Hiring an Attorney

Considerations When Hiring an Attorney

1. You may or may not need a Lawyer. Sometimes you can handle the uncomplicated cases on your own. However, if the insurance companies are harassing you or calling you at work even after you told them to stop, you may want to hire a lawyer to let him handle the calls.
2. Almost all attorneys will charge the same fee: 30% of the settlement plus expenses or 40% if it has to go to trial.
3. Not all attorneys are the same. There are lots of different specialties. You would not want a divorce attorney defending you in a murder trial, and you would not want your estate attorney handling your personal injury case. You want an attorney that handles injury claims on a regular basis or specializes in personal injury claims.
4. In Wisconsin, there is a 3 year statute of limitations. That means that if you have not settled the claim within 3 years or put the claim into suit (which will get you more time), the insurance company can walk away without paying anything or any liability. You MUST settle your claim prior to 3 years from the date of the injury (or put it into suit), or you have no claim.
5. We have treated over 1000 patients that were involved in motor vehicle accidents. We have worked with many attorneys, both good and bad. There are even some we will not work with. If you need help finding the right attorney, we can help you do that, based on the feedback we have received from our prior patients.
6. Whether or not you hire an attorney, keep the following point in mind.
1. Never lie to the attorney, insurance company or your doctor. Eventually the truth always comes out, and when it does, you will lose credibility.
2. The insurance company claims adjusters are doing a job. Their job is to reduce the value of the claim. No matter how nice they seem, anything you say can and will be used against you. Do not be a “Chatty Cathy” and spoon feed them information. Keep your answers short and simple. “I don’t remember right now” is a valid answer.
3. The opposing insurance company will not usually settle your claim until you have finished treatment. There is no real benefit from talking to them until that time, so your attorney would advise you to not speak to them. Even without an attorney, the advice is the same.