Prospective clients frequently contact our office after they have spoken with another San Francisco car accident attorney who refused to accept their case. It can be a very frustrating experience for auto accident victims to have attorney after attorney decline to represent them. Those injured in a Bay Area car accident typically presume that they can seek compensation for their injuries. However, the process of determining the viability of a car accident claim can be complicated and require a careful analysis of the facts and circumstances of the motor vehicle accident. There are a number of reasons that a law firm might decline a car accident case even one that involves serious injuries. We have provided an overview of common reasons that a law firm may decide not to take a case, but clients should always seek a second opinion.
Judgment Proof Defendant: This is a particularly significant reason that a San Francisco personal injury law firm might decline to accept an otherwise meritorious case. This is an extremely difficult situation for a car accident victim because there may be no dispute about the fault of the other driver or the seriousness of the victim’s injuries. However, a personal injury lawsuit only has value if there is a way to enforce a judgment against the at-fault driver. If the other driver has no insurance and no assets, there may be little hope of obtaining the compensation to satisfy a judgment. In this situation, our experienced San Francisco car accident attorneys may look to the possibility of other potential at-fault parties or your own uninsured motorist (UM) coverage.
Minor Injuries: The process of litigating a car accident claim can be expensive easily involving thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars so the potential recovery in a lawsuit must make it economically feasible to pursue a claim. If you suffer only minor abrasions, scrapes or bruises, these types of injuries generally heal quickly without medical attention so most attorneys do not take these types of cases, particularly if there is also no vehicle damage. If you suffer other soft-tissue injuries like strains or whiplash, attorneys will take these cases, but it may depend on other factors. For example, if your injuries are very minor like a strained muscle in your wrist and the question of fault is very much in dispute, the cost of litigation may discourage an attorney from taking the case. Conversely, if you suffer severe injuries, a San Francisco car accident attorney may be willing to take a case even where proving fault will be extremely difficult.
Statute of Limitations: When an accident victim does not seek legal advice until after the statute of limitations has expired, it can lead to tragic results. An attorney will not take a case that is past the statute of limitations. Once the time limit to initiate a lawsuit has passed without filing a civil complaint to commence a lawsuit, an accident victim is completed barred from pursuing a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. San Francisco car accident victims should seek legal advice from an experienced Bay Area car accident lawyer promptly after a car crash. Sometimes attorneys will not take a case where there is inadequate time to investigate the claim before expiration of the statute of limitations because of liability associated with failing to comply with this critical deadline.
While there are other reasons for why a personal injury attorney may not take your San Francisco car accident claim, these examples are intended to show that there are often solid reasons that an attorney may not take your case. By the same token, a car accident victim should always seek out more than one opinion because personal injury attorneys may evaluate cases differently.
Contact Us For Your Free Consultation
If you are involved in a car accident in San Francisco, our experienced San Francisco car accident lawyers have assisted many victims injured in motor vehicle accidents in the Bay Area. We invite you to contact The Law Office of Ian Zimmerman for your free initial consultation. We are open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., speak Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese, and are available for weekend, evening, home and hospital meetings and visits. We also offer free initial consultations and work exclusively on a contingency fee basis so that you pay nothing if we don’t win your case.