Taking Action

Handling Your Personal Injury Case On Your Own

As we’ve indicated earlier, we value honesty. This is true even when discussing whether to hire an attorney – our firm at that – is the topic of discussion. There are certainly instances where you can likely get by handling your case on your own, but plenty where you can’t. When liability is clear, it may be feasible to manage on your own, but be mindful that this might not be the only complication in your case.

Say you’re the victim of a car accident, and it’s clear that the other person is at fault. If you have minor injuries and you feel that you’re knowledgeable enough and able to deal with the insurance company, maybe you can handle your case on your own. Even still, it makes sense to consult with an attorney in these situations. If they’re honest, like us, they will tell you whether you should hire them in light of your potential recovery, amount of work required, and attorneys fees. Sometimes potential clients already have settlement offers pending when calling attorneys, and an honest attorney should discuss whether hiring them could lead to more money in your pocket even after accounting for attorneys fees. We would tell you not to hire us if we do not think we could increase the settlement offer (or get a verdict) at least as high as your current offer plus our fees.

For those with educational or linguistic hurdles, you may quickly find yourself in a position such that you can’t engage an insurance company in a way that would end in success. Insurance companies know this and try to take advantage of you. The insurer might make a claims process intentionally confusing. Or, the insurer might try to get you to accept a small but quick settlement, in hopes to settle the case before you talk to an attorney to learn how much your claim really is worth. In these situations, it makes sense to contact an attorney, even if your claim is small. An insurance company is going to take advantage of you regardless of how big or small your claim is when initiating a personal injury claim in California, so it helps to have an experienced attorney assist you.

The Lamb & Frischer Law Firm, LLP Difference

Unlike other law firms, we’re always ready and willing to go to trial. If we take on a case, we do so with the possibility of going to trial in the back of our minds. Showing insurance companies that we are serious about this is part of our ethos, and we have a track record that backs it up.

Insurance companies know attorneys, oftentimes keeping records of them that inform how they approach cases where they are involved. You want to make sure you hire an attorney who is not known for just trying to take whatever settlement is offered but one who is known for taking cases to trial. We are proud not only to have this as part of who we are but also to have a successful streak of doing such.

We believe the best approach is to be honest with our clients, whether discussing hiring us, your case value, or the chance of going to trial. Some attorneys will tell you your case is worth much more than it is in order to get you to hire them. Be very suspicious of any attorney who tells you your case is worth a certain dollar amount. There’s no way to know this at the outset of a case. Attorneys that do this are just trying to get your business.

 It is our approach to tell you even when things aren’t going in your direction. We view this as the only way to handle these situations since waiting until the last minute may greatly hamper your ability to make a sound decision that affects your outcome. Giving sound, timely, and honest guidance all the way along the case is part of our approach.

We value accessibility to our clients. Many firms have a lot of layers you have to get through before you can actually talk to an attorney. It’s our view that since you’re paying a good amount of money when hiring an attorney, you should be able to talk to them. Any client can speak to our attorneys, for any reason.

If you’re looking to hire a law firm and you find one that advertises having case managers, be on guard. An attorney, not a case manager, should be assigned to your case. Likewise, if you see a firm with a lot of support staff and very few attorneys, you should be suspicious. This likely means you won’t be doing much talking with an attorney and you might not even have an attorney working on your case. Our firm does not have case managers, and attorneys make the decisions on every case.

For more information on Initiating A Personal Injury Claim In California, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling
(415) 966-4471 today.