Legal Question in Personal Injury in Virginia

Re: My car accident

There's no way to make a reliable conclusion based only upon the information which you've provided and without reviewing the relevant documents involved with the matter.

Re: My car accident

I agree. There are a great many potent issues

raised by your situation, including what the

insurance company reimbursed and what FOR, what

you recovered in your settlement and what FOR

(whether there is an overlap or not), whether

the insurance company under-compensated you,

and many other ways in which it was handled.

It is true that if you are paid once by the

insurance company and then paid AGAIN for the

same thing, the insurance company may have a

right to reimbursement. But what exactly is

"the same thing?" For example, if you have

bills of $50,000, and the insurance company

pays you only $30,000, and you win $30,000 in

court, then you received $60,000 for $50,000 of

bills. So maybe there is an excess of $10,000

that should go back to the insurance company.

But since the ins. co. did not fully cover your

bills (in this example) they cannot recover

money that pays for what they did not pay for.

Similarly, if the ins. co. paid you $30,000 for

$50,000 of insurance bills, and then you win

$100,000 including pain and suffering and other

such damages, the ins. co. CANNOT claim

reimbursement for the pain and suffering.

Because the insurance company never paid you for

those items in the first place, they cannot get

reimbursed for them either.

The governing principle is that you cannot get

paid TWICE for the same injury.

However... should your lawyer have dumped out

on you without finishing all aspects of the case?

No, he shouldn't. Technically the court case

was over, so this is a "soft" rule instead of a

"hard" one. He could not quit the court case

without the court's approval. But he should not

quit on you with unfinished business.

You should look carefully at your retainer

agreement with the attorney to see what his

responsibilities were. He may also have duties

under the rules of the State Bar.