Do Lawyers Lie About Settlements?

Do Lawyers Lie About Settlements?

Can Lawyers Lie About Your Settlement?

Insurance defense lawyers have every reason to want you to try to deal with the insurance company independently. In many respects, your lawyer holds them accountable.

Having an experienced attorney on your side keeps them from getting away with things like arbitrarily denying your claim and trying to grossly underpay your total damages. Their tactics make you mistrust lawyers and the entire legal system.

The more insurance companies scare you away from having a personal injury lawyer, the more you should know that it is in your best interests to have one. medical bills legal professionals

Insurance Companies Have a Conflict

Insurance companies cannot be trusted when they try to give you warnings about others or so-called truthful advice. An insurance company has a natural conflict when it handles your claim. The more money they give you, the less money they make. When an adjuster says they are trying to “look out for you,” they are looking out for the insurance company and no one else.

One common scare tactic that insurance companies use is to convince you that your lawyer is just a settlement factory that will seek to dispose of your case as fast as possible by reaching a quick agreement. Of course, this cuts against everything that a lawyer tells you when they promise to fight for you when the insurance company is trying to underpay you. One value that a lawyer adds to your case is that they advise you when an insurance company is offering you less than you deserve. They will then advise you to reject the settlement offer and counter with a demand letter stating what you deserve and why. If a settlement is in your best interests and covers your losses, your lawyer should advise you of this instead of encouraging you to keep fighting for more when it is a waste of time.

Lawyers Cost Themselves Money, Too, if Your Case Settles for Less

Your lawyer is working for you on a contingency basis. Even if it were not legally and ethically wrong to settle your claim for too little, they cost themselves money by rushing an early settlement. In reality, the lawyer has a legal obligation to put your interests ahead of theirs. They must give you legal advice and representation based on what works in your particular circumstances.

A lawyer who lies to their client or engages in any other such legal malpractice will likely face disciplinary action sooner than later. They may not even be a lawyer for too much longer if they lied to their clients.

Clients Get Unhappy With Lawyers When Settlement Money Runs Out

At the same time, lawyers also work based on referrals and recommendations. The best thing for a lawyer's business is to have a long track record of successfully helping clients achieve results. Satisfied clients help them gain other new clients. That is how the entire personal injury law business works.

Clients will know when they have settled a case for less than they deserved. The money they need will begin to run low at some point. They will remember that the lawyer advised them to accept the settlement offer. They can either:

• Leave the lawyer a bad public review
• Not recommend the lawyer to any of their friends or family
• File a disciplinary complaint if they think that the lawyer lied to them

In other words, if a lawyer functions like an assembly line for quick and rushed settlement agreements, they will not maintain a business for long. Lawyers Help You Keep the Insurance Company Accountable

What the lawyer representing you is promising is to work for you and your interests. They will help prepare your claim and present it to the insurance company. Then, if the insurance company makes you a settlement offer based on that claim, your lawyer will review it to see if it adequately compensates you for your injuries. If the offer is not enough, your lawyer will advise you to reject it.

Your lawyer may keep wrangling back-and-forth with the insurance company until they have made an offer that is enough to cover all your damages and losses. At no time during the settlement negotiations is there a lie about the size of the settlement. If the insurance company refuses to make you a reasonable settlement offer, your lawyer should be able to prepare you a lawsuit and take your case to court if necessary. An attorney can tell you that they get results for clients because that is true. They can say that they will work tirelessly on your behalf, countering insurance company offers until they secure you a fair deal. They cannot promise you a specific amount or make representations about the size of a settlement. True, there have been some horror stories of dishonest or negligent attorneys who negotiate settlements behind their client's back or lie about reaching settlements when they haven't. Those practices are against all legal ethics and norms. The instances in which these practices happen are rare and represent a significant departure from the norm. Nobody can promise that every person in a profession follows all the rules. There is practically no profession in which someone hasn't intentionally broken the law.

Do Not Let Stories of Bad Lawyers Scare You Off

The law has mechanisms to weed out and punish bad actors who commit these acts. An attorney who violates ethical rules can face censure, suspension, or disbarment. Still, these lawyers are few and far between. Most attorneys follow the rules and work hard for their clients every day.

If there are some rule-breaking lawyers, insurance companies should not use them to fuel a broad-based fear tactic that discourages people with civil lawsuits from hiring attorneys. An equivalent of the insurance company's argument is a person not seeing a doctor when they have a life-threatening illness because some doctors commit medical malpractice.

Your Attorneys Will Work Hard for You

The vast majority of personal injury attorneys care deeply about their clients' legal rights and will do everything to fight for the people they represent to receive more money. They come to work every day to work as hard as possible for you and your family.

Lawyers earn a living from their work, but that living comes when they align their own interests with their clients' interests, and put them in a position to succeed. They cannot put their own financial interests first, no matter what scare tactics insurance companies use.

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The Insurance Company Wants You Mistrusting Lawyers

There should be nothing stopping you from contacting an experienced attorney as soon as possible after your accident. You should certainly not trust the insurance company that will be legally responsible for paying you the damages their policyholder caused you through their negligence.

Insurance companies want to drive a wedge between you and a prospective attorney because they want you to come to them independently. Insurance adjusters know that accident victims are often in a vulnerable state, facing missed work, lost wages, costly medical expenses, and more, putting them in a position where they may be inclined to accept a lowball offer for the immediate relief it can provide.

Your Lawyer Is Here to Help You Through the Legal Process

In any personal injury case, your lawyer will be your guide throughout the legal process and quite possibly your biggest advocate, too. The attorney client relationship begins with the initial consultation.

They will listen to your story and ask you questions about your case. They will also answer your questions and explain the legal process to you. The attorney may also outline your options for how you can obtain financial compensation. At that point, both you and the lawyer will decide whether you want to work with each other. Your attorney will then investigate the facts and gather evidence to prove that someone else was responsible for your injuries. If you can demonstrate liability, you will be in a position to receive financial compensation. This work is just the beginning of the legal process for many accident victims. In some cases, the insurance company may concede liability early. However, they reserve the bulk of their efforts for negotiating the actual compensation. It is there where they think that they can win.

Your Lawyer Works for You to Get Full Compensation

Often, your lawyer's value comes when they get the insurance company to raise your settlement offer dramatically. The initial settlement offer can be pennies on the dollar because the insurance company wants to see what you will accept.

One of the reasons why insurance companies try to scare people away from hiring lawyers is that an attorney will let you know when a settlement offer is too low. They provide you with valuable information about what your claim is worth. Without an attorney, you may be entirely in the dark about how much money you can obtain for your damages.

Attorneys Will Let You Know Exactly What the Insurance Company Is Doing to You

Insurance companies want you to be uninformed. Then, they can play the role of the “generous” insurer who comes to your rescue. Don't fall for it. More often than not, they get serious about settling your case only after you partner with a personal injury lawyer who will fight to maximize your recovery and protect your rights.

insurance companies often spread misconceptions about personal injury lawyers. Fear is a powerful motivator, and they will usually try to discourage you from working with an attorney. Do not buy the line insurance companies are selling. If you do, you will end up with a recovery that may pay you a fraction of what your claim was worth. Not hiring a lawyer can be a costly mistake. Stand on the side of the one whose job depends on securing you as much compensation as possible instead of the one whose job is to keep you from receiving full payment for your injuries. While many people want to believe insurance adjusters, believe an experienced insurance dispute lawyer instead.

Contact Abels & Annes, P.C. for a Free Consultation

If a negligent person, company or other entity injured you or a close family member, you may be able to seek compensation. Don't allow an insurance company to tell you how much your damages are worth. Only you and your personal injury lawyer can arrive at that figure after carefully and thoroughly evaluating your injuries and their impact on every part of your life.

Don't allow insurance companies to take advantage of you. Contact Abels & Annes, P.C. today for a free consultation. We will review your case, answer your questions, and discuss your best options for obtaining the compensation you deserve. Call us at (312) 924-7575 or use our contact form for a free case evaluation and consultation.

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