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January 18th, 2016
There may be situations in which a person thinks that maybe they have a legal case, but are not sure, and call a lawyer’s office to ask for help in determining whether or not they have any claims they could pursue, and if so, how to pursue them. Sometimes a person may feel strongly that they have a case, but after speaking to a lawyer, realize that they do not actually have any viable legal claims. Then there are other situations in which a person knows that they have a legal claim, and is contacting a lawyer’s office to secure representation for that claim. So why then, do some lawyers still decline to take the case? There are several important reasons for potential clients to understand.
There may be a conflict of interest.
Say you got in a straight-forward, clear liability motor vehicle collision. The other driver ran a red light, and hit your vehicle. The police were called, the other driver was ticketed, you were taken to the hospital in an ambulance and your seriously damaged car had to be towed from the scene. Following several weeks of treatment, your back and neck pain are still not improving, and your doctor thinks that you will continue to need physical therapy and other treatment for the next few months. You have missed work, and have many medical bills to pay. The other driver’s insurance company is being uncooperative, and is refusing to pay any of your medical bills. You know you have a case, and you call a local personal injury firm about it, yet they inform you that they are unable to represent you. Even in a situation like this, where it is pretty clear that you have some viable claims against the at-fault driver’s insurance company, the law firm will not be able to take on your case if there is some conflict with the at-fault driver. If that driver is a former or current client of the firm, even for a case that is completely unrelated to the motor vehicle collision, the firm may not be able to represent you.
Or say a doctor amputated the wrong leg, and the situation is clearly one involving medical malpractice claims against the doctor and probably the hospital, but the firm you call says they are not able to help you. If that doctor, or another individual who would be liable in the lawsuit, is the husband, daughter, or other close relative of a lawyer or staff member who works at the firm, this is another situation in which a law firm will likely decline to take your case, no matter how good it may be.
Lawyers are often unable to provide a detailed explanation of why they must decline due to conflicts of interest, because of attorney-client confidentiality and other ethical rules, and will usually simply inform you that they are unable to represent you due to a conflict of interest. Though this may be frustrating, and you may wish for a greater explanation, oftentimes the lawyer is not able to provide one. This does not necessarily mean that you do not have a case, however, and you should contact another attorney’s office to see if they have no conflicts and can take on your case.
Your claims may be outside of the applicable Statutes of Limitations.
Some cases that may be very good legal cases cannot be pursued because the potential client has waited too long. Every state has statutes of limitations which provide a time period in which a case may be brought. These periods of time vary depending on the type of case, as well as the state in which the case would be filed. This is why it is important to contact a lawyer’s office as soon as you think you may have a legal claim. It is also important to have available any relevant dates when you call the lawyer for an evaluation. This may be the date on which a motor vehicle collision or workplace injury took place, a surgery date, or, in the event of many medical malpractice and nursing home cases, a series of dates of treatment and incident. Unfortunately, in many situations, if the applicable statute of limitations has run, there is nothing that a lawyer can do to help you, no matter how good of a case you may have had. However, there are some rules that may apply to the statute of limitations where the potential client has not yet learned of their legal claims until a later date. A lawyer can help determine if that applies to your potential claims, so it does not hurt to call a lawyer even if you think too much time has passed.
Your claims may not be within the area of law in which the firm you have called practices.
While many law firms offer a broad range of legal services, and take on a variety of different cases involving different types of legal claims, there are many areas of law, and even more different types of legal claims, and not every lawyer or law firm will work in all of those areas or claims. Some types of law, such as Social Security, employee benefits, or worker’s compensation, involve detailed administrative and statutory regulations with which every lawyer may not be intimately familiar. In such situations, you will want to contact an attorney who has experience working within these areas, to help evaluate your situation and guide you through the process of pursuing those claims. Some firms who handle primarily criminal law cases will decline to take on a civil matter, even where it is related to the criminal case, and vice versa. Many lawyers or law offices practice exclusively in one type of law, such as family law, which would cover legal situations such as divorces and custody disputes, and will decline to represent clients in other matters, simply because this is beyond the focus of their practice. Other offices may assist with estate work from time to time, where it is necessary to pursue claims on behalf of a deceased person, such as in some medical malpractice or nursing home negligence cases, but are not able to assist a client with detailed estate planning or tax work. Again, simply because that particular lawyer or law firm declines to represent you in your claims, it does not necessarily mean that you do not have viable legal claims. Oftentimes in these situations, the lawyer who is declining your case will explain that your claims fall within an area of law beyond the scope of their practice, and may suggest you contact an attorney who advertises that they practice in that particular area of law. There may also be situations in which you have multiple legal claims, some of which the lawyer can assist you with, and others for which they would direct your call elsewhere.
No matter the outcome, calling a lawyer’s office for an evaluation is the best way to determine what legal claims you have, and whether that firm can assist you with them. Regardless of whether the lawyers at Bordas & Bordas are ultimately able to take on your case, we are always here to listen to your situation and provide a free consultation of any potential claims you may have.
