Re: the differents between a attorney and (esq) esquire

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On 5/05/03, dave prince wrote:
> two questions .First what is the differents between a
> attorney and Esq. esquire . after the name ? Second I
> talked to a esq about a personal injury case (auto)
> settlement, I'm not going in to this with out legal
> representation. I asked him a question. With this type of
> injury what is the average $$$$ , he would not say. I'm not
> comfortable with this answer. Is he giving me a bum steer
> or if I goto a different attorney will I hear the same
> story.Is this common practice. I may change attorney or may
> not.Thanks
>

Actually, I have no idea about the "esquire" thing, I assume
it carries back to old english common law.

As far as the PI claim, most attorneys will refuse to give
you a valuation of the PI claim. If you asked me that
question, I wouldn't give you an answer either. In fact,
most law practice training books for lawyers tell them not to
give an answer to that question.

I think a better tactic for you (which as an attorney I
prefer)is to tell the attorney, "I think my case is
worth "X", do you think thats reasonable?" You will get one
of three basic responses "Absolutely" in which case X is
probably too low, "Ummm, well there are no guarantees" which
means that X is possible, but it will take a lot of work from
the attorney, and the Attorney was/is hoping to settle the
case for less than X and with less work (not necessarily bad,
you will get the money quicker and with less risk, if you
take a smaller than possible settlement) or "You have
unrealistic expectations" which means X is probably too high.

The fact is that the value of the PI claim depends on a lot
of factors that hard to predict or make an average of:
Location of the Court where the Suit will be filed, Insurance
Company on the other side, Attorney on the other side, type
of injury, medical bills, comparative fault, etc.

As a side note, the smaller and less "notorious" the firm the
more likely they will push for higher settlements and/or file
a lawsuit on small common cases. The larger the firm
("settlement mills") will take quick and easy settlements
(less money) on common cases.

There is no easy answer to your question, but I hope this
helps.

Re: the differents between a attorney and (esq) esquire , 5/06/03, by Thomas Hrouda, Attorney.

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