The Importance of Speaking with an Actual Injury Attorney in Kansas City

Choosing the right injury lawyer for your injury case is challenging. For many people, this is the first time they’ve ever needed a lawyer. It can be intimidating. We get that.

Edelman & Thompson has served Kansas City for more than 32 years. We’ve served more than 15,000 injured people – many of whom had never hired a lawyer before.

Why Hiring the Right Injury Lawyer Is More Difficult Than Ever

There are hundreds of lawyers trying to get your attention with their TV ads, billboards, online ads, and websites. How do you choose the right lawyer to protect you and your family? How do you avoid making a wrong and costly decision?

Any law firm with a checkbook can advertise, have a catchy slogan, or put their law firm name everywhere you look. Many times, they are hoping you’ll think that because they advertise, they must be successful. The problem with that is that their success as a business may not mean they’d be the best ones to handle your case.

Lawyers make it easy to hire them. They all offer a free, no obligation consultation. They all say that there is no risk – No Win, No fee! That makes it sound like you have nothing to lose. But you do, if you hire the wrong injury lawyer.

Also, you are choosing a lawyer at a very stressful time. You are recovering from your injuries, you might not be working, bills may be accumulating, and the insurance company is pressuring you to accept their settlement offer. Decision-making at this time is particularly difficult.

Why Insurance Companies Don’t Have Your Best Interests in Mind

The insurance company’s job is to pay you as little as possible. To do that, they’ll say things that seem like they care and that they want to do what’s best for you. Don’t be fooled. They are a shareholder-owned business. Their profits are impacted by how much in claims they have to pay out.

Every year, they train their representatives on how to pay as little as possible.

Get the claimant to give a recorded statement and allow them to say things that can be used against them.
Ask questions that sound like they are concerned but are designed to put cracks in a claim
Delay things to increase frustration, like approving car repairs or paying for medical expenses.
See if bills and financial pressure can get them to agree to a settlement offer.
Assure them that getting a lawyer involved will only reduce what they’d get.

Why Speaking with an Actual Attorney Matters

Who knows more about the food at a restaurant – the server or the chef? The same thing applies to law firms.

Most law firms use staff who are intake specialists or investigators – They take down the particulars of your injury situation so that they can judge whether your situation is important or not. Doing intakes may just be a portion of what they do each day. Sometimes, their intake notes get lost in the shuffle.

An intake specialist may know that there is a 2-year statute of limitations for your situation, but a lawyer would know that there are exceptions that might apply to your situation.

An experienced lawyer can evaluate your situation from every angle and explore beneficial possibilities you and an intake specialist might never have considered.

Experienced injury lawyers have learned a great deal about injuries, medical evaluations and treatments, and the sometimes life-long impact of injuries. They are best equipped to evaluate the value of your case and explain how legal representation could have a meaningful positive impact.

A lawyer can help you avoid making mistakes that can undermine the value of your case, like:

Giving a recorded statement to an insurance company, like we talked about earlier.
Posting on social media with pictures or video that could be interpreted that you are not injured, or that your life has not been impacted.
Having time gaps in your medical treatment, which could be interpreted that you are fully healed.
And so much more!

Three Red Flags to Watch for When Choosing an Injury Lawyer

Law firms not based in Kansas City – They typically staff their KC office with a few inexperienced attorneys so that they can have a presence here. Law firms based here are likely to know the nuances of the law that apply here, the judges, the potential jurors, and the claim climate in which your case will be considered.
Firms that use intake specialists – Their lawyers don’t want to take the time to educate you about the things that matter most to your case. They’d prefer that intake specialists “sign up” new clients so that their first conversation with a client has revenue tied to it.
Firms that settle cases quickly for volume – These firms are businesses built for cash flow. They are highly profitable because each settled case funds more advertising which produces more cases. Rinse and repeat. They almost never go to court – seeing court as a time waster and expensive gamble. They’d rather bet on a sure thing – taking their fee on a quickly settled case and moving on to the next one. Their business strategy is at odds with the best interests of their clients.

Even more red flags.

Why Trial Experience and Preparation Make a Difference

Insurance companies know which law firms will go to court if necessary to protect the interests of their clients. They also know which law firms win in court.

There are trial lawyers and then there are settlement lawyers. It is true that 99% of cases settle before going to court, but experienced lawyers who have and do go to court have much stronger negotiating power than lawyers who have never been to court. Lawyers who don’t go to court may want the best for their clients, but insurance companies know that there is a limit to the lawyers’ fighting. “I’ll sue you!” has very little meaning if the lawyer has never been to court.

Edelman & Thompson isn’t the largest personal injury law firm in town, but it holds the record as having won the most injury cases in Kansas City courts than any other firm since 2011. Why is that? It is the kind of law firm we are – We are not a high-volume, cash flow business. We provide high-quality legal representation and develop our clients’ cases and prepare them as if we will go to trial. We are ready, willing and able. Insurance companies know that. That’s why we’ve been able to get settlements or jury awards in 99% of our clients’ cases.

Preparation also impacts settlement value. By anticipating that we’ll have to make our case in court, we make sure that we have the strongest case possible and that we anticipate all the tricks and distractions that the insurance company may use.

The Advantage of Working with Kansas City-Based Injury Attorneys

We know Kansas City, the employers, he intersections and highways where wrecks occur, the medical providers, and the judges and jury pools. Out of town firms have to rely on generalities and best guesses to advise their clients.

We’ve built a low-turnover (staff and attorneys) law firm that has enabled us to provide consistency and steady improvements to how we serve our clients, our neighbors. Consequently, the average years of legal experience for our lawyers exceeds 28 years.

As we grew, we added attorneys who have experience on both sides of injury matters – a former judge and legal advisor to Missouri’s work comp division, and several attorneys that first worked on the defense side of injury claims. This is another reason we confidently go to court if necessary – we know how the other side thinks, acts, and strategizes.

Experience, Accessibility, and Personal Attention

When hiring a personal injury attorney, you want to have “hope” that your difficult situation will have a positive outcome. That hope stems from a confidence and trust between you and your lawyer. You’ll have trust if a lawyer truly listens to you and answers all of your questions. You’ll have confidence if the lawyer describes successful outcomes he or she has handled that are similar to yours. You’ll have confidence if they acknowledge that every case is unique and that they seem confident about their ability to help. You’ll have trust in a lawyer who doesn’t sugar-coat the situation and is realistic with you about potential outcomes. You’ll have confidence is you feel like the attorney will be available to you for follow-up questions or anything else that comes up.

At Edelman & Thompson, it is a point of pride and community service that everyone who contacts our firm can speak with a lawyer right away. In many situations time is critical, so we don’t consume time with lengthy questionnaires or intake specialists. Instead, you’ll talk to an experienced lawyer right after our receptionist transfers the call to the appropriate attorney to address your situations. Some of our attorneys only handle civil matters like car/truck accidents, dog bites, and slip and falls. Others only handle workers’ compensation matters. Some handle both types of cases.

A good barometer for the kind of personal attention your case will get can be discerned from reading several Google reviews. If the reviewers regularly cite individuals at the firm like lawyers and staff, and they use words like empathy and care, you can be confident that your experience will be similar.

Why Edelman & Thompson is Different

Look at our roots. Ron Edelman and James Thompson first worked together for a law firm defending against insurance claims. Benefiting insurance companies instead of people didn’t feel right. So, in 1994 they founded Edelman & Thompson to provide high-quality legal representation to injured people. They grew the firm by adding lawyers and staff, many of whom had experience working for insurance claim defense firms. Carl Mueller, a 20-year workers’ compensation judge, says he joined Edelman & Thompson because he saw from the bench which firm most strongly advocated for its clients.

Low turnover. We employ nearly 50 people, including 15 attorneys. Our low turnover has enabled us to perfect our craft and build upon our experience. Most of our lawyers have in excess of 28 years of legal experience.

Kansas City focused. Our lawyers are able to serve any injury matter in Kansas or Missouri. We’ve chosen to have five offices in the Kansas City metro area and to not have offices in other cities, so that we can focus our attention on serving our clients instead of managing and staffing remote locations.

Trial-ready. Your case probably won’t go to trial, but we’ll prepare it like we would if we were going to go to court, so that we’ll be ready if we need to. Because Edelman & Thompson has won more injury cases in Kansas City courts than any other firm since 2011, you can be confident that, if need be, we’ll confidently stand up for your rights in court.

If You’ve been Injured, Get the Right Advice, Right Away

The clock is ticking on your injury claim and your injury recovery. Delays in medical treatment can lead to further complications. Similarly, waiting to get a lawyer involved can be detrimental. You need to get ahead of this. There is no cost for a consultation with a lawyer, and no obligation. You don’t know what you don’t know, and that can undermine you claim in dramatic ways. In a free consultation with a lawyer, you’ll learn the ins and outs of the injury claims process and learn that the early steps you take can make a big difference. If you call during business hours, you’ll talk with an attorney right away. If you fill out a form or chat during business hours, a lawyer will contact you within 8 hours. If you call, chat or fill out a form in the evening or on the weekend, it might be a few hours before a lawyer can call you back. We encourage phone calls for speed and for your ability to get your questions answered right away. So, call now, 816-561-3400.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring an Injury Lawyer

Is a lawyer really necessary for my injury case?

Every case is different. Complexities of the case, your injuries, and how hard the other side is fighting or delaying can help a lawyer and you determine how much value a lawyer could add.

What does it cost to consult with a personal injury attorney?

Most injury firms offer a free consultation to determine if you have a case that would benefit from having legal representation.

How can I prepare for free consultation with a personal injury lawyer, to get the most out of it?

A lawyer will need to know the date the injury occurred, where it happened, how it happened, and what medical treatment or evaluations you had. Medical records, witness statements and police reports can be gathered later.