In connection with a recent and significant personal injury case our office settled, the insurance company that paid the settlement sent us a report from their claims department detailing how they arrived at their decision to settle the case for the full amount of the seven-figure insurance policy. The insurer did this without our client having to go through extended litigation and a trial. The last line of the report read as follows:
“Reputation of Plaintiff’s Attorney: Excellent plaintiff attorney and firm. One of the top firms in the area and handle higher end cases. Aggressive and thorough with discovery should case go to litigation.”
This assessment of our firm comes from a major liability insurer which handles serious claims brought nationally. This insurer knows that, unlike many other firms, SUGARMAN’s lawyers are trial lawyers who will aggressively litigate and try cases for our clients.
Why is it important that your lawyer tries cases?
SUGARMAN is not the only personal injury firm in Massachusetts with a reputation like this, but we are one of few. And we are very proud of that. However, that reputation is gained not just through settling cases, but through litigating and, most importantly, trying cases in Massachusetts courts in front of Massachusetts juries. Insurers, like lawyers and judges, know which lawyers litigate and try cases, and which only claim to. This Committee Report was, in some sense, confirmation of that.
Although a large number of cases do settle, insurance companies and their lawyers know which firms are willing to litigate a case in front of a jury and which firms ultimately settle every case they have. You can be assured that the amounts that insurance companies offer to injured plaintiffs is influenced by this knowledge. If the insurance company is confident that a case will never see a jury (and that there is little risk to the insurance company), the company is not going to offer full value to settle a personal injury case. Why would they?
How do I determine whether my lawyer actually tries cases?
If you have a significant personal injury case, it may be hard to tell from online searching, or even word of mouth, what the true reputation of a lawyer or law firm is. Everyone says they are the best. But to get an idea, you should be able to ask some simple questions to your lawyer (or prospective lawyer) and get straight answers:
Have you personally ever tried a case in front of a jury in Massachusetts, and can you give me some examples of the personal injury cases you have tried? Have you or your firm ever won a significant jury verdict in Massachusetts? Have you ever lost a significant personal injury case at trial?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, if the lawyer can’t give you any examples of significant cases they have tried, if the lawyer can’t give you examples of cases they have both won and lost, (all reputable trial lawyers have lost cases), you should consider that when deciding which lawyer to hire.
Why? Because, as the report above indicates, the insurance companies certainly will consider the track record of the firm handling your case when deciding how to evaluate it. At SUGARMAN, our track record speaks for itself.