Part IV
The Legal Process
Fewer Cases. More Time for You.
We are different.
At Hansen Injury Law, we do not rely on a high volume of cases, and we don’t handle every type of case. We don’t want to. We don’t need to.
Each year, we accept a limited number of injury cases from the hundreds of people who ask us to represent them. We do not operate a “high volume, take anything that comes through the door” type of personal injury practice. Instead, we give personal attention to the few cases that we do accept. We will personally handle your case. We do not allow paralegals or assistants to negotiate with the insurance company. We personally negotiate with the adjusters and attorneys, and we try the cases that go to court. Fewer cases means more time for you and, we believe, better results overall.
We founded Hansen Injury Law because we believe Idaho residents deserve more than what most law firms offer. If we accept your case, we will aggressively represent you, keep you up to date on what is happening in your case, and achieve the best possible outcome.
Just because you have been in an accident does not always mean you need an attorney. If we believe it is in your best interest to handle the case yourself, we will tell you so. In addition, if we believe you have a claim you cannot win, we will tell you that as well. If your case meets our criteria and we accept it, you can rest assured that you will receive our personal attention. You will become part of our law firm family and together, as a team, we will decide on the best tactics for your case.
How Do We Handle Personal Injury
Cases at Hansen Injury Law?
While every case is different, and not all cases require each of the steps outlined below, the following is a list of what we normally do at our firm when preparing a personal injury claim:
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Evaluate your claim during an initial interview, educate you regarding the legal process for personal injury cases, and determine any deadlines that apply
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Contact the insurance companies, give them notice of the claim and ask them to communicate with our office directly—allowing you to focus on healing instead of dealing with insurance adjusters
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Gather documentary evidence including police accident reports, medical records, and bills
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Analyze your insurance policy to see whether you have any coverage that may pay all or a portion of the medical bills while your claim is pending
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Review your insurance policy with you and make suggestions as to what coverage you should purchase for future protection
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Interview known witnesses
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Collect other evidence, such as photographs of the scene of the accident and any property damage involved
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Analyze the legal issues related to the case, including comparative negligence and any damage limits that may apply
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Review your medical records, talk to your physicians, and obtain written reports from them to help us better understand your condition and any ongoing needs
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Identify whether your health insurance has paid any medical expenses related to the injury claim; and, if so, determine whether any settlement proceeds must be used to reimburse the health insurance plan
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Prepare a demand package to be sent to the insurance company in an attempt to settle the case
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Negotiate a fair settlement. At Hansen Injury Law, we are able to successfully settle 85% of our cases without ever having to sue the person who caused the accident.
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Discuss the benefits of filing a lawsuit, should the insurance company be unwilling to make a reasonable settlement offer
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Prepare you, witnesses, and healthcare providers for depositions if a lawsuit is filed.
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Prepare written questions and answers and take the deposition of the defendant and other witnesses
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Prepare for and attend mediation for potential settlement before trial
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Go to court to set a trial date
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Prepare for trial and/or settlement before trial
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Prepare you and any witnesses for trial
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Prepare medical and demonstrative exhibits for trial
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File briefs and motions with the court to eliminate surprises at trial
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Take the case to trial with a jury or judge
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Analyze the jury’s verdict to determine if either side has good grounds to appeal the case
How Much is My Case Worth?
We often hear this question from clients during our initial interview. We tell our clients that every case is different, and it is impossible to know the value of a case until we have collected all the facts. Beware of attorneys who tell you your case is worth $XXX, XXX before knowing all the facts in an effort to have you sign a fee agreement. It is a dangerous, unreliable practice and can cause problems when it is time to settle your case. Once we have gathered all the facts, conducted discovery, spoken with your doctors, and prepared a demand package, we will then be able to discuss the value of your case.
Why You Should Hire
Hansen Injury Law
There are many attorneys who advertise for personal injury cases. Unfortunately, some of these attorneys have so many small cases in their offices that no case gets their personal attention. Others have no real intention of trying your case themselves, and if the case cannot be settled with the insurance company, they will refer the case to a new attorney for trial. There are good, experienced attorneys in this field, but it can be very difficult for a consumer to separate the good from the bad.
As we mentioned earlier in this book, we are different. Rather than trying to manage hundreds of cases, we are very selective of the cases we take. Being selective requires us to decline numerous cases each year; however, it also ensures that the clients and cases we accept receive our personal, careful attention. For example, we take the time to meet with your doctors and discuss how they can assist in your case. We recently met with a client’s doctor and discovered information that was not in the medical records—that information added $65,000 in value to her case! A high-volume practice that does not take the time to carefully review your medical documents, meet with medical providers or develop a legal strategy specifically tailored to the circumstances of each case would have missed this information and settled the case for much less than its true value.
Cases We Do Not Accept
We have found that the only way to provide personal service is to decline cases that do not meet our strict criteria. Therefore, at Hansen Injury Law, we generally do not accept the following types of cases:
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Cases involving minor impact or no visible damage to the vehicle. Our experience with juries is that, by and large, they do not believe a minor impact could cause substantial personal injury, even when well-qualified experts testify otherwise. As a result, these cases often result in very low verdicts. Thus, we believe that the risk to the client is too great to warrant pursuing these claims. There are other attorneys with different opinions about these types of cases and, if you call our office, we will be happy to provide you with recommendations of such attorneys.
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Cases with less than $3,500 of expected medical bills. Your case must have at least $3,500 in past and future medical bills before we will consider accepting it. We would like to represent everyone who needs a good attorney, but we cannot. Remember, we are talking about your total medical bills, not just your “out-of-pocket” expenses, which may be less. If you have a question about this, contact us and we can help you find a solution.
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Cases in which you have a significant pre-existing injury in the same area of the body. If you have had numerous surgeries or treatments for your low back, and your low back is later injured in an accident, our experience shows that juries will not award you much compensation for that injury. In our opinion, the time and risk associated with these cases is simply too great to pursue, unless your doctor can clearly distinguish which injuries were caused by the accident and which were pre-existing.
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Cases in which you were found to be at fault by the police officer. We will not represent you if you were charged or cited by the police officer for causing the accident. We understand that police officers make mistakes and that you may disagree or believe the police officer was wrong, but we are unwilling to represent you in these instances.
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Cases in which you were found to be mostly at fault by the police. Even if the other driver shares some blame, we are unwilling to represent someone who was deemed to be primarily at fault for the accident. However, if the other driver bears most of the fault, we may be able to help, depending on other facts involved in your case. Feel free to contact us to discuss the circumstances of your case free of charge.
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If you have had several serious accident claims in the recent past, we will not accept your case. We have found that jurors tend to look unfavorably on claimants who have a significant accident history.
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Cases in which you have a significant prior criminal record involving fraud, deceit or dishonesty. The credibility of the injured person is one of the most important aspects of a personal injury claim. As a result, clients who have a criminal history (particularly one that involves dishonesty, fraud or deceit) are viewed with a great degree of skepticism by jurors.
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Cases that are near the end of the statute of limitations. We like to have at least four months to fully evaluate and investigate your claim. This is another reason why you should not delay in contacting an attorney.
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Cases in which you currently have an attorney who has represented you for more than 3 months. If an attorney already represents you, this book can increase your knowledge and help you know the proper questions to ask about your case, but it is unlikely we will accept your case. It is often too late for us to pursue the case in the manner that we believe is best for you.
Well, Are There Any Cases Left?
Yes, there are, and that’s just the point. As we said before, our office represents many good people with valid claims. We have found that we do our best work by devoting our time and resources to cases that meet our criteria, rather than getting bogged down in claims riddled with many of the problems and challenges identified above. That is why we have made the decision to keep our caseload small, concentrate our efforts on creating lasting relationships with clients, and working together to obtain the best results for our clients.
