Legal Question in Personal Injury in Pennsylvania
Personal Injury: Handle Myself vs. Obtain Counsel
I was involved in a MVA when I was rear-ended by a commercial large truck when traffic came to a sudden stop on an Interstate. The damage to my vehicle was paid at $2,500 by the company’s TPA.
I did not immediately seek medical attention, but did eventually see a chiropractor over a four month period. I was scheduled off of work for a few days after the accident and had no lost time from work.
Due to Dr. appointments and pain I was unable to pickup my usual amount of overtime. Am I able to be compensated for loss of income that may otherwise have been available? (~ $5,000 in overtime wages during the same period the previous year) There was a similar amount of OT available to me; however I could not pick up the extra hours as direct result of this accident due to pain when working longer hours or needing more time off between shifts to recuperate.
I have been dealing with the insurance company directly and they now want me to prepare a demand package. I've put together a package to present as a first offer for settlement (and have a lower amount in mind that I am willing to accept). How likely am I to get a larger settlement with representation that would offset the fee of representation?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Personal Injury: Handle Myself vs. Obtain Counsel
The short answer is that sometimes people do better without an attorney, but most of the time, you're better off hiring someone. There are issues that lawyers know about which laypeople don't - for example, the entity that paid for your medical bills may have a subrogation interest in the money you receive. That's a big issue to watch for.
If you are going to do this yourself, I recommend making certain that all of your medical bills are paid and that the people who paid them are the right people. Make sure that you get every penny of lost wages to which you are entitled. And, finally, make sure that you are compensated for all the pain and suffering that you went through over the course of treating to get better.
After you get an offer, you may want to consider retaining an attorney on an hourly basis to discuss the case in depth.
Alternatively, you may want to call around and negotiate with lawyers. Your case sounds like it is ready to settle, so I expect that you could negotiate a much lower rate than the standard one-third of the collection.
Good luck to you.
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