There are many ways an attorney can help with your personal injury case. They can advise you on what to do, what to look for, who you should (or should not) speak to, and how to give your case the best chance possible. However, there are many things a lawyer shouldn't help you with, like finding a doctor who will support your claim.
There are many ways an attorney can help with your personal injury case. They can advise you on what to do, what to look for, who you should (or should not) speak to, and how to give your case the best chance possible. However, there are many things a lawyer shouldn't help you with, like finding a doctor who will support your claim. To understand why you have to consider the optics of such a situation. When a judge reviews your case and discovers that the lawyer and doctor do a lot of work together, the judge would want to know why. It raises a lot of suspicions. The judge will assume the lawyer and doctor have a relationship because the doctor helps cases by exaggerating injuries.
It is insurance fraud if a doctor and lawyer team up to support a personal injury case when the client isn't necessarily injured. Naturally, this kind of lawyer/doctor relationship is viewed negatively. Working with a lawyer that has a history of this kind of behavior can damage your personal injury claim.
If a lawyer is going to refer a client to a particular doctor then the client must be advised that:
- Some judges have called a lawyer to doctor referral the kiss of death to a case.
- The lawyer has made referrals to the same doctor over the years and that this might be raised as a credibility issue at trial.
My advice is clear: if your lawyer tries to steer you to certain doctors for routine accident care, do not go to that doctor. As the client, you have the right to know about these relationships before your case is wrecked.
