Do you like secrets? I’ve got a great one about Personal Injury Lawyers in Chicago and really attorneys in Illinois in general. Want to know what it is?
Ready???
Personal injury lawyers in Chicago or anywhere in Illinois love to make money? Is that a surprise to you? I’m guessing it’s not.
Even though it’s common sense, people seem to forget this fact. If you have a good case that an attorney can make money off of, they will gladly take it. The biggest consideration for them beyond “Is this a money maker?” is, “Is this worth the headache?” That sounds terrible to say, but it’s true.
What do I mean by headache? That refers to the work that needs to be done and the client themselves. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had lawyers tell me that some person has a decent case, but they are abusive to their staff and unreasonable in their demands so the lawyer is dropping the case. The bigger the potential payout is for that lawyer, the more tolerance they will have for a difficult client. The bigger the payout, the more likely they are to take on a case that needs to go to trial most likely and will require hundreds if not thousands of hours of work.
For example, if you are in a car accident and break your leg, if the other driver is at fault, that case has value. But if their insurance policy is only worth $50,000.00, that is likely all that will be recovered. Getting a lawyer will actually get more money in your pocket. Without one it’s probable that medical providers or health insurance companies will be the only ones that get paid. Most attorneys are happy to take that case on, but would be more reluctant if it turns out you are a really difficult and unreasonable client.
On the flip side, if you had a loved one who died or was catastrophically injured and it’s the fault of a semi truck driver, attorneys will bend over backwards to help you out and have a much higher tolerance for problem clients. It sounds gross, but it’s true.
I thought of this recently when a nice woman contacted me. She was looking for a car accident lawyer for a case in Indiana. She had called ten firms locally, but was convinced that they had all been bought off or were corrupt which is why none of them would take their case.
Nope, that’s not what’s going on. The truth is that she has a bad case as evidenced by the fact that she was listed as the at fault party in the police report. Beyond that, the person she was in the accident with has no insurance and neither does she. No lawyer is bought off or afraid to take this on. They see the truth that there is almost no chance that they’d ever make money on the case.
Would it be great if there was a free lawyer for everyone who would take their case on no matter what, that’s just not realistic or the case. Most of the personal injury attorneys I know in Illinois are good people, who care about their clients and want to help people. They also want to pay their office rent, staff and themselves like pretty much every other business person. It’s not a big secret, but it is one that people often forget.
