Why Patience Is A Critical Part Of Every Personal Injury Case

Nearly every case a personal injury lawyer tackles has a tension between two equally challenging concerns. At one end is the urgency of clients often trying to deal with utility and medical bills, mortgage and car payments, lost wages, and the basics expenses of daily life. The other end is being pulled by the need to get the details right, a problem that takes time to solve.

One piece of personal injury legal advice dominates in these situations: be patient. Let's look at why a personal injury lawyer will almost always counsel taking time with a case.

Maximum Recovery

It's understood that not all people will be able to reach maximum medical recovery before the statute of limitations runs out. However, an attorney wants to see as close to a maximum recovery as possible.

Suppose your injury involves loss of feeling in a hand. This might be caused by a muscle tweaking a nerve, or the nerve could be totally severed. Also, a damaged nerve may or may not heal on its own. A lawyer does not want to settle this type of case until it's clear whether or not the client is experiencing temporary or permanent nerve damage.

Acquiring Reports

While an injury case can feel like a flood of reports, it often takes time to get the right ones. If you look at the previous example, a neurologist or an orthopedic surgeon may have to do exploratory surgery to determine what's going on. After they've had a good look, they'll have to assemble a report explaining what they've seen and what remedies might be worth pursuing. Until that report is in hand, it can be hard to characterize in a claim why you're pursuing a particular amount of compensation.

Negotiating

To be clear, gamesmanship is not personal injury legal advice. Your lawyer has a legally-binding duty to bargain in good faith to get you the best settlement they think is attainable. The goal isn't to jerk the insurance company around.

However, that doesn't mean there won't be a negotiating process. If the claims adjuster comes in way too low on the offer, you only have three options. First, you could accept a low offer, something no personal injury lawyer will encourage. Second, you can negotiate. Third, if negotiations prove fruitless, you can sue.

Notably, if you jump right into a lawsuit, there's a good chance the court will order you to negotiate. Negotiating not only encourages the insurer to try harder, but it shows the court you've exhausted all possible options.

For more information, reach out to a company like Law Offices Of Timothy L Lapointe PC.