HB 837 - Proposal Settlement Law Thoughts
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- Опубликовано: 24 янв 2025
- My friend says there is a Proposal for Settlement Law that says the carrier will pay attorney fees if you win the lawsuit. What do you think about that?
The Proposal for Settlement law only awards attorney fees after you make a written offer 90 days after serving the lawsuit, obtain a judgment (which could include a trial), and you must get awarded at least 25% more money than the written offer you made. If you don’t obtain a judgment then this rule doesn’t apply and there are no attorney fees. Also, the insurance company could just accept the settlement offer you made which could leave the lawyer with a paltry recovery.
I’ve done this work before on cases involving diminution of value (the decreased value in a car after being in an accident) and it doesn’t pay off.
Let’s say a doctor is owed $1,000 maximum from the PIP coverage. On day 91 of filing a lawsuit, the PIP lawyer would have to file a PFS around $500 because they need to get a judgment for 25% more (ie $625)…and the max they are owed is $1,000. Remember, the goal is to get attorney fees by making an offer, hoping the carrier doesn’t accept it, and getting a judgment for at least 25% more than the offer.
The insurance company could accept the PFS offer every time which means the PIP lawyer would keep a percentage of whatever they collected. Is the risk of a PFS getting accepted worth it to the lawyer? I don’t think so.
No lawyer can afford to take every case to judgment - and that’s the only way to get attorney fees under a PFS.