How to choose a personal injury lawyer?

[LeonardoNYC]

Sadly I was in an accident on Friday. An 18 year old in his dad's BMW 525I attempted in illegal U-Turn and didn't see me and got me fairly good but could have been a lot worse. I hit him at where his driver's front door and front left quarter panel meet and slid on to the hood and then to the pavement. Cops and several witnesses and even the driver admit that the accident was the driver's fault. I spent a few hours in the ER ..got some xrays and ultrasound and have bruising but no broken bones but some definite soft tissue damage.

I have a meeting scheduled with a lawyer from John Haymond (advertises a lot in local MC magazine around here) but am curious if anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with these lawyers and any other tips for dealing with insurance company should I choose not to retain a lawyer.

I just got the estimate on the bike damage and it's about $2800 on my '07 R12R. incidentally the opposed twin probably saved me at least a broken leg if not more. The engine created a space between my leg and the car which I feel enabled me to go over the to the hood..in an inline twin or four I feel I would have been sandwiched and more damage would have been done for sure!

Thanks in advance.

[waynemathews]

Sadly I was in an accident on Friday. An 18 year old in his dad's BMW 525I attempted in illegal U-Turn and didn't see me and got me fairly good but could have been a lot worse. I hit him at where his driver's front door and front left quarter panel meet and slid on to the hood and then to the pavement. Cops and several witnesses and even the driver admit that the accident was the driver's fault. I spent a few hours in the ER ..got some xrays and ultrasound and have bruising but no broken bones but some definite soft tissue damage.

I have a meeting scheduled with a lawyer from John Haymond (advertises a lot in local MC magazine around here) but am curious if anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with these lawyers and any other tips for dealing with insurance company should I choose not to retain a lawyer.

I just got the estimate on the bike damage and it's about $2800 on my '07 R12R. incidentally the opposed twin probably saved me at least a broken leg if not more. The engine created a space between my leg and the car which I feel enabled me to go over the to the hood..in an inline twin or four I feel I would have been sandwiched and more damage would have been done for sure!

Thanks in advance.

Michael Sullivan writes the Cycle Attorney column for Motorcycle Consumer News. His November 2008 column is about an accident similar to yours (and mine). He recommends waiting to see what the insurance company's offer is. If you feel you that you are not being fairly compensated, hire a lawyer. He points out that they usually charge a contingent fee of 1/3 of any amount they recover, a hefty tariff.

The short article may be helpful if you can find it, I think that reprints are available. My accident preceded this article and I required surgery, but my insurance company (the driver that pulled out in front of me was uninsured) covered all my hospital expenses, agreed value on my R50/2, wages while I was unable to work, and conjugal loss for my wife. Kudos to Progressive.

My personal experience is to wait and see. Good luck.

[vielzebub]

I have no answer to your query, I just want to wish you well.
I'm glad you made it through and it sounds like you'll mend....good luck with everything.

[deilenberger]

I'd second the advice to not deal with an attorney immediately. Wait for his insurance company to make an offer - then don't take it right away. Make sure you're "whole" with the offer ("made whole" is the legal term meaning - made as you were before the accident.) You'll obviously want the bike repaired to the highest standards, and then ask for "diminished value" (it's worth less once it's been in a reported accident), and you want money for not only your medical care, but also any work time you've missed and some undetermined amount for "pain and suffering."

The insurance company will normally try to get to you before you speak with an attorney - but once you DO speak with one, they'll only deal with the attorney. As pointed out - contingency attorney's get 1/3rd of the settlement, plus any expenses they can dream up (in a former life I worked for a firm of personal injury attorneys.) Usually that ends up eating 40% or so of any settlement you get.

If his insurance company becomes unreasonable (and they actually usually won't - although they'll try low ball first) then is the time to interview a number of personal injury attorneys. In the meantime, you may be able to arrange with your insurance to start getting the bike fixed. They'll later collect the amount from the other company when they finally settle.

[lowflying]

Just my $0.02. Having been through a divorce, I have learned firsthand that just because something is allowed according to law, that doesn't necessarily equate to it being morally right or right according to what just plain "seems fair".

What that means for you in your case is for you to judge, and your judgement of that will change as time goes by. Right now while it's all raw, it might be easy to be tempted to go for the jugular just because some lawyer says you can.

On another topic, even though you and all your witnesses agree that it was the driver's fault, I wonder if you have recognised something you could've done differently? In other words, would the exact same thing happen again in the same circumstances in the future? If not, it has been a learning experience about never letting anybody else take responsibility for your safety. If you think it would happen again, I guess all you can do is keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. It's a subtle point I'm trying to make that even though we may not be "at fault" in a particular accident, everyone involved has a certain "responsibility". We as riders can take comfort in the fact that there is a lot we can do to influence the outcome of a given situation on the road.

Otherwise, best of luck healing, dealing with the insurance company (always fun) and hopefully ending up with a bike as good as it was before.

[snag]

Glad to hear you are alright. There but for the grace of god goes each one of us. Only thing I can add is that I know of a couple of walking wounded who had seemingly minor accidents several years ago. Make sure there are no lingering problems AT ALL before you settle.

We had an MSF instructor killed here a couple of years ago from the same bone headed maneuver by someone in a rush caught in a line of traffic. Good counsel from lowflying to look for what you can do differently going forward.

Doug

[AmostThere]

Talk with Charles, the General Manager at Long Beach BMW Motorcycles. He got creamed in the exact same situation by a driver whipping a U-turn right into him. Broken leg.

[ShinySideUp]

+1 on waiting to settle.

Soft tissue injuries can a) not be evident to their fullest extent for some time and b) take a long time (3 months to 2 years) to resolve and c) leave permanent discomfort. When you settle, you will forfeit the right to any future claims.

If you can find an insurance company attorney in your area, they know who the good plaintiff lawyers are.

[BigEasy]

Leonardo, First thank goodness your mostly ok. I don't admit this everywhere but I have several friends who are attorneys, one of whom is a very successful ambulance chaser. They will all tell you to a person pretty much what has been pointed out above. One thing that you should do in these early stages is do not make a recorded statement, that could lead to bad complications down the road. Get them on the bike, and as DE said, best available service and ask for something to offset the sullied title. One of my attorney buddies got clipped skiing by an off duty ski instructor and had a serious ACL issue as a result, I believe it took him 4-5 years before he finally let them off the hook (he is fairly reasonable FWIW) so don't get in a hurry to get it settled.

As mentioned above a post flight assessment of how things went down may help you recogonize similar situations in the future, who knows, there are plenty of distracted cagers out there.

Again, glad you're in good shape, good roads

[BigSmile]

+1 more on thankful your injuries weren't worse and wishing you a speedy recovery.

Brad

[LeonardoNYC]

Thanks for all the well wishes. Will post end results so as they be of help if to someone in the future. Or as we say in NYC "few-cha".

Leonardo
PS: one funny thing is that is that while my insurance won't cover my cell phone which was broken in the fall-- they will cover my helmet as it's defined as an accessory and I had coverage for accessories for up to $3,000. I asked the claim rep if that meant I could spend up to $3,000 for a new helmet and she wasn't totally sure but she said "I think so" . Aren't most Arai's around $3k these days? (Mine was a Scorpion which I thoroughly loved)

[gbagen]

Go to http://nblsc.us for a Board Certified Trial Lawyer. You will learn on the site why this is the way to choose your representative.

[parkec]

Glad your O K, except for some bruising,

a couple thoughts.

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

What are you legally entitled to in your state.

What harm is there in meting with an attorney (s) without disclosing the driver and insurance comapy otherwise how do you tell what is a normal and customary $ettlement.

Check with the American Motorcyclist Associaton - what is typical, what about legal representation.

Check with BMWMOA (BMW motorcycle owners Association).what is typical, what about legal representation.

Rember this is not a lottery.

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

The insurance company will be looking for you here, and elesewhere on the web.....becarefull.

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!

THE DRIVERS INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND; their job is to figure out how NOT to pay a claim !