Q: I'm not happy at all with the low settlement offer from attorney.options?
I was in an accident where they had it closed down to one lane of traffic and the concrete arm off of a Mack truck swing out in front of us and busted through the windshield it could have killed us if we had been going fast enough which I feel like is a major mess up on their end the guys already admitted to the fault and the car was totaled out but it was my friend's vehicle so I'm only doing personal injury on my hand and I went to about a month for the physical therapy and waited for months for the lawyer to not even do their job I had to call and get the medical records transferred myself and I'm just not happy with the settlement amount that they're offering it's too low I know if I fire them that they might put a lien on the case but I'm just wondering how that process would work and if I'd still be able to get my money from the insurance company pretty soon and then just owe the lawyer or they'd have to sue me or what would end up happening if I fired them . Or other options.
A:
A Texas attorney could advise best, but your question remains open for a week. Your post raises many issues and could be too involved for a simple response such as "do this," or "do that." As a GENERAL matter, it is possible that what you describe could result in a lien on your case, but that calls for too much speculation. One option you have is to discuss your case and the offer with your attorney. You could ask your attorney why they feel the offer is low. Keep in mind that insurance companies assess motor vehicle accident cases on actual damages and liability. What you describe sounds alarming, but an insurance carrier is not likely to base damages on a catastrophe that COULD HAVE BEEN had the truck went farther through the windshield. In terms of damages, in SOME jurisdictions, injuries supported by nothing more than a month of therapy could even possibly fail to meet the threshold for serious physical injury to withstand efforts to dismiss by insurance carrier attorneys. Is it possible your attorney is contemplating the strengths of the case from that angle of the severity of the injuries and supporting evidence? One way to explore these issues could be to sit down with your attorney and discuss the file. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
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