I am a 30yr.old female,mother of 4.I've been in 3 car accidents in the past 4yrs.1st acc.was the worst, & all 3 acc. were not caused by me.I obtained Morgan&Morgan for the first 2 cases, my attrny.advised me not to go all the way to court,it's too long of a drive & I will be paying for hotel stays,& most likely wont get anymore $,etc.Also stated your 2nd case is alot better & you'll get the max,I trusted him, I have just settled 2nd case & was lied to again,at mediation I was told,they'l wave the fee for my son,because we got so little,which was a lie.I told him,I want to be responsilbe for my medical bills,so this didn't come out of the little I got,he said O.K.but not now,Though this was their procedure on my 1st case,also I found out at time of mediation my insu.cancled me early on
If you believe your attorney is not giving you the proper legal advice you should go for a consultation with another law firm. When a person is in multiple accidents it becomes problematic in several aspects. First of all, it may appear that you are the one at fault if you are getting into so many accidents. Second, if you have injuries arising from each of these which involve re-injury to a previously injured body part or aggravation of a prior injury or an injury that could have been caused by a prior accident, the defendants in the later accidents may use this argument against you to deny or reduce their liability. If liability is clearly the other drivers' fault in each case, then you may have wanted to go to trial. It is always the client's decision as to whether to actually go to trial. The attorney can advise you to take a settlement if it is reasonable and costs of litigation would be high and you would be rolling the dice and risking losing completely if a jury did not agree with the lawyer's assessment of the case. It is always a balancing of risks when deciding whether to go to trial or not. Costs of driving and staying in a hotel should not be a consideration unless the trial would be expected to last months and use up a lot of the money you expected to receive in damages in the event you won. About 95% of cases settle because the costs of litigation, hiring experts, paying attorneys to be in trial all day for weeks or days, costs of copying documents and photos for evidence, preparing trial documents, and many other administrative costs and court fees and the risk of losing generally lead clients to take settlements. Your insurance carrier is responsible for notifying you if they cancel your insurance, not your attorney, unless the attorney is informed of this before the carrier sends you notice, then the attorney should make sure you know but that is not necessarily required. It seems unusual they would cancel you instead of simply raising your premiums but if they have a right to cancel after a certain number of accidents within a limited time period, that may be permissible. An attorney would need to review your policy to see whether the policy was validly cancelled. You have a right to challenge your law firm's attorney's fees if they were unreasonable but that will cost you another attorney and time to litigate. A letter from another lawyer demanding a rebate on fees paid or a fee reduction may help but without knowing all of the facts it is impossible to advise you. Finally, you really should not name the firm on a public website as you are risking being sued for defamation or trade libel. Privately consult with another law firm and go to the law library at the courthouse and ask for help in looking up verdicts and settlements in cases with similar injuries to yours or look for that information on the web. There are publications with that type of information available.
Disclaimer: It is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive legal consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. Consequently, this response does not constitute or establish an attorney-client relationship but is offered for general informational purposes only. Laws differ from state to state and each case turns on facts specific to the case and parties thereto, thus this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied upon as anything more than a starting point or suggestion that the questioner seek professional assistance from a practitioner in your state or county/parish, practicing in your area of law.
Clifford M. MillerLitigation LawyerVero Beach, FLFL licensed ·
If your attorney lied to you about a material matter you should file a grievance against the lawyer with the Florida Bar. See the link below for information.
I have no knowledge if your case had weaknesses. There could have been a problem with liability, damages, of collectibility. It is always the client's right (not the lawer's) to accept or reject any settlement offer. A lawyer has a duty to a client to fairly evaluate and advise the client about settlement options. If the lawyer fairly evaluated the case and you made a decision that you now regret - you have no case. If the lawyer did not fairly evaluate the case and put he lawyer's interests ahead of yours in recommending settlement, you may have a case against that lawyer. See a lawyer that handles legal malpractice cases to discuss the matter. There is a two year statute of limitations.
Certainly, the lawyer is bound by the lawyer's oral contract with you at mediation. I suppose it would come down to a matter of proof of what was said between you and whether there was an understanding or a misunderstanding. Did you sign a Closing Statement approving the settlement and distribution (it is required in Florida on PI cases)? If you did you will have some explaining to do.
