Thursday, June 28, 2007

Why some personal injury clients suck!

Im going through a bad patch at the moment regarding my faith in clients. Im referring to personal injury victims who can be classified in two very different categories :-

Those that are GENUINE and those that are FAKE

Its stating the bleeding obvious to some but here is my classification of both types:

GENUINE clients
Will (usually) have injuries you can see, feel or identify without much debate
Will not be able to work (but I dont rule out those that have no choice but to work)
Will be desparate for treatment / physio / therapy
Will be grateful for almost everything you do for them
Will be anxious and apprehensive about the legal process
Will be "clingy" and sometimes overly so - high maintenance in other words
Will induce sympathy from most claim related people / experts they encounter
Will usually be left with long term problems or vulnerabilities
Will be grateful upon conclusion of the case and thank you warmly for your advice
Will give you a degree of job satisfaction
Will usually guarantee you a decent bill of costs


FAKE clients:
Will call you on the day of the accident to start their claim
Will ask you how much their claim is worth - almost immediately
Will never call you or ask for advice
Will always moan when you do speak
Will never return / sign key documents until pushed to do so
Will want to settle the case in the shortest time possible
Will never be happy with whatever settlement you get them - "my mate got more"
Will never EVER thank you


Guess what. In my line of work I come across roughly a 50/50 split in terms of the fakers and the genuine.
I think that most law firms make a packet off the back of people that are clearly winging it and playing the system - in the PI field this is definitely the case. Im not too fussed about the ethics of this but occasionally, just occasionally, it irks.

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