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If you're watching this video, you've suffered significant injury and you're looking for
an attorney. My name is Michael Hill. I'm an attorney at Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber
law firm in Cleveland, Ohio. And I want to give you the top reasons why your case will
not be accepted. Number one, in a medical malpractice, personal injury or similar case
we have to show -- number one -- that there was wrongdoing. Sometimes a bad result happens,
people are injured but we're unable to show that there was wrongdoing. This happens oftentimes
in a medical malpractice case. A person goes in for surgery, for example, and has a very
bad complication. But when we look to the medical literature and we hire experts, it
turns out that it's something known as a 'known complication' meaning it's a foreseeable risk
that can occur for this specific procedure. Because there was no wrongdoing, we're unable
to show liability or show proof of negligence. Another reason that your case may not be accepted
is because there was no injury. What we need to show -- in any case, be it a negligence
case, medical malpractice case or accident case -- was that there was both wrongdoing
and an injury that was caused by the wrongdoing. If no injury is available or present, then
there's no case. And I'll give you an example. If, for example, a person runs a red light.
Well clearly there was wrongdoing. But if they don't strike anybody or hurt anybody,
there's no lawsuit. Okay? So we need to show that there is an injury that's tied to the
wrongdoing. Another reason that we may not take the case is that you do have injuries
but they're not significant or permanent. And what I mean by that is they may be significant
to you as a person. But from a legal prospective and proving a case, they're not significant.
An example might be ankle sprain or a stubbed toe. While those are problems that you have
to deal with and they're unfortunate, they go away in a short amount of time and it simply
doesn't warrant proceeding a costly, expensive and time consuming lawsuit. Another reason
that your case may not be accepted is because the story is consistent. What I mean by that
is what you've told us as attorneys doesn't bear out in the medical literature or doesn't
bear out in the police reports or whatever our investigation is. That's a serious red
flag and that's an easy way and an obvious reason to turn away a potential client. Another
reason may be that the statute of limitations is over. Statute of limitations is a time
period in which the injury happens and you need to file a case. Sometimes people don't
know that they need to file a case for significant period of time and that statute of limitations
runs out. Well once that's over - and almost in all the cases -- there's no way to get
it back. And that's once we get a case and someone approaches us and the statute of limitations
has run, we can't proceed with the case. There's no way to resurrect it. And that's the reason
why you need to speak to an attorney right away. Another reason is something I refer
to as 'client control.' And what I mean by that is cooperation. Is this client going
to be cooperative? Are they going to be present when we need the client? Is the client going
to answer phone calls or return emails or letters? Is the client going to be able to
participate effectively in this case? You're watching this because you have questions.
My name is Michael Hill. I'm an attorney at Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber law firm. Call
me or one of my colleagues and we'd be happy to speak to you about your case.