QUESTION
How would I fire my attorney and what fees would I have to lay.
Asked on Aug 17th, 2015 on Automobile Accidents - Florida
More details to this question:
I hired an attorney for a car accident. Its been month I have spoken to a paralegal 3 time and the only thing she asked was how much insurance coverage I have to maximise fees I told them I needed a $1200 brace to prevent me from having surgery and nothing was done to get it for me the insurance had a check for me for the brace the day I hired the attorney but they stopped dealing with me and I still have not received it even though I made the attorney aware of it. I had to get all the bills they didn't even do that. I feel I'm paying 331/3 of the 25k which was offered to me prior to hiring the attorney for nothing. Ti I wasn't told that I have 3 days to cancel the contract and the investigator they sent wouldn't answer my questions. Then I was contacted over a week later by the paralegal well after time expired to withdraw the contract. This attorney is doing nothing for me except insuring they get paid. I hired them to insure my medical needs were met not to give away 10k free
1 ANSWER
Consumer Debt Collector Harassment & Abuse Attorney serving Tampa, FL
Partner at
Tischhauser Law Group
2 Awards
Sounds like you may have unrealisitic expectations of what injury lawyers do and dont do, and the circumstances of your claim. First, lawyers aren't doctors nor "do boys", they dont go get braces or prescriptions for you, this is a function of your health care providers.Medical braces are provided by healthcare providers and billed to the insurance carrier directly or paid for by you and you get reimbursed (much rarer) Equally, first party insurance carriers (yours) do not stop payment for medical care simply because a lawyer is involved. Second, you speak of the 25k as if thats the policy limits available. If thats true and was actually "offered", presumably in writing, to you before you hired the lawyer, there was likely little reason to hire the lawyer, since you would be recieving all of the money available, unless you have reason to believe that there is more collectable money available. Finally, lawyers are not tasked with "insuring your medical needs are met" that is the function of your treating phyicians. What lawyers do is help maximize or coordinate the available coverages for that purpose and to secure damage money from the at fault party to allow you to do meet those needs, albiet limited by the availability of such monies and the practical means of obtaining them.
If you are not happy with your lawyer, you can always fire them and they are entitled to a value based upon the hourly rate for the actual work performed as a general rule. If there is an issue, you should demand to speak to the lawyer and have aheart to heart discussion to ferret out whether the lawyer is not doing his job, you have unreasonable expectations, or a bit of both, before you simply fire them.
Answered on Aug 18th, 2015 at 6:46 AM
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