Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Re: Pip

Depends on the contract that you signed with the attorney. In my practice, we don't charge for handling PIP (barring extremely unusual circumstances). Many attorneys in the business feel taking a contingency fee on PIP of 1/3 is unethical.

Re: Pip

If you are making an uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) motorist claim, then any monies paid under PIP reduce the amount paid under the UM/UIM claim. I would expect your attorney to be contractually entitled to an interest in the PIP if that is the case. Sometimes the only $ is in PIP. So, once again, the attorney should receive a portion of the PIP. Many attorneys will probably have their contracts drafted widely enough to give them an interest in the PIP. Regardless, sometimes an attorney will reduce or waive his claim against PIP when ample $ has been recovered under a 3rd party policy. Since 3rd party claims can be uncertain, PIP monies might be retained by an attorney in case the 3rd party claim ends up poorly.

Re: Pip

Most contingency fee contracts provide that the attorney will receive a certain percentage of any funds collected on behalf of the client. You need to remember that collecting on PIP is not automatic. Quite a bit of paperwork and bookkeeping is involved in filling out the application, submitting the bills and records, and keeping after the adjuster to pay on time. Quite often the adjuster demands other documentation to substantiate the claim. It is also not uncommon for insurance carriers to either refuse to pay or drag their feet on paying, often requiring a lawsuit filed by your attorney before they will pay. Please remember also that you are receiving other services from your attorney for which the attorney deserves to be paid (at least this is true in my office): (1) Providing you with unlimited free telephone consultation regarding your case or any other legal issue you may be confronted with; (2) Making sure all deadlines have been met; (3) Gathering (and paying for) all medical bills and records necessary to prove up your PIP and liability claims (which can easily cost your attorney hundreds of dollars); (4) handling the hassles of putting together all of the medical records and bills and submitting them to the adjuster in the proper form and keeping tract of what has been submitted and when payment is due; (5) being ready, willing, and capable of filing a lawsuit at a moment's notice to make the insurance company behave itself (often it is this threat alone that ensures that your case gets resolved fairly and within a reasonable time); etc. The bottom line is, please don't be too critical of your attorney for charging a fee based upon what he or she has collected for you. It's not as easy as you may think. Also, most attorneys I know will gladly allow you to take on the task of collecting the PIP if you want it. Just please don't say you'll do it (to avoid paying a fee) but then call your attorney for advice on this issue every other day. Fair is fair and right is right. All an attorney has to sell is his/her wisdom, advice, counsel, and expertise--and it's wrong for you to expect that to be given away for free. After all, you wouldn't work for free, would you?