Learn What Sets Our Team of Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys Apart from the Rest
The Buffalo-Niagara area has no shortage of law firms, and because every firm is unique, the process of selecting an attorney for a personal injury case can be daunting. How do you know which firm is best? What makes a particular firm special? How well can a firm’s attorneys advocate for you in court? These are all major questions, and the chance of reaching a successful settlement in your case rests on the shoulders of whichever firm you choose.
Andrews, Bernstein & Maranto, PLLC has established a solid reputation in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, as our office works tirelessly to defend our firm’s clients in each case. We know what to expect in personal injury lawsuits, and our office can advise you at every step as we negotiate with insurance companies. Read on to find out more about how our team of personal injury attorneys can help to resolve your case in your favor.
Another Attorney Dropped My Case. Can You Help Me?
Quite often, the law firm may drop a case when the case becomes difficult and requires a tremendous amount of work. I can assure you that we do not drop cases because of reasons like these. We carefully examine the cases that come into our firm to determine whether the previous attorney had a legitimate reason to drop the case. Sometimes we review cases that merely do not have negligent components or in which our potential clients’ injuries are not sufficient. In those cases, we would agree with the attorney who dropped the case. In my experience, however, there are a multitude of law firms that will drop cases because the cases become difficult, and not for any legitimate reason. Just because another law firm dropped your case does not mean that the case is not worthwhile; rather, it sometimes shows that the case required more work than the other law firm was willing to put into it.
Can We Avoid Going to Trial?
Most cases settle before the actual trial. We do not actively try to settle early on; certain cases resolve themselves, sometimes when we are on the doorsteps of the courthouse itself. In order for us to maximize what our clients will receive in damages, insurance companies have to know that we are willing to go to trial. This is a key difference that allows our law firm to stand out from others: the insurance companies know that we take these cases to trial. For that reason, the companies know that they are not going to settle these cases inexpensively. There are alternative ways of resolving cases that allow us on occasion to not have to go to trial, including mediations, arbitrations, and what we call summary jury trials, which last only one day. We take it into consideration when our clients tell us that they have little desire to be involved in a full trial.
What if the Insurance Company Says That I Do Not Need a Lawyer?
It is not the place for insurance companies to tell people whether they need a lawyer. This a decision that is outside of the companies’ realm of expertise, but that does not necessarily always stop the companies from trying to advise people. Again, insurance companies have a responsibility to their shareholders, and that responsibility is to pay as little as they can on each claim. A common tactic among insurance companies involves making an offer early on to a potential claimant, and this offer is typically a paltry sum that might encourage that claimant to buy out of a claim. Consulting an insurance adjuster for advice will only harm a case; the adjuster has the goal of protecting her or his company, and I tell all my clients to be skeptical if an adjuster tries to make decisions on their behalf and encourage them to forego hiring an attorney.
Items to Bring to Your Free Consultation
In the complimentary first consultation, we ask that potential clients simply bring information about the accident, knowledge of their injuries, and any further data that they might have pertaining to the case. When clients meet with my office for their first consultation, the case may have just begun and clients may not yet have very much documentation to aid in the case. For this reason, we encourage people in premise liability cases, if possible, to snap photographs and bring them to the consultation. We prefer to have these photos emailed to our office so we can digitally save them to our individual clients’ files. In addition, we ask our clients to provide us with the names and phone numbers of witnesses or a police accident report. If our clients do not have access to these documents, our office can obtain them easily.
Why You Should Choose Us as Your Attorneys
Our law firm is significantly different than many of the firms that currently operate in the Western New York area. All our lawyers have considerable experience both in personal injury and as trial lawyers. Our lawyers have all tried cases pertaining to the negligence of others. We do not delegate cases to lawyers with little experience; we handle each case as if it is our only case. Because of our focus and commitment, we are able to maximize the recoveries that we obtain for our clients. All our lawyers are trained in understanding medicine, as this allows us to effectively argue cases in discussions with doctors, adjusters, and jurors. Our defining feature is our pledge to never settle cases merely to bring them to a quick end. We strive to advocate for our clients in their dealings with insurance companies, and we ensure that we maximize our clients’ compensation.