“Will Hiring An Injury Lawyer REALLY Get Me More Money In My Injury Case?”

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Fee Structures

Some firms charge different amounts. They have complicated fee structures but I would say about at least 75 percent of firms that I know of do one-third or 40 percent and that's what I do. Even though I'm pretty flexible on fees at the end of the case, if it's a tough one. Although my fellow lawyers yell at me for being reasonable about fees.

So will a lawyer get you more money? All State Insurance did a study a number of years ago and what they discovered is that an attorney will put one-third, on average, more money in the client's case, averaged out amongst all cases. Even though the attorney is taking a third or 40 or whatever the amount that the injured person gets in their pocket, at the end of the case is a third more.

Let's do some math on it so you can understand what I'm saying. Let's say there's a ten thousand dollar case. If there's a ten thousand dollar case, small case settles for ten thousand dollars, the attorney's fee would normally be $3,333 leaving $6,666 left over after the attorney's fee. I'm not saying that the attorney gets you a third more and takes the third.

Case Is Going To Settle For A Higher Amount

What I'm saying is, the case is going to settle for a higher amount. It's going to settle for 15 000 or 20 000 and then the amount you put in your pocket is going to be a third higher. So in the ten thousand dollar example you're going to be putting almost 10 000 in your pocket instead of whatever smaller amount that they were going to offer you. We're talking about the net number, the number that you actually put in your pocket.

Lawyers Take Time To Upgrade Skills

The other thing is that's averaged out amongst all cases and I will tell you I've been doing this for a long time. It is always a good idea to talk to a lawyer after an injury case. Now there are better lawyers and there are worse lawyers. These statistics don't account for attorneys who really know their craft and who really know how to work up the cases. I will tell you, I am constantly improving the way I do things and I am constantly attending seminars and going places.

I went to Jerry Spencer's Ranch and lived on his Ranch for a month where we did nothing but work on trial skills for a month. I think we had like three days off in a month. It was very intense, very difficult, but it was an amazing experience. I also attend a ton of continuing legal education that isn't even required. That's because I want my results for my clients to be fantastic, not just average.

What does that mean? I will tell you, a lot of people hire me, they call me up and say "I was going to handle the case myself and I couldn't get an offer on it and they told me to go jump in the lake, and a year later I got a money". Tons of people call me and say "the insurance company is offering me two thousand dollars". A year and a half later I got them to pay the policy.

Low Insurance Limit

In fact I just represented a young man who was in a motor vehicle accident. Not the biggest accident ever but he had injuries and they were sort of invisible injuries. It was like a neck and brain injury but he didn't do a great job of following up with the doctor so we didn't have a ton of medical ammunition to show to the insurance company.

The insurance company had a hundred thousand dollar insurance policy and that was all we were going to be able to get. Because my client had lower Insurance limits and insurance limits in Illinois don't stack. The money we got from the defense insurance company was all the money we were going to be able to get them. I met with him and his sister and we sat down and we talked about it and they're like "yes these injuries are real, yes they're terrible". And I said

"Well the reason I had you come in today is because I know that you hired me after trying to be reasonable with the insurance company and they didn't offer you anything, they didn't want to pay you anything, well now they're offering twelve thousand dollars and I don't know why it's twelve thousand, they started at six thousand now they're at twelve thousand and some change and they're basically telling me to jump in the lake"

Settle The Case Without Going To Court

Why? I don't know. You seem like perfectly nice people, I don't know why they're taking this position, but I wanted to meet with you guys face to face and tell you, ask you what you think and make sure that you're ready if I file a lawsuit you're ready to come to court and cooperate and prepare appropriately so that we can really do a good job on your case.

They said

"Of course, we would accept for personal reasons, we would really like to settle the case if it's possible, if there's any way for us to settle the case without going to court without it taking two years we would really prefer that because of our personal situations which we won't discuss".

Well they discussed them with me but I'm not going to tell you because that wouldn't be very nice.

So after our meeting they called me back. And said "you know we thought about it, please is there any way that you can get them up from the 12 000? even if they're willing to pay like 30 000 we'll accept it". Just because we're in a bad situation and we really need the money. I'm like okay let me see what I can do.

A Substantial Case

Readers Digest is, I pulled out all the stops. I contacted one of the doctors, got a report from the doctor, forced the insurance company to have another adjuster look at it, talk to the supervisor, told the supervisor that I thought it was a substantial case and arguably it could have been. I don't lie to anybody, but I think the idea that they were offering 12 000 was ridiculous.

Within 60 days I got them to pay the full hundred thousand dollars. And when I told you before I pulled out all the stops they were dug in at 12 000. The adjuster basically told me "Well I guess you're gonna have to go file suit". I'm like "it's a big mistake, you better talk to your boss about that".

Anyway my point is, is a hundred thousand dollars a lot of money? Yes, it is a lot of money and I put a big percentage of that money into my client's pocket. But my point is, this is what I do for people. There's a lot of lawyers out there. You call them if it's a slow pitch easy clean case, they'll take it they'll throw it in their file cabinet. They'll wait until somebody calls them with an offer, then they push the shove the offer down the client's throat and scare them. "Oh we're going to lose the case if you don't take the money", this kind of crap.

There Are Really Good Lawyers

There are really good lawyers out there and I'm one of them. It's not just me. I know at least a dozen attorneys in Chicago who have the same sort of attitude as I do. And I also know attorneys all over the country who I've met in these Advanced training courses who I know have that sort of dedication and commitment to getting top dollar and treating their clients with dignity and respect. So my point is, even the study that doesn't take into account the quality of the lawyer, the study done by an insurance company shows you put a third more money in your pocket with a lawyer.

I will tell you I haven't done any study. There's really no way for me to do a study because I don't have the data. But I guarantee I put a hell of a lot more money in my client's pocket than a third. I typically turn cases that are zeros with no offers into substantial settlements and it's because I know what I'm doing and I know how to do it and I have a nice relationship with my clients, which is very important.

You Get Way More Money With A Lawyer

So the answer is yes. If you have a lawyer, a lawyer will definitely get you way more money and you'll also not drive yourself crazy wondering if you left money on the table, wondering "is my case really bad like they're telling me it is?" No. If you have a lawyer who you like and trust and that's the key. You got to get a lawyer who knows what he or she is doing and you got to like and trust them and you have to have good communication. That's just the way it si, it's the way it's got to be. 

I know it's self-serving. "Oh hey it's such a surprise. The lawyer's advice is that you need to hire a lawyer." I know I get it but I'm telling you the truth. I do not lie to anybody and I'm not lying to you. At a minimum, getting a free consultation is a really good idea. So if you or a loved one has a question, needs advice or is looking for an attorney please feel free to give me a call.