California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog

FAQ: What is a gap in treatment?

Q: I was injured in a car accident. I went to the doctor and am trying to settle my case. The adjuster says there is a gap in treatment. What is this?

A: When you are involved in an auto accident, or car crash as I prefer now, you may end up going to the doctor. I tell everyone to go to the doctor after a car crash. It can never hurt to go get examined and make sure you are okay.

But once you start treatment, the insurance company wants to see regular treatment. Their theory: if you are injured, you are going to go to the doctor regularly. This is a fine theory. But, in reality, we all know that things come up. Our children get sick. We get sick. We have a business trip we have to take.

The key is that if you miss a treatment or two, you should make sure you go as soon as you can after. A gap of a week is not a big deal. A gap of a month is going to be an issue with your case. Make sure you can explain any gaps in treatment, preferably with documentation about why you missed the visits.

Hiring the right attorney for you

I have seen quite a few emails lately about people needing an attorney in different locations.

There are a few good ways to find an attorney:

1. Personal recommendation of friends or family. This is the best way to find an attorney. If you use this method, make sure you tell the attorney that you were referred by so-and-so, who is a family member or a friend.

2. Through your work. Some employers like Intel, the state, UCDavis, offer employee benefits for legal services. If your employer offers this, call the hotline and get a recommendation. Those attorneys have been checked thoroughly by the service.

3. The internet. Not just some random search on the internet. That will not yield good results. I tell people to check out Avvo, www.avvo.com. Avvo is an independent rating website that lists every attorney in the state and covers about 80% of all attorneys nationwide. Avvo rates attorneys on a scale from 1 to 10. The method is proprietary. But, in addition to the numerical ranking, which by the way is the first scoring system for attorneys that people can make sense of, there are endorsements from other attorneys, client reviews and more information about the attorney. Overall, it gives you a complete view of the attorney.

Avvo has been used by several national magazines to compile lists of the best attorneys in certain fields. Avvo has also been used to compile lists of the best attorneys in geographical regions by newspapers, magazines and websites.

You can use Avvo to search for an attorney by practice area, ie personal injury, workers comp, employment and in a certain area, be it California, Sacramento or Elk Grove. Another way to use this is to get a recommendation of an attorney and then put their name in Avvo and see what Avvo has to say. This will let you verify that the recommendation you received is a good one.

Hiring an attorney is a very personal decision. You want to make sure that you hire the right attorney for you. That may, or may not, be the right attorney for someone else. However, using these three things should get you the right attorney.

FAQ: Why is my attorney taking so long for my kids?

Q: I was involved in a motor vehicle accident (car accident). I was injured and my children were injured. I settled my case with the attorney. But, my children's case still isn't settled. Why not?

A: Settling cases for minors can be tricky. We have to be concerned about their future medical condition, as well as the injury and treatment they received. We also have to make sure that the settlement will pass muster with the court as every settlement with a minor must be court approved. It is possible that your attorney has looked at the offer from the insurance company and realized that the judge will not approve it.

It happens sometimes. The judge looks at it and determines it is not in the best interest of the child to settle the case. Judges need to make sure they are doing what is best for the child.

So, lets say the insurance company is offering $10,000 for each child. The attorney may think this is a bit low, but it may look good to you. The attorney could realize that the judge will not approve the settlement. So, he is going to try to get the insurance company to come up with more money. No one wants to go to court and have the judge reject the settlement and send everyone back to negotiate again.

Once the case is settled, you will not see the money. The attorney will put the money in his trust account. The money will then go into a blocked account or an annuity for the kids. You will only be able to use it with a court order. The kids will have access to it when they are 18.

I would encourage you to talk to your attorney. Make an appointment to go in and sit down and get an explanation. If you are uncomfortable with the explanation, get a second opinion.