Will a lawyer take my case?

When you call a personal injury firm, a screening process starts. It is fast, it is mostly hidden from you, and the person running it may not be a lawyer. This page walks through how it works.

It won't tell you whether you have a case. That turns on your specific facts, and it takes a lawyer on a call to sort out. Here is the distinction: a web page can lay out how firms decide; only a lawyer can tell you where your case lands.

That is what the call is for. I'll tell you straight whether you have a case. If you do, I bring in a trial lawyer and I stay on it — because a case that can't go to trial has no leverage.

"Bring in a trial lawyer" means a second firm joins the case to try it. I work on a contingency fee.

We work on a contingency fee, meaning no attorney's fee unless we recover for you. Clients remain responsible for case costs advanced, including if there is no recovery.

When a trial lawyer joins, you still sign one client agreement, and we split that one fee between us. The split does not add to what you pay. I stay the lawyer of record and stay on the case. How the co-counsel model works.

What happens when you call

Most firms open with a few questions to place the case: when and where it happened, and who was involved. Some firms, this one included, run those names against a conflict check before you say anything else, because a conflict means the firm cannot take you no matter how strong the claim is.

Then come the screening questions. They cover a short list:

• What happened, in enough detail to see who was at fault.
• Whether you were hurt, and whether you have seen a doctor.
• Whether there is insurance on the other side.
• How long ago it happened.
• Whether anyone already represents you.
• Whether another firm has already turned you down.

The last question matters more than it sounds. It tells the firm whether it is the first to look at the case or the second, and whether there is a prior lawyer's lien to deal with.

How fast the decision gets made

Often on the first call. A firm that screens hundreds of calls a month decides quickly, and it says no far more than it says yes. If the case is not an obvious yes or an obvious no, the firm may ask for the police report and your medical records and decide after it reads them.

A rejection is usually not a letter. It is a call that does not come, or a short message that the firm isn't able to take this on. You often will not be told which factor stopped it.

What the firm is weighing

The screening comes down to a few categories: whether fault is clear and provable, whether there is insurance to pay the claim, whether your medical records tie the injury to the event, how close the filing deadline is, and whether the firm's own economics work for a case this size. Any one of them can be the reason for a no.

Full breakdown: why personal injury firms turn down cases.

The clock is running the whole time

Nothing about calling firms pauses your deadline. Most California injury claims must be filed within two years (Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1). Medical negligence runs on its own clock (Code Civ. Proc., § 340.5).

Claims against a government entity — a city bus, a county road, a public hospital — are on a shorter track. You must present a written claim within six months (Gov. Code, § 911.2) before you can sue at all (Gov. Code, § 945.4). Once the entity rejects that claim in writing, you have six months from the date the rejection is mailed to file suit (Gov. Code, § 945.6). That last deadline is the shortest in a California injury case, and the one people miss most, because they assume the two-year rule still applies.

Sources: Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1; Code Civ. Proc., § 340.5; Gov. Code, § 911.2; Gov. Code, § 945.4; Gov. Code, § 945.6.

More: statute of limitations · government claims.

Before you call

• Get your filing deadline confirmed by a lawyer. Do this first.
• Write down what happened in your own words, while it is fresh. It is the most useful thing you can bring.
• List the date, the place, and the names of everyone involved.
• If you are still under a doctor's care, keep the appointments. Gaps in the record work against the claim.

After a no

A no from one firm is one firm's screen, on one day, run against that firm's cost model and caseload. Another firm can weigh the same facts and reach a different answer. A smaller practice often will.

I take the cases the big firms won't.

More: a firm rejected your case — now what · getting a second opinion on your case · what it costs to change lawyers mid-case.

Find the page for your situation

Each accident type has its own set of factors:

• car accident claims in California
• truck and commercial vehicle claims
• Uber and Lyft accident claims
• motorcycle accident claims
• pedestrian injury claims
• bicycle accident claims
• premises liability claims
• dog bite claims
• wrongful death claims

Common questions

Who decides whether a firm takes my case?

The first screening call is often handled by an intake specialist, not a lawyer. They collect the basic facts and route the file. A lawyer signs off before the firm commits, but a case can be declined before it ever reaches one.

How long does the screening take?

Sometimes the answer comes on the first call. Sometimes the firm asks for the police report and your medical records first and decides over a few days or weeks. A message that the firm will get back to you, followed by silence, is a no.

Does calling a firm start any deadline?

No. Calling a firm does nothing to the statute of limitations. The clock started at the incident, or for a claim against a government entity, when the rejection notice was mailed. It keeps running while you call around, so confirm your date first.

What should I have ready before I call?

The date and place, the names of everyone involved, whether you were hurt and where you were treated, whether anyone already represents you, and whether a firm has already turned you down. Write down what happened in your own words while it is fresh.