Do I Need A Lawyer?
1. I believe everyone can benefit from the advice of an experienced attorney. If you have been injured in a car collision, also known as “car accident”, you likely have a case against the person who caused the collision. Call an attorney immediately. Attorneys charge a percentage of your recovery. Most attorneys offer a free consultation.
2. If you are NOT injured, in most cases, you don’t need a lawyer. Call your own insurance company to get your car fixed. (See property damage post for a more detailed explanation).
3. Get Medical Treatment: If you are injured, see a doctor or a qualified medical provider as soon as possible and bill your insurance company. If you suffered a mild injury and you are all better (no more pain) in 6 weeks or less, you probably don’t need a lawyer. The insurance company for the at-fault person will likely offer you a few hundred/thousand dollars for your “pain and suffering.” Your insurance company will seek reimbursement for what they paid on their own.
4. If you are still in pain after 6 weeks, call a lawyer for advice. In some cases, having a lawyer might not be necessary and in some cases it is. This is why you call for a consultation.
Some of my clients hire an attorney because they don’t want the hassle of handling the claim themselves. You might not recover as much after you pay attorney fees, but you save yourself time and energy. Just like some people choose to hire someone to clean their home, or do lawn maintenance, even if they can do it themselves, it saves them time and money. Some people just don’t know how to manage a claim or don’t understand the laws. Just like, in theory, I could cut my own hair. I own a pair of scissors, and I know how they work. I don’t cut my own hair. It will never look the same as someone who has years of experience.
In some cases, people hire an attorney because insurance companies refuse to offer any money at all or offer an amount that is simply not fair, leaving people frustrated any annoyed at the injustice.
5. Call EARLY for advice.
Attorneys don’t work for free and can only handle a certain number of cases at one time. Once a law firm is “at capacity”, they will become more selective in the cases they chose to take. This means they will choose higher value cases and turn away lower value cases. Every firm has a different threshold of what that value is. Some attorneys take “everything,” and some will only take cases valued over $100,000. That value threshold can vary depending on the firm size, attorney case load, and cases in active litigation. This does not mean you don’t have a case, but simply one that firm does not have time to handle.
A competent law firm with experienced attorneys and staff values the level of service it provides to a client. Experienced paralegals and legal assistants are valuable to a law firm, but paralegals cannot try a case before a jury. Technically, they can not give legal advice. They can assist a lawyer with gathering relevant information, organizing documents and drafting documents. Unfortunately, most law firms struggle with finding experienced paralegals and legal assistants.
Calling an attorney early, allows the firm to fit you into their caseload. Sometimes attorneys have back-to-back jury trials or arbitrations. Those cases not in litigation (lawsuit filed) or with approaching SOL ‘s (statutes of limitations) take a backseat waiting for their turn “to bat” for lack of a better analogy. These cases take time.
6. There is a 3-year statute of limitations for most cases in Washington. This means you need to file a lawsuit prior to the expiration of 3 years in order to preserve your case. Most cases don’t take 3 years to resolve, however if you don’t file prior to the Statute of Limitations, your right to bring a case can be forever barred/lost. DO NOT WAIT several years and then decide to call an attorney, CALL EARLY. My law firm has a hard policy of not taking any “low value” cases 6 months prior to the expiration of the Statute of limitations.
Filing a lawsuit is not hard, but it has to be done with near perfection. You have to name the right person or persons, file in the right jurisdiction (County) and serve (give notice) to the Defendant (person at fault) for the injury. If done incorrectly, a competent defense attorney will ask the court to dismiss your case. This could mean you lose your case entirely without ever having the chance to present your case to a jury.
Asking a law firm to help you just before the statute of limitations is set to expire means the law firm doesn’t have a chance to do any research to evaluate a case with accuracy before filiing. It also means that the firm has to put other cases in the firm “on hold” and give your case priority. This simply isn’t fair to other clients the attorney has agreed to represent previously. In some cases, an attorney may agree to make an exception for a very high value case with clear liability.
7. Calling the firm: Most law firms have a legal assistant or paralegal who does an initial screening of cases before you get an appointment to speak with an attorney. Experienced attorneys with a good reputation are very busy. It may take a few weeks to get an appointment with an experienced attorney if they are in trial or working on a motion that has a short deadline or on vacation. Larger law firms have less experienced associates who are being mentored by very seasoned attorneys who may be able to help evaluate your case sooner.
To avoid any issues with a Statute of limitations, I recommend you get legal advice within the first 6 months of the collision or injury date. This is soon enough that a law firm will have enough time to work you into their schedule and long enough that you will know how serious your injuries are.
** This article is not a substitution for legal advice. Call early for an evaluation of your case.