It can be a difficult time if you’ve been injured in an accident by someone else’s negligence. It is even more challenging when you seek justice and legal recourse from a personal injury lawyer who can’t help.
It is essential to understand common reasons for such denials. Doing so allows you to be better prepared when you contact a personal injury lawyer and decide on your next steps.
1. Your Case Lacks Merit
An attorney might decline your case if it lacks merit, primarily due to a lack of provable negligence. Negligence refers to the failure of one party to exercise reasonable care in their actions, leading to injury to another person.
For a personal injury lawsuit to be successful, you often must establish the presence and extent of negligence involved.
If there’s no clear evidence that any party acted negligently or was at fault for your injuries, pursuing a claim may not be successful. As a result, an experienced personal injury attorney won’t want to take you on as a client.
Part of establishing negligence is determining that damages occurred due to the injury. These damages could be physical, emotional, financial, or a combination.
If your claim has no measurable harm, an attorney might determine that your case ultimately lacks merit. Measurable harm can include substantial medical costs, extended loss of income, or pain and suffering.
2. Economic Factors
Another potential hurdle is economic factors, specifically the balance between high litigation costs and potential recovery. Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. The lawyers don’t get paid unless they win your case. When they do win, they receive a percentage of your settlement or award.
Formal legal proceedings can quickly become expensive, incurring hefty fees for court filings and expert witnesses’ services.
Ultimately, an attorney must consider the time commitment your case would entail against potential recovery. The legal process often takes months or even years. A substantial amount of time will be spent on research, collecting evidence, negotiations, and courtroom representation.
If the anticipated compensation is low, it may not be worth an attorney’s time to take on the case.
3. The Attorney Lacks Expertise
If your case is outside of a lawyer’s area of knowledge or expertise, they may choose not to take on the matter. Personal injury law is vast and diverse. It covers accidents of all types, including motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice cases, defective product injuries, slip-and-fall incidents, and even more. Personal injury law touches almost every avenue imaginable.
For example, a motorcycle accident attorney might be out of their depth with an offshore boat accident. A personal injury lawyer specializing in premises liability may also decline a medical malpractice case.
You’re always better off having an inexperienced lawyer decline your case instead of taking it on and attempting to navigate through unfamiliar territory.
4. The Lawyer Has a Heavy Caseload
A lawyer’s responsibility is to ensure they can provide a comprehensive, focused defense for their clients. This requires diligent investigation of the case details, preparation for potential litigation, and availability to discuss your concerns.
When an attorney has a high volume of active cases, they may be stretched thin in managing current client needs. Due to ethical obligations that demand competent representation, the lawyer may need to turn down your case.
Don’t Give Up
Each lawyer has a unique approach and understanding of the law. They have varied strategies, resources, and areas of expertise. This can influence the direction they choose for any given case.
Don’t lose hope if a personal injury lawyer decides not to take your case. Law is subjective and based on interpretation. What might look like an inevitable loss from one perspective could be seen as winnable by another.
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This post brought to you by Kristina Rodopska.
Photo: iStock