April 2024

Quick answer: Almost certainly not. But it could. Let me explain… Statistical research shows that >90% of personal injury cases settle out of court. Generally speaking, both parties often want to settle because neither know what a jury will do. Now there are some personal injury lawyers that want to try cases so bad, and think settlements are bad for the client, that they actively seek out trial regardless of settlement offers. I think that’s dumb but each client has to make the decision. Remember, the client is in the driver’s seat, NOT the lawyer. We will try the case if needed. And we will settle the case if that’s what the client wants and it is in their best interest. Trial brings uncertainty and uncertainty brings anxiety. People don’t like feeling anxious wondering what will happen. You see it in stock marketing investing and you see it in civil litigation. People like certainty and will discount their potential earnings to gain it. Some are risk takers and are willing to go for broke. You see it with investors and you see it with personal injury lawyers. Aside from the risk of what the “jury of your peers” will decide, there is the much more predictable aspect of time. Settling a personal injury case for a fair sum will usually take time, anywhere from six months to six years. Most people hate waiting that long to settle their case and are willing to discount the future potential amount to a lesser present value. This is actually rational and logical since financial experts apply a discount rate to money paid now versus money paid later. You will need to discuss this with your lawyer to help you make a wise decision when faced with a less than ideal settlement offer.

How do you determine who the best auto accident attorneys are? Figuring out who the best auto accident attorneys isn’t easy. Do you go by the number of billboards or commercials they have? Do you go by whether you’re working with the actual attorney or their lowly-paid staff? Maybe you just need a really good car accident lawyer since nobody is capable of telling you who the best one is. I’ve tried to compile here ways and methods you can use to try and figure out who will be the best auto accident for you will be on your unique case. There is no right or wrong answer, but these steps can at least help you make an intelligent decision to hire at least a good car accident lawyer (which is what you really want). Here are some steps you can take to find the best accident attorney for your needs: How do you review their experience in car accident cases? First, you can sometimes see their past performace on their website. Sometimes the bar associations don’t allow that or restrict what the attorney can post. You can also call and ask the lawyer if they’ve had experience settling or trying car accident cases. Alright, here are a few steps you can take to review an attorney’s experience: Caution: I can tell you that the bar association will only have the lawyer’s disciplinary history and not their prior case results. The artificial intelligence robots suggested these ways to gather information about an attorney’s past case results (my comments below): Check Court Records: You can search court records for information about past cases handled by the attorney. Court records can provide details about the cases, including the outcomes and any settlements reached. The problem with checking court records is most people don’t know how to do it and the records don’t sort any of this data to let you know what a case settled for. So don’t waste your time on this idea. Ask for References: If possible, ask the attorney for references from past clients. Speaking with past clients can give you an idea of the attorney’s approach to handling cases and the results they have achieved. Consult with Other Attorneys: Other attorneys in the legal community may be aware of an attorney’s past case results. Consider consulting with other attorneys for their perspective on the attorney’s track record. I can assure you if you call another car wreck lawyer to ask them if another car wreck lawyer is any good, they will tell you “no, and that’s why you should hire us.” Lawyers are absolutely terrible about poaching clients. I hate it and I don’t do it. But I have had other lawyers do it to me.

How many lawyers are there in the U.S? How about the total number of lawyers in each state? I thought it would be a fun exercise to see just how many lawyers there in each state. This is a list of what my research revealed: California: Approximately 190,000 active lawyers. New York: Approximately 180,000 active lawyers. Texas: Over 110,000 active lawyers. Florida: Over 107,000 active lawyers. Illinois: Around 66,000 active lawyers. District of Columbia: Around 60,000 active lawyers. Pennsylvania: Approximately 54,000 active lawyers. Massachusetts: Around 43,000 active lawyers. New Jersey: Approximately 38,000 active lawyers. Ohio: Around 36,000 active lawyers. Michigan: Approximately 34,000 active lawyers. Georgia: Around 33,000 active lawyers. Virginia: Approximately 32,000 active lawyers. North Carolina: Around 31,000 active lawyers. Washington: Approximately 28,000 active lawyers. Maryland: Around 26,000 active lawyers. Minnesota: Approximately 25,000 active lawyers. Colorado: Around 24,000 active lawyers. Arizona: Approximately 22,000 active lawyers. Connecticut: Around 19,000 active lawyers. Tennessee: Approximately 18,000 active lawyers. Missouri: Around 18,000 active lawyers. Wisconsin: Approximately 17,000 active lawyers. Alabama: Around 17,000 active lawyers. Louisiana: Approximately 16,000 active lawyers. Oregon: Around 15,000 active lawyers. Indiana: Approximately 15,000 active lawyers. Kentucky: Around 14,000 active lawyers. South Carolina: Approximately 14,000 active lawyers. Iowa: Around 12,000 active lawyers. How many of these are personal injury lawyers? The internet doesn’t say. But considering the amount of billboards popping up, I’d say a large percentage of those lawyers are ambulance chasers.

What does a personal injury lawyer cost? Typically, personal injury lawyers earn a contingency fee on the success of the case, similar to how a realtor earns a commission if the house sells. If the house doesn’t sell, the realtor doesn’t get paid. Likewise, if your case does not settle or if you lose at trial, the personal injury lawyer doesn’t get paid either. The percentage a personal injury lawyer usually charges ranges from 1/3 to 45% of the case outcome. Why so high you ask? Well, that’s a great question and one I hope to explain to you here. There’s a lot more to a personal injury case and fee arrangement than just the contingency fee and a lot more to a personal injury lawsuit than there is when a realtor sells a house. A realtor doesn’t have to pay experts — you do that. A personal injury lawyer does. In order to advance a personal injury claim against an insurance company, the lawyer will often have to come out of pocket to pay for medical treatment, liability experts, medical experts and economic loss experts. This gets expensive really fast. A personal injury lawyer can spend anywhere from $10,000 to $1,000,000 or more out of pocket to advance your case to the point of settlement or victory at trial. If the lawyer loses, the client doesn’t owe any of that money back and the lawyer is out all of that money. As you can see, there’s a lot of risk in taking on a personal injury case considering that the insurance company will fight tooth and nail to avoid paying the claim or to substantially reduce what they do pay. While personal injury attorney fees can seem high, once you know more about how a case actually works, the fee starts to seem more reasonable.