OFFICES IN NORTHWEST INDIANA AND SOUTH BEND
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N ot too long ago, I took on a case that perfectly illustrates why we at Kelly Law do the work we do. One day, a gentleman called my office. He and his wife had been involved in a brutal motorcycle accident, through no fault of their own, that would change their lives forever. Before he began telling his story, it was evident his wife had suffered devastating injuries and would be fighting an uphill battle for years after the crash. As he elaborated on this situation, he painted an all-too-familiar picture. He was hesitant to hire a lawyer because he was worried the fee would take too much of any recovery he and his wife made. It turns out the person who caused the crash only had $100,000 in motor vehicle accident coverage. This seems like a generous sum until you realize his wife owed over $594,000 in liens from medical bills. One hundred grand would barely be a drop in the bucket. Understandably, he was reluctant to hire a lawyer at all. He was already almost $500,000 in the hole, so why add on a bunch of attorney fees? In the midst of crushing debt, it’s easy to see a lawyer as nothing more than an additional expense. But what many clients often don’t realize is that this is the exact scenario in which an experienced and compassionate personal injury attorney can have the greatest impact.
As you could imagine, it can be difficult to convince these dispirited clients to invest in an attorney. Often, they’ve been jerked around by insurance companies and bogged down with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, so they find it difficult to determine who they can trust. But in this case, I assured him, we’d do everything we could to make sure they didn’t have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars that they simply didn’t have. Over the next year, we fought tooth and nail to reduce the liens filed against these clients. Through our dedicated efforts, we were able to reduce the medical liens from a whopping $594,000 to just $10,000. To further help their situation, we also substantially reduced our fees for the case, leaving them with quite a bit of money in their pocket — a lawyer reducing their fee, a process that is far from common practice in the industry.
“... in my 15 years of practicing law, no client who has ever settled their case with us has walked away empty-handed, regardless of the magnitude of their medical bills or the lack of adequate insurance coverage.”
We may not always be able to get such tremendous reductions on our clients’ medical bills and liens or slash our fees to such a degree, but in my 15 years of practicing law, no client who has ever settled their case with us has walked away empty-handed, regardless of the magnitude of their medical bills or the lack of adequate insurance coverage. Most law firms run their practice like a business. At Kelly Law, we consider it more of a service. It means a lot to know none of our clients end up shortchanged and to know I work with a firm that ensures we never end up with more money than the people we serve. To be able to have such a tangible, positive impact on the lives of injured people in desperate situations makes for consistently rewarding and meaningful work.
–Michael Massucci
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800-859-8800
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