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So one of my room mates got into an accident the day before yesterday. So Tuesday on her way to work. Today the mailbox was FILLED with letters from lawyers wanting to represent her. Seven out of 10 of them had the accident report one even had a DVD on what her rights are. The accident wasn't her fault some lady more likely was on her cellphone & drifted into her lane pushing her against the guardrail. You have to pay to get your own accident report $10.00 a pop. I'm wowed by how many & how quickly she got these letters.
I wish i had gotten a lawyer after my accident which wasnt my fault. I would of gotten more money + i hate the hartford (the ins agent was nasty). I didnt need a police report but charging for it is total BS.
since police reports are considered public documents, you will find a huge number of shyster lawyers looking to make a buck, mostly because they cant do it by waiting for clients to come into their offices. they figure that putting out say $1000 or so to get a bunch of accident reports will pay off big time. out of 100 reports they buy, they may get 6-7 clients, and make that $1000 back by winning just one or two cases.
since police reports are considered public documents, you will find a huge number of shyster lawyers looking to make a buck, mostly because they cant do it by waiting for clients to come into their offices. they figure that putting out say $1000 or so to get a bunch of accident reports will pay off big time. out of 100 reports they buy, they may get 6-7 clients, and make that $1000 back by winning just one or two cases.
They almost never "win" cases. 99% of them are settled. If they go to trial, the lawyers are probably losing money. Unfortunately, the lawyers get a third to half of the settlement even if it settles just by them writing one letter. Frequently it is necessary, but often the injured party could do better by simply negotiating hard with the insurance company. If a lawyer gets you 25% more, but takes 33%, you are not coming out ahead. The biggest thing the lawyers brings to the table is they know when the settlement offer is reasonable. They can also help identify damages that you may not realize you incurred. When soemone is clearly at fault, it is very rare for their insurance company to not settle.
They almost never "win" cases. 99% of them are settled. If they go to trial, the lawyers are probably losing money. Unfortunately, the lawyers get a third to half of the settlement even if it settles just by them writing one letter. Frequently it is necessary, but often the injured party could do better by simply negotiating hard with the insurance company. If a lawyer gets you 25% more, but takes 33%, you are not coming out ahead. The biggest thing the lawyers brings to the table is they know when the settlement offer is reasonable. They can also help identify damages that you may not realize you incurred. When soemone is clearly at fault, it is very rare for their insurance company to not settle.
i agree with your post, but the fact remains that these shysters only need to get a few people to sign up as clients to make money. and they only need one or two big judgements against an insurance company to more than cover any losses they have if they go to court in other cases. its like going to vegas and gambling. most people lose money, but a few will win and win big. the house on the other hand wins small amounts of money 99.99% of the time, and with the volume of people gambling they make huge amounts of money. its all about the numbers.
I wonder how many kids go to college for 8+ years with visions of fighting the good fight in court to end up chasing ambulances to try to drum up business so they can pay their student loan debt.
Big firms (which have the budgets for this sort of solicitation) tend to work on volume. They bring in a LOT of cases, and settle them quickly with insurance companies. They do so by not fighting things out with the ins. co., which adds to their own manhours in the case, and extends the length the case is active.
This hurts the clients because these types of firms typically settle for less than the case is really worth. They get their cut with very little investment, so it is big profit.
There are attorney's that will battle to get the client the maximum settlement. If i was in a bad accident and needed representation, these are the lawyers I would search for. They typically are private practice and small firms, and not the large assembly line firms (although, not in every instance).
I got a bunch of advertisements from lawyers when I got a speeding ticket saying they would help me fight it. I figured they just wanted my money. I can handle my business on my own without some greedy lawyer trying to take my money.
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