Is a lawyer needed for a minor personal injury case?

[zacchaeus21]

I was involved a minor injury collision with an at-fault driver. My medical bill wills only be about $1,000 and property damages of $2,000. Would having an attorney represent be worth it? Would they be able to negotiate more than their fee value in pain & suffering? Or would the insurance company play fair with me in such a small case?

[tate8]

An attorney's fee is usually 1/3 of the settlement plus his expenses.

Insurance adjusters are not afraid of attorneys - no matter what the tv ads say. Adjusters deal with attorneys all the time.

A settlement offer is based on your injury. An attorney's fee is not a consideration.

Is it worth it? Only you can decide if it's worth it to give an attorney 1/3 of any settlement you get.

[banys]

An attorney's fee is usually 1/3 of the settlement plus his expenses.

Insurance adjusters are not afraid of attorneys - no matter what the tv ads say. Adjusters deal with attorneys all the time.

A settlement offer is based on your injury. An attorney's fee is not a consideration.

Is it worth it? Only you can decide if it's worth it to give an attorney 1/3 of any settlement you get.

You probably won't get an attorney willing to take this on a "no win no fee" basis. There's not enough money in it. If it happened in a "no fault" state, you don't get any pain and suffering, and you might not get any medical bill coverage.

Insurance companies usually settle pretty fairly, the problem usually is that the people don't understand the tort laws in the state, or have an unrealistic idea of how much money the claim could be worth.

Oh, and "personal injury" means slander, libel, defamation of character, false arrest. You're talking about BODILY injury, not personal injury.

[vohkinne]

Since most personal injury attorney's offer free case evaluations and no fee guarantees, I would suggest calling one and getting their professional opinion. They should be able to evaluate your case quickly over the phone and determine if it's worth pursuing. It's at least worth checking out rather than speculating.