As I’ve discussed with many clients and people calling about their personal injury claims, simply because an injury occurred, doesn’t mean the law views it as compensable. I can certainly understand how this can be beyond frustrating—you’ve been injured through no fault of your own and someone should have to pay for it. Unfortunately, that is not always the case for a few different reasons. Many people are unaware of the business aspects of how attorneys handle contingency fee cases or the law that relates to their claims.
Evaluating the Case at the Outset: 3 Factors
When a personal injury attorney agrees to give you a “Free Consultation” or “Free Case Evaluation,” there are three factors that go into determining whether your case will be accepted. These are: 1) liability; 2) damages; and 3) collectability. While the circumstances of each case will differ, personal injury attorneys who work on a contingency fee basis evaluate each of these factors because they have bearing on the likelihood of success (or not) if your claim.
Liability
Any case evaluation must start here because if there is no liability, then it doesn’t matter what the damages are. Factors lawyers will look at include if the plaintiff can meet the burden of proof, if the defendant can be held responsible under the law, the facts of the case, actions/inactions by the parties involved, and whether any specific law applies giving immunity for the given situation.
There is a common misconception that the law will apply to people’s injuries simply because they were injured. This is typically where someone was injured and they feel that someone should pay for it. While it is unfortunate that injuries occur, there must be a situation where a defendant did something wrong that would put them at fault. Injury does not automatically equal compensation. There must have been a wrong done under the eyes of the law first.
Damages
Similar to liability, people have a misconception as to the importance of damages. There must be actual and provable damage. This comes in the form of medical bills, lost wages, lost property, and pain and suffering, among others. Just because a dangerous condition exists doesn’t mean you’re entitled to compensation. For example, many people I’ve spoken with have almost been in very serious accidents, but they weren’t injured or had very little injury. While I agree this is extremely jarring and scary, if there is no resulting damage (or injury), there is no personal injury claim.
Many people outside of the legal profession don’t understand the amount of time, risk, and expenses that go into litigating a case to trial. Attorneys must evaluate each case and it must be such that the attorney’s percentage covers their time and risk they anticipate spending on your case. Each and every case is much more work than most non-lawyers would expect.
Collectability
This is also a big one. There are different iterations, but the saying basically goes, “if you can’t collect, your judgment ain’t worth what it’s printed on.” This again is a common misconception. Even if there is liability and provable damages, there has to be a source of money. In personal injury cases, this will typically come from insurance coverage. However, if the policy limits are low and the driver doesn’t have any assets, you will be limited to what the policy limits are. Unless there are assets or other insurance policies, then there simply isn’t a “pot” to pull from and no one can be paid fairly.
Law firms are businesses and have to make business decisions. One law firm may not want to take a case based on the above, but another firm might be willing to take a chance. Don’t be deterred when one lawyer says no. However, if they do, it is probably for one of the reasons above.
If you have questions about a personal injury claim, we offer FREE case evaluations and can be reached at (916) 619-5452.
