Our experienced attorneys and staff know that life after a motor vehicle accident with injuries is stressful. As an injured person, you are talking to your insurance company (perhaps several times a day), figuring out how to get your car fixed or if it even can be fixed, and worrying about missing time from work. And you are doing all of this while you are injured, in pain, and trying to get medical care.
We believe that a good lawyer will do more than seek a fair settlement. As your lawyers, we provide support for you as you experience this traumatic event. If you are dealing with a serious personal injury, or if your loved one died in a fatal accident, we can help you get through this crisis. We guide the process the entire way: from handling all the paperwork, insurance company communications, coordinating health insurance coverage with those benefits that may exist under the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and MedPay provisions of your policies, obtaining, organizing, and analyzing all medical reports, and presenting the case to the insurance company in a format that this likely to achieve the best possible result under the law. We deal with the paperwork and insurance issues so that you can focus on your medical recovery.
We understand the special issues that arise in cases with very serious injuries, including:
- Amputation/loss of limb
- Back injury
- Brain injury
- Paralysis
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
- Shoulder injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
We handle all personal injury claims on a contingent fee basis. There is no charge for legal services unless we are successful in obtaining a monetary recovery for you. When your case is resolved, whether, by settlement or court verdict, our law firm is paid a percentage of the gross recovery amount.
Common Client Questions
- The accident was not my fault! Why am I being told that my insurance company should pay medical bills?
- The at-fault driver’s insurance carrier is not paying my medical bills, and they are going to collections! What can I do?
- They want me to fill out and sign forms. Should I do that?
- Should I give the insurance company a recorded statement?
- I just want the insurance companies to stop calling me! (or perhaps more frequently: “I can’t get the adjuster to return my phone call!”)
Concerning car repairs or total loss:
- The other insurance company has told me that they won’t give me a rental or fix my car because they have not been able to interview the other driver. What do I do?
- The insurance company is cutting off my rental. What can be done?
- My car was totaled. What are my rights?
Concerning medical care:
- I’m being told that my health insurance won’t pay for my accident-related medical care—is this true?
- My family doctor says that he won’t treat patients for injuries sustained in car accidents. What do I do now?
- I can’t get in to see the doctor until 10 (or more) days from now. I’m in pain. What do I do?
- I received a letter from my health insurance carrier telling me that I need to pay them back. What do I do?
- Do I need a referral from my family doctor to get medical treatment?
- Is making an appointment with my family doctor the best first step?
- Liability insurance, PIP insurance, health insurance, underinsured motorist coverage—how does it all fit together?
Concerning settlement:
- I assumed the insurance company would treat me fairly. Boy, was I wrong! How will you make sure I am treated fairly?
- How do I know if a settlement offer is fair?
- When can I settle my case?
- What about future medical expenses?
- I had a prior injury or I have a preexisting condition. How will that affect my case?
Selecting a Medical Professional
Are certain doctors and physical therapists better for treating injuries for auto accidents?
In our opinion, yes. While injuries arising from accidents vary significantly, there are some injuries I see over and over again. Over our many years of experience, we have formed opinions as to the quality of care provided by some local doctors and therapists. While we don’t dictate who our clients see, we are glad to provide an opinion on the quality of care issues to our clients.
Should I hire a lawyer for my car accident insurance claim?
If you are injured in a car or truck accident, it is usually in your best interest to hire a well-qualified lawyer to represent you. With the right attorney, you are likely to achieve a much better settlement or recovery, with a lot less stress, hassle, and disruption with your life. Consider the following and call us at 410-749-9111 for a free consultation.
An experienced lawyer will usually get you a much larger settlement.
There are several reasons that an experienced lawyer can get you a better settlement for your car or truck accident case, even after attorney’s fees are deducted.
First, an experienced lawyer who focuses on car accident injury claims knows how to document and submit a well-organized and comprehensive package to the insurance adjuster covering every aspect of the claim—from medical expenses, lost wages, and other economic damages, to the non-economic aspects of the case: pain and suffering, inconvenience, loss of consortium, any projected permanency of the injury, scarring, etc.
It is important to submit such a “demand package” in a format that is clear, organized, and easy for the adjuster to understand. If you do not have a good attorney, many of the potential aspects of the claim go overlooked, and if they are overlooked by you or your attorney, they will certainly not be considered by the insurance adjuster.
(Note: It is important to hire the right attorney. A now-deceased attorney used to send me cases that she could not settle for a fair amount. Her files were a mess, unorganized, and were always missing a lot of information. It would usually take us a month or two to completely start over the documentation process, but once we completely resubmitted the demand package to the adjuster, we usually got the case settled at double or triple the offer that was made to the other attorney).
Second, a good attorney can guide you on your medical care and treatment. Which doctors are good and treating—and documenting—a particular injury? More importantly, which are not? It is often important to get a narrative summary report from a treating doctor, and frankly, some doctors can be uncooperative or just consider themselves too busy to write such a report. Insurance claims are largely based upon thorough documentation. How much physical therapy will an insurance company believe to be excessive? What documentation is necessary so they will not balk at a particular course of treatment? These and many other questions can be answered by a good experienced personal injury attorney.
Third, a good attorney can avoid an unexpected denial of your claim. There are many mistakes that can be made, any of which can result in a denial of the claim. A good lawyer knows how to avoid these pitfalls.
Fourth, a good attorney knows the methods used by insurance companies to minimize claims and avoids or overcomes them. I have over 20 years of experience handling car accident claims. I represented insurance companies for the first 10 of those years. I’ve seen it all and know how to avoid the insurance companies’ unfair methods for minimizing claims.
Finally, a good attorney has a reputation of not just “throwing in the towel” and accepting a settlement offer just because an insurance adjuster says it is the best offer that will be made. At Robertson & Robertson, we have the reputation of taking a lot of cases to trial if we cannot get a good settlement for our clients—and the insurance adjusters know it. Because we only focus on accident cases, we deal with many of the same adjusters time and time again. These adjusters know that they better make a fair offer, or they are going to be defending a lawsuit. If you are unrepresented or represented by a lawyer who has a reputation of taking whatever is offered, you are unlikely to get a good settlement.
Equally important, a good accident attorney makes the difficult claims process much more tolerable.
If you have been injured in an accident, you undoubtedly have started to feel the stress of the disruption in your life, which is compounded by having to deal with multiple insurance adjusters and trying to get medical care. Who pays for what? What should I do next? Should I give a recorded statement or fill out a document from an insurance adjuster? Who really has my best interest in mind?
Take a deep breath. We are here to help. Our office handles nothing but car, truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian accident cases. Not only do we “know our stuff,” but we are not distracted by handling criminal law, divorce, or any other type of cases. We are dedicated to helping our clients who were injured in accidents. And as a former insurance company attorney, I know how insurance companies operate and the methods they use to deny or minimize injury claims. Through excellent claims handling and proactively avoiding mistakes, we are usually able to achieve an excellent settlement for our clients without the necessity of a lawsuit, and throughout the process, we are dedicated to minimizing the disruption in your life.
We are great communicators and are always available for our clients. A live staff member answers our phone during business hours. Phone messages are returned very promptly. In addition, we welcome our clients to stop in the office—with or without an appointment. Our office is designed and organized to be helpful, responsive, and efficient for our clients. We believe this level of service sets us apart from the vast majority of law firms.
What Sets Us apart
Our Commitment to Our Clients
Being injured in an accident is extremely stressful. Most individuals find that dealing with the insurance adjusters, coordinating insurance coverage issues, choosing appropriate medical providers, and worrying about car repairs or replacement all greatly exacerbate an already stressful situation.
Our experienced legal team works diligently so that our clients can focus on what matters most—their medical recovery.
We work hard to ensure not only the best possible end result for each client—we proactively advocate from the moment we take on the case.
We demand that our clients are treated fairly. And we care.
