After a personal injury case, you must seek fair compensation for all losses incurred. That’s when you are on a hunt for a personal injury lawyer who understands your case and does everything to get a fair claim. However, there are certain reasons why your lawyer may refuse your case. In this article, we have discussed the top 5 such reasons. Here we go!
Reasons a Personal Injury Lawyer May Refuse your Case
1. Absence of Legal Justification
Before accepting a case, personal injury lawyers evaluate its potential for success. They have the right to decline to take on your case if they find insufficient legal justification for a favorable result, such as unambiguous liability or proof of carelessness. It is ethically required of attorneys to take on matters that have a realistic prospect of victory only.
2. Statute of Limitations
Each state has a different statute of limitations. It establishes a time limit for bringing a claim for personal injury. If your accident occurred after the statute of limitations has passed, the lawyer may not say yes to your case due to legal restrictions. You cannot pursue a lawsuit to get compensation after the statute of limitations has passed.
3. Conflict of Interest
Personal injury lawyers should avoid conflicts of interest. It is because it adds to difficulties for them to adequately represent a client. A conflict may keep the lawyer from taking on your case if they already have a relationship with the other side. Likewise, competing interests may prevent the lawyer from representing you if they are already defending another party in the same case.
4. Insufficient Damages
In personal injury cases, damages recovered are:
- Medical costs
- Lost income
- Pain and suffering
However, if your injuries are slight or your losses are minimal, the possible cash recovery may not outweigh the time and expenses needed to continue the case. In these circumstances, the lawyer could provide you with advice on other ways to pursue compensation.
5. Client’s Unrealistic Expectations
Having reasonable expectations is important in personal injury cases. If a client has unrealistic expectations, the lawyer may decline to take a case. Lawyers need to control the expectations of clients. Further, they provide them with the right evaluations of their chances of winning based on the case’s facts.
Wrapping up
These are some potential reasons why your lawyer may say not to your case. Besides these, there are some other reasons too for cases that may get rejected.