A person wrote this message to Mr. Phillips:
I was bit by a dog at a dog park by this ladies dog cause it originally went after my dog and I tried to separate the dogs and I was bit in the process in three places on my index finger and I went to the hospital and the hops reported it to animal control… I have spoke to a couple of attorneys.
But there is no renters insurance or home owners insurance.
she does have car insurance
and a husband too
I have her husbands name too.
I was wondering how I would go about all this.
my hospital bill is 3,000 right now and I saw a hand specialist for I think 207.00
Not sure about what to do?
can you help me figure things out here?
Mr. Phillips replied:
You need to retain a lawyer. However, if there is no insurance then there probably won’t be a monetary recovery, and so you cannot actually offer anything to a contingency fee lawyer for his or her services. (“Contingency fee lawyer” means one who works on a “no recovery, no fee” basis.)
If you can’t retain an attorney, then you have to bring an action in the small claims court for whatever the court can provide for you. It won’t be full value but at least you can do something.
Sometimes a person who claims he doesn’t have insurance will get a small claims court summons and say, “that’s it, I’m turning this in to my insurance company!” In that event, you will hear from that company or from an attorney. If that happens, don’t go any further on your own; start looking for a lawyer again, because only a lawyer will be able to get you full value for your injuries.
To make an effective presentation to the small claims court judge, review the materials provided online that pertain to presenting a case in small claims court. Don’t assume that small claims court is like anything you see on television, because it just isn’t!