PERSONAL INJURY REPRESENTATION
 
 NOT  -
"AMBULANCE CHASING"

There is no greater insult to the legal profession - at least to those who ply this trade with pride such as we do - than the widespread use of the catch-phrase “ambulance chaser”. We can think of no other profession that endures the ridicule that attorneys do, and nowhere is it seen with greater clarity than the portrayal of the personal injury attorney.

 

 

For the record, no one in this firm has ever chased an ambulance.

 

Kidding aside though, we wonder if someone who refers to an attorney as an ambulance chaser ever realizes that he not only insults the attorney, but he equally insults the client that hired him.

 

And but for a twist of fate, he may one day be that very client.

 

Experiment:

 

Visualize for a moment your day tomorrow, your schedule, what you will do, when you will come home, what your social activities may be. Think about when you will eat dinner and what you will have, and when you will go to bed. Almost daily we go through that ritual, do we not? We think of what’s going to happen tomorrow.

 

Now visualize the rest of your week, now your month, now the next twelve, and now picture the next five years or ten, and then visualize when and how you will eventually retire. Picture how much money you will need in retirement and savings accounts to do so. We’ve all done this, or should be doing so. Now imagine how you will be sure to put enough away each year to reach your goals, because after all you are responsible - you aren’t looking for anyone else to take care of you, right? You are independent. You don’t want to become a burden on your children or on society, and you have taken appropriate steps ensure that never happens. 

 

Now picture your whole life as you expect it to be, seeing your children compete in sports events, get married etc. Of course you know there will be down times, that is part of realistic and responsible planning. You know for example that people you love will grow older and will die, but you have prepared mentally, emotionally and otherwise for all those contingencies.

 

Now tomorrow you awake and you begin your day, everything proceeds as planned and - WHAM!

 

Time stops. Everything stops. Something has happened. It really does not matter what. All that matters is you were being responsible and someone else was not. You are injured, and it is not your fault. You don’t come home that day when you expected to. You worry about your spouse and children and those that depend on you. You worry about your job. You may get back to work – eventually. Then again, maybe you won’t. Months later you still cannot work to the capacity you once did, you are tired most of the time when before you had unlimited energy, you still have pain even though your wounds have healed, you are missing your children’s important events and may continue to do so, and you have burdened your work, family and your friends with your scheduling, your lack of productivity, and your complaints. You feel awful a lot of the time, you are depressed and your outlook on life has dimmed. You are concerned about that retirement. And then you find out that the one responsible for your losses doesn’t want to pay.

 

So, here you are in an attorney’s office. You are telling your tale for the n^th time. A tale you yourself are tired of hearing, and of reliving. You never in your life imagined you would be one of those people who consult personal injury attorneys. You find out it is not so simple to get a financial recovery. It will take years, and as strongly as you feel wronged you are told you have a chance of not recovering anything. You will have to work hard to prove your case. In fact, you learn for the very first time that the burden of proving your case sits squarely on your shoulders.  The so-called defendant does not have to prove anything at all.  And you think, “How can that be”? It’s so obvious I did nothing wrong.

 

And now the crème de la crème. Your attorney, the only one who can help you, is described as an ambulance chaser, and you are painted as a whining malingerer. You didn’t ask for this.    

 

 

Our Best Clients:

 

Almost without exception my best personal injury clients have said the same thing at our initial consultation - “I never thought I would be consulting with a ‘personal injury’ attorney. I don’t believe in suing”. When I hear those words from the potential client (type described above) – I smile. I know how hard it is to make that decision when you are like the vast majority of the public who has bought the lie that personal injury attorneys are all snakes and charlatans who are driving up insurance costs, and their clients are all cheats and swindlers who need to pick up the pieces and deal with it. It’s a hard perception to dispel – until it happens to you.

 

In almost every initial consultation with a potential client, I explain what is ahead of them in the process (and their lives), and then I send them away to think about it. If they come back I know they are ready to invest themselves in the long haul. Those are good clients, and I am privileged to represent them. Rest assured - There is no incentive whatsoever for any injured person (or their attorney) to pursue a personal injury claim, unless they are truly injured, and it was not their fault. The process is expensive, time-consuming and emotionally draining for client and attorney alike.  We are not (most of us) ambulance chasers. Clients come to us, because they are hurt and out of options. It is that simple.  

 

 

At the Law Offices of Gerard F. Lane we have represented personal injury claimants in the following general categories:

 

·         Auto Accident

·         Slip and Fall

·         Medical Malpractice

·         Wrongful Death

·         Dog Bite

·         Assault and Battery – Civil

·         Defamation

·         Workplace Harrassment/Discrimination

 

  

If you fit the client profile presented above and never thought you would be the sort of person that seeks this type of representation – Welcome. Please feel free to give us a call. We are pleased to be of service, and we understand how you feel.

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