Q: personal injury attorney did not my WC attorney to get my settlement numbers prior to mediation.
I had a WC case settled on medical. I did have a lien from WC case in NY. My personal attorney used lien money to leverage the settlement be a higher amount which I understood. During mediation she found out the numbers were incorrect, I lost out on significant amount of money. Now she is blaming me for not informing her, she has lost credibility and reputation. Called me and projected her anger at me I tried to explain that I didn't know the numbers and she told me to "put my head back on a swivel" was very degrading Isn't that her job to request settlement figures from my WC attorney ? 1 minute call for her paralegal to fax or email the document. What is your recommendation should I contact, reach out to her partners and tell them my concerns? I did tell her I felt this was her responsibility
A: It is not uncommon for the lien amount with which you negotiate a settlement is different than the final lien amount. That said, the attorney should arguably take reasonable efforts to get an updated lien amount before engaging in settlement discussions (and finding out whether you settled the medical portion of your WC claim which could significantly increase the WC lien). With regard to attending the mediation in person versus over Zoom, most mediations these days are held remotely. In many cases, there's little benefit to having all the parties physically present for the mediation.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
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