Lawyers are my best friend?

It has been a month since my car got totaled. To date I have received five advertisement packets from different law firms who are eager to "help me" get past the "evil" claims adjusters that wish to delay fixing me up.

Give me a break.

Three weeks after the incident I got one packet telling me that I should not leave the Hospital until their crack team comes by to photo my injuries and collect the pertinent papers. I was only in the ER long enough to find no broken bones.

Without thier help I got the following done to me:

My car is paid off in full (insurance plus gap policy)
My ER visit has been paid
My damaged laptop computer has been fully reimbursed (it was only three months old)

I guess they were eager to get thier hooks in 33% of my settlement for little or no effort.

One firm has sent repeated letters touting thier services. They are also heavy on TV and radio advertisements. I have come to distrust any company that has to rely on a heavy barrage of media advertisements. That indicates to me they don't have good customer "word of mouth". Just my opinion.

What's the most advertising material anyone has received from a frendly pack of lawyers after an unfortunate incident.

P.S. I have no intention of seeking the assistance of any of these jackals.

the more successful (rich) lawyers always seem to consistently contribute heavily to the winnng politician's campaigns, thereby acquiring a large degree of influence. if you can use (and afford) this sort of power, you can 'buy a little bit' of it from the lawyer to achieve your desired ends..

same old story..

My family Lawyer (only used for several members wills/estate work) also happens to be my state legislator. So if I were to need a Lawyer in this situation I would get the one who helped write the some of the regulations in question.

These leeches that are sending me these packets are just looking to cash in for filling out a couple of forms that I can do myself and then collecting after things run thier natural course. I got a letter from the shark representing the person I hit a few years back and his statement was that they were handling the paperwork between them and my insurance. To that end he was collecting 1/3 of whatever the insurance paid. They collected 9,000 from the insurance and he skimmed 3,000 from them. Maybe more since they are immigrants and may not be as wary of this kind of activity. All for about a half hours paperwork.

Edited: Spudman's gracious response (below) is better than my sarcastic one, so I defer to Spudman.


cheers!

Pellidon,

Most injury attorneys make their money on injury claims. They don't take a fee from your medical payments or property damage. You certainly couldn't replace your vehicle or laptop for two thirds of what it was worth.

There are good and bad in every profession. The fact that someone chooses to advertise does not necessarily make them bad, although I've seen some commercials that make me cringe.

If you have no injury claim then you don't need an injury attorney. If you are injured, the scenario changes. Then a good attorney can indeed be your best friend.

I understand things may be different in your state. I also understand you've had a claim made against you which may affect your opinion. If you guys want to continue bashing lawyers that is your right. I'm just suggesting there is also another way of seeing it.

G.

I have noticed that not only attorneys but most of the hard sell services that advertise on radio, tv, billboards etc. to generate thier brand ID of sorts seem to be the ones that burn most people. For example there are a couple of auto repair centers that have name recognition because they are on the media more than Britney Spears is on a tabloid cover and they have burned me and several people I know. Unfortunately the burned come out with thier tales of woe after someone gets burnt. So on that I have learned to be wary of those who advertise.

Multiple advertising packets from the same office does seem a bit over the top in the waste of thier time and mine. I could see one advertisement. Fortunately I am on a No-Call list so they don't bother me with phone calls.

I am also involved from time to time writing advertising material for our products so I know hyperbole and horse pooey in ad copy when I read it.

Kudos to you, Pellidon, for not taking the bait.

Gosh, this is a sore topic with me. I haven't been sued (knocks on wood (my head) x 100!), but over the years have dealt with about 20 or so different attorneys on behalf of company clients for various matters. And I have to say that I haven't been duly impressed by them. One particularly large "international" firm was among the worst--really burned the client badly.

By far though, I think the worst of the worst was a personal injury "shark." His waiting room was apparently filled with flyers about cases he won, some in which he collected money when HIS client was at FAULT. He's apparently very familiar with the ins and outs of the insurance business, and knows how to bleed it. His office was in the same complex where I worked, and he was the worst tenant, which is saying a lot, as running second was a really slimy, sue-happy MD.

Don't get me wrong, there are probably plenty of "good" attorneys, but among the tens of thousands of their ilk, I think they're in the minority. Perhaps expectations are too high, but I consider attorneys a necessary "evil." Hmm, can you tell I have no love lost for them???

I, one day, unfortunately turned 18. I was then mutilated by credit card applications...I had never been pre-approved for more stuff than that, all at once.

-Cameron

bobisculous said:

I, one day, unfortunately turned 18. I was then mutilated by credit card applications...

Click to expand...

Does this set a new trend, the ideal gift for those turning 18 is now a personal shredder to get rid of the pre-approved credit card applications and prevent identity theft?

It's a strange new world and getting stranger all the time.

I get those computer generated pre-approvals even from the bank I already have a card with! I do find the packets with the fake card useful however. I use the cards for squeeges or paint stripper scrapers or other utility uses.

1-888-5-OPT-OUT is a place where one can have the credit bureaus remove you from the pre approval lists. I got the information from the Clark Howard radio talkshow's website. Opt-Out article

Schnott's hates lawyers. At least the one's who defend criminals anyway.

Criminal defense lawyers are slimy because they love criminals, not because the are lawyers. Law school didn't make them slimy. Loving criminals and hating civilization did.

cheers!

powernoodle said:

Criminal defense lawyers are slimy because they love criminals, not because the are lawyers. Law school didn't make them slimy. Loving criminals and hating civilization did.

cheers!

Click to expand...

Good observation, PN.

I knew a guy whose brother was a notorious crinimal defense lawyer. Unfortunately the lawyer's "ethics" seemed to have rubbed off on his brother. They were both backstabbing slimeballs.
:shakehead

Don't assume that those tried for crimes are guilty. That would be a tragic mistake. Maybe you've been watching too much TV.

I was a juror in a criminal case a couple of years ago. Too bad they didn't make a movie of it and put it on TV. But I guess real "reality" TV will never happen.

It turned out to be a slam-dunk for the defense, but others so charged may not be so lucky, and the charge was very serious. The defendant had a very good and likable attorney. Everyone on the jury wanted the attorney's business card. The defendant also was fortunate enough to have a good judge and a good jury.

Apparently the judge had seen similar cases many times before. When the prosecution had "expert witnesses" on the stand, the judge asked some questions himself. Questions the "experts" didn't want to answer.

The one you might call slimy in this case was the prosecuting attorney, but I guess he was just doing his job.