The following are some reasons this might happen

Personal injury lawyers can provide you with the best support after you’ve encountered an unfortunate accident. A good lawyer will gather evidence of liability against the defending party to win the case and resolve your claim. In certain cases, lawyers may decline to take the case and this article will go over some the reasons this might happen.

While searching for a good lawyer, you may encounter the situations described above. Maybe you have reached out to a few lawyers who are not willing to take your case. Hence, the first question comes to mind after such an incident, why won’t a lawyer take my case?

There can be several reasons behind this rejection. Let’s find out why or what it means when your attorney drops your case.

The following are a list of reasons:

1. Inadequate amount of damage

The compensation amount largely depends on the damage the plaintiff has suffered. These damages may include pain, suffering, property damage, loss of earning capacity, lost time from work, medical expenses, and psychological repercussions.

Lawyers that take personal injury cases know that their fees depend on the claim amount, as most lawyers work with a contingency fee structure, or “no win, no fee.”

Thus, if a lawyer feels the claim amount is not enough, he may decline the case, as they will need to invest time and resources and in some cases, it may just not be worth their time.

2. Too much time involved

Can a lawyer decline a client simply because the case may involve too much time? Again, if the outcome holds a gain for the lawyer, it is more likely that they will move forward with the case.

Lawyers may analyze the case to determine how much time it may take. As lawyers work on contingency fees, they do not want to invest too much time in a single case unless the claim value is large enough.

On the contrary, lawyers working hourly fee basis may take such cases as they will receive payment for each hour they are spending on your case and are paid regardless of the case outcome.

3. Difficulty in establishing liability

The outcome of the case depends on proving the liability of the defendant party for the plaintiff’s damage.

The damage is not enough to prove the liability of the defendant. Injury could have also been the fault of the plaintiff as well.

Thus, the lawyer evaluates the case and only after confirming a high probability of success will they take the case. If the lawyer feels that proving liability will be difficult, he or she may decline the case.     

4. The defendant has limited resources

It is mandatory for drivers to have insurance in the USA. However, despite this, there are some drivers who won’t have coverage or enough coverage to pay for the accident claims.

In such cases, the lawyer may not take your case. They know that it will be impossible for them to realize their fees, as there is no insurer to pay the claim amount.

Further, if the defendant is not financially capable enough to pay the damages that he or she is held responsible for, then the lawyer will not get a single penny.

5. The case is too expensive

Personal injury lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that the lawyer will invest a significant amount of time and resources to win the case for the client with no guarantee of being paid back the costs spent on the case.

The need to invest in collecting evidence to prove the liability of the defendant is time consuming and requires many resources.  

There are additional costs, such as paying to take depositions, paying to copy documents for discovery, paying to copy documents that will be used as evidence, paying to prepare exhibits, and paying medical experts and other experts to provide much needed valuable information about the case.

If a lawyer has found that the ratio of the associated costs with the winning probability of case is not enough, they will decline the client’s case.

However, if a lawyer thinks the case has merit and winning the case can be a milestone, he may agree to take it on for you.

6. Conflict of Interest

Every lawyer adheres to strict ethical guidelines. Violating these guidelines can potentially lead to the cancellation of their legal license. Thus, they do everything they can to stay within the guidelines.

If the lawyer previously represented the defendant, then he may decline to take the case. In the case of facing moral odds, the lawyer may decide to not take the case.

Bottom Line

Having gone through this post, you are probably now aware of the reasons behind a lawyer not taking your case. So, next time before you ask why a lawyer has dropped my case, evaluate the reasons provided in this article.

If you are looking for a personal injury lawyer, please feel free to contact us.