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Replacing a car accident lawyer in Israel


Considerations when replacing a car accident lawyer in Israel

How to choose a new lawyer in Israel:

Many potential customers are turning to our office to replace the attorney who handled the case the accident first. We believe that replacement of the lawyer handling the case can be stressful, so think before you act. It is very worthwhile to put more time and thought into selecting the first lawyer that is supposed to handle the accident, and proper research will prevent future need to replace the lawyer. For this purpose you should read the article: How to choose a lawyer for accidents, posted on this site. Click: How to choose a lawyer for accidents in Israel.

This article is also very essential for those who checked and tested that should not mistake twice. If you need a replacement accident lawyer you may want to study the subject of choosing the lawyer for a second time in order not to have to search for a   traffic accidents lawyer for the third time.

If in spite of all your fieldwork in choosing a lawyer you still require a replacement, consider whether, despite all the opinions, you really need a replacement lawyer.

Considerations for replacement accident lawyers in Israel:

If the question arises as to whether to replace your car accident lawyer then, you should replace it for the right reasons, not emotional reasons.

The following are reasons why you should not replace your Israeli accident lawyer:

-The lawyer does not answer my calls and is avoiding me

-The lawyer called me back only after a few days

-Lawyer is impatient and constantly tells me the matter is being dealt with

Over a year has passed since the accident and nothing has happened regarding the case

-The lawyer does not give me anything and I have to constantly call the office and ask what is happening with the case

-The lawyer does not send me a copy of every letter obtained

-The lawyer does not really explain what happens in the case

-I have a friend that was in a car accident and his lawyer recently closed his accident case

-Lawyer is not willing to pay for expenses such as court fees, payment and other specialists

I should mention that all these complaints are usually not reasons to change law firms for an accident. And in such cases we recommend that public prosecutors consider changing the decision to replace the lawyer. I'm not saying it is right that a lawyer did not return phone calls or did not explain what happened in the case, but it just shows the disposition of the lawyer. Perhaps that the lawyer is an expert in traffic accidents and the case goes perfectly. For the next case you may want to consider if you would hire the same lawyer again, but these are not reasons to replace him. Also the subject of time is not the same in all cases. There are cases that can finish in a few months, and cases that require a long time to exhaust the rights of the victim, and can take years. Some lawyers will accept any proposal you receive from the insurance company, and there are lawyers who are not willing to accept any offer, and they prefer to fight for improvement. Improvement proposals generally require more time. I recommend that in cases where it is unclear to accident victims what is happening with the case, you should ask for a personal meeting with the lawyer in his office, then you can ask calmly how the case is advancing. You can also request meeting to make copies of important documents. Most attorneys will not object to this. .

Here are good reasons for replacing car accident lawyer in Israel:

-The lawyer did not offer a basic outline as to how to act, what to tell doctors, and what to do at work.

- The lawyer is consistently not familiar with what happens in the case

- It turns out that the lawyer has no experience with road accidents and gives incorrect tips that cause damage.

- The lawyer does not understand issues related to the road accident such as Social Security, the Ministry of Health, etc.

- Lawyer forgot several times to appear in court

- The lawyer did not intend to tell me to collect medical information and receipts for expenses, and I did not do it.

- Attorney will not file claims in court; he says he is willing only to negotiate without a trial

- Lawyer is not willing to meet with me now or in a month. He said he has no time to meet with clients.

If after much consideration, as explained below, the victim decides to leave the previous lawyer and transfer the case to a new lawyer, it is important to try to make the transition peacefully.

There are also a number of other considerations that must be taken into consideration when deciding to transfer the case to a new law firm. This includes issues such as the economic viability of the transmission of the case. If it is a small case without a disability, you should not normally transfer the case to a different lawyer.

The phase which the case is in - if the case is already in advanced stages as evident in the court stage or summations phase, there is usually no point in replacing a lawyer at this time. However, if the case is in the early stages, then there may be a point to replacing lawyer (again assuming previous lawyer really did not do his job properly).

 :Fees paid to a lawyer before

In most cases at the beginning of each meeting between a car accident attorney and the victim, a retainer agreement was signed between the parties. The retainer lists all the liabilities of the plaintiff in the accident to the lawyer. The agreement is a binding document, and it is important to honor it. When one of the parties decides to terminate the agreement, the document signed by both parties should outline the methods of separation between the parties.

The central issue in the agreement is retainer fees of the lawyer and methods of payment. In most cases when it comes to car accidents, attorney's fees are determined as a percentage of the amount received at the end of the case:

If the case was settled without filing a lawsuit: 8% + VAT

If the case was settled but after filing a lawsuit in court: 11% + VAT

In any other case where the file ends after filing a lawsuit in court: 13% + VAT

However, in cases where the agreement ends between attorney and client before the case is over and before the compensation is received from the insurance company, the client usually has to ensure the attorney's fee from wherever they are in the stage of the case. If there was an agreement specifically regarding what the attorney's fee in the event of cessation of business, the practice is that the new lawyer gives written liability to the previous lawyer, which he undertakes when the case is concluded, to provide him with the fees as follows:

-If a claim has not yet been submitted to the court, the lawyer gets 33% of the fee

-If a traffic accident case filed with a court, the lawyer gets 50% of the fee

-If it is a case in which a car accident victim filed a claim in court, and the evidence phase has already begun, 66% of the fee.

Of course you can try to reach other agreements with the lawyer receiving such an amount regardless, of the amount which will end the legal process. This global amount takes into account the hours spent by the lawyer, and the risks and rewards regarding the management of the portfolio. In most cases, replaced lawyers refuse the global amount and they prefer to wait and get paid according to percentages specified above. Your best bet is to first try to reach an agreement with the lawyer on the global sum.

In cases of disagreement between the parties, mainly when the gaps are too large, you should contact the arbitration agreement Bar Association. Other details organized by the Bar Association regarding matters of fees often are quick and fair for both sides. An attorney who refuses to go to arbitration on the matter of the Israeli Bar Association fee "does not look good in court," so that almost all lawyers agree that the Arbitration Bar Association fees are the fees they deserve for the handling of a road accident.  

It is important to note that since every case of termination with the traffic accident law firm and other law firm specializing in road accidents, the customer is required to pay fees for the two attorneys replaced and the lawyer replacement, and sometimes he pays the two lawyers nearly double the fee that he pays the plaintiff lawyer without replacements. It may be a situation in which the customer ultimately pays fees much higher than initially planned, so as noted above. Think before you act - maybe it is not a good idea to replace your attorney.  

Although you can contact a new attorney before any agreement was reached with the first attorney, you should not advance the case before setting the issue of fees first with the original attorney. I should note that most premium accidents lawyers will not give the client a problem with addressing the fees of the previous lawyer, and this it good. Only some second and third-rate lawyers may be tempted to continue the case without addressing the issue of fees for the attorney being replaces. This approach usually causes damage to the case. The replaced attorney will file a suit in court against the plaintiff, and probably as a result the continued management and progress of the road accident case will be delayed. Eventually the previous lawyer receives the fee, but with great effort and damage to the case.

In summary, before deciding to leave the lawyer handling your traffic accident case, take into account all the important considerations. Should you replace the lawyer? Will the new Israeli personal injury law firm really do any better? What additional fees will I be required to pay? At what point are we in the case? How big is the case? Etc…

For more information about selecting a lawyer accidents click here: How do I choose a lawyer accidents