Advice on Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

[Heisenberg 162]

Very recently I was sitting on my motorcycle first in a long line of cars at a red light when the driver immediately behind me took their foot off the brake and stabbed the accelerator, still under the red light, and rammed me and my bike hard from behind. The driver was ticketed and their insurance company has accepted complete liability. I am extensively injured, in pain, and after my Dr. saw me, he agreed I am quite injured, wrote me 2 Rx's, and referred me to an Orthopedic/Sports Medicine specialist for further examination/treatment etc.

I am seeking advice from the community on how to find a good personal injury attorney.  I intend to interview 5 local (Montgomery (crash location) and Harris Counties) attorneys/firms.

I sincerely appreciate your time for reading this and responding.

[immamac 42835]

Post pics of your wife's snatch and I'll get you the help you need. (obligatory surly response)

[Hank Scorpio 17729]

You should have gotten run over in Harris county, Montgomery County sucks. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

I’m not an attorney.  What are the insured’s policy limits?  If you are going to hit policy limits on your medical bills it might be a good idea to just handle that yourself rather than give a lawyer a cut of the action.  If your looking at years of rehab and they have a $5M umbrella policy probably not a bad idea to get an attorney involved.  Just an opinion.

[Heisenberg 162]

29 minutes ago, immamac said:

Post pics of your wife's snatch and I'll get you the help you need. (obligatory surly response)

Thankfully, I haven't seen that in many years now - I paid a divorce attorney big money to get it and its life support system removed from the premises. (obligatory surly back-talk)

[Bernard 879]

I second the insurance research first. Find out the limits of their policy. Demand the insurer pay you the policy limit and not a penny less. If you can get that yourself, you don’t need a lawyer. Demand the same from your own insurance.

Who hit you? Do you have reason to believe they have any assets you can go after above and beyond their insurance?

Bernard

[Heisenberg 162]

30 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

You should have gotten run over in Harris county, Montgomery County sucks. 

Methgomery County both sucks and bleauxs.  It is a major nexus of white trash, inbreeding, ignorance, aggy, meth production and consumption, poor government and ...

I  could go on but the good Rx is taking effect.  Buenos noche.

[Heisenberg 162]

@conVINCEd and @Bernard  How does a crash victim find out the particulars of the other party's insurance?

[conVINCEd 21469]

Just now, Heisenberg said:

@conVINCEd and @Bernard  How does a crash victim find out the particulars of the other party's insurance?

You call their insurance company, say I’ve got $50k in hospital bills, and ask how much coverage their insured was carrying.

[Serak The Preparer 3431]

45 minutes ago, immamac said:

Post pics of your wife's snatch and I'll get you the help you need. (obligatory surly response)

If you're just going to ignore questions asked to you or answer with stupid shit this is not the message board for you.

[Heisenberg 162]

Is everybody on surly stoned/drunk AF tonight?

Two guys think an insurance company will divulge information about an insured's policy limits to a third party.

One guy thinks I've ignored a question - I have not.

Another guy asks for beaver shots.

It's surly on a Saturday night.

If someone will deliver some useful advice they can have the rest of my good Rx, but move fast as quantities are limited and there are no refills.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Heisenberg

[conVINCEd 21469]

5 minutes ago, Heisenberg said:

Is everybody on surly rolling/tripping/drunk AF tonight?

Two guys think an insurance company will divulge information about an insured's policy limits to a third party.

One guy thinks I've ignored a question - I have not.

Another guy asks for beaver shots.

It's surly on a Saturday night.

If someone will deliver some useful advice they can have the rest of my good Rx.

Claims is the one area of the insurance industry that I have no experience in.  So I may be wrong on that.  Pro tip:  if you have their name and address your insurance agent can run a quote for their car insurance and find out what their limits are.

[Hank Scorpio 17729]

Lots of terrible advice on this thread. The other drivers insurance company is not going to tender policy limits unless you have massive medical bills and it’s a minimum policy or some shit. They also will not tell you what the policy limits are because they don’t have to. The only time I tell people not to hire a lawyer is when they’re not really that hurt and can get a few grand from the insurance company and be done with it. 

[Hank Scorpio 17729]

Look for a law firm that isn’t just a car wreck mill, meaning lots of lawyers handling lots of low value cases that just get processed because you won’t get good value for your claim. Hire a firm that specializes in car wreck cases, not firms that say they handle every single kind of injury case under the sun. Harris vs Montgomery lawyer probably doesn’t matter much.  

[Heisenberg 162]

5 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Lots of terrible advice on this thread. The other drivers insurance company is not going to tender policy limits unless you have massive medical bills and it’s a minimum policy or some shit. They also will not tell you what the policy limits are because they don’t have to. The only time I tell people not to hire a lawyer is when they’re not really that hurt and can get a few grand from the insurance company and be done with it. 

Interesting, @Hank Scorpio, you sure responded quick to my offer - where can we meet up for the exchange?

Seriously, thank you.  I need to know what to ask, what to listen for, bad signs, etc. in interviewing personal injury attorneys.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Heisenberg

[CooterBrown 18003]

[Bernard 879]

My experience with policy limits is a girl who was bitten badly by a neighbor’s dog. Badly injured. When presented with the facts of the case, their claims person said, “Here’s a check for the limits of our policy”. End of discussion.

in Texas, the minimum coverage for personal injury is $30,000. That’s all the coverage most individuals carry. Doesn’t take much injury to get there  

Bernard

[Heisenberg 162]

I don't think I'll hire David Komie - I don't think that look will work out very well in Conroe.

[Heisenberg 162]

9 minutes ago, Bernard said:

My experience with policy limits is a girl who was bitten badly by a neighbor’s dog. Badly injured. When presented with the facts of the case, their claims person said, “Here’s a check for the limits of our policy”. End of discussion.

in Texas, the minimum coverage for personal injury is $30,000. That’s all the coverage most individuals carry. Doesn’t take much injury to get there  

Bernard

These people aren't poors at all.  They're not anything like surly 1%ers, but they do quite well.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Heisenberg

[conVINCEd 21469]

1 minute ago, Heisenberg said:

I don't think I'll hire David Komie - I don't think that look will work out very well in Conroe.

 

Just now, Heisenberg said:

These people aren't poors.

You would be shocked at the number for non-poors who carry state minimum insurance.

[Bernard 879]

2 minutes ago, Heisenberg said:

These people aren't poors at all.  They're not anything like surly 1%ers, but they do quite fine.

Pick a number. Demand they pay it.

‘Bernard 

[deadshank 24652]

9 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

You call their insurance company, say I’ve got $50k in hospital bills, and ask how much coverage their insured was carrying.

You just gave away your negotiating position by revealing your financial commitment position.   
 

Fookin rookie mofo.  

[TwiceHorn 31438]

9 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Look for a law firm that isn’t just a car wreck mill, meaning lots of lawyers handling lots of low value cases that just get processed because you won’t get good value for your claim. Hire a firm that specializes in car wreck cases, not firms that say they handle every single kind of injury case under the sun. Harris vs Montgomery lawyer probably doesn’t matter much.  

To elaborate a bit on this.  A lot of the advertising lawyers for car wrecks handle the minor things that most surlyites would handle themselves:  property damage and very minor medical.  A fair number of people, usually poors, are fearful and ignorant when it comes to dealing with this stuff and these lawyers take advantage.  To their credit, they keep the poors from getting screwed, which is a likely outcome without them.  Whether their fees justify the service is another question.  A lot of their staff is non-lawyer former insurance adjusters/employees.

One of the best ways to hire a lawyer is word of mouth.  If you know someone that has had a successful claim or positive experience, ask for their recommendation.  Or if you know an insurance defense lawyer, ask them who's good.

There are some pretty astute plaintiff's lawyers (so it seems) right here.  So this might be a good place to look, as you have already figured.  Seems like most of them are Centex, though.

If you have to "let your fingers do the walking," then, to some extent, those advertising for "truck accidents" are a bit less likely to be the "car wreck mills" that Scorpio references.

[Heisenberg 162]

I only know my estate attorney around here.  She should know something about local PI attorneys.  

There’s a lot of targeted advertising motorcycle wreck attorneys, them also being lower damage amount seeking lots-of-associates practices would make sense to me.  I had a dentist who had lots of local advertising.  I fired him.  That advertising has to get paid for.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Heisenberg

[TwiceHorn 31438]

54 minutes ago, Heisenberg said:

I only know my estate attorney around here.  She should know something about local PI attorneys.  

There’s a lot of targeted advertising motorcycle wreck attorneys, them also being lower damage amount seeking lots-of-associates practices would make sense to me.  I had a dentist who had lots of local advertising.  I fired him.  That advertising has to get paid for.

Yep, ask her.

[mycox 582]

I have a friend based in Harris county and does free consultations. PM me if you want details.

[Bill Clay 48]

Half question, half advice. If the case is pretty open and shut like OP's appears to be, how much negotiating leverage does he have? Giving up 30-40% of your case to a trial lawyer seems awfully rich. If the insurance company has already accepted liability like he says, could he find a lawyer to paper the deal for 10-15% - or better yet, a flat fee?

Edited July 19, 2021 by Bill Clay

[Bob Lives! 900]

A quality personal injury attorney knows the surprisingly complicated ins and outs of handling one of these claims. Even if there are minimum limits, there will still be fights with medical providers and health insurance subrogation. The defendant’s minimum limits, if that’s what he has, is also not your only source of recovery. You should hopefully have underinsured motorists coverage. Even if not, I assure you that minimum limits carriers aren’t just tossing out limits offers easily, and when they are, you’re still left having fights with lienholders and subrogation interests, whose actions tend to be every bit as shady as the casualty insurers. Not having a lawyer to deal with that is short-sighted. It will burn you.

Yes, I’m biased. I’m board certified in personal injury and currently the president of the Austin area trial lawyers association. There are times where there simply is not enough money to go around, and the lawyer’s fee can eat up an unreasonably large chunk of the money that’s left. One thing I have been doing throughout my practice is reducing my fees to be fair to my clients. I do not take a bigger fee than I can disburse to my client after paying off their liens, bills and case expenses. So for every dollar I have made, I have put a dollar into my clients’ pocket after paying off bills and expenses. That’s not a common practice in the field.

And yes, Montgomery County sucks, but that’s not necessarily your only venue.

By the way, there are two firms generally that advertise nationally for motorcycle cases. Specifically one of them is Law Tigers, which is simply like a McDonald’s franchise. You pay them for a location and you operate under their practice name. Phone calls that go to their national number are directed to you when you are in the area of the caller. The other is a California-based firm who refers out to lawyers they trust to do well, in exchange for a cut of the fee. That firm refers all their Texas cases to me.

Send me a DM with your number if you’d like to talk. I can do a free phone consultation with you today. You’ll talk to me personally, not my paralegal. My firm has offices in Austin and Dallas but we try cases all over the state, and we will be in Colorado soon too.


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[Gil Bang 25912]

1 hour ago, Bob Lives! said:

A quality personal injury attorney knows the surprisingly complicated ins and outs of handling one of these claims. Even if there are minimum limits, there will still be fights with medical providers and health insurance subrogation. The defendant’s minimum limits, if that’s what he has, is also not your only source of recovery. You should hopefully have underinsured motorists coverage. Even if not, I assure you that minimum limits carriers aren’t just tossing out limits offers easily, and when they are, you’re still left having fights with lienholders and subrogation interests, whose actions tend to be every bit as shady as the casualty insurers. Not having a lawyer to deal with that is short-sighted. It will burn you.

Yes, I’m biased. I’m board certified in personal injury and currently the president of the Austin area trial lawyers association. There are times where there simply is not enough money to go around, and the lawyer’s fee can eat up an unreasonably large chunk of the money that’s left. One thing I have been doing throughout my practice is reducing my fees to be fair to my clients. I do not take a bigger fee than I can disburse to my client after paying off their liens, bills and case expenses. So for every dollar I have made, I have put a dollar into my clients’ pocket after paying off bills and expenses. That’s not a common practice in the field.

And yes, Montgomery County sucks, but that’s not necessarily your only venue.

By the way, there are two firms generally that advertise nationally for motorcycle cases. Specifically one of them is Law Tigers, which is simply like a McDonald’s franchise. You pay them for a location and you operate under their practice name. Phone calls that go to their national number are directed to you when you are in the area of the caller. The other is a California-based firm who refers out to lawyers they trust to do well, in exchange for a cut of the fee. That firm refers all their Texas cases to me.

Send me a DM with your number if you’d like to talk. I can do a free phone consultation with you today. You’ll talk to me personally, not my paralegal. My firm has offices in Austin and Dallas but we try cases all over the state, and we will be in Colorado soon too.


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No mention of the "what have you's"? 

[Bob Lives! 900]

A small handful of the “what have you’s“ are in the unbolded portion of the quoted paragraph.

E.g., is your health insurance plan a fully self-funded ERISA plan. How can you tell, how do they prove it, how does that change how you deal with them, and what difference does it end up making to your bottom line?


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[Gatorubet 30185]

A quality personal injury attorney knows the surprisingly complicated ins and outs of handling one of these claims. Even if there are minimum limits, there will still be fights with medical providers and health insurance subrogation. The defendant’s minimum limits, if that’s what he has, is also not your only source of recovery. You should hopefully have underinsured motorists coverage. Even if not, I assure you that minimum limits carriers aren’t just tossing out limits offers easily, and when they are, you’re still left having fights with lienholders and subrogation interests, whose actions tend to be every bit as shady as the casualty insurers. Not having a lawyer to deal with that is short-sighted. It will burn you.

All this is all very good advice.

We lower our fees to an amount equal to client in-pocket amount as well. Good policy.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

17 hours ago, Bill Clay said:

Half question, half advice. If the case is pretty open and shut like OP's appears to be, how much negotiating leverage does he have? Giving up 30-40% of your case to a trial lawyer seems awfully rich. If the insurance company has already accepted liability like he says, could he find a lawyer to paper the deal for 10-15% - or better yet, a flat fee?

As boblives indicates, liability may be "open-and-shut," but damages never are and that's where people who are injured need help.

And, historically, there is an extra percentage (assuming you aren't at policy limits) for pain and suffering.  By percentage, I mean usually given as a fraction of out-of-pocket medical.  A lawyer knows far better how to negotiate that than a layperson.

[DanRydell 799]

21 hours ago, Bill Clay said:

Half question, half advice. If the case is pretty open and shut like OP's appears to be, how much negotiating leverage does he have? Giving up 30-40% of your case to a trial lawyer seems awfully rich. If the insurance company has already accepted liability like he says, could he find a lawyer to paper the deal for 10-15% - or better yet, a flat fee?

The insurance company accepting liability is rarely what the biggest fight is about.

[bernorange 8359]

* bump *

My 83 y/o mother tripped over some double stacked floor mats at a grocery store and fell face first into the concrete floor.  She was evaluated at an emergency care facility with X-Ray and thankfully didn't suffer any broken bones.  She did sustain injuries that are still bothering her a couple weeks later.

Grocery corporate honcho told us on the phone that they have security camera video of the event and have accepted responsibility.  They want to handle payment for medical expenses with medicare (her insurance).  But, she has had some related out of pocket expenses.  Corporate honcho is singing a different tune now a couple weeks later.  She says they will only reimburse medical up to $750.

I think she needs to talk to a personal injury atty (Houston/Galveston).  Any advice appreciated.

[royiv 9247]

[NeverMarryAStripper 21872]

Whatever you do, don't hire Brian White.  He has personally ruined my radio station.

[Gatorubet 30185]

you probably want to look for yelp ratings, how long in practice, and does he or she have talons  of justice.

[dcbc 14465]

Make sure you get a tough negotiator.  Unfortunately, I think this guy's in Austin.

 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Seriously, though, recommending an attorney is a hazardous business.  Best way to go about it probably is through people you know who have had some experience.

Which is something I suppose you are trying to do here.