Comments on: Need serious advice on an auto accident settlement, lawyer is giving vague answers to me, not really helpful?

By: robert h

robert h — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:54:06 +0000

I am not sure about this one. I think that you need a real personal injury law firm. These things are handled on a contingency basis. fifty grand is not anywhere near enough for what you are going through. The girl that hit you is an adult. Even though she is on her parents policy I am not familiar with how the law reads in this state. My suggestion is aside from getting a real personal injury law firm is don’t accept any money or sign anything as this in itself may waive your rights in this matter. You need a real expert on your side. Good Luck Bob

By: QED

QED — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:01:38 +0000

I would say your lawyer is a sleaze — some criminal lawyers often used to do this when they were paid from the public purse — they told all of their clients to plead guilty. Until the system was changed, this way they got 10 clients to plead guilty in about 50 minutes and got 10 day’s worth of fees for doing no real work.
In this case, your lawyer is assessing that if he puts in more work, the settlement amount may go up, but his marginal return will be far lower for the amount of time he puts in.
I can’t say for sure though…
it may legitimately be that there was no umbrella policy for the parent’s insurance – definitely INSTRUCT your lawyer to have a look at the parent’s policies and INSTRUCT him to explain everything. He works for you, even if he is on a contingency. If there is anything you don’t understand, crawl up his *** until he has explained it properly and look at the documents yourself as he explains them.
Also, I suspect you have, but if not, begin the court proceedings so the limitation period is saved.
Best of luck.

Re: going after parent’s assets, I’m afraid that you can’t do this unless you can prove they were negligent in some way. If the girl has any savings, though, you could go after those (and any value left in her car).
…but, although not legally required, If the parent’s are loaded they will pay the excess rather than leave it on their daughter’s record that she is a judgment debtor – if you take this to trial and win, that will follow her until bankruptcy or she’s rich enough to pay you off from her own pocket but that could drag this out for years/decades.
but yes, if your lawyer doesn’t straighten up, consult someone else, even for a second opinion.

By: mary

mary — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:26:13 +0000

The insurance co always offers you a low offer at first..
You need to change attorneys. You need a competent attorney.

Find an aggressive attorney that you can relate to. You deserve at a minimum a million dollars.

What you do is take how much money you would make in a lifetime plus pain, suffering, etc.

Call the bar association in your state and ask for the name of three attorneys in you state. (not your town). When they give you the name of each attorney ask how many complaints have been filed against him and who..They will give you all of that information.

Go to the Law library at your county courthouse and look up each attorneys name and see how they are rated. It goes from A to D. You want an attorney that is rated at least a B. It is called a Hubbel’s Directory that you want to look for.

Word of mouth is good too. Ask around about one but always check them out.

EDIT: THAT IS WHAT INSURANCE IS FOR. TO PAY YOU IN AN ACCIDENT. THE INSURANCE CO. PONIES UP AND YOU NEED TO RECEIVE WHAT IS COMING TO YOU.

GET A GOOD REPUTABLE ATTORNEY THAT IS AGGRESSIVE ..AND WILL TAKE IT ON A CONTINGENCY BASIS. THAT MEANS HE GETS PAID A PERCENTAGE OF YOUR SETTLEMENT. USUALLY THEY GET 30-40 % OF YOUR CLAIM BUT HE WILL NOT CHARGE YOU ANYTHING OUT OF YOUR POCKET.