Ethics and Personal Injury Lawyers — an Oxymoron?
Florida is a big state, so it stands to reason there would be more auto accidents and personal injury cases than in almost any other state in the union. That would account for there being so many Florida auto accident lawyers. Some people call these people “ambulance chasers” but that’s not a fair characterization in many cases.
As an example, think about the true story told in the movie Erin Brokovich. What would have happened to all those people who were who became deathly ill because of PG&E’s outright lying and negligence if a caring attorney aided by the tenacious Ms. Brokovich, of course) wasn’t involved? That story wasn’t specifically about Florida personal injury lawyers but the concept is the same no matter where you live: personal injury attorneys go after settlements for those who have been wronged and deserve compensation. Some of these people would be disabled with no way to make a living if these attorneys didn’t work hard to get them what they need to survive. Some of the people we saw in Erin Brokovich were children who couldn’t defend themselves. And in some of the families the parents were just as sick as the children, so they couldn’t fight for them. If it weren’t for the tenacity of a personal injury attorney, those people wouldn’t have had the resources to get the medical care they needed or to support them when they became permanently disabled.
Yes, I know there probably are ambulance-chasing attorneys. The stereotype is that they have greasy hair and cheap suits, and they sit in their cars listening to police radios so they can find out about accidents as they happen. There may be a few lawyers like that but they certainly aren’t the majority. I know for a fact that in the Sunshine State there are many Florida auto accident lawyers with a lot of integrity. Just as with any other group of people, it’s not fair to judge. You or somone you know might just need their help someday. If it meant their being able to survive financially after an accident, I bet most people would see accident and personal injury attorneys differently.