The lawyer / client relationship is a special one and, just like the lawyer has certain obligations to the client, the client must do certain things to assist the lawyer in the representation. We expect the following of our clients:
1. Do I have to pay a consultation fee to meet with a lawyer about my personal injury or wrongful death case?
Answer: At The Law Offices of John Day, P.C., we never charge a consultation fee to a potential client who consults with us about a personal injury or wrongful death case. This is true for virtually every lawyer who regularly does personal injury or wrongful death cases, although it would always be wise to ask about the need to pay a consultation fee before meeting with any lawyer about any type of legal matter.
2. How do lawyers charge in personal injury and wrongful death cases?
The lawyers at The Law Offices of John Day, P.C. have prepared several legal guides to provide you with general information about the work we do and the legal system. We believe that it is important that everyone, not just our clients, have an understanding of personal injury and wrongful death law and the way our civil justice system operates.
We add, of course, that none of these guides are a substitute for advice given by a competent lawyer who has been made aware of all of the relevant facts of a given situation. Therefore, while you can read these guides to learn general information, do not rely on them as legal advice for any particular legal problem. This is particularly true when we discuss the deadlines for filing lawsuits (statutes of limitation). These rules can be extremely complicated, and you would be making a big mistake to make any decision on when a legal deadline actually ran in a case based on the general statements in these legal guides.
We will be happy to meet with you and discuss representation of you for any type of personal injury or wrongful death case. To arrange an in-person or telephone meeting, send me an email at jday@johndaylegal.com. However, if you are currently represented by a different law firm, please know that we cannot answer questions about your case. The legal ethics rules provide that one lawyer cannot give advice to another lawyer’s client without the knowledge and consent of the current lawyer. We honor this rule.
I was hurt in a car accident. I talked to a lawyer and he sent me a proposed contingency fee agreement. The agreement says that I have to pay the expenses he incurs in prosecuting my case and that interest accrues on the expense money. Is this normal?
It is normal for a lawyer handling a contingency fee case to ask the client to re-pay the lawyer for the money spent on case expenses out of any settlement achieved in the case. It is not normal, however, for lawyers to charge interest on the expense money they advance for case expenses, although it seems like more and more lawyers are charging interest.
The lawyers who charge interest may have a contract with a private company that charges them interest, and then they pass the interest that they pay while the case is pending onto you as their client. The interest rate may be very high – much higher than the “prime rate.” The lawyer does not profit from this, but simply passes the cost of the interest on to you.
I got hurt in an accident and my doctor said I should go to physical therapy. The therapist is 20 miles away and it is very inconvenient to go to therapy. Plus, it doesn’t seem to do any good. Will it hurt my case if I just stop going?
First, let me suggest you set the thoughts about your legal case aside for a moment. Your doctor prescribed physical therapy because he or she thought it would help you. It might not. But it might. And the progress you see might be small. But you still need to go to physical therapy because you want to do what you can to reach a full recovery.
Going to physical therapy may not help your case, but not going as the doctor asked you to do could hurt your case. Insurance adjusters and jurors may conclude that you may not have been having the problems you say you were having (or are having) if you failed to follow your doctor’s advice. If you have to go before a jury in your case the jury will be told that it is your responsibility to minimize your damages.
Tennessee Injury Law Center