I look up. In big letters, I see it:
INJURED?
Next to the large word, I see the smiling faces and telephone number. It’s a new billboard. I drive down the road. Less than half a mile down the road, I see these words on another billboard:
The lawyer appears and asks for your case. His ads are simple — Smile. Act Confident. Tell Viewers To Call. In his advertisements, one local Huntsville lawyer claims, “we have the lawyer to fix your problem.” Does he? Can he fix all your problems?
The advertising lawyer wants your case. That much is true. Yet, his law firm website (in the fine print) discloses a little more truth he hopes you won’t notice. While his firm takes personal injury clients, they refer the serious ones to outside lawyers for work. That begs the question — Why advertise for cases you don’t really handle through trial and appeal? The answer is simple. For firms who simply sign up cases, it’s not about the client or the case. If the lawyer cared about the client or the case, he or she would not be asking for cases they really did not handle. He would not claim expertise in every legal area possible. No, the answer comes down to fee (money). The smiling advertising lawyer wants the case to get a quick settlement or referral fee. Often, that is NOT in your best interest. And, he hopes you don’t know that.
If you are the injury victim who needs a lawyer, this can be a bad deal for you. Here are four ways it can be a bad deal for you:
Do Alabama hospitals treat accident victims differently? The short answer is, YES. If you are an accident victim, you can pay the price for the hospital’s actions. An article published earlier this year in another state tells the story. That story is titled “Man says hospital went after car crash settlement instead of insurance.” That story leads with the following:
You can’t tell the difference in the emergency room. It happens when the hospital is ready to collect its money.
Many of us have some type of health coverage. Blue Cross. Medicare. Tricare. United Health. You assume the hospital will first submit the bill to your health coverage provider. After all, you paid for the coverage. The hospital may even have a contract with your health provider requiring it to submit the bill. Yet, hospitals often treat accident victims differently.
We trust our doctors. We should. Most doctors are dedicated to helping people. In Huntsville, we are fortunate to have excellent medical professionals.
This post is not about those dedicated doctors (the vast majority) who treat and help their patients. This post is about the rare (but extremely harmful) doctor who earns his/her living not by treating patients — but by selling biased and false opinions for insurance companies in an effort to mislead courts and juries. These paid insurance experts are usually not local. And, they usually don’t provide treatment to real patients. Every profession has a few bad apples. When it comes to these “paid biased experts,” their impact harms the entire justice system.
I’ve cross-examined these biased, paid experts for many years. A recent news article in Nevada highlighted a doctor in that state who was banned from testifying by two local judges. In banning this paid expert, the Nevada judges issued a blistering opinion. The judges found the paid expert gave opinions based “heavily on speculation and other irrelevant factors.” They also found the insurance expert had a “history of personal bias as to some treating physicians and extreme bias” against plaintiffs.
In a recent video advertisement a local Huntsville attorney claimed that your specific legal problem did not matter. He had the attorney for you. That attorney repeated his claim over and over, inserting very different legal needs each time. “It Doesn’t Matter (INSERT LEGAL PROBLEM), We Have Your Lawyer.” It’s a ridiculous ad. It’s an ad fishing for attorney fees.
Think about your legal need. Complicated Elder Law Issue? If you need advice in that area, you better consult an attorney with practical experience in tax issues, with knowledge of Medicare matters, and with a working background in Trusts and Estates. I would. Personally, I would never go to a lawyer that said his firm could service any and all legal problems. I’ve seen too many horror stories in my decades of practicing law where families were torn apart because their loved one had an Estate document prepared by a lawyer who did not fully understand all the issues. Serious Personal Injury? While any lawyer can try and settle a case, not all lawyers can really settle or complete a case for its maximum value. You should trust a serious personal injury case to a serious lawyer with years of experience studying injury law issues, handling damages claims at actual trials, dealing with complex experts, and preparing injury claims for trial and appeal. The level of attorney expertise can make a big difference in the final result. And, in contested cases it can make a difference between winning and losing. I have received too many phone calls over the years from people who had their personal injury claims ruined by a billboard lawyer who lacked the skill, courage or desire to prepare a serious case. Immigration Matter? The issue is too important for anyone but a specialist. Real Estate Transaction? An error preparing complicated transactional documents could cost you and your family greatly.
The local attorney who says your claim does not matter because he has an attorney for it, really does want your case. He wants all your cases badly enough to claim specialties across the board. Until recently, his firm website advertised for wrongful death claims but did not accurately or fully discuss the unique nature of Alabama law on this issue. And, his website contains an actual disclaimer for personal injury claims — a disclaimer that reveals his firm needs to associate a trial lawyer on these cases.
As a trial lawyer, my job involves advocating for injured clients. Much of that advocacy revolves around the written word. So, I ask — Who writes for your lawyer?
Maybe the better question should be — Why hire a lawyer who cannot (or does not) write his own blog posts, his own marketing materials or even his own legal briefs? Yes, I do know several lawyers who claim to be personal injury attorneys but cannot even write their own briefs or motions. Are you just hiring a marketer who wants to sign up cases for other lawyers to work? Are you just hiring a marketer who wants cases he or she can quickly negotiate for a small settlement? If you are just hiring a marketer, skip that lawyer. Go directly to an attorney who can fully advocate for you. It can make a huge difference in your ultimate settlement.
As I’ve stated in the past, any lawyer can advertise on a billboard, television or radio. In Huntsville, we have one group of lawyers who previously handled DUI cases. Suddenly, these lawyers decided to post billboards seeking personal injury cases, immigration matters and elder law issues. Wow! Their website tells the truth in the fine print disclaimer — they are signing the personal injury cases to refer them elsewhere for part of the fee. That’s shameful. I believe it is also unethical. Clients deserve better – They deserve lawyers who really know and really practice their specialty. For over two decades, I’ve heard the stories of people genuinely hurt in car accidents and work-related injuries. These injured people need a specialist.
Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog