you deviate from the norm, the more it can negatively impact your claim.

Don’t get me wrong, if you end up with 9 months of chiropractic treatment and a commensurate bill, we might be able to get that covered, too. But at a certain point more just begins to look like overreaching, so it’s important that your healthcare provider document the necessity of ongoing treatment. Similarly, the lack of treatment after an accident – no matter what your complaints or how long you make them – serves to severely hobble the perceived value of your claim.

I never make treatment recommendations, as I frequently point out that I don’t have that kind of doctorate, but I do like to talk with people about how their treatment can impact their claim. Choosing not to get treatment after an accident can be devastating to claim value. Continuing to treat just to make your bill higher (none of my clients would do that) can also be devastating. It’s important to stay in touch with your experienced personal injury attorney during the course of your recovery to make sure you’re on the right track.

I recently had a bit of a culture clash where a client decided I was not the right attorney for her. At the end of the day, I have to respect that, but I think any reasonable business person has to question what they’re doing/how they’re doing it when they lose business based on their most important commodity – themselves.

I’m sure you’re asking what atrocity I committed to make her want to part ways. But this post isn’t about that particular situation. It’s about how I work and whether or not that style is the right fit for you. There was a comedian who became famous for his, “You might be a redneck if…” jokes. I’m going to take a page out of his book and say, “You might not like me as your attorney if…”

• You want me to wear a suit everyday. Look. It’s the 21st century. The tradition that attorneys are part of the lower gentry (that’s where “Esquire” comes from) and as such should dress the part is rooted in ancient English social hierarchy. We literally fought a war over this, people. I’m not better than you. You’re not better than me. If you see me in a professional context, I’m not going to be wearing a T-shirt, but I’m going to be dressed as I see fit. Obviously, in court I’ll wear a suit and tie, but otherwise, formal dress can sink to the bottom of the harbor with those crates of tea.
• You want me to talk to you like I’m a thesaurus. I have a Juris Doctor degree from a fantastic HBCU and a Bachelor of Arts from what many think is the best public university in our country. I read voraciously. I’ve been practicing law, particularly personal injury law, in North Carolina for over two decades now. My vocabulary is fine. I know all the big words I need to know. But I’m never going to talk to a client like I’m a lecturer. I talk to my clients like we’re both people, in a way that’s clear and concise, and without the unnecessary formalization or sesquipedalian use of $5 words. If you expect me to sound like the actors on Law & Order, you’ve got the wrong lawyer (and the wrong practice area, but whatever).
• You insist on phone calls for communications. This one is negotiable, particularly if you have a disability or other circumstances that warrant an exception. But for the most part, I embrace 21st century technology. Email is by far the best way for us to stay in touch. It’s immediate. It allows me to explain complex issues with space and nuance. And it’s trackable; you’ll always be able to go back to old emails I’ve sent in case you have questions about what we’ve discussed. Phone calls and letters are simply not efficient. They’re also totally unnecessary when you have easy access to the internet and eyes that work just fine. Once again, if you have a disability or no easy internet access, we can work around that, but in general, I’m going to be an email guy.
• You expect in-person meetings. One would think that after that little pandemic thing we all just went through that in-person meetings would have finally been taken off of the list of reasonable expectations. The internet has summed this position up succinctly as, “That meeting could have been a phone call, and that phone call could have been an email.” Precisely. There is – and I mean this in the most adamant of terms – absolutely no reason for me to meet with clients in person on the average personal injury claim. The wonders of email allow us to communicate and track that communication beautifully. When it’s time to sign stuff, the mail can get you things far more efficiently than any cumbersome in-person meeting can. Moreover, I’m reminded of another article I wrote about in-person meetings. Sometimes people want to prove to themselves I’m a real person. Really?! Really!? Call the NC Bar. I’m real. Ain’t no fake lawyer paying bar dues and keeping up with CLE. But here’s the real kicker that you’re probably not aware of: Around 30% of people who insist on in-person meetings with me FAIL TO SHOW UP. That’s right. One THIRD of people who insist that the only way they can communicate this one particular issue to me is to see me face to face and will take nothing less than a meeting with me, which requires me to block off an hour of my day (and dress better…ugh) AND post-pone other work for clients who aren’t being difficult or picky, DON’T EVEN BOTHER TO SHOW UP. You can tell by my all-caps how I feel about that.
• You don’t like children’s art. First of all, you don’t need to be in my office anyway. See the points above. But if you are ever invited into the inner sanctum, know that I celebrate my children’s art by putting it all over my office walls. If you are the type of soulless monster who doesn’t appreciate the art of children, or understand why a father would proudly display it, then we probably don’t need to be talking anyway.

Am I the best fit for you and your needs? I hope so. But if anything I’ve written above offends your sensibilities, then we’re probably not meant to work together and you’ll be better off with a stuffy old person practice that better conforms to your pre-existing yet ill-informed notions. I like me and I like the way I practice. The greatest compliment I receive is when a client tells me, “You don’t seem like a lawyer.” Perfect. Nobody likes lawyers (or the pre-conceived stereotype of a lawyer) anyway. I’m proud of what I’ve done in the past two decades and my Google Reviews show my clients are fans, too. While I like to please anyone who hires me, it’s a good reminder that I can’t please everybody, and that’s something we all have to accept.

Would you like to know how to negotiate your North Carolina personal injury claim? Here’s how you do it:

First, get a law degree. That will really help you understand the basis of your claim and the leverage, or lack thereof, that you have in any situation.

Second, know the facts of your case.

Third, handle hundreds of injury claims with various and sundry facts; that will give you a REALLY good idea as to what a case value is, as opposed to just making crap up that you want to believe.

Now you’re ready!

Seriously, if you have an injury claim in North Carolina and you’re not sure how to handle it, then don’t handle it. Hire a professional. If you have doubts about which professional, talk to several. But make sure you talk to me. 919-929-2992.

In previous articles we’ve talked about what a personal injury attorney does with your North Carolina injury claim. In short, it’s a lot, but mostly it can be summarized as investigating coverage and making sure you’re doing what you’re supposed to do and not doing what you’re not supposed to be doing, as well as making sure we get all the documentation we need to negotiate a settlement of your claim.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I almost always try to get a case settled before I file suit. There are exceptions to every rule, but I generally think it’s in most parties’ interests to settle a case without litigation. I’ll do everything I can to get you treated fairly, but that can look different with different facts. It’s trite, but true: Every case is different.

The negotiations process with the insurance adjuster (that’s almost always with whom we’re dealing) can take anywhere from a day to forever. People always want to know how long it will take so they get frustrated when I tell them I can’t tell them, but I can’t. I recently had an adjuster who had a literal 24 hour turn-around on demands, which is unheard of. But I also deal with companies (AAAACH-statefarm-OOOOO!) that don’t respond for months. Of course, we can always file suit, but that doesn’t speed things up; it actually makes them go more slowly AND it costs money, to boot, so that doesn’t help. It normally pays to be patient, so bear with the process.

Most of the time cases do get settled this way. As I wrote above, that’s generally good for everyone, though not always. Assuming it works out, we get the settlement done in writing through a release document and we get your settlement funds. Those funds HAVE to go through my trust account, no ifs ands or buts. That normally takes about a week to clear. Then I have to meticulously document what comes out of those funds (generally my fee, some medical expenses, your take-home) but if you’re working with me, you’ll know what those numbers are before it all goes down.

Here’s what’s crazy: I’ve written 4 articles on what personal injury attorneys do and we haven’t even TOUCHED on litigation yet. That’s explained by two facts: First, we do A LOT for our clients, and Second, most cases get settled without litigation.

Stay tuned for more lawyer stuff.

As you might expect, I get all kinds of calls every day. I often get calls about tickets where the potential client says they are charged with “Driving without a license.” That’s a big red flag for me because often what they’re saying isn’t precisely what they mean.

There IS a criminal charge of driving without your driver’s license on you. That’s generally called a “No Operator’s License” ticket, which we shorten to an NOL. It’s not a huge deal and if you bring your valid license to court, it will almost certainly get dismissed. I don’t mind these at all.

There is ALSO a criminal charge for driving while your license is suspended/revoked. This is generally called “Driving While License Revoked” or DWLR. This is a MUCH bigger deal and can, under the wrong circumstances, actually lead to jail time (rare but possible). It’s also generally indicative of a much bigger issue, in that what revoked your license in the first place might be a simple thing to fix, or it might be terribly complicated, but to deal with the current DWLR charge in the best way possible, you should try to fix the underlying revocation if you can. As a general rule in my current practice, I don’t get involved in these.

So if you happen to call me because you have some sort of license charge and I ask you to clarify, this is what I’m trying to get at. These are two different things that are very different to handle; I’m not just being pedantic.

Speaking of pedantic, if I say your license is revoked, but you argue that it’s just suspended, you’re wasting our time. Your license isn’t valid, it’s no good, these are, for purposes of this conversation, the same thing. So don’t be annoying about it.

Here’s another installment in my series of articles about what a personal injury attorney does for you when you have an accident in North Carolina.

We’ve talked in previous articles about liability investigations and the do this/don’t do that instructions that attorneys do at the beginning of your claim, as well as insurance coverage issues involving liability insurance, first party auto insurance, and health insurance (and the intersection of the three). That’s already a lot, for sure. But obviously, there’s more.

After we’ve established the liability argument on your claim and determined what insurance coverages are available/relevant, we’re now going to be walking you through your treatment and recovery. I tell clients almost on a daily basis that I NEVER make health care decisions for them, but it is my job to help them understand the consequences of their health care decisions on their claims. We should be providing input on how their treatment choices (or non-choices, as the case may be) will impact their claim. We will also provide impetus when needed. For example: Sometimes it’s time to get a second opinion, but it’s hard for clients to see the forest for the trees, as they say. Sometimes it’s just time to try to push the claim forward even if you aren’t done, but other times it makes sense to wait. Having an experienced attorney will help you to see which is which.

Once it’s time, we will then get all of your treatment records and bills, which will be instrumental in developing what’s called your demand brochure, which is the package that the insurance carriers will receive from us outlining your case and our demands. Letting your attorney get your records and bills is key to a smooth demand process. Acting as your own gatekeeper for these things will almost always just make things slower and worse, so let us do our job. We will also instruct you on what other documentation we’d want for the demand. Typically, in addition to records and bills, we’ll want to include lost income documentation and a pain journal. These are unique to every case so having good, reliable guidance on how to craft them is key.

Be on the lookout for the next installment.

As promised, here’s another in the series of what a personal injury attorney does for you after you have an auto accident (specifically in North Carolina).

But first, a side note: I can’t possibly write about everything we might do for a client or else I’d do nothing but write and not actually help clients. This series of blog posts is just a summary of what we normally do on a normal case, to help you understand why you could probably use the help. So let’s move on.

After we get a good idea as to the strength of your liability argument and what you should be doing/not doing, we’re already digging into coverage. What does that mean?

There’s a ton of insurance issues that are related to auto accidents in North Carolina. The first is getting in touch with the liability carrier (that’s the insurance company for the person who caused the accident). This does several things: First, it puts them on notice to stop contacting you. One of the biggest problems in injury claims is clients saying the wrong things (often because they’re tricked into doing so) when insurance company reps call them. So this should nip that in the bud. Second, it makes the carrier look into coverage to make sure the liability policy was active. If it’s not, that’s not the end of your claim necessarily, but it will make us take some other actions in response.

Next, we’ll get in touch with your auto insurance carrier. You might have Medical Payments coverage which could really impact your overall recovery. Also, you might have need to access your Underinsured Motorist Coverage. You have a contractual duty to notify your carrier of potential claims as soon as possible, so it’s important to do this early in the claim. This will, depending on the case, get your attorney to look into your UIM limits and determine if we need to look for more coverage, potentially.

Also, we’ll talk about using your health insurance for your treatment. Generally, you should! Chiropractors prefer that you not, often, and that’s fine. But you should make sure your health insurance is being billed for all of your other health care treatment. We will also inquire as to the type of health plan you have. You might have a plan with a “right of reimbursement” on third party claims, which they may call “subrogation” (which isn’t always the right word, but whatever). This means that if they pay for treatment and we get a settlement from an auto carrier, we have to use the settlement to pay them back. Once again, not the end of the world or anything, but we need to look into that. The most common types of plans that have this right are Medicare, Medicaid, State Employee Health Plans, and ERISA plans.

And we’ve just gotten started! Stay tuned for another riveting blog post on this super sexy topic.

If you want to know what a personal injury attorney does for you after an accident, the short answer is A LOT.

The surprising tidbit that most people don’t get is that litigating your claim is almost the LAST thing a personal injury attorney is likely to do for you.

But between the quick “A LOT” answer and the surprisingly answer that litigation isn’t the main thing, there’s a ton of things we can talk about.

This is going to be a series of posts, so don’t expect me to cover it all here. In fact, don’t expect me to cover it all in the entire series. The reality is that we do so much for clients that it’s hard to lay it all out for people to see. But let’s start at the beginning…

The first thing we personal injury attorneys do for you is to help you understand what you have. We evaluate your liability situation (is the bad guy really responsible or not?) and help you to understand why or why not that’s the case. I can’t tell you how many times people have called all indignant about their accident, only to have me explain to them that they were actually the ones that were at fault. It happens. And in North Carolina, which is a contributory negligence state, sometimes the potential client merely has some fault in the accident, but not all, and it’s still a bar to the claim. Sucks, but it’s what we have to work with. Then there’s the majority of calls where my client is not at fault. What do we do then?

The next thing is helping you to do what you should and not do what you shouldn’t. The simplest advice I give to people is that it’s like Miranda warnings; everything you say can and will be used against you, so watch it! Other than talking there are tons of other do’s and don’t’s: Keeping a pain journal, but not blabbing on social media. Getting treatment, but not running up a bill. Making sure you’re listening to all of your body’s complaints, but not becoming a hypochondriac.

In the immortal words of TV pitchmen, But wait! There’s more! That’s going to have to be for another post. Stay tuned.

If you’ve gotten a speeding ticket in Orange County, North Carolina (Chapel Hill or Hillsborough court location) give me a call at 919-929-2992. I’ve been handling these things right here since 2001 so I know what’s up. Why waste your time trying to figure out how to handle this when I already know how?

Nobody but insurance agents likes talking about insurance but in this modern world it’s a necessity. Here’s a scary fact: The majority of drivers in North Carolina carry the North Carolina minimum liability limits of $30,000. If a person with that coverage runs you over and ruins your life, the chances of you getting anything more than $30,000 from them are pretty darn slim. So how can you avoid this nightmare? I can’t believe I’m writing this but BUY MORE INSURANCE!

What you really want is as much “Underinsured Motorist” (or UIM as we call it) coverage as you can get. What that coverage does is it helps to cover you against losses that are over and above the policy limits of another driver. So in the example above, if the bad guy only has a $30k policy, that might be all you can get from him/his carrier, but if you have let’s say $100k UIM coverage, then you have access to an extra $70k (the difference between the two coverages).

This becomes more an more important the more catastrophic your injuries from an accident are. In the above example, will $100k in total coverage do if you lost a leg? I think my leg is worth more than $100k, for sure, and I bet you think yours is, too.

Talk to your insurance agent about this and get as much UIM as you can manage. You may never use it, but you’ll sleep better knowing you have it, and you’ll darn sure be happy you have it in case you do need it.