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If you’ve suffered a personal injury, you may have to deal with crippling medical bills at the very least. You can even be rendered unable to work, leading to significant lost wages. Such an impactful injury can drastically change your life and put you in an extremely hard financial situation. Fortunately, you may be able to file a personal injury suit against the responsible party to get fairly compensated.

Even with a solid case, the process is hard to navigate alone, which is why it’s a good idea to hire a personal injury lawyer. Unfortunately, lawyers will sometimes refuse to take a case, and that can make things incredibly difficult. They may have a good reason, though, as not all cases are created equal. Learn about the top reasons why a personal injury lawyer won’t take your case.

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Immunity

You may not hear about immunity much outside of criminal cases, but it applies to civil cases as well. For example, some government agencies are immune to certain kinds of lawsuits by default. If one of these agencies was responsible for your personal injury, there’s not a lot you can do about it, and having a personal injury lawyer won’t help.

Government cases can create a huge hurdle to overcome, so don’t be surprised if an attorney decides not to take your case because of it. Not only is the process significantly more complicated, but winning is far less likely. Typically, suing the government is far more trouble than it’s worth, and many lawyers won’t bother since better cases are readily available.

Questionable Circumstances

While you may feel that your injuries are significant, the law doesn’t always see it that way. Merely being put in danger is vastly different from being injured by danger. For a case to be worth the time and effort, the payout for your damages needs to be significant. A few scrapes and bruises aren’t going to earn you much in damages, so some lawyers may turn you down.

Even when the extent of your injuries isn’t in question, your own negligence could be. If you weren’t exercising the necessary caution when you were injured, that could hurt your case enough to make the lawyer opt out entirely. If the defense is able to prove that you are liable for your injuries, there’s no way to get the defendant to pay damages.

Shopping for the Highest Bidder

Many potential clients like to travel from lawyer to lawyer to see who can get them the most money for their case. While it’s essential that you determine how much your case is worth, focusing too much on maximizing your payout will turn a lot of lawyers away from your case. Lawyers have to deal with this practice a lot, so you can be sure they can spot the telltale signs.

This is also a poor practice in general because it will never lead you to the best lawyer. The only thing you may be able to determine by shopping for the highest bidder is whether you’re interviewing quality attorneys. Any lawyer guaranteeing results is a huge red flag, as no lawyer can actually do that. You may hear them reference trends of success, which is completely fine and even helpful, but they can never ensure victory.

Finances

Lawyers provide an important service to people, but you have to remember that a law firm is a business. Their goal is to profit, so your case has to be worth the time and effort. If a lawyer doesn’t see their own finances benefiting from taking you on, they’re probably going to turn you down. Many lawyers don’t even charge you until after they win, so you’re definitely not going to see them take your case unless there’s a good chance of a payout.

Even if your case is fairly good, the lawyer may not take you on because the payout would be so small. With the same effort, that lawyer could make significantly more on another case, so they’re not going to dedicate their time to yours.

General Discretion

There are a variety of other reasons a lawyer may not want to move forward with your case, and that’s all up to them. Lawyers get to pick and choose which cases they want to take on, and yours may get refused if it’s too inconvenient. Sometimes lawyers will refuse a case because you’re located too far away or because they already have too many cases going on. They could even be going on vacation. It’s important to remember that whatever the reason is for your denial, it shouldn’t be taken personally. There will always be more lawyers to choose from.

Talk to a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you’ve been turned down by another attorney, or if you’re just beginning your search for an experienced attorney in Maine, Lowry & Associates is happy to look over your case. We offer free consultations and you’ll never owe us anything unless we win your case. You can reach us at 207-775-3819 or fill out our free case review form.