Memphis Injury Law Blog : Memphis Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : James Ferrell Law Firm : Tennessee, Mississippi

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Because we are a personal injury and car wreck law firm we got hundreds of calls a year asking about situations in which people where involved in some type of car accident. We don't always have time to answere these questions on the phone due to our current caseload so here on the Memphis Injury Law Blog I'll try to answer some of our most frequently asked questions.

Question: I was in a small accident where my car crashed into someone else's car while we were both in a parking lot. There wasn't much damage to either of our cars and noone in the other car seemed to be hurt. I don't want to report the accident and have my car insurance rates go up. Do you recommend just settling with the other drive and not reporting this to my insurance company?

Answer: It might be tempting to just attempt to settle everything on your own and not report this to your insurance company, especially if this isn't your first accident. But NOT reporting the accident to your insurance company could be a really BAD idea.

We all make mistakes. And each of us pays an insurance premium, in part, so that we don't have to deal with the headach of the mistake and claim ourself. If you don't report the claim immediately what could happen is that in a few months the guy you hit might find out that his injuries were much worse than both of you previously thought, and his back is still hurting. Because you didn't report the claim to your insurance company you're going to be defending the claim all by yourself.

If you had reported this to your insurance company months ago then his claim would have been handled by your insurance company.  But if it has been months since the insurance and you never notified your insurance company then they are probably going to deny the claim because of "late notice." (Insurance policies typically require you to give "prompt notice" of any claim.  Not notifying them because you were scared your premiums would go up is not a valid reason to not report the claim.)

Now you're stuck with a claim that you're going to have to pay for, and that you're going to have to personally hire a lawyer to defend. If you would have reported the claim to begin with none of this would have happened.

Bottom Line: Report the claim.

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That’s the question we hear more than any other by people just like you who call our law office. Most are asking that question because they either aren’t sure if we could help them with their injury case or they don’t live in or around Memphis and North Mississippi and want to know if we can help them where they live.

The answer to both is “Yes we can”. But that comes with one stipulation. We ONLY help people who really need our help. What does that mean? It means that we don’t take frivolous cases with minor injuries. You can call the “Heavy Hitter” or “One call, that’s all” injury lawyers and law firms here in Memphis and throughout Mississippi and Tennessee for those type of cases. If you’ve sprained an ankle or bumped your head slightly please DO NOT call us. My office is not set up to act as a personal injury and accident law mill. I don’t take “any and all” cases and try to settle them as quickly as possible just to move on to the next case.

What we handle are cases that involve serious injuries such as ruptured or slipped disks in the back, traumatic brain injury, loss of limbs, death and etc. We are focused on helping these people who need the best legal representation available. So if you fit these simple guidelines I’m here to help you, no matter where you are located in Tennessee or Mississippi.

If you have any questions please call me at my Olive Branch, Mississippi office or call Chris Johnson at our Memhis Office. And be sure to request my FREE book “The 7 Deadly Mistakes That Can Kill Your Memphis Accident Case” to read more about how we can help you.

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That’s the question that each and every victim of an accident has to decide at some point. There are both pros and cons for each. Unfortunately no two situations are ever alike and your reasons for either taking an early settlement or going all the way to court will be different than your neighbors. But if you’ve been injured in an accident you need to know the following information before making your decision:

• How often does the plaintiff (that’s you) win when they take their cases to court? According to the people who keep such statistics, plaintiffs usually win about 60-65% of the time in court. Even the most experienced lawyer has probably lost a case in court that they thought was a guaranteed win. And the same lawyer has probably won a case where they never expected it. The thing is, it’s impossible to know for sure how a judge or jury is going to decide a case.  That’s why a truly great attorney will never guarantee a victory. You just never know what’s going to happen when you enter the “wild west” of the courtroom. The term “Life’s a gamble” could certainly apply to the courtroom because anytime you allow a group of strangers the chance to decide your cases fate it’s definitely a gamble. One in which no one knows what the outcome will be.
• My colleague and fellow trial lawyer Chris Davis summarized juries in the following statement. And here in Mississippi and Memphis his statements certainly ring true.  “If the OJ Simpson case has taught us anything, it should be the common knowledge that is shared among trial lawyers: any case can be lost at trial because juries are unpredictable.  Two different juries deciding the same case can produce two very different verdicts, even when hearing the same evidence and testimony.  You may get a “good” group of jurors or a “bad” group.  Common to popular myth, you cannot “select” a good jury over a bad one.  The law only allows each side to strike 3 jurors out of a panel of 30 to 40 people.  This means the lawyer is pretty much stuck with whoever shows up for jury service and ends up on the jury.”
• What if you go to trial and win? Are you guaranteed to receive more money from the jury than you would have in a settlement? No, you’re not. I’ve seen some very large verdicts and I’ve seen some verdicts that left the plaintiff disappointed, even though they won. Be sure that you’re ready to accept whatever the jury decides if you take your case to trial.
•  We’ve all seen the huge verdicts and dollars handed down by juries. But what you usually don’t see is the appeal by the defendant (the person we’re suing). Almost every time there is a large verdict there is also an appeal. This means that the case will take anywhere from 2 to 5 years longer before you’ll ever see any money. And that’s IF the appeals court finds in your favor and doesn’t reduce the award.
• One of the toughest decisions you’ll have to make is trying to decide between the risk of losing at trial or receiving a lower verdict against the chance that you’ll be awarded a larger amount by the jury. This isn’t something that can be guaranteed and there’s no formula for making this decision. No one knows for sure what the outcome will be, but by choosing an experienced Memphis or Mississippi personal injury or accident lawyer you may increase your odds of being successful
• At trial it’s not about the “truth” but rather it’s about what the jury believes. And unfortunately at injury trial lawyer’s aren’t always able to get all evidence and “hearsay” heard by the court. The strict rules and regulations the court has can limit what we, as attorneys, can say and present to the jury. What ends up happening is the jury makes a decision on what they perceive to be the truth, not necessarily what is the actual truth. What you see as the truth and believe to be correct is not always the way that the jury will see it.
• What the insurance offers to settle your case will never be the same as what they expect the value of the case to be if they think the jury will decide in favor of you. The insurance company is not going to agree to pay you what they think a jury would pay you. This is because they know that it’s going to be expensive and risky for you to “take them to court”. Why am I telling you this? Because you need to know that we can’t make a settlement demand that is far too high or the insurance company will immediately cancel all negotiations. You can’t just ask for a crazy amount of money to “see what happens”. The insurance companies know how much juries are awarding for cases similar to yours. They have a whole database that shows them what types of awards have been given. When determining your settlement demand we must take this into account in order to get the largest settlement possible.
• How does an insurance company decide how much to offer and accept for a settlement? We’ll there are many factors, but among them are the following: is it clear who’s fault the injury was, will you (the plaintiff) look sympathetic to a jury, are the injuries serious, what type of awards have been given in similar cases. And finally the lawyer’s reputation.