HERE’S WHY ATTORNEYS DROP ACCIDENT CASES

You get an e-mail from your attorney telling you that they are dropping your case.  First of all, how rude! They should at least make an appointment for you to come into the office to discuss why your case turned sour, not just send you an e-mail informing you that your case is “dropped,” leaving you wondering why.  Sadly, this happens all the time at law firms that are too big or too inefficient to care about their clients.  You should never be wondering, “Why Did My Attorney Drop My Accident Case,” as this should have been thoroughly explained to you.

If you are sitting there wondering “Why did My Attorney Drop My Case,?” you probably didn’t have a great lawyer in the first place.  A lawyer that cares about their clients and their reputation in the community will always go out of their way to explain why a case shouldn’t be continued.  If a lawyer drops your case, you should know that you have a right to your file, and that they are waiving any lien on your case by dropping it.  Here are some reasons why attorneys drop accident cases that might help you figure it out.

They Find Out That The Accident is Your Fault

You told the attorney that you were hit in the rear by another car, but there is an independent witness that states that you “cut over three lanes, couldn’t killed everybody, and that’s why you got hit in the rear.”  You told your attorney that you had the green light, but there’s a video of you blasting through the light. You told the attorney that you fell in a hole, but the investigation shows there is no hole where you fell. An attorney might take a case based on what you tell them about it, but if their investigation reveals that these facts are not correct, they will probably drop the case.  This might happen because the insurance company sent the lawyer a “no pay” letter, having made the determination that the accident is your fault.

You Are Not Seriously Injured or Didn’t Get Treatment for Your Injuries

You were huring everywhere when you went to the attorney’s office, but you got better and never followed up with getting medical treatment and you went right back to work.  The attorney is likely to decide that there’s not enough damages to continue the case. He may have even tried to settle your case with the insurance company, but due to the minor nature of the injuries and lack of evidence, they sent your attorney a “no pay” letter,” having made the determination that the injuries are too minor to be actionable.

There’s No Insurance Coverage

There is almost always insurance coverage from some source for traffic accidents, but for other types of case there often isn’t.  The beauty parlor fried your hair, but it turns out they have not been paying their insurance bill. It would be close to impossible, and certainly not worth the litigation costs to get a judgment against the beauty parlor which would be difficult or impossible to collect.  This would apply to any premises liability claim against an owner that does have insurance in effect.

Above are the legitimate reasons why an attorney drops a case, but there are some less wholesome reasons as well.  Your attorney may not have had the experience or resources for the case, especially if it’s something other than an auto accident.  Medical malpractice, product liability, construction accidents, and many other types of personal injury cases require a great deal of expertise and a large investment of cash.  If your case has been dropped, and you don’t agree that it’s not worthwhile to continue, you should immediately contact an experienced personal injury attorney to see if they will continue your case.  At Wittenstein & Wittenstein, we get calls from people whose attorneys drop their cases, and sometimes we can take them on.  Please call us at 718-261-8114 for a free consultation.