This year I have represented three individuals who had been represented in personal injuries cases, or social security disability cases by lawyers they learned of and were referred to from the television. These clients were unhappy with the services for several reasons. One reason common to all three was that the client never got to meet or talk with the lawyer to whom they were referred. Another reason was the lawyer was eager for a quick settlement (quick can be read to mean easy, low dollar). The insurance company knows this, and will exploit it. They know it as soon as they learn the lawyer is located in a town many miles away from where the claimant lives and or where the accident occurred. The last reason for concern over lawyer referral representation is not quiet so obvious. Often times clients will need advise about how and where good quality health care can be gotten in their community. Lawyers from outside the community won’t know the local health care community. In place of local quality health care these clients were referred to health care providers on the referral list which the lawyer came from. These health care providers are not permanent members of the community, but rather set up shops just to take these referrals. They often push excessive treatments in order to bill PIP insurance or health insurance. In some instances the lawyer and the doctor on the referral service are more concerned with each other’s getting paid than they are with the clients well being. I believe you are better served represented by a lawyer with whom you can sit down and tell him or her face to face about your problems.
