Why You Need A Trial Lawyer
In this video, Mike Danko of Danko Meredith explains a critical distinction that many accident victims overlook: the difference between a “settlement lawyer” and a true trial lawyer. While many firms claim to handle personal injury litigation, many simply process claims and accept the highest offer from an insurance company—even if that offer fails to cover the full extent of the client’s damages.
Insurance companies maintain sophisticated databases on attorneys. They identify which personal injury lawyers have the courtroom experience to secure a jury verdict and which ones will settle for less to avoid trial. If your legal representation lacks a proven track record in court, you lose your most significant piece of leverage.
At Danko Meredith, our Bay Area personal injury attorneys prepare every case for the courtroom from day one. By treating every claim as a potential trial, we signal to defendants and insurance carriers that we are fully prepared to hold them accountable. This authoritative approach is designed to ensure our clients receive maximum compensation for their injuries, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
Contact Danko Meredith today for a free consultation. You pay nothing unless they win your case.
Key Takeaways
- The Leverage of Courtroom Readiness: Insurance companies track the trial history of attorneys. Hiring a firm known for going to trial, like Danko Meredith, forces insurers to offer higher settlements to avoid the risk and expense of a jury trial.
- Preparedness from Day One: Unlike “settlement mills” that only prepare for negotiations, Mike Danko’s team prepares every case for trial from the start. This rigorous approach ensures no evidence is missed and the case is positioned for maximum value.
- Elite Trial Reputation: Danko Meredith has built a national reputation for winning. Their status as “Top 100” Trial Lawyers and “Best Law Firms in America” provides the authoritative weight necessary to challenge large corporations and insurance giants.
- Avoiding the “Settlement Trap”: Many lawyers fear the courtroom and may pressure clients into accepting low-ball offers. A true trial lawyer has the experience and confidence to reject unfair offers and fight for a just result in front of a judge and jury.
- Proven Results Through Litigation: With over a billion dollars recovered for clients, the firm’s success is a direct result of their ability to “out-lawyer” well-funded defendants in complex cases involving catastrophic injury and wrongful death.
Transcript
When you’re looking for a personal injury lawyer, it’s important to find someone who is a trial lawyer. Now, most personal injury lawyers will call themselves trial lawyers, but the fact of the matter is that very few of them actually go to trial.
Most personal injury lawyers are what we call ‘settlement lawyers.’ They take a case, they process it, and then they try to settle it for whatever the insurance company is willing to offer. The problem is that if the insurance company knows the lawyer isn’t going to take the case to trial, they’re never going to offer the full value of the case.
Insurance companies keep track. They know which lawyers go to trial and which ones don’t. They know which lawyers are successful in front of a jury and which ones aren’t. If you have a lawyer who hasn’t been to trial in years, the insurance company has no reason to pay you what your case is truly worth. They know that, at the end of the day, that lawyer is going to talk you into taking whatever is on the table because they’re afraid of the courtroom.
At Danko Meredith, we are trial lawyers. We prepare every case from day one as if it is going to trial. We don’t just ‘process’ cases; we litigate them. When an insurance company sees that Danko Meredith is on the other side, they know that if they don’t offer a fair settlement, they’re going to have to face us in front of a jury. And that reputation—that willingness and ability to go to trial—is what allows us to get the best possible results for our clients, whether that’s through a settlement or a jury verdict.