The only cases a personal injury lawyer will likely accept are those that have a strong likelihood of being successful. Why? All other cases are too financially risky.

Personal injury lawyers, unlike many other kinds of lawyers only receive compensation for what often amounts to years of hard work if the case is successful. What’s more, personal injury lawyers spend a lot of money–sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars–out of their firm’s pockets to work on the case. Spending on a case that is unsuccessful means the personal injury lawyer’s firm loses a lot of money.

Imagine paying your employer tens of thousands of dollars to work for them for a year under the premise that it’s improbable they’ll ever pay you. You would never accept that employment arrangement, right?

Of course, it feels awful telling an aggrieved family that you will not take on their case. And, of course, money is not everything. But, when a case does not have certain elements, the case should be turned down. 

The elements that all successful birth injury cases must have are

1. liability,
2. causation,
3. damages, and
4. coverage.