Making Money by Not Taking Cases
I did a very difficult thing yesterday. I turned down a case of a friend’s son. The facts aren’t important, other than it wasn’t a good case. Liability and causation of injuries were not there. There was a significant gap in treatment and even pain symptoms and the young man worked in construction.
In days gone by, I would have oredered the accident report, got the initial meds and seen what we could do with it. But in the long run, we really wouldn’t be able to do much of anything with it. The insurance company might have settled it for nuisance value, but that’s about it. So, I talked to the man and told him that we could not help him and why.
It was difficult, I had done a significant case for his father. I had done a number of cases for the family. I took a second, third and fourth look at the case trying to convince myself that I would be able to do something with the case, but in the long run, I knew that I couldn’t, so I turned the case down. I’m a plaintiff’s attorney because I like helping people. The longer I do this, the more I understand that there’s a place and a role for plaintiff’s, defendants and the insurance industry and they all need people representing them. Me? I can’t imagine helping large corporations or insurance companies and am glad to be on the side of the little guy, helping people.
BUT, if I take their case, do an investigation, get the accident report, the insurance information, the medical records and do a full and complete workup and the case, really, really isn’t worth much and I work my butt off ot get nuisance value out of it, am I really helping the client? I don’t think so. If I know the case is a loser, I don’t think that I’m doing the client a favor by getting his hopes up and useing a lot of resources in documenting and working up a case that can’t be won.
Now realize I’m not talking small cases that have value, but not a significant dollar amount. I’m talking a case, where there is no causative link between the injuries and the incident with significant intervening factors.
By not taking the case in the first place, I didn’t give the client false hopes. I also saved my office the time and effort of running around and documenting a losing case. That time can be better spent working on our good cases.
A year or two ago, I would have known that the case was bad, but said “Well…..let’s get the accident report and some basics and make a decision from there….”, trying to be helpful. Well, in 14 years, that type of thinking has never worked to my advantage, so I decided to bite the bullet and make the decision up front.
It’s a learning process.
I think what you have just did is the hardest lesson to learn in PI law but also the most valuable one. This is a best business metric in law firms. I am more impressed you understood that it almost has nothing to do with the excitement of the chase but what is in the best interest of the client. I tend to find that clients go back to law firms who are truly honest with them or refer people to them. Good learning decision. Great business decision as well. And the client wins.
Turning Down Clients is a hard part of law. From the situation it sounds like you made a good decision. Must have been especially hard because of the fact he was your friends son. Business is business I suppose.
Business is Business, Right?
The problem is, you are pressured to take the bad cases to get the good ones. Most people don't walk away saying "I guess I really had no case whatsoever." They say, "I have a good case no matter what he says" and maybe doubt you. Then they take the kid's case to another lawyer, and when their family has a GOOD case down the road, they go back to him and not you.
