If you have been hurt due to someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing, you may be considering pursuing legal action in the form of a lawsuit. The first step you will have to take to sue a company or an individual is to meet with a personal injury attorney who handles the type of case you’d like to bring.
For instance, if you have been hurt by a doctor’s negligence, you would want to find a personal injury attorney who handles medical malpractice, and if your child was hurt by a defective high chair or car seat, then you’d need to find an experienced personal injury lawyer who handles defective product cases.
Just because you feel you’ve been harmed through no fault of your own does not mean you’re entitled to compensation. Only after a thorough examination of all the facts of your case can an attorney determine whether or not there’s a personal injury case.
Reasons to Decline Personal Injury Cases
It can be very frustrating to suffer an injury or lose a loved one due to negligence and then not be able to take action, but the lawyer you meet with must consider many factors before deciding whether or not to file suit. Here are a few reasons an attorney may have to say “no” to your case:
- The injuries sustained were not serious enough to warrant a personal injury claim. A lawyer must prove you suffered fairly significant injuries in order to file suit. An attorney may decide to take your case if your injuries were so serious you could no longer work, if your injuries mean you can no longer carry out your usual responsibilities in the household, or if your accident caused you to have an ongoing medical issue like the loss of a limb, chronic back pain or blindness. While many people want to sue for the principle of it and punish someone or something that has hurt them, not all cases can be won in a court of law.
- You were partly to blame for the injury you suffered. In order for a personal injury claim to be valid, it must be clear who was to blame. Many states have what is called “comparative negligence,” which means that your total compensation might be reduced by your percentage of fault. Your lawyer will explain how negligence works in the state you reside, and he may not be able to take your case if you were partly to blame.
- In a similar vein, it may not be possible to determine who is liable, and when this is the case, a personal injury attorney will balk at filing suit. Four things must be in place for a lawyer to prove someone or something else was the cause of your injury: Duty, breach of duty, causation and damages.
- Your case may be too costly for an attorney. An attorney is there to fight for your rights and get you monetary compensation when it is deserved, but if your case will end up costing the attorney and his team more than you’re likely to win in court, a lawyer will have to say “no” to taking your case. While this doesn’t happen too often, it will be difficult to find a lawyer to take your case if he will end up racking up large debts to fight for you.
- If the statute of limitations has expired, a lawyer cannot take your case. While some of the other reasons personal injury attorneys decline cases are subjective, this is 100% objective in that the statute of limitations has either passed or it has not. If you are well within the statute of limitations for your type of claim, a lawyer is more likely to take your case. If the statute of limitations has run out, an attorney has no other choice but to turn you down.
If you have been hurt by someone’s wrongdoing, or if you have sustained some type of injury from a defective product, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Please contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area today to schedule a free claim evaluation.
About Lynn Shapiro
