He Who Represents Himself Has A Fool For A Client
I recently had an opportunity to meet with a sophisticated client who was involved in a rear end collision with another vehicle almost two years ago. The client sustained what this experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyer considers fairly significant injuries and was attempting to represent himself against an insurance company who assured him that they would be making him a fair and proper settlement offer. In fact, the company that proposed to be making a fair offer was recently cited by The American Association of Justice as the worst insurance company in America and stood out above all others in that arena. To quote the American Association for Justice report “the company that publicly touted its ‘good hands’ approach, privately instructed its agents to employ a ‘boxing gloves’ strategy in the settlement of claims.”
When I reviewed the amount that the company was offering the sophisticated individual who initially thought the offer was fair, I was astounded but not really so. In cases like this and countless others, the name of the game in the insurance industry is to deny, delay and defend and in fact, do anything to avoid or minimize paying claims. For many companies there are corporate training manuals explaining how to avoid or minimize payments.
Obviously, as the CEO of Allstate, Thomas Wilson, told shareholders, “our obligation is to earn a return for our shareholders.” Unfortunately, that dedication to shareholders comes at a price. Clearly the insurance company has teams of adjusters, investigators and lawyers working against you when you are in an accident in an adversarial process. Their goal is to pay as little as possible to settle the claim.
As an experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyer who has handled thousands of cases since 1979, the bottom line is that considering the realities and complexities of the legal system and dealing with an insurance company, the retention of a qualified and experienced car accident attorney is almost a mandatory evil to level the playing field to insure that you receive maximum compensation for your injuries.
As was the case with this well versed and sophisticated client, many car accident victims think that they will avoid paying legal fees and make more money in the long run if they represent themselves. Unfortunately, after it is too late, they recognize that they are in over their heads and make many mistakes including but not limited to providing incriminating statements to adjusters that cannot be undone even by the most experienced personal injury attorneys. Many times our experienced car accident lawyers are called into situations just before the statute of limitations expires to rectify a situation where damage has been done by an inexperienced attorney or a potential client who was attempting to maximize his own recovery by representing himself. Putting it frankly, as an experienced personal injury attorney, I would never even represent myself in an accident following the maxim that “he who represents himself has a fool for a client”.
You should always remember that an experienced car accident lawyer will charge a recovery contingent upon your recovery and therefore, it is in the attorney’s best interest to maximize the results for the client. Therefore, one has nothing to lose and everything to gain by hiring an experienced car accident lawyer as soon as possible after being involved in a car accident.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident, please contact the experienced Philadelphia car accident lawyers at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
