My grandmother, Karrie Law, used to say that… “Experience is a dear school.” Of course, as a child and a young man, I didn’t fully understand the wisdom in that old saying. Now I do.
As a lawyer who has represented people injured in car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, premises accidents and work accidents for over 38 years, I get it. Experience counts and benefits others. And there are a lot of good lawyers with less experience and they do a good job for their clients, especially in the mild to moderate injury cases. Maybe even in some severe injury and death cases.
I just know that if I had a family member with a complex brain injury or a complex heart condition that needed surgery, I would want the most experienced and skillful surgeon on the hospital staff to do my family member’s surgery to give my family member the best chance for a good result. And if there were five or six skilled and experienced surgeons in the area, I would limit my selection to one from that group. And I expect that most people feel the same way.
I see a parallel with complex legal cases involving severe injuries and death. They are tragedies that cannot be reversed, but there are still decisions that families of those victims can make and should make that are in the best interest of those victims. And those family members should weigh all of the considerations and make the best decisions they can.
So I hope that none of you or a family member is ever involved in a severe injury or death incident, but if you are or a family member is, weigh all of the considerations very carefully, check out the background, reputation and experience of the lawyers who you are considering…and then pick one who is skilled and experienced and who cares about people to help your family member with the complex legal and insurance challenges ahead. Make a good and sound decision. Your family member deserves that.
