My Lawyer Wants Me to Take a Low Settlement Offer

The settlement decision belongs to you

Your lawyer can advise, recommend and even argue with you. Your lawyer cannot accept an offer you have not agreed to. Each state puts this in its ethics rules:

• California: rule 1.2(a) says a lawyer “shall abide by a client’s decision whether to settle a matter.” Rule 1.4.1 requires the lawyer to promptly tell you every amount, term and condition of any written offer.
• Texas: Rule 1.02(a)(2) says a lawyer shall abide by the client’s decision whether to accept an offer of settlement.
• Washington: RPC 1.2(a) says a lawyer shall abide by a client’s decision whether to settle a matter.

Feeling pressured is different from being overruled. If you are being told you have no choice, that is incorrect. If you are being told the offer is the right call and you disagree, you are entitled to a clear explanation.

Good reasons a lawyer may recommend a lower number

Before assuming the worst, consider that the advice may be sound. Lawyers who have handled many injury claims see patterns that clients do not. A recommendation to settle low can be honest when:

• The at-fault driver or business has a small insurance policy and few assets to collect from.
• There is a real dispute about who caused the accident, and a jury could put much of the blame on you.
• Gaps in treatment or a prior injury give the defense room to argue your injuries came from something else.
• Taking the case to trial would add a year or more and significant costs, with an uncertain result.

If one of those is the reason, a good lawyer can show you. Ask to see the policy limits letter, the liability evidence or the medical records that drive the advice. Our injury FAQ library covers how fault and insurance limits affect claim value.

Questions to ask before you say yes or no

Send these by email so the answers come back in writing:

1. What is the exact offer, and when does it expire? Please send me a copy.
2. How much would I receive after attorney fees, case costs and medical liens? Please send a draft breakdown.
3. Have the medical liens been negotiated down yet, or could they be?
4. What are the at-fault party’s insurance limits, and how do we know?
5. Did the demand include all my bills, lost wages and any future treatment my doctors recommended?
6. If I say no, what happens next, and what do you expect it to cost and how long will it take?

A clear written answer to each of these lets you compare the offer with the alternative. A refusal to answer is useful information too.

Warning signs in how the offer is presented

Disagreeing about value is normal. Some patterns, though, deserve a closer look. Be cautious if you are told to sign a release the same day you first hear about the offer. Be cautious if your lawyer will not show you the offer in writing or cannot explain how your net amount was calculated. Being asked to settle before you finish treatment, with no estimate of future care, is another reason to slow down.

Hearing about an offer from someone other than your lawyer, weeks after it arrived, is a problem on its own. California’s rule on written offers exists for exactly that situation.

None of this means your lawyer is acting in bad faith. It means you should get the facts before making a decision you cannot undo.

Getting a second opinion while an offer is pending

You can ask another firm to review the offer without firing anyone. Bring the offer letter, the demand letter if you have it, your medical bills and records, and any insurance information. A careful review looks at the same things your lawyer should have weighed: insurance limits, fault, the strength of the medical evidence and the true net to you.

Beverly Law does these reviews for free, in English or Spanish. You can reach us any time at (310) 552-6959. If the offer turns out to be reasonable, we will tell you that, and you can go back to your lawyer with more confidence in the decision.

Watch the expiration date. Insurers sometimes set short deadlines. If you need more time to decide, your current lawyer can ask the insurer for an extension. If you switch, the new firm can make that request.

Until you have made up your mind, do not sign a release or a settlement agreement. Once a release is signed and the case settles, the claim is generally over, and Beverly Law cannot take the case at that point. Our page on firing your lawyer before settlement explains why the timing matters.

If you switch: what happens to the old fee

Switching after an offer arrives is allowed in all three states. The old lawyer may argue that the offer reflects their work, and the fee they are owed can reflect that.

California. Under Fracasse v. Brent, a discharged contingency lawyer is paid the reasonable value of the work, and only if you recover. When one contingency fee has to cover more than one lawyer, Spires v. American Bus Lines splits it so the client is not forced to pay twice.

Texas. Turning down an offer you think is too low is your right, but in Texas the reason for firing a lawyer can affect the fee claim. Under Mandell & Wright v. Thomas, a lawyer fired without good cause can seek the contract fee, limited by the bar on unconscionable fees in Hoover Slovacek v. Walton. With good cause, Rocha v. Ahmad limits the lawyer to the reasonable value of the work done. A disagreement over value alone may not count as good cause, so our Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou, review the history before we take the case.

Washington. Ross v. Scannell limits a lawyer discharged before finishing the work to the reasonable value of the services. Disputed money stays in trust under RPC 1.15A(g) until the dispute is resolved.

With Beverly Law, your fee does not go up because you switched. Your former lawyer’s share is paid from our fee, never added to it. Case costs the old firm advanced are typically repaid out of the recovery, as on any case, and you owe nothing if there is no recovery. Details are on our page about whether switching costs more.

Sources

1. California Rules of Professional Conduct (State Bar of California, PDF)
2. Tex. Disciplinary R. Prof. Conduct 1.02 (scope and objectives of representation)
3. Wash. RPC 1.2
4. Fracasse v. Brent (1972) 6 Cal.3d 784 (scocal.stanford.edu)
5. Spires v. American Bus Lines (1984) 158 Cal.App.3d 211 (hallapproved.com)
6. Mandell & Wright v. Thomas, 441 S.W.2d 841 (Tex. 1969) (CourtListener)
7. Hoover Slovacek LLP v. Walton, 206 S.W.3d 557 (Tex. 2006) (CourtListener)
8. Rocha v. Ahmad, 676 S.W.2d 149 (Tex. App. San Antonio 1984) (CourtListener)
9. Ross v. Scannell, 97 Wn.2d 598 (1982) (CourtListener)
10. Wash. RPC 1.15A