Legal Question in Personal Injury in Oregon

Re: What is the worth of my pain and suffering, injuries, lost wages?

Here is a great answer to this question from another PI Attorney:

"I'm asked this sort of question every day; "What's my case worth?" Unless it's a client for whom we'd put together a demand package to try to settle a case, I NEVER try to answer that question, because to do so would be VERY UNFAIR to you -- and probably legal malpractice, too.

1. Why can't a lawyer "just tell you?" Because I don't know. There are many, many factors that go into evaluating a case, and it's not just the basic sort of information you supplied....

You don't mention when this happened. I presume it was in Oregon, and that you aren't a minor. If that's accurate, then you should know that the statute of limitations in Oregon is TWO YEARS. This means that if you haven't settled your case, you have to have already filed a lawsuit by the two-year anniversary of this accident, or you will almost surely be barred from bringing a claim past that.

Another point: I'd advise you DON'T DISCUSS this with the opposing insurance adjuster. They are very sneaky and manipulative -- and with the really good ones, you'd never think so. If you talk to them, they will end up manipulating what you say, and then throwing it in a lawyer's face after you finally get disgusted from dealing with the adjuster yourself. Save yourself a lot of grief and see a good personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. If you try to negotiate yourself -- and you CAN DO THAT, there's no law against it, it's just not wise in my opinion -- then it will probably be MUCH more difficult for a lawyer to get what you SHOULD get, than if you'd had a lawyer from the beginning.

I assume you already have talked to the opposing adjusters somewhat. Even so, if you stop doing it NOW -- especially if numbers haven't been exchanged yet -- then you will still be better off.

I'm sorry if I seem as if I'm lecturing, but I've just seen so many people burned by adjusters over the years.

If you have more questions, I'd invite you to go to my own website, which you can access via my LawGuru Profile, which should be a nearby click for you. If not, it's www.yourinjurylawyers.com . The site has some Q's and A's about personal injury cases in general.

Best of luck to you. Let us know if we may help as well.

Regards,

Sam Hochberg "

Re: What is the worth of my pain and suffering, injuries, lost wages?

I'd also like to add that I believe the adjusters, and the insurance companies they work for, want you to settle your case without an attorney so that they will save money. I say this because recently a long time adjuster bragged to me that he was kept around as an adjuster by his company because he settled 70% of his injury claims without an attorney getting involved. He also bragged that he was taking business away from me. Apparently the manipulative adjusters are kept around by the insurance companies. I don't know how many of those 70% of injured people could have benefited from having an attorney involved. I'm sure some of those injuries were just bumps and scrapes, that were not costly and damaging enough for an attorney to get involved in, and were not more serious soft tissue injuries like the ones you say you have. I do think many of those people who didn't use an attorney had soft tissue injuries and tried to "save money" by doing setlling their claim themselves and ended up getting less than they could have with help from a person who negotiates those types of claims day after day, year after year, like an experienced PI attorney does.

You can read more about soft tissue injuries and their potential long term effects at www.injurylaworegon.com.

Re: What is the worth of my pain and suffering, injuries, lost wages?

I'd also like to add that I believe the adjusters, and the insurance companies they work for, want you to settle your case without an attorney so that they will save money. I say this because recently a long time adjuster bragged to me that he was kept around as an adjuster by his company because he settled 70% of his injury claims without an attorney getting involved. He also bragged that he was taking business away from me. Apparently the manipulative adjusters are kept around by the insurance companies. I don't know how many of those 70% of injured people could have benefitted from having an attorney involved. I'm sure some of those injuries were just bumps and scrapes, that were not costly and damaging enough for an attorney to get involved in, and were not more serious soft tissue injuries like the ones you say you have. I do think many of those people who didn't use an attorney had soft tissue injuries and tried to "save money" by doing settling their claim themselves and ended up getting less than they could have with help from a person who negotiates those types of claims day after day, year after year, like an experienced PI attorney does.

You can read more about soft tissue injuries and their potential long term effects at www.injurylaworegon.com.