QUESTION
I have already asked this question one time and it was never answered so I am trying again.
Asked on Apr 16th, 2012 on Wrongful Death - Georgia
More details to this question:
My mother in law suffered a head injury that lead to death in the hospital. After the suit was filed and the lawyer took his cut a very small portion of the money was distributed and the rest was held in a trust for medicare to declare free or submit an amount to be recovered to them. After a few months we started checking with our lawyer and were told repeatedly Medicare had everything they needed it just took a while--we called every month for 6 months and were told the same thing. 10 1/2 months in we just found out he had not filed anything--he has been holding our money all this time and done nothing, and told us any interest the money earned while we were waiting would not be ours. We were repeatedly lied to. What can we do?
1 ANSWER
Personal Injury Attorney serving Newport Beach, CA
at
Bisnar Chase Personal Injury Attorneys, LLP
Update Your Profile
JOHN BISNAR
First, on behalf of all the personal injury attorneys across this great country of ours who are doing their best for their clients every day, let me apologize to you and your family for the apparent failure of your attorney to handle your family's matter promptly and properly.
In my opinion there can be no acceptable excuse for not telling your family the truth about the statues of the Medicare issue or waiting so long to provide Medicare the required information. It does take months for Medicare to respond once the required information is provided to them. However, at this point it isn't a Medicare issue. At best it appears to be a negligence issue on behalf of your attorney. It could be worse.
My suggestion is that you first contact the State Bar of Georgia and file a complaint against your attorney. The State Bar polices attorneys. It is likely to do an investigation and discipline the attorney if there is wrongdoing. You can find the State Bar at http://www.gabar.org/contact_the_bar/.
Next, I suggest that you consult with a local highly respected personal injury law firm regarding them taking over your case. If another law firm takes over your case, your former attorney may have to forfeit all or part of the fee he charged you (because he didn't complete the work). Your new law firm can then get the appropriate paper work to Medicare and get your case wrapped up.
An alternative would be to tell your present attorney you are going to take this matter to another attorney if he doesn't release all remaining funds and file the Medicare documents immediately. And if Medicare wants reimbursement, he is to pay it out of his pocket as a penalty for not properly and promptly handling your case.
Good luck to you. And again, my apology for what you and your family have been through.
John Bisnar
Bisnar|Chase, Personal Injury Attorneys
Trusted Professionals, Proven Results
www.Orange-County-Lawyers.com
800-956-0123
Answered on Apr 17th, 2012 at 1:58 PM