Lockdowns and LASPO claims are just some of the issues that could cause problems for a personal injury law firm. Other problems might include the PI firm’s inability to meet disbursement and WIP recovery rates and a tendency to chase clients for additional damages. Despite lockdowns, missed court deadlines are not a legitimate excuse for missed WIP and disbursement recovery. Delays also risk additional costs and lost cost recovery.
Legal aid
If you are a personal injury plaintiff and have a question about whether you have a good case, it may help to consider legal aid. Legal aid is a group of lawyers who work exclusively for low-income individuals or families. They specialize in consumer law, landlord-tenant law, and welfare matters and look for cases that will lead to reform of the legal system. The program’s problems, however, are much different.
LASPO claims
The government has published a post-implementation review of LASPO 2012 which attempted to reduce the costs of civil litigation but instead shifted power and funds away from the injury victims. This review is stalled and does not address the problem of the imbalance of power between the claimant and insurer-backed defendant. The government’s review is insufficient to fix the problem and could result in further changes to LASPO.
Lockdowns
As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the country, many businesses are consulting with their attorneys on how to deal with lockdowns. Many businesses are unsure of what they should do and how much they need to do to protect their employees and patrons. Others fear a huge wave of liability lawsuits. Lockdowns can affect the success of your case. Here are some things to keep in mind when dealing with lockdowns at a personal injury law firm:
ERISA
ERISA and personal injury law firms have many problems. Most plans contain language abrogating made whole doctrine. While this case clarifies the meaning of the made whole doctrine, it does not eliminate it. In addition, most plans do not have a “made whole” clause that bars an attorney from recovering damages for an injury. Moreover, the McCutchen ruling does not rule on the amount of attorneys’ fees that can be recovered under ERISA.
Technology
While technology has swept the industry, the legal profession has been slow to embrace new technologies. For various reasons, attorneys have resisted adopting new ways of working, preferring to stick with tried and true practices. In this article, we will look at how to implement new technologies into a personal injury law firm without sacrificing the quality of the service. Despite the advantages, technology can still create challenges.
Final Thoughts
On the whole, any Washington, DC personal injury law firm does have some problems at the moment because of what was mentioned above. However, as the pandemic is winding down and the insurance industry is adjusting itself, things start to get back to normal. It will soon be back to business as usual for basically all injury law firms in the US. For the rest of the world though, it is too early to say.
