I see on here traffic lawyer, divorce lawyer, everything under the sun lawyer :mrgreen: but I cannot find any personal recommendations for personal injury due to auto accident. I don't want advertisements... I want PERSONAL recommendations. DH was T-boned by a moron going 45 in a 25 who decided to run a stop sign :banghead: so much for the new car we got less than 60 days ago :evil: As always.. thanks guys!
i know Don Wells personally and he is an honest great guy, not sure if he does personal injury but i will be more than happy to call him if you need.
I saw a t boning saturday morning at Chops. I hate it for you. Yeah, talk to Don Wells. Great guy, I grew up with him.
Henson and Fuerst in Raleigh. You want a firm that is aggressive and gets results. These are the guys. 919-781-1107 No one in the area that's in their league.
My story, for what it's worth: Personal Injury lawyers TYPICALLY work on contingency, Their fee is CONTINGENT on the amount of the settlement. (read "commission") , again TYPICALLY between 25%-40% of the award. They make the same amount of money whether they spend a couple of hours on the phone with the Insurance Company, or go to trial. Therefore, most cases are settled before the case is even filed, much less goes before a judge or jury. I think the figure is over 90% of cases are settled "out of court", which means they don't have to work very hard for what sometimes is a lot of money. I tell you this because you should know there are other options. You can negotiate with the Insurance company yourself. There is a statute of limitations on the amount of time you have to actually file suit ( I believe 3 years), so there is a pretty large window of opportunity to do this. If you are not satisfied with what the Insurance Company is offering, you can then hire an attorney to help with, and perhaps be more forceful in the negotiations. You really need to be cleared and released from your Doctor's care before this process starts, because, again TYPICALLY, settlements are based on the amount of your medical bills. With all this being said, here was MY experience from an accident about 12-13 years ago: I was injured and received medical care (including surgery on my ACL), total cost of around $13,000.00. I had always heard that settlements were TYPICALLY around 3X the amount of medical bills, I assume this being for the "pain and suffering". The other Insurance Co. made me a very generous offer on my vehicle AND contents (which I accepted), I assumed it being so generous was to lull me into a sense of being able to deal quickly and fairly on the personal injury settlement (Didn't work). After medical treatments were through and I was released from doctors' care (over a year) they made varying offers which topped out at $20,000.00. At this point I talked to several attorneys, most of which would only accept my case on contingency. I finally found one who would take my case with his fee based several different ways, my choice. He offered, of course, 1) straight contingency, 2)a percentage of anything he got over the $20,000.00, and also 3)offered to take it on an hourly basis, with me paying any expenses incurred. I chose the hourly basis, knowing the case had very little to no chance of ever seeing a courtroom. Bottom line: It took almost 3 years, just short of the statute of limitations, to settle. I settled for $40,000.00 (@ 3X my medical bills, surprise!!!). My attorneys fee, based on an hourly rate was $1300.00, about 10% of what it would have been at 33% contingency($13,000.00!!!) and WAY LESS than the $16,000.00 one attorney would have gotten at his 40% contingency. Unless you take the first thing the Insurance Company offers you, the process takes time, because they WANT to wear you down. Be patient, and be smart. There's no need to rush into this, as it WILL TAKE TIME. I hope this has helped. As a disclaimer: I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV (although sometimes I think I could!!)
:iagree: VERY well put. Red, honestly, this is the way to go. There is no reason to jump the lawyer gun this quickly unless your DH is on his deathbed.
I would wait too. A couple years ago someone I know was hit while he was on his motorcycle. Their ins co of course wanted to settle immediately and for a very little $$. Good thing he held out because it's now been 2 years and some brain injuries did not manifest immediately.
I hope your husband is okay! Being in an accident is a horrible experience. I was in a bad accident when I was 15 with my boyfriend (now DH). This was back in the mid-80's and the insurance company would not offer anything except for covering the hospital bills. We didn't know how much work my face/jaw/teeth might need in the future because of my age and the nature of my injuries (knocked off 6 brackets (braces) from my upper teeth and lost a piece of jawbone), have a big scar, and the insurance company wouldn't pay anything for future work. Long story short...we had Jack O'Hale represent us, it went to trial, and we won a very good settlement that went into a trust for me in case I wanted plastic surgery on my facial scar or needed further dental/ortho work done later. I know we would never have received that award on our own. I don't know why my mom chose him, how much he made, or any of those details, but I am glad he represented me. I remember the trial...short, to the point, over quickly. The process from accident to trial was about 18 months, IIRC. Whatever your husband decides to do, make sure you fight for possible future medical treatment for anything his doctor might think necessary. Good luck!!
Words of wisdom. As I said, Doctor should clear you before you settle. If this is not possible (as Firefly's case) and the courtroom is inevitable, an attorney would be a MUST!!! Once you sign the settlement, it's over.
If not, I'm sure their retinue of traffic engineers and other experts will be able to dissect it. Seriously, I wouldn't recommend them for a fender bender. They are a nuclear option. If your claim isn't worth much (YMMV) and you believe you might get a fair shake using someone local, that's fine. When it's a big case, and you want to get the insurance companies attention, these are the folks I've seen successfully used. Lead attorneys on the big cases...Duke hydraulic fluid, etc. As in anything, your choices are based on the value you perceive you'll get back. While Joe Schmo may get lucky once and hit a triple once in a while, I'd rather stack my deck with known hitters who can hit the long ball.
Don't even know why Chops intersection was mentioned. OP said someone ran a Stop SIGN. No sign at that intersection, traffic light. :?
I mentioned Chops' just cause I happened to see a crash there Saturday morning. That's all. I didn't mean it had anything to do with this question. Sorry.
I did NOT want to hire an attorney when I was in an accident a couple of years ago. Similar situation...guy ran a light and t-bones me in my driver's door going 50mph. Totaled my 3 month old car and his full size pickup. I had some major injuries. His Insurance Co paid for my car within 8 days of the accident. They didn't want to pay my medical. I ended up having no choice. So, they ended up paying out over 3x what they would have had to pay if they just would have done the right thing.:roll:
