Exactly, "former"! My wife got T-Boned by an inattentive driver and we settled our claim without a lawyer, who would have done nothing more than jack up the price in order for them to make money and us to make less!
If you have a legitimate claim, you don't need a damn lawyer. That's what insurance companies do for the money I already pay them!
Submit your meds, bills and make sure you tell the adjuster in detail how the injury has affected your life (you will get more money if you are a LL coach, active with the kids, etc. etc. and could no longer do any of that stuff). Attorneys understand the formula I use to put a dollar figure on your claim -- they just pile on the bells and whistles to try to squeak out a few more thousand. You can do this yourself.
Formula is easy. Accident happened -- we look at point of impact to vehicle, amount of damage, etc. then your injury. Seatbelt? we may use that as a negotiation strategy to give you some negligence.
Ambulance to ER, treated and released for soft tissue injury -- $300-$400 for that day.
Ambulance to ER, admitted with significant injuries -- anywhere from $300 to 1,000+ per day depending on injury.
Treatment -- type of injury, we give you a set amount per week for consistent treatment so let's say you are a mom of 3 small kids with back injury that will not require surgery. You go to ER, then PCP, maybe an ortho or neuro and then get referred out to chiro. You treat 2x/week -- we give you probably $250/week for pain and suffering, maybe more depending on the claimant and how active they are. You miss a week to go on vacation? we drop your weekly amount by $100 -- NEVER MISS A WEEK!!! The attorney knows this and will advise you to stay consistent with tx, and heck some sleazy attys will send you to sleazy providers who will note you attended when you never did so you are always covered.
You treatment at some point tapers down, you are considered at an end result for tx. Your provider may try to give you a permanent injury rating yada yada. We plot your treatment out over a calendar, review you meds for red flags and helpful info about your life (make sure you tell your providers if you are in pain, suffering relapses, how it is affecting your life etc. as they will include that in their office notes which we get). Add in lost wages, medical and out-of-pocket expenses and we come to a figure.
You can usually negotiate a very good settlement on your own.