What Happens When a Good Offer is Rejected?

Transcript: Hi. I’m Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub.

Every so often, a good settlement offer is presented to a client and the client says, “No way.”

What happens in such a situation?

When an offer is presented by an attorney, the attorney is expected to give their opinion as to whether the value of the offer is acceptable or not. Sometimes a person who is injured is blind to how an objective observer might view and evaluate their injury. This can cause a person who has been injured to see that an offer that is otherwise a solid, good offer is considered insufficient due to the fact that they have suffered for a long period of time. When a defendant’s best offer is rejected the next step we have to go through is to do the final trial preparation for our client.

That includes having the client go through what would be a draft run of direct examination, teaches them or advises them how to dress for trial, and gives them some idea of what to expect from cross examination.

This sometimes is the most difficult for clients because we have to pretend that we are the defense attorney and we ask them pointed questions that would be designed to attack their credibility and attack the validity of their case. So when we do this mock cross examination, we point out every inconsistency that our client has made and whatever inconsistency the defense team might otherwise pick up on, such as giving inconsistent statements to a medical doctor.

Plus, we have to tell our client that if a defendant presents evidence to a court that a witness has lied, they will have the right to ask the court to instruct the jury on what it means to violate an oath to tell the truth. Going through this kind of simulation is not enjoyable, at least from the report of most clients.

But it does show them what will be coming when they go to trial because that will be the next step if a fair settlement offer is rejected. I hope this bit of information has been helpful to you. If you have questions about an injury claim, please feel free to give us a call.