Tennessee Injury Law Center

I met with a personal injury lawyer and she tried to tell me that she could help me win my case because the judge is a friend of hers.  Will her relationship with the judge help me?

Lawyers who say such things are scumbags. 99.9% of judges would never allow their personal feelings for a lawyer to directly affect the outcome of the case. To do so would be unethical, and 99.9% of judges would never consider acting in such a fashion.

It is true, of course, that judges tend to respect lawyers who are prepared, who show up to court on time, who understand law and court procedure, and who answer the judge’s questions directly and honestly. And judges, like every other human, would tend to more readily accept the word of a lawyer who earned respect than a lawyer who demonstrated that he or she was not entitled to respect. But disregard the facts or the law simply because of a personal relationship? No, this sort of thing rarely happens.

I notice that lots of  personal injury lawyers advertise that they have received big settlements?  Should that be a factor in determining what lawyer I should hire?

That may tell you something, and may tell you nothing. Lawyers tell an old joke that goes like this: Do you know how to get a $1,000,000 settlement? Mess up a $2,000,000 case.

Experienced lawyers know that that the size of a verdict or settlement does not reveal much information on how well the case was prepared or tried. Indeed, a sizeable verdict or settlement could mean that the client had a good case and good have had even a better result if a more capable lawyer had handled the case. So, while the size of verdicts and settlements gives you an idea of the size of case the lawyer may have experience working on, it does not tell you much about the quality of the work done on that case.

I need to hire a personal injury lawyer.  Should I ask if the lawyer has malpractice coverage or can I assume that the lawyer has the coverage because it is required by law to have it?

Believe it or not, there is nothing in the law that requires lawyers to have malpractice insurance coverage.  Any lawyer can make a mistake, and he or she should have malpractice insurance to protect a client from harmed by the mistake. Feel free to ask the lawyer you are thinking about hiring whether he or she has malpractice insurance coverage and ask them to confirm their answer in writing. If they don’t have it, hire a different lawyer.

Why would a law firm not have malpractice coverage?   There are only two reasons.  First, they cannot buy it.   It is difficult to purchase malpractice insurance coverage if you handle class action and other specialized types of cases.  Second, the lawyer is trying to save money.  Malpractice insurance coverage is expensive and there are some lawyers who simply will not spend the money to protect their clients from an error.

I have a personal injury case.  I am trying to find a lawyer.  Lots of lawyers say that they are members of the Tennessee Bar Association or the American Bar Association.   What does that mean?

Many lawyers advertise that they are members of the Tennessee Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and / or their local bar association. Mere membership in these organizations tells consumers virtually nothing about a lawyer’s competence – all one needs to join these organizations is a law license and the money to pay the dues.

However, active membership in a bar association tends to indicate that the lawyer is interested in advancement of his or her profession. This is a relevant factor to be weighed by consumers because it indicates a passion for the law. A lawyer who has been active in bar associations will list those activities on his or her website. Those that do not list activities probably have not been active and are probably just dues-paying members.