Nearly every week day, I sit in my Atlanta law office and talk to folks who have been involved in car accidents or other types of trauma that lead to injuries. Many times they have not yet hired an attorney and are wondering if they should.
One recurring question I hear a lot is this: Do I really need an attorney? Can't I just wait and see if the insurance company makes me a good offer?
My answer to that question is going to vary depending on the circumstances of your injury, but a few things can be said that apply to nearly every injury claim.
One way to come at this topic is for me to ask you to consider how you would respond if I asked you why you need to do your job. Let's pretend for a moment. Let's say you fly airplanes for a living and have been licensed as a commercial airline pilot. How would you answer if just before take off I make my way up to the front of the plane to ask you if I really need your services to have a successful flight?
Maybe the pilot scenario is a bit over the top - but my point is that whether you are a brain surgeon or a plumber, you have an area of expertise that most other people are flat clueless about. And frankly, that is how it is with personal injury cases. They are complex matters, often involving highly technical rules of evidence and multiple layers of legal nuances that even attorneys with years of expertise find challenging.
Also, please keep in mind that our legal system is adversarial. If you don't hire an attorney, you can rest assured of one thing: the other side will. It will be little old you against a deep pocketed insurance company and its cadre of attorneys.
Please also consider another aspect. From time to time I talk to a prospective client who was injured and decided to handle the case on their own. Six months down the road they received an offer that was just flat insulting. They then pick up the phone and call me. 9 times out of 10 I can not help that person. Without meaning to, and with the very best of intentions, they have messed the case up to the point where I can not salvage it. I have to tell them I am sorry but I can not get involved.
Now having said all the above, I should add a caveat. I will allow there are some exceptions to the rule and I'll be the first to tell you if I don't think you need an attorney. In fact I regularly tell people who have relatively minor claims they would be better off without me - I give them a few tips about how to handle it on their own and tell them to call me back and let me know how it went.
