So, what if someone turns down your car accident case?
I have a client who was in a car accident. She was driving a car, going straight and the other vehicle made a left turn in front of her. The other vehicle said it had a green arrow, and my client said she had a green light. Normally, the left-turn car must yield the right of way to the vehicle proceeding straight, unless it has a traffic control device (like a green arrow) giving it the right of way.
There were no witnesses.
My client called her “family attorney” who had handled a prior motor vehicle accident. He told her that her case had no value and to forget it.
I suggested she let me give it a try. Since I solely practice in the area of personal injury, I felt certain that I could argue at least for some recovery in this “he said, she said” accident.
I placed the case into the suit as did the attorney for the other car. The other car settled quickly for a small amount of money.
I pointed out to the insurance adjuster for the other car, that we don’t know who had the right of way here but generally her insured would not, it would be up to a jury later to decide who they believed (if they believed her insured we were in trouble and vice versa) and my client ultimately needed two surgeries due to her injuries.
Before depositions even took place, I settled this case for $400,000.
The lesson – see an attorney who practices in the area of personal injury, not general practice and always get a second opinion.