Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
Who is responsible after settlement?
8 years ago I was in a car accident which all involved agreed was not my fault. I hired an attorney who eventually requested all my medical records. About two years ago, a settlement was finally reached. I just required that all my medical bills would be covered by the settlement. I was assurred they would be. After the settlement my attorney sent me a box filled with papers from my case requesting that I hang on to it. This past fall I began to receive notices from my medical insurer that compensation was still do. The list had two errors, but the rest of the bills I found in the records that my attorney had given me to keep. I notified my attorney's office, but he contacted the insurer without ever speaking with me and said that it did seem that I did indeed owe them money. My attorney sent me a copy of his letter. Why didn't my attorney make sure these bills were paid as part of the settlement? Who's responsibility is it to pay at this point? I have written my attorney two letters and in response received one phone message from his (paralegal?). She never seems to be available however, and my phone calls have not been returned. Have I been abandoned? What should I do at this point?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Who is responsible after settlement?
Your attorney should have handled it (based on the information I have so far.
Joel
JOEL SELIK
Attorney at Law
800-894-2889
760-479-1515
702-243-1930
Licensed to Practice Law in California and Nevada Only
CONCENTRATING IN ELDER ABUSE, LITIGATION AND COLLECTIONS
Personal Injury, Contracts, Tax Matters, Business,
Malpractice, Appeals, Elder Neglect/Abuse/Nursing Home Malpractice
Real Estate, and Other Legal Matters
This is just general information. No representations are made and no attorney client relationship is established by this communication. In most matters there are strict time limitations within which actions may be taken or your rights will be compromised. We are not taking any action on your matter and will not be considered your attorney or tax representative until both you and we have signed a fee agreement.
We, therefore will take no action on your behalf unless a written retainer agreement is signed. There are strict deadlines, called statutes of limitation, within which claims or lawsuits must be filed. Therefore, if you do not retain SELIKLAW, you should immediately seek the services of another attorney or other advisor.
JOEL SELIK
Attorney at Law
800-894-2889
760-479-1515
702-243-1930
Licensed to Practice Law in California and Nevada Only
CONCENTRATING IN ELDER ABUSE, LITIGATION AND COLLECTIONS
Personal Injury, Contracts, Tax Matters, Business,
Malpractice, Appeals, Elder Neglect/Abuse/Nursing Home Malpractice
Real Estate, and Other Legal Matters
This is just general information. No representations are made and no attorney client relationship is established by this communication. In most matters there are strict time limitations within which actions may be taken or your rights will be compromised. We are not taking any action on your matter and will not be considered your attorney or tax representative until both you and we have signed a fee agreement.
We, therefore will take no action on your behalf unless a written retainer agreement is signed. There are strict deadlines, called statutes of limitation, within which claims or lawsuits must be filed. Therefore, if you do not retain SELIKLAW, you should immediately seek the services of another attorney or other advisor.
Re: Who is responsible after settlement?
Since I don't know what the settlement agreement says it is hard to say what should have been done. It is possible that your medical bills exceed the amount you received from the settlement (after deducting your attorney's fee and expenses). If that is the case, then you are responsible for the balance.
If you received enough cash from the settlement to cover the bills, then you can simply use the cash to pay them. Unless your fee agreement says otherwise, it is probably not the attorney's job to write up the checks and do the accounting to pay your bills; instead, he simply gives you your share of the settlement and leaves you to take care of these matters.
My sense is that you didn't get any cash, and that your portion of the settlement was consumed by payments made to some of your creditors. If that is what happened, then there is no reason the other creditors should be left out in the cold.
What led you to believe all of your bills would be paid by the settlement? If your attorney persuaded you to accept the settlement by assuring you that it would pay all of your medical bills then you probably have a decent malpractice case against him. But if you simply assumed all your bills would be taken care of, then the mistake was yours and you have to pay these bills the same way you pay all of your usual expenses.
Re: Who is responsible after settlement?
Without reviewing your records, it's hard to say. Likely your insurance company is seeking reimbursement on its med-pay provision. Most policies have a $5k med-pay limit. Med-pay usually is a lien against recovery through settlement or judgment. You might want to put your concerns in writing to your attorney, send the letter by certified mail, return receipt, and keep a copy of your letter. If that doesn't work, the State Bar of California might be interested. 8 years is a long time to get a case resolved!
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