Monday, November 7, 2011

How Personal Injury Litigation Differs from Other Areas of Practice

By Tony Gaar


One of the foremost differences between personal injury law and other areas of practice is that it requires a financial investment. In personal injury law, the attorney must make the initial financial investment to prepare the case for trial and the only way to recoup the money is to win at trial or settle the case for a substantial sum.Personal injury lawyers invest a lot of time into a case and may not be compensated for all the hours they work. Various experts, i.e., medical, engineering must often be hired by the lawyer to provide expert testimony in Court.

If a lawyer happens to handle many cases, he would have a hard time managing these people and get them paid on time. Thus, a personal injury lawyer needs to generate money to have the capability of handling cases. Given the financial and personal risks involved, you must examine yourself if you can really tolerate such difficult situations before embarking on personal injury practice career.

Obtaining a favorable verdict at trial is harder for personal injury cases. Many states are implementing "tort reforms" legislation that places upper limits on the amount of claims of an injured person. Also, a lot of insurance companies and corporate defendants are less motivated to settle before trial. This means that you are most likely to go through the process of filing a lawsuit which entails expenses on filing fees, depositions, expert witnesses and other court costs for the lawyer and long wait for the court decision for the client. Sad to say, because of the long process, many clients end up settling for a fraction of what the case is really worth.

The public's attitude towards personal injury cases is quite discouraging to law practitioners but the rewards of winning a case are enormous. Oftentimes, we heard news on insurance fraud, scams, and conspiracies involving personal injury lawyers, doctors, and their clients.

But on the bright side of things, nowhere in the practice of law is there more of a David versus Goliath scenario than a person on a court battle with gigantic insurance company or corporation. PI lawyers come in different personality types, interests, aptitudes, strengths and weaknesses but practicing this profession can give you an opportunity to help other people who are wronged and truly in need.




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