To settle a car accident suit do I or should I hire an attorney company is completely at fault an are willing to settle

Yes, you should get a personal injury lawyer. According to www.accidentattorneys.com Represented parties recover greater compensation for their claims when represented by an Attorney. The following three paragraphs are from their website. Attorneys Get Two to Three Times More Money for Their Clients In 1995, Allstate produced a training manual for its claim adjustors [Allstate Insurance Co., Unrepresented Segment Training Manual, 15-30, July 1995]. This document stressed the importance of convincing claimants to represent themselves and not retain an attorney. Why? Allstate explained its position with a number of telling statistics: With settlements under $15,000 injured claimants represented by an attorney averaged $7,450 in a total settlement. Those who represented themselves to Allstate averaged only $3,464. Doing the math, retaining an attorney for a small claim on average more than doubled (a 115% increase) the likelihood of a better settlement. The manual also stressed overall claimants with attorneys generally recovered 2 to 3 times more than self-represented claimants. No wonder Allstate doesn't want to encourage claimants to get an attorney. Injured People Benefit Most from a Lawyer In 2003, the insurance industry's chief research organization, The Insurance Research Council (IRC), released an internal document [Auto Injury Insurance Claims: Countrywide Patterns in Treatment, Cost, and Compensation Malvern, PA: December 2003] to its member insurance companies. On page 112, the Insurance Research Council, outlined data that showed the vast majority of dollars paid out to bodily injury claims are paid out to claimants who retain attorneys. The study indicated those insurance claimants who were represented by attorneys (47% of all claimants) received 79% of all liability payouts. Good Luck.

The answer to your question is: it depends. Are there bodily injuries? or just damage to the vehicle? There are key issues that will increase an offer from the insurance company. An attorney will know these. If you give a more clear and very detailed picture here on , you might get some additional information so you can do it yourself. But without knowing all of the issues, I cannot really advise you one way or the other.

You should never settle a claim without at least talking with a personal injury attorney. Most will give you an initial consultation at no charge. Whether you need an atorney depends on how badly you are injured, whether you missed work, whether you are still being treated, and a host of other things. Many insurance companies practice what is called a "swoop and settle" strategy; they try to settle the claims for as little as possible as soon as possible after a collision. Too often when they do this, the injured person finds out later that they still need treatment,but it is too late. The claim has been settled. The rule at my office is we never even consider settling a claim until six months after an injury.

Do you know the value of your claim? If your claim is just for property damage, you can most likely settle it on your own. But if you were injured in the crash, then an attorney would have the training and experience in order to properly evaluate all of the damages that you sustained. I suggest that you make an appointment with an attorney in Erie who is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice. He or she will most likely not charge you for the initial consultation and you can discuss the particulars of your claim with a lawyer who concentrates his or her practice in representing victims such as yourself. Go to that organizations web site at www.pajustice.org and you can search for an attorney in your area. Good luck with your claim. Dale Larrimore

Mr. Larrimore's advice is, as always, right on point. There are cases where an attorney is usually not required and property damage cases are often among them. If you know exactly what your case is worth (e.g., you only want the cost of repairs) then you may well be able to resolve the issue on your own. However, if your case involves an injury then I would recommend that you at least consult with a personal injury attorney. In fact, my recommendation is that you invest the time and effort necessary to meet with multiple personal injury attorneys. We all offer free consults and so it shouldn't cost you anything financially. And your effort will be well worth it because you'll be able to gather a lot of information about the options that are available to you. Ask the lawyers you meet how many auto cases they have tried to verdict; whether any of their prior cases are similar to yours; and ask them to explain how they determine which cases they will recommend for settlement and which they will recommend be tried. While most cases settle (something on the order of 98% of cases settle in Erie County) the information you gather will still be important to you. Not only will you have a better understanding of the "end game" that drives the settlement process but you will also form a personal impression about whether you and the lawyer are a good match. You may very well end up going back to the first lawyer you met but you'll do so with a comfort level that you wouldn't have had without making the effort. I'd be happy to be one of the lawyers you consult with, Erie. Like everybody else who does this work, your consult would be free.