Need Lawyer Suggestions for a Pedestrian Accident
 

I can't really disclose what happened in detail but my sister got hit by a car while she was crossing the street last week and the person that hit her stayed and they exchanged contact information. Their was a witness that stayed to exchanged information as well.

Are their any lawyer you'd recommend and/or have had good experiences with? I'm looking for a trial lawyer than just a regular lawyer that will just settle with any mediocre offer.

A friend of mine suggested Daryl J. Brown from McQuarrie Hunter LLP but after searching on RS, it seems that many people recommend Earl Zimmer as well. Are their any other suggestions or do you have a preference between Daryl J. Brown and Earl Zimmer? I'm not sure if Earl Zimmer is a Trial Lawyer but Daryl J. Brown is for sure.

How much compensation are trial lawyers usually(Percentage they take after the settlement)? I heard Daryl J. Brown take about 25-30%, is that the norm or do other Trial Lawyers take more or less?

Is there any chance that I'll get a decent offer from ICBC or the odds are stacked heavily against me? I ask because, 25-30% is a huge chunk of the pie and I'm worried that even with the lawyer, I might even get less than what was initially offered after the 25-30% cut from the lawyers.

Thanks RS.

It looks to me like you or your sister is just looking for a payday, from what i read. Obviously your compensation will be based on the extent of your sister injuries. So hire a lawyer, and play the waiting game. The better the lawyer the more percentage hell take, meaning you get what you pay for. From my experience, icbc injury settlements take anywhere from 1-3 yrs, unless you willingly agree upon the first settlement.

Unfortunately that's not the case. All the important decisions regarding her health and surgery were decided by our parents. So their was no need to ask questions about those topic.

Thanks for the information though. Has anyone had experience with either lawyer?
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Their are lawyers that are good and their are lawyers that are bad. They're lawyers that deal with bare attack cases too. Their was a lawyer in Vancouver or somewhere near they're that is really good. Their was this won lawyer that had helped a man who was running bear naked in the streets.

:lol:
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I seem to remember a friend of mine who got an offer from ICBC, then went to a lawyer. The lawyer took 20% of the difference, I think. So maybe get an offer and then see what happens.

Remember that in these kinds of situations you usually have 2 years to file a suit, and some injuries may take awhile to show up. So keep that in mind.

good lawyers are 1/3 of your payout.

Unless your sister extremely lost her quality of life (Lost limb, shattered leg, mental retarded, whiplash don't count, unless extreme) don't bother trying to milk a bigger payday. Pedestrian accidents ICBC is anal and most likely send investigators to spy on your sister. Hope she is a good actress!

You also got to remember too is that the amount of money you'll be awarded will be correlated to the loss resulting from the accident. It's hard to put a price on quality of life but it's going to make a huge difference whether she is a professional or a 10.25 dollars cashier or if she's a student. And I would imagine the quality of life would not be worth very much unless she's a professional snowboarders, skier, skaters etc.... unless the damage is permanent

I remember a friend being hit by a car a few years ago, ended up fracturing his wrist and his lawyer was able to get him roughly 80 thousand dollars and pocketing 33% of that. so I'm pretty sure your sister will get a decent settlement, just be patient and let your lawyer take their time to thoroughly work on the case so you could get the desired settlement.

And yes, do get a lawyer even if they will take 1/3 the chunk of your settlement because chances are, they are getting you over 4 times of what you would've been able to get yourself so you are still at a gain.

disclaimer: this is not legal advice, this is just general information that you could find searching the internet.

I practice personal injury law, and there is sometimes misinformation posted in these threads (although this one is pretty good so far)

Almost all lawyers will take between 25 to 33% of your sister's claim on a contingency basis whether they are great lawyers or not so great lawyers so I wouldn't judge based on that. On the debate of getting a lawyer or settling yourself - my thoughts are that if personal injury lawyers weren't able to get higher settlements for their clients than negotiating with ICBC directly they would have gone out of business a long time ago. Lawyers will also generally fund the disbursements (ie. having to get specialist for an independent medical examination etc) and then recover directly from ICBC at the end of the day.

Most personal injury lawyers will also give your sister a free initial consultation and explain how the process works and also let her know if there are any issues with liability in a specific car/pedestrian scenario. It's always worth it to spend some time and find a lawyer you feel you will have a good rapport with.

If you have any specific questions that don't involve asking for legal advice, I'm happy to answer them via PM rather than in a public forum.

Great advice. In addition, most RESPECTED personal injury lawyers have built
a relationship with ICBC adjusters. That being said, they're more likely to get a better settlement than you would alone, and perhaps faster.

Try this guy out, he's got some cred and has dealt with icbc I think.

Tim Louis Vancouver Lawyer - Personal Injury Law, Disability Law, ICBC

I practice ICBC law too, and yeah, once you bring in a lawyer, the settlement will jump up. It's not the insurance adjuster's job to max out payouts, it's their jobs to make claims go away, as economically as possible. So they will offer you peanuts, because your average Joe will have no idea what his/her claim is worth.

Once you have a lawyer, even one that takes 33%, you'll almost certainly end up with more than what you would have gotten before.

Also, I practice in Coquitlam, so I can probably answer a (general) question or too if asked too.