Eye-Witnesses to Car Accidents.
November 23, 2010
As a Dallas / Fort Wort area car accident lawyer, I cannot stress the importance of having eye-witnesses to an accident. I can’t begin to tell you how many times the at-fault driver will admit fault at the scene, and then deny fault when he realizes that there are no witnesses. Unless there are either eye-witnesses or strong physical evidence to support your version of the events, you can expect the at-fault driver to change his story. Now the case becomes a “swearing match” between two drivers, each claiming the other is at fault. That is why it is very important for eye-witnesses to give their information before leaving an accident scene.
For those witnesses who “do not want to get invovled,” I can tell you from experience that your non-participation costs insurance companies and the judicial system much more than if you just come forward from the very beginning. That’s because the innocent driver will most likely be faced with having to file a lawsuit against the at-fault driver. However, if a witness had only presented themsevles in the beginning, then the case would have most likely settled without the need for filing a lawsuit. Thus, the insurance company saves money by not having to hire a lawyer and defend the case, and our judicial system saves money by not dealing with another lawsuit in an already overly-crowded court system.
If you witness a car accident, stay at the scene and offer your information. If the police are coming to the scene, then you should wait and talk only to the investigating officer. If the police are not coming to the scene, then simply write your name and contact information on two separate pieces of paper and give your information to each of the drivers. If the drivers try to press you to tell them what you saw, just be polite and say that you do not wish to discuss it right now with either of the drivers, but that you would be more than willing to discuss the accident with the insurance companies at a later time. Your participation will help resolve the matter between the innocent party and the at-fault party’s insurance company which saves everyone a great deal of time and money.
The “High-Volume” Personal Injury Law Firm?
November 1, 2010
A lawyer-client relationship is a personal one. In the Dallas / Fort Worth area, like many other large cities in the United States, there are many personal injury and car accident law firms that strive to sign up as many cases as possible. Some of those “high-volume” law firms spend millions of dollars per year in advertising in order to sign up as many as 500 cases per month, or more. Why? Because their revenue is derived from their volume. The more cases they sign up, then the more cases they have a chance to settle. If the case does not settle and a lawsuit must be filed, then you are more likely to be dropped by a high-volume law firm either because their manpower restricts their ability to litigate the case, or they conclude that the case isn’t worth enough to pursue in litigation. So when you decide to hire a high-volume law firm, you should seriously think about where your case fits into the hundreds (or maybe thousands) of other open cases they have.
However, when you decide to hire a lawyer with a smaller case-load, you should expect more personalized service from the very first meeting. Sometimes the attorneys in the high-volume law firms haven’t even met with all the clients much less personally work on all the cases. Rather the cases are mainly handled by the firm’s support staff (ie., investigators, secretaries, paralegals, etc). I cannot tell you how many times I have had people walk into my office after having their cases dropped by a high-volume law firm. Unfortunately, I tend to refuse those cases because they have usually been handled under a different philosophy than my own. When I sign-up a new case, I ask myself this one question: Can I commit to pursuing the case even if I have to file a lawsuit or go to trial? My job is not to prepare a case for a quick and easy settlement. Rather, I view my job as cultivating the case as if I was taking it to trial.