Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York
Recourse?
Having broken the fifth metatarsel in my foot, I contacted a lawyer to sue. I took pictures of the location, signed permission forms for him to contact my doctor, the clinic used, my employer and anyone else he needed to contact. He subsequently sent me 4 sets of additional forms for notarization and signature which I delivered to his offie. He never contacted anyone, I checked. He did not want the copy of my xray in his office. When he went befor the corp council, they told him that they would only pay $5,000 for a broken FOOT. This is a quote from him which he made when he called me and asked me to dismiss him from the case since it was not worth his time to handle it. He had originally been convinced that he could get $75000.
I contacted another lawyer so i might transfer the case and after speaking to the original lawyer, he said that I was just gold digging the case.
Do I have any recourse to get my original case handled and I also want the original lawyer to be made to realise that what he did is unacceptable and in my mind unethical.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Recourse?
Read your retainer agreement. If you don't have one, it sounds like this lawyer was doing you a favor, and you have no recourse.
If you do have one, you have not provided sufficient info about the date of accident, whether a 90 day notice, and a notice of defect (assuming this was a municipal sidewalk case, the corporation counsel would need to have notice of the condition, and a timely notice of the accident) was provided.
The injury alone is not enough to base an evaluation on.
It sounds as if you retained an attorney who investigated your case and learned there that either there was no prior written notice of the condition, or, if you retained in time, he may have failed to file a timely notice of claim (or make a motion for leave to serve a late one) and
these are fatal when dealing with municipal sidewalk defect cases.
You have to provide more info.
Re: Recourse?
You have not provided sufficient information .
However, a person is not wedded to any particular professional. You may change your Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer or whatever at anytime.
Good luck,
Phroska L. McAlister,ESQ
Re: Recourse?
I have handled a bunch of these cases and am in the middle of one right now. The settlement value is between $10,000 - $15,000 assuming no sugery or complication. This also assumes good liability. If you are dealing with the City of New York, it must have prior written notice of the defect unless it created the defect. The $5,000 offer suggests to me that the City is claiming no notice. If you wish to discuss your case, please feel free to call me at 212-622-7180.
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