By Lawrence E. Mittin, Esq.
The number of attorneys advertising on billboards or TV for personal injury claims is huge. California-based attorneys have entered the market because Nevada has better laws and jury verdicts for personal injury claims than California. The advertisements for some of the lawyers include multiple billboards on the same street, let alone repeat ads on the same TV station throughout the day. This advertising blitz by attorneys is so that when an accident happens, a person thinks of that lawyer and calls them for advice. For the potential client who decides to go with one of these advertising attorneys, the question is, do you want to speak with an experienced attorney or a random assistant who just got hired?
Between word-of-mouth referrals and repeat clients, Craig P. Kenny & Associates gets calls and emails daily from prospective personal injury clients. When these clients contact our law office, they speak or exchange emails with our team of personal injury attorneys, who each have an average of almost 30 years of experience in the area of personal injury in Las Vegas and who are all approved Arbitrators under Nevada’s Arbitration program. This is the team of attorneys that potential clients speak to when they call or email Craig P. Kenny & Associates.
Now when a potential client contacts an advertising law firm, the call or email is handled by whichever intake assistant is available at that moment. The intake assistant is not a lawyer. The intake assistant has only one goal when contacted by a potential client, to sign the person up for the advertising attorney. Intake assistants in the sign-up department are evaluated based on the number of cases they can sign up per week for the advertising attorney. After a potential client signs up with the advertising attorney, the case is then assigned to the handling claims assistant. The handling claims assistant is once again not an attorney. The handling claims assistant’s job performance is based on how many claims they can help settle every week for the advertising attorney.
Nevada has a two-year Statute of Limitations before a lawsuit has to be filed. For advertising law firms, this two-year period allows a great number of claims to be settled with the help of the handling claims assistants. For those claims that cannot be settled within these two years, a lawyer will then have to file a lawsuit. The business model of some advertising attorneys is to have other law firms handle the litigation of any claims. For other advertising firms, a person’s claim will be handled by one of the firm’s attorneys. In both scenarios, the actual involvement of an attorney that the client will meet may not occur until almost two years from the date of retaining the advertising law firm. During this critical time period when clients have questions about treatment, medical bills, insurance coverages, and car repairs, the contact person for the client is the handling claims assistant, not an attorney. For the advertising law firm, attorney contact with the client will occur if the case cannot be settled within these two years. The attorney might be with a different law firm that handles lawsuits for the advertising attorney, or the attorney may be an associate for the advertising attorney. The reality is that the attorney for the lawsuit will not actually be the advertising attorney.
So, considering these factors, after a car accident occurs, who would you rather speak with, an experienced attorney or a random claims assistant who just got hired? If you contact Craig P. Kenny & Associates after an accident, you will be speaking with an experienced attorney who will be your attorney from day one until the Click to Continue
