Limits of Legal Representation
Some Factors Can Restrict Attorneys in the Claim Settlement Process
If you’ve been hurt in an accident and want to get every penny that's due, hiring an attorney might help your case. But what may be more critical is to understand the limits to what a lawyer can do.
One is inherent limits to settlement value. Most claims have a certain value that falls within a fairly standard range. No matter how good your lawyer is, he or she is not going to get more than what an injury is truly "worth". For example, a strained neck is not worth as much as a compound leg fracture. And that leg fracture is not worth as much as a spinal injury that results in quadriplegia.
Yes, in some cases courts award huge amounts for what seem to be relatively minor injuries (eg, $12 million for burns from hot coffee.) But these cases are extremely rare and almost always involve extenuating circumstances and punitive damages. You probably have as much chance of hitting the lottery as you do of getting a verdict like this.
A lawyer also cannot create money where it doesn’t exist. Many claims are against private parties with limited resources (not everyone is lucky enough to get hit by a cement truck owned by a multi-national corporation).
The old adage that “you can’t bleed a stone” is true. In most insurance claims, there is a maximum threshold of coverage available. Most home and automobile insurers do not write liability coverage for more than $500,000. Often, it’s limited to $100,000, $50,000 or less.
Some people who have been injured in an accident vow to “get every penny” from the person who caused their pain. Can a lawyer get them more money? Sometimes. But only if the money is there to be gotten. If the perpetrator is broke and has minimal (if any) insurance, there's nowhere else to go - even for a lawyer.
Also bear in mind that in a case where insurance limits are low, you may get the full limits even without a lawyer. One of the things insurance adjusters hate to see is a case where they know they are going to pay full policy limits, only to find the plaintiff (person making the claim) has retained an attorney. Why? Not because it's going to cost more money - the insurer won't pay a penny more on a policy limits case just because there's a lawyer.
There are two reasons. First, it will take far longer to settle the claim (which doesn't benefit anyone). Second, it's hard to watch someone give up one third of the money due to them just to pay for services they could have done without.
If you do manage to collect the policy limits from an insurer, your likelihood of recovering anything more is considerably limited, even with a lawyer. In cases where the full limits are paid, the insurer usually has a right to demand that you sign a release, which protects them and their customer from further action by you.
Even if you don’t release the party and try to recover more, it will probably require years of litigation, filing attachments, and other lengthy proceedings (another thing your lawyer can’t change).
A lawyer also cannot change basic principles of liability. If you get hurt while rear-ending someone or hitting a parked car, you just don’t have a claim against the other person, regardless of what you think they were doing wrong. Even in cases where liability is in dispute, there is often no way to prove liability fully rests with one party or another. This will limit the amount you can recover whether you have an attorney or not.
So if you've been hurt and a lawyer is regaling you with stories of how much money (s)he's going to get for you, find out how he's going to get it and where it's coming from, because it might not be possible - even for a lawyer.
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