One thing a lot of our clients have in common is that they’ve been involved in motor vehicle accidents. For people who were involved in minor accidents, there’s a good chance the insurance company already paid their claim. It doesn’t make a lot of sense for insurance carriers to spend thousands of dollars defending a claim that’s only worth about $5,000 or $6,000. By the time an accident victim has come to see our Georgia injury lawyer, they’re looking for somebody to pay. If they truly believe that the other party caused the accident, they believe they should be held liable for any damages suffered.
We 100% agree. However, it’s not always easy at first to convince a new client that a settlement is in their best interests. Many clients tell us they want to have their day in court. They want somebody to stand up for them and point at the other driver and say, “they did this to me”. The problem is that it doesn’t work like that in the real world. More than 95% of all car accident cases settle at some point before they ever see the inside of a courtroom. And if you’re case does make it to trial, it means that both parties have a pretty strong case. This also means that you have a 50/50 chance of losing. Rather than risk this happening, you should seriously consider your Atlanta accident lawyer’s suggestion that you settle your case out of court.
More than 95% of All Personal Injury Cases Settle Before Trial
As mentioned above, more than 95% of all personal injury cases settle out of court. Nobody wants to go to trial. Regardless of whether you’re the plaintiff or defendant, trials are expensive and time consuming. You’ll have to pay for filing fees as well as the money it costs to file motions and respond to motions. You may have to pay for expert witnesses to fly in and testify on your behalf. At some point along the way, you’ll probably have to pay for depositions and court stenographers.
In addition to trials being very expensive, it can take a long time before your case ever goes before a judge. Even when the courts don’t have a backlog of cases, you’re looking at a year or a year and a half before you’ll ever get to trial. As a result of COVID-19, all the courts, especially the civil courts, have a backlog of cases on the docket. This means two things. First, it means the civil judges are going to do whatever they can to encourage civil attorneys to settle their cases out of court. Second, it means that your case is going to be behind all the other cases that are waiting to go before the judge. Even if you end up winning in court, you’re going to have to wait all this time without any money coming in on your case. It also means that when your case does eventually resolve, you’re going to have to pay your attorney back for all the money they put out on your case. And that’s if you win. There’s always a chance that you’ll lose in court no matter how great your Atlanta accident lawyer is. Rather than take this risk, it’s almost always in your best interest to consider a settlement.
Your Georgia Injury Lawyer is an Expert at Negotiating Settlements
One other thing worth mentioning here is that Georgia injury lawyers spend years learning how to negotiate with insurance companies and with defense attorneys. First, they have to go to law school for three or four years where they learn as much as they possibly can about civil law. Second, they usually spend the first couple years as a practicing lawyer watching more seasoned lawyers negotiate on their cases. When you compound this with the fact that you’re Atlanta accident lawyer has negotiated dozens if not hundreds of settlements on their own, it should give you the confidence you need to trust in your attorney.
Your Georgia Injury Lawyer Will Not Let You Be Taken Advantage Of
One of the reasons we always suggest that an accident victim at least meet with a Georgia injury lawyer is because if they represent themselves they’ll be taken advantage of. This has nothing to do with a Georgia injury lawyer wanting to make more money. It has to do with the fact that we’ve had too many clients come to us late in the game in tears because they’ve been treated so poorly by the defendant’s attorney and insurance carrier. Sometimes, new clients come to us because they’ve been treated unfairly by the judge simply because they’re not represented by a Georgia injury lawyer.
As much as we would like to say how unfair this is, it’s just the way things are. As your parents probably told you as you were growing up, life isn’t fair. Sometimes it’s worth paying an experienced Atlanta accident lawyer to handle your case for you. As we like to tell our clients, it’s better to get most of something than all of nothing.
We won’t let the insurance company take advantage of you. With us by your side, you won’t have to go in front of a judge all by yourself. You certainly won’t have to worry about an insurance company pressuring you to accept a lowball settlement. These are just a few of the benefits of hiring a Georgia injury lawyer.
Since we offer all new clients a free, initial consultation, it makes sense for you to come into the office and at least speak to somebody about your case. If your case has merit, our office may be willing to represent you against the defendant. If we don’t feel you have a valid case, we will let you know up front. We don’t think it’s fair to get a client’s hope up knowing that they have no shot at winning in court.
