You’ll encounter unique challenges as a motorcycle accident lawyer. You’ll have to contend with arcane insurance rules, self-defense scenarios, and challenging personal injury case types.
Even more challenging is that most prospective clients will be in a hurry to tell you no. The result is that you’ll need to be extremely selective and deliberate when it comes to taking new cases. The worst kind of case in any specialty is one where the outcome is obvious and the compensation is low.
These are the cases that drain your time and resources without providing much upside. The best kind of case, however, is one where there are many potential angles for attack, the evidence is plentiful and ambiguous, and the scope for settlement is high.
Motorcycle Accident Legal Basics
There are a few things you need to know about the court system before you can effectively manage motorcycle accident cases. First, there are no federal or state guidelines for motorcycle accident settlements. There are guidelines for other types of accidents and injuries, but not motorcycle accidents.
, insurance companies have no legal obligation to accept a settlement offer of any particular amount. They get to decide whether they accept a given amount or reject it. Third, the court system moves slowly. The process from accident to judgment can take a year or more.
Fourth, it’s very difficult to get a judgment in a motorcycle accident case. The system is set up to protect insurance companies and make it difficult for people to get compensation.
Negotiating with Insurance Companies
When motorcycle accident clients come to you looking for help, one of the first things you’ll do is negotiate with the insurance company. Negotiating with insurance companies is much different than negotiating with clients.
With clients, you have to be persuasive, but with insurance companies, you have to be insistent. You have to be willing to walk away from the table. You have to be willing to make the insurance company feel like they are losing something by not accepting your offer.
The best way to do this is to become an expert on the insurance company’s underwriting rules, thresholds, and settlement policies. You have to know how to exploit their weaknesses and apply pressure to their decision-makers. You have to understand their incentives and work to shift the balance of power in your favor.
Self-Defense in Motorcycle Accidents
One of the biggest challenges facing a motorcycle accident lawyer is the possibility of a self-defense situation. If you’re involved in a motorcycle accident and the other driver swerves into your lane, you may believe that you have a legitimate self-defense claim.
You might think you can use this as a bargaining chip to get the insurance company to pay your medical bills and damage. Unfortunately, the insurance company will still investigate the claim, and if they decide that the other driver had the right of way, your self-defense claim will be rejected.
The best way to prevent self-defense issues is to use intersection accidents as a negotiating point. If the other driver has the right of way, you can still bargain the case based on comparative negligence. This is important because intersection accidents are more difficult for insurance companies to defend against. By bringing up intersection accidents, you give yourself more room to negotiate.
“The Bump & Run
A bump and run motorcycle accident are when a driver rear-ends another driver, then leaves the scene of the accident. Bump and run accidents are often caused by distracted drivers who don’t realize that they’ve hit someone until they see the damage to their vehicle.
Unfortunately, this is also an increasingly common insurance scam. In either case, the motorist who is hit usually has little recourse to get compensation for their medical bills and damages. One way that a motorcycle accident lawyer can get around this is by getting an admission of fault from the other driver.
You can do this by using a GPS tracking device to prove that the other driver was in the area at the time of the accident. You can also bring in an accident reconstructionist to show that the damage to the vehicles and skid marks on the road are consistent with a rear-end collision.
Loss of Consortium Cases
Loss of consortium cases is challenging because they are often overlooked by legal professionals who specialize in motorcycle accidents. In a nutshell, loss of consortium is the inability of a spouse to engage in normal sexual intercourse.
Once you can prove that sexual intercourse is difficult or impossible, the insurance companies will almost always settle the case. The best way to prove this is to bring in an expert witness who specializes in sexual health and injuries. You can also use medical records to show that the client has been experiencing pain during sex.
This is a great case to build a medical expert because there are a lot of medical issues that can cause a loss of consortium.
Conclusion
Motorcycle accidents are often serious and may result in significant long-term medical expenses, lost work, and other damage. If you’re involved in a motorcycle accident, it’s important to get advice from a motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced lawyer can help you navigate the complex insurance process and get the compensation you deserve.