If you suffered a personal injury accident, you likely sought legal assistance to pursue a claim against the party that negligently contributed to the harm that you suffered. During the legal process, your attorney might have provided you with the necessary guidance; however, it is possible that you and your attorney are now at odds.
Specifically, there might be disagreements regarding what to do next with your case.
When this happens, clients can be left asking themselves the following questions:
- Why does my lawyer want me to stop medical treatment for my injuries?
- Why is my lawyer telling me to stop going to the doctors?
- Why is my lawyer telling me to stop going to physical therapy?
- Why is my lawyer telling me to stop going to the chiropractor?
- Does my lawyer want to close my case already?
- Does my lawyer want me to stop medical treatment to close my case already?
- Why does my lawyer want to close my case if I’m still in pain?
- Why does my lawyer want to close my case if I still need physical treatment?
If you have found yourself asking any of the questions above, you might be uncomfortable with the way your attorney is handling your case. Your attorney might be pushing you towards making certain decisions that you do not completely agree with. For instance, your lawyer might be telling you to stop getting medical treatment and instead agree to a settlement to finally close your case.
Lawyers are supposed to advise their clients to help them navigate through the legal process to eventually reach a successful claim outcome. However, some attorneys can be too aggressive with their advising – they often forget about their clients’ best interests and are instead motivated by personal reasons.
My lawyer wants to close my case but I’m still in pain. You do not have to agree to this. Your case shouldn’t be closed until you are satisfied with the outcome – regarding both your treatment and the monetary compensation you could receive. My lawyer wants to close my case and make me settle but I still need treatment. You do not have to agree to this either. Your attorney can make recommendations but cannot force you to do anything.
If you believe that your current attorney is losing sight of his or her duty as an attorney – to provide you with the counsel necessary to allow you to pursue your claim – you might benefit from discussing the situation with another attorney. Some firms, like Normandie Law Firm, offer second opinions that allow clients to discuss their existing claims with other attorneys. At Normandie Law Firm, our experts have many years of experience handling all sorts of claims and are ready to provide you with the assistance that you need to pursue your claim. Our lawyers are here to guide you and help you make decisions regarding your claim – not to make decisions on your behalf. If you would like to discuss your claim with our lawyers, do not hesitate to contact us today.
Your attorney can make recommendations but cannot force you to close your case and make settle, but YOU still need treatment
Why Pursue a Personal Injury Claim?
After being injured in a personal injury accident, pursuing a claim against the liable party will essentially allow you to recover the compensation that you deserve. You could recover compensation for all the expenses and losses (and other damages) associated with the harm that you suffered. Specifically, all the medical treatment necessary for the harm that you suffered in the accident will be covered. Because of that, it is common for lawyers to urge their claimants to seek and continue medical treatment. However, the opposite occurs in many instances – lawyers could urge clients to stop treatment.
Why Does My Lawyer Want Me to Stop Medical Treatment?
My lawyer is telling me to stop medical treatment but I’m still injured. Your lawyer might be advising you to stop medical treatment – but, why? Why is your attorney urging you to stop medical treatment? There are a few reasons behind why a lawyer might recommend stopping medical treatment.
Your attorney might want you to stop medical treatment because you have already reached maximum recovery – meaning that further treatment will not make a difference in your recovery. You might have reached a full recovery. You might have made a partial recovery. However, there is no way that your recovery could get better. No additional treatment is required; therefore, you could stop medical treatment.
However, even after reaching maximum recovery, a doctor might tell you that there are additional treatment options available to you. My lawyer is telling me to stop medical treatment but doctors say I still need treatment. This might give you hope for further recovery, but it might also make you doubt your attorney. Before blindly believing your doctor, you must consider that your doctor gets paid for all the treatment that you undergo. You should seek the opinions of other medical professionals before you believe that you do need additional treatment and disregard your lawyer’s advice to stop treatment.
Your attorney, however, could simply advise you to stop medical treatment just because he or she is ready to close your case. That is, your attorney might be disregarding your real need for additional treatment by trying to convince you to close your case. My lawyer is telling me to stop medical treatment but I need a surgery or other additional treatment. Multiple medical professionals might be advising you to continue treatment to maximize your recovery; however, your attorney might be disregarding this information and still be pushing towards closing your case. Many attorneys are not invested fully into helping their clients; they care more about their payout that ensuring that their clients get the treatment that they need. In general, extensive treatment means that a claim will take longer to settle. For an attorney who is only interested in reaching a quick payout and closing a case, this is problematic.
Although it is possible for your lawyer to want you to stop treatment for valid reasons (i.e. you have reached maximum recovery), it is also possible for your attorney to be motivated by selfish reasons. You should always seek other opinions before reaching a decision.
Why Does My Lawyer Want to Close My Case if I’m Still in Pain?
Your lawyer might be pushing towards closing your case but you might still be in pain. My lawyer is telling me to stop medical treatment but I still have pain. For many people, pain never completely goes away. Pain can linger even after maximum recovery has been reached. Even if you are still in pain, there could be no more treatment options available to address the lingering pain.
Some injuries could result in chronic pain, which cannot be cured but can be treated. The chronic pain, for some, could be debilitating and could get prevent victims from having a good quality of life. If the chronic pain can be directly connected to the original injuries suffered, the angle of the claim can actually be changed. Instead of just filing for the injury suffered, it is possible to file for the chronic pain.
However, claims surrounding chronic pain and certain pain disorders are generally much tougher than injury claims. Therefore, an attorney might choose to ignore the chronic pain and simply tell their clients that there is nothing left to do in attempts to convince claimants to close their claims already. This could make claimants miss out on additional compensation for their claims.
Although your pain could be normal, it is also possible that your pain is a sign that you developed a complicated chronic pain condition. For certainty, it is always better to seek additional opinions – both medical and legal.
Can My Attorney Settle My Case if I Don’t Agree?
Your attorney might be adamant about closing your case already. He or she might constantly be trying to convince you to agree to a settlement – as he or she simply wants to close the case and not continue to “waste time.” Do you have to accept a settlement offer? You must accept a settlement offer only when you agree to settling your case. You do not have to accept the first, second, or third offer. Once you agree to a settlement, your case will be closed and you will not be able to file a claim based on the same incident (this is important if your medical treatment is not complete, for example).
Claimants always have the final decision when it comes to settling a case; therefore, your attorney cannot settle your case if you do not agree. What if your attorney lies to you and settles your claim? Before any settlement funds are released, claimants are required to sign and return release documents. Therefore, your attorney will need inform you that your signature is required. If you didn’t agree to settle your claim and you still do not agree with the settlement offer, simply do not sign. No one can force you to settle your claim. By trying to settle a claim without your explicit consent, your attorney breached his or her duty of care towards you (which represents a significant ethical violation). You could fire your attorney and hire another if you choose. You could directly contact the insurance adjuster (who was handling your claim) to explain the situation and to negotiate a better settlement. You could also file a formal complaint against the attorney that unethically tried to settle your case without your agreement.
Attorneys are supposed to offer guidance not make decisions. Clients must make their own decisions based on the guidance/advice given by their attorneys. If you do not agree to a settlement or to close your case, there is nothing that your attorney could try to do without being unethical. For more information, do not hesitate to seek the expertise of our lawyers today.
Seek Legal Assistance at Normandie Law Group Today
Without a doubt, clients and their lawyers do not always agree. Your lawyer might want you to stop medical treatment already to close your case. Likewise, your lawyer might be pushing towards closing your case, but you might still be dealing with pain. This might result in you feeling confused and all-around uncertain about your claim and your claim’s outcome.
At Normandie Law Firm, we are dedicated to our clients; therefore, we will always put you first. We understand that the legal process can be complicated – especially for those who have never had to deal with it before. Because of that, we will always do everything within our reach to facilitate the process for you and all our clients. At our law firm, we understand that the claim is yours. We are simply here to provide you with the guidance that you need to reach a successful claim outcome. The claim is yours; therefore, you make the decisions. We can provide you with advice but the final say regarding how to proceed with your case is always yours.
If you would like our personal injury lawyers to handle your claim, do not hesitate to contact our firm immediately. Our firm offers free legal services which include both free consultations and free second opinions. During our free consultations and free second opinions, our lawyers will be available to answer all your questions and address all your concerns to ensure that you have all the information necessary to start or continue your claim. If you are ready to benefit from our free legal services, do not hesitate to contact our firm immediately.
These free legal services are available as part of our Zero-Fee guarantee – a guarantee that you will never have to pay any upfront legal fees for any of our legal services. Our firm is also based on a contingency structure that ensures that our clients will never be required to pay anything until after reaching a successful claim outcome. If you do not win, you will not be required to pay anything. Contact Normandie Law Firm today.
