As this calendar year is nearly over, I would like to reflect on the legal malpractice committed by lawyers in their handling of car wreck cases. For those consumers of legal services who are unaware, not every lawyer is competent to handle car accident cases, and many who advertise for car accident cases are unqualified to handle the complex car insurance issues at the heart of every car wreck case.
The most common legal malpractice arises from the lawyer’s failure to understand the unique Statute of Limitations, which is applicable only to cases arising from bodily injuries sustained in car crashes. While the Statute of Limitations is two (2) years from the date of the last Personal Injury Protection (PIP) medical payment, paid by the victim’s insurance company, determining the date of the last medical care bill payment is often not straightforward. Lawyers must request the PIP “payout log” on a regular basis to determine when the last payment was made, and then repeat this process over and over again until the PIP policy limits (usually $10,000) are exhausted. Only by knowing the date of the last medical care bill payment that exhausted the policy limits can the lawyer properly calendar the date that the lawsuit must be filed. If your case is not settled by this deadline, you will be forever barred from recovering any money from the at-fault driver for your injuries.
We often find that lawyers don’t understand that the date of a PIP payment for “lost wages” cannot be counted when calculating the Statute of Limitations.
Another issue arises when the at-fault driver has little or no insurance and you have purchased Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist insurance coverage. The Statute of Limitations applicable to your bringing a claim against your insurance company for these benefits is often misunderstood by lawyers handling car wreck cases. The law in Kentucky requires that your insurance contract controls the deadline for filing an Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist claim. Reading the insurance policy and the applicable law is required to protect you from losing the ability to collect these benefits. All too often, lawyers fall behind and time passes without their attending to your case, and you lose your right to these valuable insurance benefits.