Four Misconceptions About Lawsuits

Chelsey Sayasane:
Today, attorney David Greene from Greene and Phillips is here to discuss common misconceptions about filing a lawsuit and why you may want to hire a personal injury attorney for your situation. David, good morning, glad to have you.

David Greene:
Yeah, glad to be here.

Chelsey Sayasane:
Yeah, so some people may think, “I’m not the suing type.” But where do you guys come into play for that?

David Greene:
Well, it’s important to understand that every time you hire a lawyer, you’re not going to court and you’re not filing a lawsuit. So many people say, “I’m not the suing type” — you know, if you look at it, I’m a business guy too, I’m probably not the suing type either. But the most important thing to understand — you need to have someone that’s going to look at your case, look at your claim, and put it together and understand the rules. A few minutes ago we were talking about another matter like this, and what happens is it makes you think about having the expertise on your side to build your case or your claim, to say the right things to the insurance adjuster that’s going to maximize the value. So a lot of what we do is putting together claims, putting together cases in the format that they’re looking for, so it goes in their system and then we can negotiate. It happens so many times that people just get a simple, you know, $250 offer for their wreck when the case might be worth $25,000. So they really need to talk to a local lawyer, like the lawyers at Greene and Phillips, that can put it into perspective, put it into the right language, if you will, so the insurance company will understand what the case is about.

Chelsey Sayasane:
All right, so some good advice there. And also, so what are some advantages of hiring a lawyer just like you guys to deal with insurance companies rather than trying to handle it yourself?

David Greene:
Well, I think it’s the expertise — I’ve been doing it 25 years, it’s hard to believe that — but, you know, we’ve got a lot of lawyers that work in our office, we have a lot of case managers, and a lot of those are former claims handlers for insurance companies, so they understand the rules. You understand the rules, you know the value, and then basically if the value is not there, they can explain it to you and make a decision as to whether or not you should file suit. But one of the big things about a case these days is what’s called subrogation — it’s paying back your medical bills that your health insurance has paid on your behalf because you’re hurt. A lot of people think, “Well, I bought health insurance or have it through my job, they should pay for my bills,” but the interesting thing is they have a right to come back and ask you for that money. So you want to make sure that’s all handled — you don’t want to lose your health insurance, you want to make sure everybody’s paid — but that’s something a lawyer can do. So really the expertise is very important, and I think that makes a huge difference.

Chelsey Sayasane:
Sure. Now, off the top of your head, what percent of cases would you say actually go to court?

David Greene:
Oh gosh, these days it’s changed — there’s a couple of companies out there that caused us to try a lot more cases of late, the last two or three years. About five percent of cases go to trial.

Chelsey Sayasane:
Really? And that’s pretty small.

David Greene:
I mean, we handle thousands of cases all over the country, mostly in the Southeast, but the number of cases we see, we see about five percent of those actually go to trial — perhaps some years a little more, some a little less. But that’s a stunning number of cases that just simply don’t get filed.

Chelsey Sayasane:
Yeah.

David Greene:
You put the case together, you talk to the adjuster — most insurance companies do a great job on both sides of evaluating the case, putting it together, coming to an agreement, and then settling it.

Chelsey Sayasane:
And that’s my next question — what does it mean to actually settle a case?

David Greene:
That’s a great point, we talk about that like it’s — well, it’s so easy — but what happens is when an accident occurs, somebody rear-ends you or T-bones you, their insurance company is going to owe you money for the damages. The individual never has to pay, very rarely has to pay, and that bothers a lot of people, but the insurance company that’s insuring that vehicle has to pay for your damages. So settling the case is dealing with that insurance company, speaking their language, putting it in a format that they understand, and then building the case and then resolving it so then you get paid. So getting paid for your injuries is settling the case.

Chelsey Sayasane:
I feel like I’m prepared for the bar now.

David Greene:
Absolutely, today.

Chelsey Sayasane:
David, so if someone’s watching and they need more information, maybe they’re trying to contact you about a certain case, how can they do that?

David Greene:
It’s very simple. You can call us at 251-300-2000 here in Mobile, 51 North Florida Street, or 4th Avenue North of the Forbes Building in Downtown Birmingham, or go to greenephillips.com.

Chelsey Sayasane:
All right, David, it’s always good to have you. We’re going to have more information about Greene and Phillips on our website, fox10tv.com.