SOMETIMES ALL IT TAKES IS JUST A LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” This is one of my favorite sayings (along with “a rising tide lifts all boats”). I like to think that my team and I are talented. But, I know we work hard. I believe there isn’t a personal injury law firm out there that works harder than we do. And that is what I am writing about today.

We settled a case today for $10,350. It was by all accounts a small case. This client had been dropped by another large law firm (don’t ASK me which one) because the insurance company denied liability. In English that means the insurance company for the other driver told the lawyer “our insured isn’t at fault and we aren’t going to pay.” That law firm now faced with having to put in some effort because this case wasn’t going to be easy money decided to drop their client.

The client’s chiropractor contacted our office and asked if we would meet with her. He said she is a very nice lady and was hoping someone else would take a look. We said “of course!” Well, he was right. She is very nice. We talked about her case. She and I drove out to the crash scene so she could better explain what happened. It was clear to me that she wasn’t at fault for this crash and had a righteous claim.

We sent a letter to the insurance company indicating we were now representing here. In that letter we politely explained why we believed their determination was wrong and asked them to reconsider. A few months later after our client had finished her treatment we sent a settlement demand. The insurance company agreed that we were right in our analysis of who really was at fault. To its credit it paid a fair settlement on this claim.

This isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last time, that we have represented a client who has been dropped by other law firms because they just don’t want to put in the work. Settlements in cases like this are part of why we do what we do- helping good people with legitimate claims. From a financial perspective this will likely be the “smallest” success we will have this month, maybe even this year. But I doubt we will be more proud of any other outcome.