i was injury in 2004 and i hire a lawyer to help me fight this case and it has been 9 years, the defendant wanted to have an out - of - court settlement. the defendant agree to pay me some money and my lawyer will get 30% of those money. my lawyer said it's a pretty good offer and i better do it because he said if i continue to fight the case, i will defintely lose and not getting any money. it's ok for me have an out - of - court settlement, but now the problem is the money that i owe private clinic; the medical bill is so expensive and if i agree to have out - of - court settlement the money that i need to pay will exceed the money that i got. my lawyer promise me that he will help me resolve medical liens, this is his word " this is to advise that our office will collect all outstanding medical bills arising from treatment of your injuries sustained in the accident of 2004 and attempt to resolve all outstanding medical liens on your behalf". i afraid that he will just take 30% of money and don't care about what will happen if i have difficulty about those medical bills. i don't know right now if i should sign the out - of - court settlement contract or continue to fight the case? and i'm a low income family, if i lose the case do i need to pay those medical bill? and one of most ridiculous request from my lawyer is that if i continue to fight i will need to pay him 10,000 dollar, isn't that i only pay him 30% if and only if i win the injury case.it make me feel like my lawyer was trying to force me to sign the out of court settlement contract, so he can get 30% of those money. if my lawyer refuse to help me continue fight the case, will i need to pay him? right now i just don't know what to do, it involve so many different issue, can anybody give me some advise.?
Answers (4)
The first thing you need to do is read your contract you sign with your lawyer. In most cases the lawyer on collect if you win the case. Is sound like you don’t have that option, based on what I read you would have to pay him even if you don’t win.
Second: If you settle out of court have the other pay all of your medical expenses that you occur from the accident. You might want to keep in mind if you are having some medical problem from the accident right now, it doesn’t matter how much you receive the clinic and hospital going to take most if not all of the money.
So my additional, advice to you fire that lawyer and find and different one who’s willing to fight in your behalf. (If your contract allows you and way out, by all means take it).
Since I’m not and lawyer. I hope this advice will help you and put you on your road to victory.
I think the very first thing that you have to do is to get a new lawyer. You can have a lawyer that practices a "no win, no fee" policy like those from theledgerlawfirm.com. This way, you can be assured that your lawyer is not only helping you for the money. Anyway, I think that was a good deal already, but you still have to be compensated for your medical bills and lost wages, you deserve all these things. Most personal injury cases are settled outside the court, but it is the duty of your lawyer to make sure that you receive enough and rightful compensation. Having a lawyer in this case is very important as this can be a very tricky situation, but make sure to find one who is really good at what he does and would prioritize your best interest.
I am no lawyer myself, but here' s what I could say. NEVER sign any contract yet. Be sure that you will be working with the right lawyer who would be able to handle your case. Moreover, you can always seek for other lawyer's advice. There are lawyers that follow on the contingency fee basis. accidentattorneyhelp.com is one of the firms I know that follow this payment type. This means that you wouldn't be able to spend for attorney's fees. However, the out-of-court settlement is not a good idea. You wouldn't know what the defendant would come up. It could be that he would not be keeping his word. Taking it to court and filing for a claim is still the best.