Well, think again.

Let me tell you about a real close friend of mine who practices injury law.

He’s a defense lawyer, which means he represents the interests of the insurance company. He’s one of their go-to guys, at least for now.

He’s had enough of the forces of darkness.

This fellow is a very good injury lawyer, and won many trials, but he can no longer take it. In fact, he hates every minute of it.

He’ll be a great people-lawyer one day.

The trouble is that he was making a very good living. He didn’t go into injury law defense to screw regular folks. He was idealistic and thought it was about justice and fairness, only to find out the hard way that it was all about one thing and one thing only— winning & winning at just about any cost.

Not all the insurance companies that hired him were like that, because he still has many good insurance adjuster friends who really tried their best within the framework of their job, but even they had to report to somebody.

Usually that somebody had to report to somebody else, all the way up the food chain, until you ended up with a very impersonal, corporate policy that said corporate profit above all else.

My friend hated the way the insurance companies treated good folks who needed the benefits. They were used and abused to set an example for anyone else who ever thought of making a claim for injury benefits.

They might pay-out on this case, but it wasn’t going to be any day in the park.

Make it hard; make them wish they didn’t even bother was the plan of attack.

And, Mr Defense lawyer, you have the skill, training and experience to inflict the punishment, so go to it. Earn that paycheck.

He hated it & hated them.

They cared about him only to the extent they had a hired-gun.

Now, where does this place you Mr & Mrs injury victim?

You don’t think the company is out to screw ya?

You can not trust them.

You can not afford to take a chance that the “nice” person handling your case is for real.

In a best case scenario, they’ve been trained to look at the case from a different perspective, and it is not from the view of the injury victim. Even the ones who are real decent folks– and I’ve dealt with many– are looking ( subconsciously) to save the company money. Things are never as bad from their perspective as it is from yours.

Moreover, many insurance adjusters handling personal injury, wrongful death, and medical malpractice claims have limited authority. That means the have to report back to someone with more power in the company, and that person dictates and controls how much can be offered to settle the injury claim.

Reading between the lines, I can’t tell you how many times I just knew the decent adjuster wanted & tried to settle an injury claim for more money, but were told by the big-shots to limit the offer. The frustration is palpable.

Seldom, however, can they say it for risk of losing their jobs. In this economy, who can blame them?

You are a number to them, and a nuisance, headache or big problem– depending on the value of your case.

I find it very interesting, and something I’m proud of, that I’ve been asked by insurance adjusters to help them or loved ones when they needed an injury lawyer.

Thanks for reading this blog.

I realize it’s some plain speaking & some in-your-face straight shooting, but that’s the way I do things.

You’ll always know where I stand.

Keep your strength.
Charlie Donahue
injury lawyer
Keene,N.H.