The short answer is, no. Our Pittsburgh dog bite lawyers place a sharp focus on each individual case. We do the investigation ourselves. For example, we do not hire private investigators, for two reasons.
High Cost of Private Investigation
First, a private investigator has to be paid, which some firms take out of the settlement, reducing the net recovery to the client.
Secondly, we believe in a “hands on” approach, where we learn all the details in your case, directly, without information being filtered (and possibly misinterpreted) through a third party investigator.
Clients, in our experience, want a significant recovery as early as possible. For this reason, the ideal dog bite lawyer would have experience on on both the plaintiff side.
Understanding Insurance Companies
Insurance companies use formulas to evaluate claims. The sooner you and your lawyer understand those formulas, the earlier you will get paid. Our lawyers have experience both representing injured parties and also working with insurance companies in the past to evaluate claims, which gives us key insight into the claims handling process, to get cases settled on the “higher range” for injured parties.
Some Familiarity With the Criminal Court System
Almost every dog bite claim involves some kind of criminal charges and proceedings against the dog owner. Lawyers, however, tend to practice either criminal law or civil litigation. This is because the rules of procedure are very different.
The burden of proof is different, also. In a civil case, the burden is only to prove the case by a preponderance of evidence. In a criminal case, however, the standard is beyond a reasonable doubt.
A good dog bite attorney, however, must be aware of how the criminal courts work. How do you get notified by the criminal court of a hearing? What questions will the injured party be asked? The criminal justice system is not the best at helping prepare people to testify. The civil dog bite attorney might be all the victim has, in terms of preparation for criminal court.
Ideally, the lawyer should “Get It.”
Our lawyers regularly post articles about practical matters, warning dog owners about risks, such as inadequate fencing. We do this as a public service, intended to prevent injuries.
Call any time for a free, no obligation consultation.