Hire a Lawyer or Handle Your Own Case?

When is a Personal Injury Lawyer Necessary?

When you suffer from a personal injury of any type, from medical malpractice to a car accident case to a dog bite or intentional tort, you generally have the legal right to recover damages from the person who harmed you. These damages may be recovered through settling the case outside of court or through a formal lawsuit in which a jury or judge determines both whether the defendant should have to pay and how much. If you find yourself in a situation where you may need to make a personal injury claim, one of the most important decisions you will need to make is whether to hire a lawyer or not.

What Cases Should Be Handled On Your Own?

Many people are reluctant to hire a lawyer for injuries that seem relatively minor. For example, if you get into a car accident and you break your arm, you may not feel it is worthwhile to hire a personally injury attorney as a result. If the defendant and/or his insurance company make you an offer in such a situation to pay your medical bills and for other damages, you may wish to avoid the hassle of finding legal representation.

However, there are a few reasons why you may wish to schedule an initial consultation with a lawyer, even for seemingly minor injuries. These reasons include:

Minor Injuries May Turn into Major Ones

Consider the above example: what if your broken arm ends up not setting properly and you have limited range of motion in your arm for the rest of your life? If you have already accepted a settlement offer, there will be nothing you can do about it since you must give up any and all future claims arising out of the accident when you settle.

Without legal advice, you may not realize exactly what you are giving up. A good lawyer would advise you to wait until you know the full extent of your injuries to settle, and would help you to determine the right time to accept an offer. If you don't have legal counsel, you might not collect necessary evidence at the time of the accident, especially if you think the injuries aren't a big deal. If the injuries later turn out to be more serious, you might have a hard time proving fault or proving the extent of your damages, because you didn't take the proper steps early on. A lawyer can help you to get the right evidence so you are prepared for any contingency.

Pain and Suffering, Emotional Distress and Punitive Damages

Pain and suffering and emotional distress damages would be considered by a jury if you took your case to court, and so a settlement that doesn't include these types of damages might not be a complete one. These types of damages are also very difficult to value. An experienced lawyer can help you to assess a settlement offer in light of past cases and current laws in your area to determine what amount is appropriate based.

Your lawyer can also explain all damages you may be entitled to, even for injuries that seem minor. For example, punitive damages are a special type of damages appropriate in cases where defendants behaved especially badly (such as in intentional tort cases or when gross negligence exists). You may be able to get punitive damages even for relatively minor injuries, and a lawyer can help you to determine if this is the case or not.

Can I Ever Not Hire a Lawyer?

The above explain some key reasons why you might want to hire a lawyer, even for relatively minor injuries. However, there are a few situations in which it might not make sense to hire an attorney. For example:

You Live in a No Fault State

The no fault state rules do not allow you to sue unless your injuries rise to a certain level (determined either by the nature of the injuries or the cost of treating them, depending on where you live). Since you are limited to recovering damages from your own personal injury protection coverage, and are limited to medical bills and lost wages only, hiring a lawyer for minor injuries may not make sense here. However, if there is a possibility that your injuries might be "serious" enough to qualify you for additional damages, then hiring a lawyer becomes a good idea, because an attorney can help you assess whether you have a chance of being able to sue or not.

You're Already Receiving the Maximum Settlement Available

Insurance companies will only pay out to their policy limits. This means if the defendant who injured you has a $100,000 maximum insurance policy and you've been offered a $100,000 settlement, getting a larger verdict may not be useful to you. Any additional dollars over what the insurer is offering would have to be collected from the defendant directly.

If the defendant has assets or money, then it may be worth it to try to collect additional damages if you believe you deserve them. However, if the defendant is indigent and has no assets, then you would essentially be going through a lot of trouble for very little gain if you pursue further legal action.

Small Cases vs. Serious Injuries

While these above examples provide information on situations where you might not necessarily need a lawyer, it is important to note that whenever you suffer from serious injuries, you need to get an attorney. Getting an attorney in such cases is necessary because:

• Your lawyer can help you make sure you get the full damages you deserve, including for possible future medical care and costs.
• Lawyers are experts in negotiation and may be able to help you negotiate a fair settlement so you don't have to deal with a long trial while trying to recover from serious injuries.
• The insurers and defendants will be made aware that you take your rights seriously, simply by the mere fact of you hiring a lawyer. This will allow you to get a better settlement.
• If you do need to go to court to recover the damages appropriate given the gravity of your injury, a lawyer will know and understand the rules of civil procedure and evidence that apply, and can help you to comply with all of the court rules.

What About My Insurance Company?

One reason many people cite for not hiring a lawyer of their own is that they have insurance, or that the other party has insurance. You may believe that the insurance companies are there to look out for you, to help you and to make sure you get the benefits you (or the responsible driver) have been paying for. However, insurance companies are not your friends, they aren't in business to be your friend, and their interests are directly at odds with yours:

• You have a primary goal of getting as large of a damage award as possible to compensate you for all you went through.
• Insurance companies have a primary goal of paying out as little as possible so that they have more profits and less costs.

This means they aren't going to make you a fair offer out of the goodness of their hearts. They are going to try to walk away with paying you as little as they can. Insurance companies also have legal departments, lawyers and teams of legal professionals on their side and watching out for their interests. You need to have your own professional to help make sure that you are being treated fairly.

Affording a Lawyer: Contingency Fee Agreements

Another primary reason people may be reluctant to hire a lawyer is because of fear of paying legal fees. This fear is largely unfounded. Almost all personal injury lawyers work on something called a contingency fee basis, or a "no-win no-fee" basis. Essentially, this means that:

• A lawyer for a personal injury claim will not be paid any money or legal fees from you unless you win your case or settle outside of court.
• You usually will still have to pay actual court costs and actual expenses, but this is not a substantial amount of money to negate the many benefits of involving legal counsel in your claim.

Contingency fee agreements work by allowing the lawyer who represents you to collect his or her compensation right out of your settlement or damage award. It is common for the agreement to be structured based on a percentage of the amount of money you receive. For example, the agreement may stipulate that the lawyer gets 10 percent if you settle before a lawsuit is filed, 15 percent if you settle after the lawsuit is filed but during the discovery process, or 30 percent if the case actually goes to trial and damages are awarded by a jury. The specifics of the percentages that your lawyer takes are going to vary based on where you live and who your lawyer is, and sometimes can be negotiated.

Settlement Statistics

Some injured victims may still be wary of giving up a portion of their damages to their lawyer. However, there are some statistics that indicate that the average settlement with a lawyer is around 1/3 more than the average settlement received by those without a lawyer. Depending on your situation, sometimes, you are able to get much, much more than you would have been able to negotiate on your own if you hire a lawyer. This means that even after you pay legal fees, you still likely will walk away with at least as much if not more than you would have had you decided to pursue the claim on your own.

There are a lot of reasons why it makes sense to hire a personal injury attorney. You should make sure you find a lawyer who is an expert in the particular type of case you are involved in (for example, a car accident lawyer for car accidents and a medical malpractice attorney for malpractice cases). You should also ensure you are comfortable with your lawyer and that you believe your lawyer will be a good advocate for you throughout the personal injury claim process.

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