When Your Injury Lawyer Pressures a Low Settlement

Attorney Answer

The decision to settle is yours, not your lawyer's, and nobody can make you sign. For your children there is a second layer of protection: a settlement of a child's claim is not finished the way an adult's is, and it generally involves court oversight before anyone is bound by it.

I cannot tell you whether the offer on your table is fair. Nobody can from a description, and any lawyer who puts a number on your case without reading the medical records and the available insurance limits is guessing. What I can tell you is what you are entitled to ask for before you decide anything.

You are entitled to a written explanation of the offer: what insurance coverage actually exists, what the medical bills and any liens add up to, what the fee and expenses would take out, and what would be left for each child. A contingency fee agreement is a written contract, and you are entitled to a copy of it and to your file. Being asked whether you would rather have your son walking or have the money is not an explanation of an offer. It is pressure. Pressure is a reason to slow down, not a reason to sign.

If the disagreement is really about the fee, the State Bar of Texas runs a fee dispute resolution program built for exactly that. If it is about the lawyer's conduct — calls not returned, the case not explained, a client pushed toward a settlement — the State Bar also takes grievances. Neither one requires you to hire another lawyer first.

What you can do

1. Ask your lawyer, in writing, for a written summary of the offer: the available policy limits, the total medical bills and liens, the fee and expense deduction, and the net amount for each child. Give a date by which you would like it.

2. Ask for a copy of your complete file and your signed fee agreement, and keep both.

3. Do not sign a release or a settlement statement while you feel pushed. A release is final, and it is final for your children too.

4. Get a second opinion. Another Texas injury lawyer will usually review an existing offer at no charge, and hearing the same number from someone with nothing to gain tells you a great deal.

5. Ask a Texas attorney how a settlement for an injured child is approved and how a child's money is held afterward, so you know what the process is supposed to look like before you agree to anything.

6. If the fee itself is the fight, contact the State Bar of Texas about its fee dispute resolution program.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. The underlying injury claim runs on the two-year period in Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a), and deadlines can work differently for a child's claim than for an adult's. If you are thinking about changing lawyers, do it with that clock in mind, and have a Texas attorney confirm where each claim stands before anything expires.