Have you been trying to contact your personal injury lawyer with no success? If the phone keeps ringing or you are constantly being told they are not available right now, you probably won’t be hearing back from your lawyer anytime soon.
Here’s why your lawyer is not taking your calls:
1.) Personal injury lawyers are not paid by the hour, but get a percentage of the settlement if the case is won. Therefore, he or she is not getting any extra money for sitting on the phone with you. A good lawyer takes calls, however, because they want to have good communication with their clients and keep them updated on any progress with their case.
2.) Your lawyer doesn’t think your case is worth enough of his time to answer your calls. Because personal injury lawyers get a percentage of the settlement, some lawyers will sign up every case they can yet not give the smaller, “less valuable” cases the attention they deserve. Once again, a good lawyer has time to communicate with ALL their clients and makes time for them whether they are involved in a case worth several hundred or hundreds of thousands.
3.) He or she doesn’t like to talk on the phone. Some lawyers just want to work on the case themselves and do not like talking on the phone. These lawyers don’t understand the importance of communication both as a way to keep clients more comfortable and at ease with their case, and also to make sure they are on the same page as their client and accurately representing their interests and needs.
If your lawyer is not answering your calls, it may be time for you to start looking for a new lawyer. Our new report, “How Do I Change My Lawyer,” explains just how easy it is to change your lawyer and not pay any extra fees.
Remember, you the client are in charge. If you don’t like your lawyer because he doesn’t return your calls or for any other reason, you have a right to change your lawyer on the spot and not have to incur any additional charges.
Goldstein and Bashner
