Most personal injury attorneys give you just enough information to get you to call them.  Hopefully you know by now I am different.

I decided to write down my criteria for taking your case because it saves you time in not having to make a pointless phone call.  Most importantly, it saves my current clients time because I am not flooded with phone calls and can devote that time to their cases.  My mission, when I decided to open my own personal injury law firm, was to strategically litigate select cases toward maximum value.  Many attorneys who advertise for car accident cases take lots of small cases and hope to make their fees in volume.  I do not run that type of practice.  I do, however, know many well skilled attorneys who are extremely capable with these types of cases and would be happy to refer you to them.

To ensure I have enough time and resources to strategically litigate a case towards its maximum value, and to ensure the case justifies such an approach, I generally only take car accident cases meeting the following criteria:

• At least $10,000 in current and future special damages (i.e. medical expenses and lost wages). I don’t take small motor vehicle accident cases because for me the excitement and passion in what I do comes from aggressively working up a case.  I prepare for battle (i.e. trial) the minute I accept your case.  Working up a case for trial, as opposed to the lawyers who work up a case to settle, costs money.  Medical records usually cost at least $100 per chart.  Taking a witness' deposition under oath can run hundreds of dollars and the more important witnesses such as doctors and other experts, and who I usually have videotaped, are even more expensive.  I use your special damages as a guide in determining whether it makes economic sense (for both of us!) for me to take your case.
  
  
• Visible damage to your car that looks proportional to your injuries. Juries only believe someone is hurt if the car looks like it matches your injuries. I know from experience this is not always the case and have seen cases where the right expert can persuade a jury otherwise.  But you can bet the defense attorney will come to trial with an enlarged picture of your car up on a poster board and argue you could not have been hurt, just look at your car.  (I did when I was an insurance defense attorney!).  If your special damages exceed $10,000 this requirement is usually met.
  
  
• Medical treatment other than just chiropractors. Juries remain skeptical of chiropractors even though in some cases chiropractors take more anatomy courses in school than doctors.  A defense attorney will argue chiropractors do nothing more than massage and use hot/cold packs – all things you could have been doing at home.  Chiropractors are good for treating soft-tissue injuries.  Unfortunately, these injuries do not show up on an X-Ray, MRI or CT scan.  I need demonstrable proof to take to a jury, something I can enlarge in a color photograph and have a doctor come to court and point at while telling the jury about your injury.  I should distinguish that I do take cases where a chiropractor treated you and then you went on to see an orthopedic doctor or other specialist because your injuries did not heal.  So I just won't take your case if you have only seen a chiropractor.  But still call me if you have only seen a chiropractor because I know several attorneys who are very good at handling these types of cases. 
  
  
• The accident must be the other driver's fault.  This is what is known as liability and it is a critical element in proving your case.  I need to know we have a good chance at proving this, otherwise the risk in taking your case does not justify the amount of money and time I will spend in preparing your case.  If the other person received a ticket and not you, or if no one received a ticket, then I will evaluate your case.  If the police officer issued you a ticket and not the other driver, I usually will not take  your case.  If there is some other evidence you think shows the police officer got it wrong, call me and we can talk about it. 
  
  
• The accident must have happened less than a year ago. In Georgia, you usually must file a lawsuit within two (2) years of the date you were injured.  This is known as the statute of limitations.  The reason I want at least a year between taking your case and the lawsuit filing deadline is because I want time to fully prepare your case.  One of the biggest strategic advantages you have as a plaintiff is the other side only has six (6) months after we file a  lawsuit to investigate your case in what is known as “discovery.”  By having your case fully prepared, we can focus on staying on the offensive and keep the other side in react mode and  not allow them to get any momentum in the case.  It also leaves us plenty of time to fully investigate and evaluate your case so you can decide the merits of pursuing a settlement versus a trial.
  

So what cases are left?

Yes, there are car accident cases left.  And most importantly to you, my potential client, they are the types of cases I like to litigate and can throw all my time and resources behind.  It means I am focused - that I am managing my case load to give your case personal attention and am strategically litigating it towards maximum value.  It means I am doing my best work for you.