The perfect illustration of why you should hire a lawyer

On Friday we settled a car accident case for $60,000.00.  Not that big a deal since we settle cases for this amount or more all the time.  Yet, this case illustrates why you should hire an experienced lawyer.  1) The defendant’s insurance company denied liability…they refused to pay anything.  They said it was either my client’s fault or both parties were equally at fault.  We thought that was ridiculous.  We filed suit knowing that if we didn’t win we wouldn’t get paid and would actually lose money.  After taking depositions of the parties, witnesses and doctors’ depositions we felt confident we could win.  The insurance company must have too since they decided to offer a settlement of $28,000.00.  That leads us to the second reason you should hire a lawyer.  2)  The offer was absurdly low and we knew we could get more.  We set the case for trial.  The defense filed a motions to try to reduce their liability.  We won every motion.  Trial was approaching.  They asked what it would take.  We said $60k…they complained and whined…and eventually paid the $60k.   Our client’s auto insurance was reimbursed from the settlement; her medical insurance was reimbursed and the remaining balances were paid and she walked away with $20,000.00 after fees and costs were paid.  On a disputed case, we were able to get all of our client’s bills paid, all liens paid, all attorney’s fees and costs paid and she netted a very fair settlement.  Don’t let yourself be pushed around.  Don’t be afraid of the insurance company.  Hire an experienced car accident firm.  Hire the Law Office of Keith Short.  618-655-9499 or 254-0055.