What to do if “lawyers” call you after an accident. October 29, 2009

I have always told clients and friends that good lawyers do not call you first. When I first started in practice, I was naive enough to believe that “ambulance chaser” was just a nickname for personal injury attorneys. I never realized that the nickname came from actual attorneys chasing an ambulance to the hospital to try and sign up a  case. Nowadays, I don’t know if attorneys still hop in their car to follow a potential client to the hospital, but I do know that lawyers are still calling accident victims at their homes. Usually a few days after the accident, you’ll receive a phone call from a person asking how you are feeling and say that a friend asked them to call you. The person that calls you is very skilled and disarming. They engage you in a conversation about your accident and your injuries and then speak to you about making an appointment for you to sign up your case.

New York law prohibits in-person or telephone contact unless the recipient is a close friend, relative, former client or existing client. The law also prohibits any form of communication relating to an incident involving potential claims for personal injury or wrongful death that are disseminated before the 30th day after the date of the incident, unless a filing must be made within 30 days of the incident, in which case no unsolicited communication shall be made before the 15th day after the date of the incident.

These ethics rules were put in place to protect you when you are most vulnerable and may not be able to make the best decisions. If a lawyer calls you after you have had an accident, don’t engage them. It is your right to report that lawyer to the local ethics committee for violation of the anti-solicitation rules and to help put an end to this practice. Personal injury attorneys are not well-known for the help that they provide to injured victims and attorneys that solicit injured people only adds to that reputation.

There are many qualified lawyers that can successfully handle your case, especially on Staten Island. Speak to a few different attorneys. Most offer a free consultation and you are under no obligation to sign anything. Ask them if they are familiar with your type of case, the attorneys qualifications and testimonials from past clients, and who will handle your case in the office. You should feel comfortable with your attorney as they will represent you through some difficult times, all the while advising you on the proper course of action.

Frank Dito is a New York Personal Injury attorney specializing in New York real estate law , New York business law, and New York franchise law. You can visit his Law Firm Decker, Decker, Dito and Internicola website by clicking here, download his FREE New York Car Insurance book, or call him at 718-979-4300 or 1-800-310-5520 for a free case analysis.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.