In the last 12 months I have had 6 calls from families with a family member innocently killed in an auto accident. In one case the party at fault did NOT have any insurance. In one case the defendant had a $15,000 policy and in the last case there was only a $100,000 policy….BUT there were 6 parties making a claim against the $100k.
In each case there was not enough insurance and my client only had a $15k UM policy. If my client had a $500,000 UM policy we could have recovered whatever the other party had in the way of insurance and then presented a UM claim against their own policy.
I have also had numerous PED DOWN cases in the last year. This is when a pedestrian is knocked down by a negligent driver. By September 2018, we had as many PED DOWN cases as we did in all of 2017.
I focus a large amount of my practice on collecting compensation for accident victims. In 2019 many California lawyers are reluctant to accept small whiplash/soft tissue cases or cases with substantial injuries and the defendant only having $15k of coverage and no assets.
When I first started practicing Personal Injury, I sent the medical bills and received an offer of 3-4 times the medicals for settlement. Those days are gone.
Now we see $9,000 in medicals and offers of $5,000 …clearly not enough to pay the doctors and lawyer. There would be no money for the client if the doctors and lawyers took their full fee. For example, a case that would formerly result in a jury verdict or settlement of $15,000 would today only draw an offer or verdict of $5,000-$7,500.
To generate money for the client often involves begging the doctor to cut their bills. Most lawyers feel it is just not worth it to argue with doctors to cut bills in addition to arguing with insurance companies and or defense lawyers to put money on the case. All the while, the client is unable to understand why their case is not worth more money and or settling sooner.
In November, a Monterey CC resident presented what would have been a great case, TWO MONTHS EARLIER…when it happened. To her credit she had Blue Cross and went to Eisenhower, but did not have any follow up medical treatment. She also talked to the adjuster which was another reason to reject the case.
Small cases are now worth a fraction of what they would have garnered a few years ago. For the reasons expressed herein, most experienced desert PI lawyers are reluctant to accept small whiplash cases…especially when the client has talked to the insurance company.
It sickens me when injured accident clients call and I have to explain why I can’t accept their ACCIDENT case. Since New Year’s I have rejected 5 Accident cases….3 were from 2018, and 2 were this month’s. One of those two did not treat with a doctor and the other had $250 in PD. Thus the defense argument… “how could your client be injured if the car was not damaged?”
We will never know the harmful things clients told the adjuster. The worst thing that can happen is learning of the client’s admissions to the adjuster in the middle of trial. The adjuster could testify the client said they were not hurt, before they hired a lawyer. The implication is that the client only sought medical advice because of his lawyer.
For these reasons a lawyer has to be judicious in the cases they accept. Otherwise they may win the case but have a very unhappy client that goes around town complaining how bad their lawyer was in their representation.
Remember: Silence is Golden and Handcuffs are Silver so DON’T TALK to POLICE without your lawyer’s permission.
FUTURE ARTICLE SUGGESTIONS? CONTACT DALE GRIBOW 760-837-7500/ dale@dalegribowlaw.com.
DALE GRIBOW
REPRESENTING THE INJURED AND CRIMINALLY ACCUSED
“TOP LAWYER” – California’s Prestige Magazine, Palm Springs Life (PI/DUI) 2011-19
“TOP LAWYER” – Inland Empire Magazine 2016- 2019
PERFECT 10.0 AVVO Peer Rating
“PREEMINENT” Rating – Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory
“BEST Attorneys of America” Selected by “Rue” (Limited to Top 100 Attorneys/state)
“10 Best Attorneys” for California
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