How Long Should I Wait to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Monday, July 18, 2022

How Long Should I Wait to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

The sooner you reach out to a personal injury lawyer after an accidental injury, the better. Many times people think it’s going to be as easy as calling their insurance company and getting a check sent out. Sadly, that is rare. Oftentimes, injured people don’t contact personal injury lawyers until they’ve exhausted all of their other options. Instead of facing that stress and hassle yourself, a personal injury lawyer can handle those phone calls and correspondences on your behalf while you focus on healing.

You Should Contact a Lawyer Immediately After Your Injury

Because you most likely don’t have knowledge and experience in dealing with big insurance companies, when you try to navigate their system, it’s going to chew you up and spit you out. There are a variety of reasons that it’s better to call a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible, but the main ones are:

• You may accept the first lowball settlement offer the insurance company throws out at you because you don’t understand that you can fight it and negotiate.
• You may allow valuable evidence to not be preserved because you didn’t know what kind of proof you may need moving forward.
• You may simply mishandle the claim, preventing yourself from getting a bigger payout later. For example, an insurance company may invite you to mediation. Sounds like a win-win, right? If you had gone to court, however, you might have asked for attorney’s fee compensation when you win and have a trained expert advocating for you. In mediation, you have no legal representative on your side and can get bullied by the team of lawyers from the insurer.

You Have Nothing to Lose

You really have nothing to lose by reaching out to personal injury attorneys immediately. If the lawyers say that they can’t help you, at least you know your case is not that strong. You can be prepared for maybe not getting your ideal outcome or settlement. However, if your case is strong (i.e., if someone else is responsible for your injuries), you only stand to gain.

Because personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis, you truly have nothing to lose by calling today. A contingency basis means that you will not pay an hourly rate or a retainer fee to have the lawyer started on your case. On a contingency basis, the lawyer will only get paid if he or she wins a settlement for you. When the settlement comes in, your lawyer will take a percentage of that award amount to pay themselves.

Personal Injury Lawyers Pay for Themselves in Illinois

The Insurance Research Council is an entity that provides research and insights into public policy issues facing the insurance industry. The IRC recently conducted a large-scale study of insurance claims. They found that claimants (injured parties) who were represented by attorneys got 3.5x larger settlements. Research from Jury Verdict Reporter shows that the typical personal injury claim award amount was $27,220.

Imagine getting a settlement of $30,000 versus getting one for 3.5x more at $105,000. Even after you pay your lawyer a portion of the settlement, you still have MORE than double what you would have gotten without a personal injury lawyer on your side. Additionally, in Illinois, research also reveals that more than half of personal injury lawsuits are decided in the plaintiff’s favor. Again, you have absolutely nothing to lose by contacting a lawyer as soon as possible.

Call a Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Right Now to Get Started

Chicago personal injury lawyers at Malman Law are here to fight for your maximum settlement. Stop trying to navigate the complicated paperwork and deal with the insurance company’s bureaucratic system on your own. Contact us now to see what we can do for you.