Q: Can you change lawyers if you have already started a law suit against someone who rear ended you.
I feel my lawyer isn't communicating with me enough about my case and what he is going to fight for on my behalf. I do know he is not considering my sudden hearing loss due to the fact my Dr retired and when he asked me about blunt trauma i was thinking about a person hitting you not being injured in a car accident as blunt trauma. I don't feel he is asking for pain and suffering, emotional distress, or the fact of suffering now from a fear when driving. The offer he did talk about to me was not even close to compensate me for what I have gone through with surgery on my left wrist and both ears.
A:
Assuming your attorney is a member of the Ohio Assn for Justice &/or handles only injury cases, as he is working on a contingent fee he has every interest in getting what can be gotten for your case. However, jurors in some areas of Ohio are quite conservative, and give awards that are below what the injury is "worth." The offers made by insurance companies for settlement in those counties are correspondingly low.
Second, very few attorneys will take a case if it is in court or the statute of limitations has run. On the ear injury, if you had documented an impact to your head, and the medical records reflect that you complained of hearing loss, a case can be made. Did you follow up with an inner ear specialist? You are only compensated for those injuries that have medical documentation.
Surgery is a more significant issue. With your fear of driving did you get a referral for ptsd desensitisation treatment like EMDR? If not you may want to check it out for your own good.
Bottom line--you need to sit down face to face with the attorney. Maybe there's something in the wording of medical records that gives them pause.
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