One of the biggest challenges following a car accident is deciding whether you ought to hire a lawyer or represent yourself. One of the most effective ways to approach the problem is to consider it in terms of a cost-benefit analysis. Here is how you should consider doing a CBA to determine whether to seek legal counsel or not.
Understand Your Options
The important thing to understand is that you have options. Even if you're fairly confident that you don't need a lawyer, you may want to request a consultation with an attorney. You can learn some basic things, particularly what your state's statute of limitations is for your kind of claim. This is useful information because you might proceed without counsel until you get a sense of what the insurance company plans to do. If you start to sense there's an issue with how an insurer wishes to deal with the situation, you can still hire a lawyer and pursue a claim.
Nature of the Accident
Most drivers are far less likely to retain counsel if the case only involves property damage. Frankly, insurers tend to favor these cases, and they frequently settle property damage claims among themselves. Paying out a few thousand dollars for a new fender and some paint reinforces the need for insurance, but it doesn't cost the insurer much.
Conversely, cases involving injuries, especially catastrophic injuries, may benefit from hiring a lawyer. These are the claims that put a financial pinch on insurers. Paying for medical bills and long-term care expenses, particularly those that may go on for years of rehabilitation and in-home nursing, is not a profitable business model.
Notably, insurers are more likely to fight a catastrophic injury claim. A standard injury settlement is usually capped by some combination of policy limits and state laws. Consequently, insurers are sometimes okay with settling these claims because their costs are controlled. However, catastrophic injury laws tend to allow claimants to seek uncapped damages in extreme cases, such as:
- Brain or spinal cord damage
- Severe disfigurement, particularly of the face
- Loss of one or more limbs
- Severe organ damage
Admission of Fault
One side may admit fault in an accident. Sometimes it's just an excited utterance to an EMT while being treated. Maybe the person just felt guilty. Generally, if the other driver admits fault, the insurance company will have a harder time fighting your claim. For that reason, you might be less inclined to retain counsel.
Likely Recovery
There are cases where the likely recoverable damages just don't justify hiring a lawyer. For example, most people aren't going to take a $5,000 property damage claim to an attorney. Many law firms work on contingency, meaning they take a percentage of your recovered settlement only if they win. The contingent percentage is frequently 25-40% of the claim, and many firms specifically discourage smaller claims. Some firms don't accept them at all, and others expect a higher percentage of the recovery, such as 50%.
Conversely, paying a portion of your settlement to push aggressively for more money may have its advantages. Especially if you and the prospective attorney believe a much larger settlement is possible, say two or three times larger on a case that's already in the hundreds of thousands, then hiring a lawyer is a good way to let the insurer know that you mean business. Some insurers give up the fight once they see that a claimant has lawyered up.
Difficulty of Documentation
Of all the things an injury attorney can do for you, simply documenting your claim is one of the biggest. Many car accident cases turn into paperwork generators. Medical bills and car repairs alone can generate a lot to document. If an injured person requires skilled nursing, medical devices, or physical therapy, that produces even more paperwork.
You also have to turn all that documentation into a written claim. This means itemizing your damages, filing paperwork with appropriate parties, and meeting specific deadlines.
If you're still unsure whether you might need to hire a lawyer, schedule a consultation today.
