Legal Question in Personal Injury in Washington

My brother was in a car accident in 2011. He had just settled signed all the papers and the check. My brother has no place to go so he is in need of his money. He told his lawyer his situation and stated that he needed the money. The lawyer keeps giving him the run around. At first he told him it would take months after settlement which he waited. Now that he has the check and everything is settled the lawyer has already taken his part of it and is now telling my brother he has to wait at least another 3-4 weeks because he has to set a court date I guess to finalize the deal. Is that true? And how can the lawyer get his cut but my brother can't receive his. It seems like he is trying to keep my brother from getting the money. He has a lot of medical bills and the lawyer is trying to make him go bankrupt but then stated that there is a law that if the settlement is not enough to go around which it isn't that the hospitals can only legally get 1/3 of the settlement. Is this true as well? If you could please help me because we have been trying to get some kind of explanation from this guy and he just keeps throwing out excuse after excuse. I thought usually after the deal is done and signed it doesn't take that long afterwards to receive it. I really appreciate your help. Thank you.


Asked on 1/24/12, 10:22 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mike Altman Glisson, Witt & Altman

There is a lot of information missing from this question, but the most important questions is how old is your brother. The process of settling a case for a minor (someone under 18 years of age) is much different and does take considerablly longer due to the requirments of having an SGAL (Settlement Guardian ad Litem) assigned to the case. It is odd for the attorney to take his fees prior to this happening. I would contact another personal injury attorney immediately so that your issue(s) can be discussed in more detail.

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Answered on 2/19/12, 9:08 pm


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