Why lawyer Thinks Settlement will be low?

[seabass]

I have posted here before so I will attempt to keep it short and sweet! January 2005 I was rear ended. 100% other persons fault. Medical Bills $35,000 damage to vehicle $4000. Treatments: Lower back surgery L4-5 for herniated disk, Radiofrequency neuroablation(burning nerves in lower back), Steroid injections in lower back and left hip. 2 mri's 1 CT scan, 75 physical therapy appointments, 1 IME definetly in my favor and other appointments, but you get the idea. Still have lower back pain and left hip pain and still under pain management care.

1992 MVA 10 fractured ribs, fracture wrist, T-7,8,9 compression fracture, dislocated right elbow. Discharged military 30% disability for right elbow, mid back.

For years have taken anti-inflammatory becasue all of the aches and pains especially when physically active like running or riding bike.

In October 2004 I went to My PA because of lower back pain she prescribed vicodin November 2004 requested refill for still had pain. She gave me s script to get X-rays, but I never had gotten them that was the end of that and then of course the rear ended accident in January 2005 and the rest is history.

So my PA treated me in 2004 for some back pain which I knew was just flaired up from running and exercising. A certified Orto surgeon did my IME and he said it was a new injury.

I was offered by the insurance company $35,000 in which they would not budge so I then attained an attorney. They are a reputable attorney firm. They dont advertise injury law because they are a high profile company and so they dont want to seem as a car chasers.

They only think the case will be worth about 50-60,000 without going to trial. reason being of course having been seen in 2004.
I just find it difficult to understand that there were no tests done doctors notes do not mention why I was complaining of back pain, IME says its new, 35,000 medical bills, Lawyer says does not help with county we are in? Still have pains, no longer running or exercising lost over 10,000 lost wages. Is my lawyer accurate or do I need a new attorney?

 

[DGO1223]

I don't have all the answers for you. But I can tell you what my lawyer told me once.

Said that anytime you have an injury from MVA, they dig into your past and try to connect ANY past injury or condition to the status of current injuries or surgery resulting from the MVA. Even if it's unreasonable, they suceed many times. Reasonable doubt. Not always fair, but that's part of the game.

And yes, the area you live in has an impact on the sucess of a better award. Especially if it goes to trial.

I would at least speak with another lawyer and see what they say.

Good luck

 

[gramdma]

when husband was hurt in accident he too had been to a dr. for pain prior.

Prior to my husbands accident ,which was admittingly the other persons fault(ran him off road)he was seeing a chiropractor for his back . then when he had the accident the other insurance company tried to bring that up. we had a good lawyer and fougth them but they still got away with alot.

 

[Meatcutter]

Prior to my husbands accident ,which was admittingly the other persons fault(ran him off road)he was seeing a chiropractor for his back . then when he had the accident the other insurance company tried to bring that up. we had a good lawyer and fougth them but they still got away with alot.

The key here is proving your injury is a "new" injury. For example, if you treated with the chiropractor for neck pain approximately 3 times a week before an accident. Then an accident happens and you treat with a chiropractor for 3 times a week, what did the accident change? Your still treating the exact same amount of time.

If your MRI's show osteoarthritic or degenerative changes in your lumbar spine, theres going to be causation concerns. The fact that you were complaining of lower back pain and taking vicodin prior to this accident does raise some concerns for your lower back injury. However, the fact is you did not require surgery (at least according to you) prior to this accident, so therefore the accident "put you over the edge" so to speak. I think the attorney's value is somewhat on target, but I don't know enough about your medical bills and wage loss. Are your bills paid by your health insurance or Personal auto policy? Did you have any wage loss on your personal auto policy? What kind of work do you do that required you to miss $10k in lost wages, that you couldn't do after the accident?

 

[DGO1223]

Prior to my husbands accident ,which was admittingly the other persons fault(ran him off road)he was seeing a chiropractor for his back . then when he had the accident the other insurance company tried to bring that up. we had a good lawyer and fougth them but they still got away with alot.

The same thing happened to me several years ago; I had seen a chiro YEARS before my accident, which had nothing to do with the type of injuries I received in the accident. Didn't matter, they got off paying quite a bit less than what was reasonable, and me winding up paying medical bills out of pocket.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Here is the problem while the IME may be of the opinion that it is a new injury, the previous MVA and age certainly make injuried L4-5 common and without an X-Ray in October 2004 the IME cannot determine whether the "New" injury was new in October 2004 or Jan 2005. While you made reference to your loss of income you failed to note that in recent years you had a serious disruption in your employment which might make you more litigious. https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=123721
If this firm doesn't specialize in personal injury cases they may not have access to the experts required to litigate the case for a higher out of court settlement. At least your treatment was covered by insurance. It is difficult to walk in the middle of a case and salvage it.

 

[seabass]

Response to rmet4nzkx

You kind of lost me on the response to the part of the disruption in employment in 2004 because I was never an engineer and I do not have 4 children, but my sister on the other hand does and well she might have perhaps used my sign on name to get some advise on this forum!

 

[seabass]

Response to meatcutter

Thank for the info. My medical bills are being paid by my own insurance now because my auto insurance $10,000 was exhausted. So whatever my own insurance is not paying I have been paying. SO I have 7 different medical bills I am paying monthly. As for my wage loss I work in highline car sales it was difficult driving in cars especially after surgery. I lost a lot of commision on sales. I think $10,000 is actually conservative.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Well if you allow people to use your screenname and don't clarify it how are we supposed to know? The FA Crystal Ball does have it's limitations. Again, you made claims of a certain amount of loss of income then explain it to be in the form of lost commissions which would be a point to be argued between attorneys, the whole industry might be in a slump or you may never have sold that much it you were in perfect health, all things making a larger settlement less likely. Your best source is your attorney because at least they have the facts of your case. If you don't understand what I said, ask your attorney.