What is a big box personal injury firm? You know the type. Think billboards on I-65. Think TV commercials featuring actors with expanding checks. You can spot a big box injury firm by its outrageous advertising budget. Here are five things to consider before you sign with one of the highest profile names in the personal injury business.
- Most big box firms will take any case that walks through the door.
The pressure to make money is so great that these firms basically have no choice but to accept as many cases as they can. So instead of giving each case the attention it needs, every case gets the assembly line treatment.
To make matters worse, big box firms need to settle as many cases as possible just to keep the money flowing. Despite their considerable resources, these firms likely won’t be willing to put in the necessary time on a case with difficult facts.
Bottom line: At the big box level, quantity is emphasized over quality. It’s all a numbers game, and nothing more.
- Ambitious advertising campaigns and large payrolls result in the constant need for revenue.
In addition to a media budget addiction, some big box firms have an enormous payroll. These obligations can motivate the attorneys at these firms to try and settle cases with as little effort as possible.
Do you want an attorney who’s representing you as a person? Or do you want an attorney who’s taking your case in order to pay for a tacky advertising campaign? Only you can make that call.
- Big box firms tend to employ a lot of young attorneys.
Youth has its advantages, but experience is power. The problem is that in order to save money, many of these big box firms will simply hire young attorneys instead of seasoned attorneys who know the ins and outs of personal injury practice. They do this because it’s cheaper to hire young attorneys with little to no experience.
Typically, partners at these firms will handle a few choice cases, and younger associates are responsible for all the others. This is a problem because these young attorneys don’t have the time or the experience to work up a case and obtain its maximum value.
Another problem with employing too many young and inexperienced attorneys is that big box firms tend to bounce their clients from lawyer to lawyer over the course of a case. So the attorney you spoke to at the beginning? It’s probably not going to be the attorney you speak to tomorrow, or the attorney who’s helping you at the end of the case.
- Most big box injury firms will eagerly refer you to doctors.
In many instances, a referral of this kind can be like the kiss of death for your case. Insurance companies are well aware of which doctors make a habit of working on personal injury cases, and they keep track of which lawyers consistently are involved with the same doctors.
When an insurance company is convinced that your doctor is too closely associated with your attorney, the company may refuse to pay or make low settlement offers. These big box firms send you to doctors because they want to settle your case while doing as little work as possible.
If they can settle a bunch of cases at a high volume with little work, they can make money—even if they’re undervaluing the individual cases. Don’t let a big box injury firm sabotage your case.
- Big box firms do not take many cases to trial.
This is the dirtiest secret of them all. When all is said and done, these big box firms are so focused on their billboards and their assembly, they just don’t have the time or the will to take a case to trial—even when it should go to trial.
Attorneys who don’t try cases get significantly lower settlement offers for the clients than attorneys who are known for going to trial. That’s just a fact.
Don’t let your case get reduced to a number at a big box injury firm. If you have any questions about making a full recovery, give us a call at 317-632-3642. Stay safe and look out for each other.
