Help-Need Defense Attorney, Personal Injury Case, MN

[Lerose]

Hello,
My son called me at work yesterday and told me someone just dropped some papers off at the house. Papers said that I was getting sued for a car accident I was in 2 1/2 years ago. I live in Minnesota. I have auto insurance. Where do I find a defense attorney to help me with this or do I contact the insurance company? I've started looking around on the internet for an attorney but most of them seem to advertise to work for the plaintiff.

Thanks,
Linda

 

[Kay H]

Many yrs ago this same thing happened to me. I was rearended by a truck that didn't stop while I was stopped for a school bus. The person suing was not even there at the accident site.

I contacted my car insurance agent and they provided a lawyer free of charge.

There was lots of paper work, the case kept getting postponed, dragged on for many months and was finally dropped.

Didn't cost me any money but lots of inconvenience and time.

Good luck.

PS No one was injured in the accident but I did go to the ER to be checked out and my car was totaled.

 

[charford]

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. So, just my 2 cents - I would notify the insurance company, plus I would get my own lawyer. The insurance company lawyer would have the insurance company's best interests at heart, not yours.

 

[Passepartout]

Absolutely contact the insurance company. They are the ones covering your liability. You may also want to contact your state Bar association if you feel you need personal representation. They will have a referral service for any legal specialty you need.

Find anything you have regarding the accident, repair receipts, medical bills, police reports, court proceedings- if any. Keep it handy for a meeting with the defense.

On a case that's 2 1/2 years old, there may just be some papers to file and return, but unless you want to be on the hook for possible damages, get the insurance company involved asap.

Lawsuits are a PITA, but remember, anyone can sue anyone for anything. It doesn't necessarily mean anyone is guilty or that damages will be awarded.

Jim Ricks

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Contact the insurance company. The insurance company has a "duty to defend", which means they pay for the lawyer to represent you. There are many lawyers who specialize in defending insurance claims. They don't advertise in big, bold print in phone books and on bus stop benches because their clients are insurance companies, not the general public. They are generally very good attorneys, because their livelihood depends successfully defending insurance claims and they work for clients who are generally smart enough to know when an attorney is doing a good job or a bad job.

I don't think it's necessary to retain your own personal attorney at this time to represent your interests directly; that is the duty of attorney hired by the insurance company. Even though the attorney is paid and retained by the insurance company, that attorney's duty is to defend you, not the insurance company. Failure to represent you is a breach of the duty to defend and breach of duty to defend is a serious matter in insurance law; courts regard breach of duty to defend very unfavorably.

It might be a good idea to contact your local bar association and arrange an appointment with an attorney using their help service. Using this program you can arrange a one-half hour to one hour consultation with an attorney experienced in your type of case at a reduced rate. That attorney will help you understand what the legal situations are regarding cases such as this and may have suggestions to help you ensure that the attorney working your case is doing a good job of representing your interests.

One sticky part that might occur is if you've changed insurance companies since the accident and you didn't report the accident to your prior insurance company. If the previous policy is written as a "claims made" policy, coverage is limited to claims for incidents that occur during the policy period and that are reported during the policy period. (The contrasting coverage is an "occurrences" policy, which provides continuing coverage for incidents that occur during a policy period even if the actual claim is made after the policy expires.)

You should get out the policy you had during that period and read it to refamiliarize yourself with your coverages, rights, and obligations under the policy. There may also be some language in there regarding interactions between you and any attorneys hired by the insurance company to defend you. If you do see another attorney (whether through bar referral or hired by you directly), you need to bring the policy along with you.

 

[mshatty]

Hello,
My son called me at work yesterday and told me someone just dropped some papers off at the house. Papers said that I was getting sued for a car accident I was in 2 1/2 years ago. I live in Minnesota. I have auto insurance. Where do I find a defense attorney to help me with this or do I contact the insurance company? I've started looking around on the internet for an attorney but most of them seem to advertise to work for the plaintiff.

Thanks,
Linda

I don't know the laws in Minnesota about serving someone with citation (and the lawsuit) but from your description, when you speak with your attorney make sure that you tell him/her that you were NOT personally served with the papers. Normally, you have to be personally served with the papers unless there is a court order that states otherwise.

 

[mepiccolo]

As far as being served there is a method called "substitute service" where, after several attempts and not being able to find you at home they can serve another person at your residence who is over the age of 18 and then they have to mail you a copy (California laws-probably similar in other states) so it does not have to be personal service.

Assuming you had good insurance coverage and the person suing (the plaintiff) was not severely injured your insurance coverage should cover everything, including hiring defense counsel to represent you. In this case scenario they will defend the lawsuit to try and settle at a minimal cost to them because remember the settlement is coming from your insurance policy coverage, not from your own pocket.

The only time you would have to worry is if you had nominal insurance coverage (say $15,000 per person/$30,000 per accident) and the person injured had medical bills that were much higher than that. Then the insurance company only has to pay the $15,000 policy limits and, if the plaintiff's injuries and damages far exceed the policy limits, you may be responsible for paying additional monies from your assets. This is why most people who own homes or have assets have higher policy limits than say a 20-year old kid who rents an apartment and is still making car payments.

So if you have good policy limits please don't worry too much. Sure it may take some of your time having your deposition taken (approx. 1-2 hrs) or having to respond to questions (approx. 1-2 hrs) and having to appear in court, but whatever your insurance coverage was on the date of the accident that is the policy limits that will cover you for the accident. And, from personal and working experience, I can tell you that ins. companies are not generous in paying out monies to injured plaintiffs so you probably have nothing to stress about.

 

[mshatty]

As far as being served there is a method called "substitute service" where, after several attempts and not being able to find you at home they can serve another person at your residence who is over the age of 18 and then they have to mail you a copy (California laws-probably similar in other states) so it does not have to be personal service.

Assuming you had good insurance coverage and the person suing (the plaintiff) was not severely injured your insurance coverage should cover everything, including hiring defense counsel to represent you. In this case scenario they will defend the lawsuit to try and settle at a minimal cost to them because remember the settlement is coming from your insurance policy coverage, not from your own pocket.

The only time you would have to worry is if you had nominal insurance coverage (say $15,000 per person/$30,000 per accident) and the person injured had medical bills that were much higher than that. Then the insurance company only has to pay the $15,000 policy limits and, if the plaintiff's injuries and damages far exceed the policy limits, you may be responsible for paying additional monies from your assets. This is why most people who own homes or have assets have higher policy limits than say a 20-year old kid who rents an apartment and is still making car payments.

So if you have good policy limits please don't worry too much. Sure it may take some of your time having your deposition taken (approx. 1-2 hrs) or having to respond to questions (approx. 1-2 hrs) and having to appear in court, but whatever your insurance coverage was on the date of the accident that is the policy limits that will cover you for the accident. And, from personal and working experience, I can tell you that ins. companies are not generous in paying out monies to injured plaintiffs so you probably have nothing to stress about.

My point about service of process was that unless you have the substituted service order, then there is no good service on this lady. You are presuming there is. I don't presume there is unless proof of an order is served with the lawsuit.

This is a valid point to bring up with any attorney this lady will consult with. Please don't take the above post as an indication that you should not. Let your lawyer find out what the facts are and advise you.

 

[Icarus]

Contact the insurance company. The insurance company has a "duty to defend", which means they pay for the lawyer to represent you.

Absolutely correct. You have a right to a defense.

If you have an umbrella policy, you will contact that insurance company as well.

-David

 

[Hoc]

Hello,
My son called me at work yesterday and told me someone just dropped some papers off at the house. Papers said that I was getting sued for a car accident I was in 2 1/2 years ago. I live in Minnesota. I have auto insurance. Where do I find a defense attorney to help me with this or do I contact the insurance company? I've started looking around on the internet for an attorney but most of them seem to advertise to work for the plaintiff.

Thanks,
Linda

Contact your insurance company, by phone and in writing, ASAP, following exactly the terms on your policy for notice. You will probably have to respond to the complaint within 30 days, and in some states, as quickly as 10 days, after you received it. If you don't notify your insurance company well within the time for them to hire an attorney who can file a response to the complaint, you will get a default entered against you and it will be your fault, because the insurer didn't have enough time to protect you. In other words, do it NOW.

 

[Lerose]

I want to thank everyone for their replies and help. Made me feel much better. I called my insurance company and was given the name and phone number of the claims rep. Have to call back during business hours M-F. Will call back on Monday. I read the terms of my policy and the insurance company will provide an attorney to defend the claim. It was in bold print that they will determine the attorney to hire. So anyway, thank you to everyone for the advice. I'll find out what will happen next when I talk to the claims rep tomorrow.

Linda

 

[mepiccolo]

Good luck with the outcome. Now that you have the claim number (and be sure the ins. co. knows when you got served) they will take it from there because now they are covering not just you but their assets since the settlement will come from ins. funds.

P.S. in California you don't have to be served with an order for substituted service. There just has to be a declaration of attempts and proof of mailing filing at the time the proof of service is filed with the court. I'm not sure why (bad roommates, irresponsible teenagers, etc.) it seems to me that most people served by this method only become aware that they got served when they get the copy in the mail. It does extend the time to answer by several days but if an answer is not timely filed by the defense attorneys hired by the ins. co. a default can be entered against you so your biggest responsibility is calling your ins. co. right away to let them know you got served.

 

[dougp26364]

I want to thank everyone for their replies and help. Made me feel much better. I called my insurance company and was given the name and phone number of the claims rep. Have to call back during business hours M-F. Will call back on Monday. I read the terms of my policy and the insurance company will provide an attorney to defend the claim. It was in bold print that they will determine the attorney to hire. So anyway, thank you to everyone for the advice. I'll find out what will happen next when I talk to the claims rep tomorrow.

Linda

Insurance companies are usually very good at what they do. There's a LOT of ambulance chasing law firms out there that will make people believe they can get them hundreds of thousands of dollars when they might not have a claim at all. They know that insurance companies will balance the cost to fight a case vs the potential savings if they win a case. What many are hoping for is a settlement.

I had a co-worker who rear ended a lady. She got one of those TV law firms and sued for several thousand dollars. In the end, she got what she would have recieved without the TV law firm except, she had to give them a large percentage. Sure she won her case. My co-worker rear ended her. What she "won" was less than $3,000 and she most likely paid the law firm $1,500 of that amount, leaving her with half the money she needed to repair her car.

Sometimes scare tactics work, sometimes they don't. Years ago I was involved in a similar case involving an accident in the snow and ice. My company made an offer, the other person refused it. They retained a lawyer and I was served. They sought several thousand dollars or a settlement. My insurance company at the time took the case to court and the claiment ended up with $0.

So don't panic or get upset. It's a game played by law firms to try to negotiate money out of an insurance company through black mail (pay up or we'll cost you even more in court costs). It's one of the imperfect parts of our court systems here in the states.