Why You Should Handle Your Own Claim
By Dan Baldyga
When there's no question about the liability (that is, who's at fault for your accident), the non-lawyer person is frequently better motivated, and in most cases temperamentally better equipped, to do the job than the average lawyer - - especially when it comes to the undertaking of the less appealing but always essential aspects of the claims processing background work.
The reality is that most attorneys don't possess any specialized skills in accident investigation expertise, and are not required (or even expected!) to possess particular investigative knowledge in their claim settlement work. When there's no question who's at fault for the accident, auto liability claims work is a simple, routine, assembly-line type of effort largely resolved by negotiation and settlement out of court. Knowledge of the law is secondary and does not apply in claims settlements for this reason: The overwhelming majority of bodily injury cases (98% even in a high litigation jurisdiction like New York City, for example) are settled and resolved outside the judicial system and through private negotiations between the two parties.
The lawyers handling of the investigation and data-gathering aspects of claims settlement work - - tasks like finding a critical eye-witness, searching out and interviewing a passenger present in a car accident, digging up a key photographer or photograph that make can "make or break" a client's case, etc. - - is usually non- existent. Most lawyers either simply neglect or totally fail to devote much interest or attention, not to speak of passion, to the kinds of tasks which, through tedious effort, are very often the crucial elements in claims settlement evaluation and work. A case in point is the typical negative attitude of lawyers on an issue like tracking down or securing potentially critical photographs of accident scenes or bodily injuries that may possibly have been taken by others (whom he has no idea how to find) but are essential in establishing their client's case.
It's a mistake to assume that when it comes to the proper investigation of a client's automobile accident case (and how to intelligently create that particular client's file) is a skill that most lawyers have and/or develop. That simply isn't true!