I’ve been hurt in an accident. Why won’t a personal injury attorney take my case?

If you’ve sustained injuries in an accident, you probably want to know why your personal injury lawyer claims they can’t handle your case/ injury. There are a lot of things that go into whether or not a law firm will take your personal injury claim or even acknowledge your injury.

When you’ve been hurt because of someone else’s carelessness, the idea that a lawyer might take on your personal injury case is both exciting and a bit scary. Of course, you want a top-notch lawyer to handle your personal injury case. You may believe that all attorneys will be willing to take on the risk of a settlement payout for every accident/ injury, but there are numerous reasons why they might not want to take on your personal injury complaint or deal with the fallout of your accident. The following are the primary causes:

Does your personal injury claim come with a high cost?

If your personal injury case needs expert witnesses, you might not be able to get legal help from a personal injury lawyer. If someone gets hurt in a car accident, their insurance company will probably hire an accident reconstructionist to look at the scene and figure out who was at fault for the accident and injury. A lawyer may have concerns about whether the other driver was at fault for the accident (and your injury/ medical expenses) if they are serious enough to require surgery. Because of this, it might be hard for a personal injury lawyer to prove that another driver’s carelessness caused your injuries and medical bills without bringing in an expert witness with legal knowledge. Similar to this, whether or not you have grounds to sue them for your injuries (you may need forensic evidence) depends on whether someone died as a result of their involvement in your accident (for instance, a pedestrian was killed by a car).

It’s clear that some accidents are too complicated for most lawyers to handle, and the risks to a person’s finances or legal standing are greater than any possible compensation. Lawyers demand payment, but not at the expense of forfeiting their previous gains. If your legal status reflects accidents like these, then this can be bad news for you. But there will always be attorneys who do well under pressure. Don’t lose heart. After your personal injury, you can still work for money and do your regular business and social activities. You only need to find a lawyer who explains to you how personal injury law will benefit your case.

Did your accident lack significant damage or major injuries sustained?

If your personal injury from the accident or other injuries is not bad enough, many lawyers might not find your case (or personal injury) interesting enough to take on. Because of this, it’s crucial to speak with a personal injury lawyer who can assess the circumstances of your case/ injury and determine if you have a solid foundation for making personal injury claims. It could be time to find another lawyer who has more faith in your injury claim and chances of victory if your personal injury lawyer says they won’t handle your case because they don’t believe there is enough at stake.

A person who was hurt probably can’t file a lawsuit against the person or group that hurt them if their injury was covered by insurance (for example, medical bills). Doing so would be a waste of their time and money. These medical and other costs might also be covered by insurance, so the person wouldn’t have to file a personal injury claim against the person who hurt them in the first place. Insurance companies also often pay for other kinds of losses that happen when someone gets hurt in an accident, like lost wages and other medical costs.

Lawyers will also avoid low-reward cases associated with personal injury. Personal injury lawyers want a certain amount of settlement money in order to take on more high-profile cases. This is in addition to the status they need to have in order to do so. The law is daunting to work around, and the average lawyer seeks a higher level of settlement compensation regarding accidents–one with a higher risk/ reward. It’s just part of the cost of doing business. 

Once more, the majority of personal injury lawyers look for high-profile injury cases or at least accidents with more at stake. A similar situation would be talking to a lawyer about a minor car accident. Most lawyers are more interested in accidents that cause serious injuries because they have to help their clients get back on their feet after a personal injury and because of the settlement money that comes with it. This is why injury lawyers can justify the costs they have to pay and the value of personal injury claims.

What are the odds of winning any significant personal injury settlement? If not, personal injury lawyers may be wary.

To begin with, personal injury law (and the nature of accidents and injuries) can be difficult for non-lawyers to understand and is complicated (even for lawyers). More clarification of your accidents and related injuries may be required than what you gave the lawyer during the interview. Also, they can show different kinds of personal injury and accident damage. Some require more proof than others and might be harder to show in court. If this is the case, then hiring a plaintiff’s attorney would be pointless because no plaintiff’s attorney would take your case if they felt there weren’t enough resources available to win it. If the injuries or accident liability are difficult to prove, many lawyers may avoid the case altogether. 

Most lawyers who help people who have been hurt avoid cases where it will be hard or impossible to prove who was at fault. Lawyers frequently feel the need to take cases where proving liability and personal injury is simple to protect their interests. Your attorney might require persuasion. But you should only work with a lawyer who takes you and your personal injury seriously and cares about your well-being.

Even though it’s understandable that some lawyers want high-profile injuries and accidents with big payouts, the right lawyer will be available for any client. It may take more time to find the right help, but it is out there. Search for someone who covers a wide range of accidents, and who has the confidence to fight for compensation on contingency, meaning they cost nothing unless you win and your injuries are covered. The right lawyers are prepared for any type of accident or injury and can obtain compensation for their clients regardless of what occurred. 

Lawyers could believe that you haven’t been hurt. You must convince a lawyer to tackle such personal injury cases. 

You should be aware that a personal injury lawsuit is about more than just money in the beginning. Obtaining justice and making perpetrators accountable are further goals. You can sue a drunk driver for damages if they smashed into your car and caused property damage or mental anguish. However, suing someone because they’ve caused you financial harm won’t get you very far. For instance, even if a bad boss hurts your mental and emotional health, you cannot sue them for making your work life miserable. This is because such injuries and the corresponding fault cannot yet be demonstrated.

If a personal injury lawyer doesn’t think they can prove the injury or who was at fault in the accident, they may not take the case. This is not meant to be disrespectful to your accident (or injuries), but rather because the lawyer believes they will be unable to convince a jury that your accident and the injuries it caused were not your fault. Personal injury litigation is a very difficult area of the law, and the burden of proving negligence makes some cases scary for most lawyers.

Have you missed any important deadlines for your personal injury case?

The statute of limitations is a law that establishes a deadline for filing a lawsuit. It takes one to two years from the date of the injury in every state. Even if things turn out better later, if you miss this deadline, your ability to file a lawsuit is lost. Your lawyer likely understands this and may decline your case, since the deadline to collect a personal injury settlement has passed. For example, a car hit you at noon on January 1 and you had to get sutures in the emergency room. Your claim will expire on December 31st, one year after the event, as 2019 began on January 1st. No matter how many additional days pass, if you don’t file within that window of time (in this case, a year), your case is no longer admissible.

If your personal injury attorney declines to take your case after reading about its viability in their database, but before seeing any medical records or other supporting documentation of how seriously hurt you were at the time, it could be time for you to find another attorney. This is not to say that no lawyer will assist you; there are still steps you can take in the aftermath of an accident and personal injury. However, the law will not be in favor of cases that personal injury victims fail to follow up on. They aren’t in the business of making injury cases personal, however, certain deadlines are final. If the victim is too lazy to make sure their injuries are documented and treated, it will be hard to convince the law that they deserve the kind of settlement that personal injury lawyers are known for giving. 

In some personal injury situations, the defendant is not readily apparent.

The first step in deciding if you can file a lawsuit against a personal injury defendant is to find out if they are a “viable defendant.” A potential defendant is someone who can be sued in court because they are legally liable for your personal injury. There will be no one to sue if there is no one who can be held accountable for your injuries. If you can’t name the right defendant for your claim, you might be able to avoid launching a lawsuit. For instance, it would be impossible for the person or business that caused your accident to pay a reward or settlement on behalf of the injured party if they lacked insurance and had no assets that could be used to collect from you. This is true even if their actions directly or indirectly caused harm to another party. There simply isn’t anything available with which they could settle outside of court as part of an ADR process like mediation or arbitration before the trial even starts, let alone once litigation gets underway with discovery requests, depositions, motions practice, etc.

In either scenario, personal injury lawyers wouldn’t have a case to argue even if there was a visible defendant. For instance, you cannot hire a skilled auto accident lawyer to file a lawsuit against a parked car that you struck. Since these accidents may be lost causes, personal injury attorneys tend to steer clear of them. If the accident in the last example was caused only by the other driver’s careless parking, like parking on a highway, you might be able to get a legal settlement to make up for your loss. But in many situations, it can be hard to prove who is at fault, which makes it less likely that a law firm will contact you.

It can be difficult to predict whether a personal injury lawyer will accept your case given the specifics.

Numerous legal factors determine whether or not personal injury lawyers will accept your case. It’s important to think about a lawyer’s reputation, skills, and whether or not they’ve recently won cases like yours. Before picking a personal injury attorney to represent you, it can be a good idea to investigate a few. Some attorneys have higher success rates than others.

Another consideration is the amount of time an attorney will have to devote to your case; some lawyers have extremely full calendars and may not have time right now for new clients. Finding a lawyer who will negotiate settlement terms with the defendant (the person being sued) if required is also crucial; while some lawyers are open to reaching an out-of-court settlement, others think that cases should go all the way to trial if at all possible. You’ll want an attorney who is easy to reach when you need them most. For example, they could have multiple offices in different places so they can meet with clients nearby instead of making them travel hundreds or thousands of miles for consultations.

If your personal injury is legitimate, you’ve found your law firm. No personal injury lawyer cost upfront. Give us a call and speak with a lawyer today! 

Even though it may seem challenging to find a personal injury lawyer to defend you, we can help. We at E5quire are more than just a blog about personal injuries. We are a group of lawyers who work hard to get our clients fair compensation in each case. Each of the team’s lawyers has dealt with a wide range of services, accidents, and injuries and has gotten money from big insurance companies. Work each step closely with a committed lawyer who will be your go-to person for any information regarding personal injury law. For a free consultation, give us a call right away or send us a message online. We will discuss your injury and next steps and lay out your legal case in a way that makes sense. Remember that there are no legal fees unless we win and earn you proper compensation for your settlement, which means no injury lawyer cost up front!