Automobile Accident – Do I Need a Lawyer?
When our clients are involved in an unfortunate automobile accident, I often get this question: Do I really need a lawyer? It’s clearly the other party’s fault. Won’t they just settle out-of-court? You would think that self-serving lawyers would always tell you that, yes, you need to hire an attorney to protect your rights. That answer is not because of the lawyer’s self-interest, but because of certain statistics from the insurance industry itself which show that hiring a lawyer to represent you results in a much more favorable outcome for you.
In 2007, the Insurance Research Council released a study showing that accident victims who were represented by attorneys received two to three times the amount of an out-of-court settlement that unrepresented accident victims received. Leaked Allstate documents have shown that Allstate insurance company projected that if it could reduce the number of claimants who turned to attorneys for help, it could increase its stock price by $1.60 per share. So, who has the greatest self-interest in making sure that you don’t hire a lawyer? The lawyer or the insurance company?
The fact of the matter is that here at the Gilmore Law Firm, and most any other respectable attorney that handles personal injury cases, we will tell you that we will not take your case unless we believe it is in your best interest and ours. We work only on a contingency fee basis, meaning that unless we recover for you, we do not charge you a fee. If an insurance company has made you an offer before you come see us, we will not charge you a fee if we cannot increase your recovery. Otherwise, what good have we done you or us? We are committed to keeping our reputation in our community as lawyers who look out for our client’s best interests. If the word on the street is that we resolved your case for what the insurance company offered you, or even worse– less, we’ve damaged our reputation and your case.
We have years of experience handling automobile accident cases. We know the statistics, the value of your case, the value of the property damage to your vehicle, and how to make sure that you are treated fairly by the insurance and medical communities involved. We use this experience to make sure that our clients get what the insurance companies already will know will happen if you hire us — that you will get what you deserve. Of course, we can’t guarantee results, but we can guarantee that we will use our experience and the knowledge we’ve gained over many, many years to reach the best result for you and your family.
The bottom line is: don’t dismiss consulting an attorney for what appears to be even the simplest automobile accident. Our consultations are free, even if you decide not to hire us to handle your case. Above all, we want what is best for you.
