Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorney Chad Rankin helps people who are injured by someone else to recover financially from the damaged caused by their injuries. 

The first thing that a good personal injury lawyer should do is meet with the client. They should take as much time as is necessary to learn about the client, the client’s goals, and how the client and their family has been impacted by the car accident or personal injury. This seems like an obvious first step, but I am shocked how many times that I have witnessed an out of town lawyer introducing themselves to a client just before a hearing, a statement, deposition, or other personal injury procedures. There is no possible way for an attorney to be the best for a client without taking this first crucial step. If you have not met your lawyer and you are proceeding with a personal injury case, car accident case, or workers compensation case, you should fire that lawyer and talk to another personal injury lawyer. At Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law), we meet with our clients. We reach out to the clients for regular updates and to provide them with the status of their case. We return our clients’ calls promptly. It is shocking how many personal injury lawyers do not return their clients’ calls.

After meeting with the client, a good personal injury lawyer will investigate of the case. Depending on the case, the investigation involves getting the police accident report or incident report concerning the personal injury. The lawyer will visit the scene of the accident or incident. I have found visiting the scene always gives me information that I cannot get from a report, photographs, or witness statements. The investigation will include getting photographs of the scene, vehicles, and the visible injuries. In cases where the injuries and damages exceed the amount of insurance coverage, a good personal injury lawyer will do an asset check on the Defendants to make sure they are not underinsured even though they have plenty of wealth.

A skilled personal injury lawyer will reach out to all the necessary parties and preserve the evidence when necessary.

Sample Spoliation of Evidence Letter – Rankin & Gregory, LLC

Certified letters are necessary for situations where your lawyers cannot control the physical evidence – such as the tractor trailer owned by the Defendant, surveillance video from a store, or black box data from the Defendant’s vehicle. In these situations, a good personal injury lawyer will write to the parties with control over this evidence instructing them to preserve the evidence or face adverse punishment through the Court. All the insurance companies will be notified about the case and instructed to communicate with the attorney and not their client. A good personal injury will provide the insurance companies will all the information necessary to get the maximum value for their personal injury cases.

A good personal injury lawyer will help the client determine when is the best time to settle the case. (link to the when to settle article). A written argument will be drafted and submitted to the insurance company along with all the medical records, medical bills, lost wages, photographs, accident reports, and all other documents necessary to maximize the value for the client. Once the insurance company responds, a good personal injury lawyer will negotiate to get the maximum amount of money for their clients while keeping the client informed throughout the negotiations. When the maximum settlement offer has been received from the insurance company, a good personal injury lawyer will inform the client of how much they will receive from the settlement (net proceeds) and give them options of refusing the offer and moving forward with a lawsuit. The role of a good lawyer is to provide great and accurate information so that the client can make the best choice for themselves and to be able to answer any questions the client needs answered.

At Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law), we pride ourselves in being great personal injury lawyers. We follow these steps and clients appreciate our work. Most of our clients are referred to us by former clients and other lawyers who know the quality of our work. Some lawyers have fancy TV ads and easily remembered phone numbers but focus most of their time on marketing as opposed to helping their clients. We don’t. We spend most of our time working with our clients and getting them the maximum value for their case.

Chad Rankin and the other personal injury attorneys Rankin & Gregory, LLC (RG Injury Law) have handled more than a thousand car accident and other injury cases against insurance companies. Call us for a no-pressure, motor vehicle accident injury case consultation at 717.656.5000.