Many inexperienced personal injury attorneys think that threatening a lawsuit will cause the insurance adjuster to be afraid. However, the opposite is often the case. Insurance companies, especially small conservative insurance companies, usually have skilled personal accident lawyers on their retainer. The lawyer/adjuster relationship can have a significant impact on the resolution and value of the claim.
Process of Moving Toward Litigation
After a personal injury lawyer threatens a lawsuit, the file often goes to a defense counsel’s desk. The value of the case may decline because the defense counsel finds a weakness in the case. This may cause the case to have to go trial in order to get a decent verdict. However, this often requires more money and a lot more time, so the plaintiff’s final payout may be less than if the attorney had simply settled the case while the adjuster had control of its disposition.
Negotiating With an Adjuster
A skilled personal accident lawyer will focus on cues that he or she receives from the adjuster during settlement conferences. For example, the adjuster may suggest that the case is weak due to difficulty in the plaintiff’s ability to establish liability, a causation connection between the accident and the injuries or the existence of pre-existing injuries that occurred on the same portion of the body. Your lawyer can listen to these statements and can predict whether the settlement offer will be low. Additionally, if the initial offer is low and the second offer is only incrementally increased, it is likely that you will have to take your case to trial.
Counterarguments
An experienced personal injury attorney will consider the weaknesses of each case and look at it from the other party’s side. Additionally, he or she may consider the following questions: How would a jury likely perceive the case? Who is the defense attorney? Is the adjuster’s assessment accurate? What is the likely expense of taking the case to trial? Will he or she have the judge’s support to reject a low offer?
After considering these factors and others, your personal injury attorney will determine whether he or she and the insurance adjuster will likely be able to settle on a fair number. Alternatively, the personal injury attorney may determine that a trial is likely.
If you would like to learn more about additional factors that can affect the value of your case, contact an injury or accident lawyer for assistance with your case as they will have your best interest at heart.