Ethics and Personal Injury Lawyers — an Oxymoron?

Florida is a big state, so it stands to reason there would be more auto accidents and personal injury cases than in almost any other state in the union. That would account for there being so many Florida car accident lawyers. Some people call these people “ambulance chasers” but that’s not a fair characterization in most cases.

As an example, consider the true story that was told in the movie Erin Brokovich. What would have happened to all those people who were who became deathly ill because of Pacific Gas & Electric’s willful negligence if a personal injury attorney aided by the obstinate Ms. Brokovich, of course) hadn’t been involved? That story wasn’t specifically about personal injury attorneys from Florida but the principle is the same everywhere: personal injury attorneys pursue claims for people who have been hurt in some way and deserve compensation. Many would be consigned to lives in wheelchairs or worse with no way to make a living if these attorneys didn’t work hard to get them what they need to survive. Some of the people we saw in Erin Brokovich were children who couldn’t defend themselves. And in some of the families the parents were just as sick as the children, so they couldn’t fight for them. If it weren’t for the tenacity of a personal injury lawyer, none of those people would have had the money to get appropriate medical care or long-term disability payments.

Yes, I know there probably are ambulance-chasing attorneys. The stereotype is that they have greasy hair and cheap suits, and they sit in their cars listening to police radios so they can find out about accidents as they happen. There may be some people like that but they certainly aren’t the majority. I know for a fact that in the Sunshine State there are many Florida car accident lawyers with a lot of integrity. Just as with any other group of people, you can’t judge. You or somone you know might just need their help someday. If it meant their being able to survive financially after an accident, I bet most people would see accident and personal injury attorneys differently.

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