The law is very complicated.
It is truly impossible to stay-on-top of everything.
It’s tough enough to stay up-to-date on the areas of law a lawyer likes; impossible to do for all areas of the law.
Injury law is my thing.
Helping injury victims get the money they need and deserve is a full-time job.
I could not imagine handling a divorce or custody case all day, and then, when the dust settles and the battle ends, try to sit down and concentrate on a personal injury case.
It is no wonder why lawyers who handle those kind of cases tend to neglect the few in jury cases dangling around the office.
I see it all the time.
Clients trust their lawyer, and even if they hear nothing about their case for months on end, just hate to bother the lawyer.
But they should. They need to, or else their case will languish, gather dust, and the insurance company on the other end of things will get the impression the injury case is not a big deal.
When that happens, the insurance company puts a real low value on the case. After all, if the victim’s lawyer doesn’t think much of the case, why should they?
Inaction and inattention are disasterous to an injury case.
Injury victims need to hire a specialist, someone who can “drive” the case through the system in pursuit of justice.
It makes all the difference in the world.
Think about it: If you are the insurance adjuster assigned to a case where no work is being done by the lawyer, what would you think?
Would you pay “top-dollar?”
Or, would you figure you have it made?
Yet time after time I see the syndrome:
Nice client with big case hires jack-of-all-trades lawyer, who does little to nothing for months on end; client eventually settles for very little or, if client can stick it out, decides to hire me. I get file from other lawyer. File consists of a few papers and is not very thick. Situation is nauseating, but client has renewed sense of optimism because it is not too late. I tell client any fee due prior lawyer will come out of my fee, so client has nothing to lose. Prior lawyer usually gets little to nothing due to lack of effort, and appreciation I do not report lawyer to Bar Association for unethical neglect of a client’s case. Case gets proper attention, and a good result ensues.
This may sound like bragging, but it is true.
And, false modesty is no virtue.
My staff and I are committed & determined to help injury victims.
When issues with clients arise– as they do in all businesses— we get right on them, talk with our client and make it right.
That’s how I operate; that’s how I work.
I take my clients’ rights very seriously and give it all I’ve got.
I don’t pretend to be like most of the others.
I’m not, and never want to be.
No offense intended.
There’s lots of good lawyers out there too, but I’m my own guy— for better or worse, what you see is what you get.
Keep your strength.
Charlie Donahue
injury lawyer