Personal injury lawyers provide each potential client with the chance to enjoy a free consultation. The prospective client learns about the lawyer’s knowledge and experience. The consulted attorney learns the details of the prospective client’s case. Sometimes the consulted attorney refuses to take a possible case. Why is that the case?
Typical reasons for a personal injury lawyer electing to refuse a case
The plaintiff did not suffer much in the way of damages; consequently, the insurance will not offer a large compensation package. Personal injury lawyers in Sherwood Park want to obtain a fair fee for the amount of work put into a given case. The legal system might place limits on the amount of money recovered. Some systems have placed a cap on the size of damage awards. The cap limits the amount of any victim’s award, unless that same victim has suffered a large amount of damages.
Not everyone can pursue a personal injury case. The court requires the presentation of the fact that the defendant was negligent. If a plaintiff fails to satisfy that requirement, then there can be no case. Personal injury lawyers are all too aware of that provision in the law.
A prospective client might approach a personal injury attorney after the deadline that was stated in the statute of limitations has passed. At that point, a court would not honor an effort to file a claim against the alleged defendant.
The significance of the injury’s severity
The nature of a possible client’s injury is like the extent of damage done to that same client’s property. Someone that has sustained only a minor injury would have little reason to expect a large compensation package. Consequently, a personal injury attorney would not obtain a decent fee, if he or she were to take on such a client.
Still, that does not mean that all personal injury lawyers welcome the chance to represent someone that has suffered a severe injury. An insurance company might question the claims made by a victim that has been forced to deal with such an injury.
The insurance company might not believe that the victim needs to deal with ongoing pain, or with some other discomfort. By the same token, the insurance company might have doubts about claims regarding the client’s lost future income. Sometimes an attorney needs to hire an expert witness, in order to obtain confirmation of a given claim.
It costs money to pay for such a witness. It takes time to find such a witness. Not every personal injury lawyer feels ready to invest the time and money required, for providing someone that has sustained a serious injury with the needed legal help, for seeking a fair compensation package.