What is a Case Manager and Why Won’t My Accident Lawyer Call Me Back?

What is a Case Manager?

Case manager is a title that low-end injury and car accident lawyers in Georgia made up for assistants that keep their clients off their backs. Case managers usually have no formal degrees or training and their skill level can be all over the map. You typically will be assigned a case manager if you work with a TV advertising law firm. Those firms actually don’t have that many lawyers but they are stuffed with case managers. Some case managers are very sweet and intelligent people, but those are few and far between.

What Steps Should I Take if I Have a Case Manager?

As I said, some are good and some are bad. The key test is to ask to set an in-person meeting with the lawyer. Tell them that the purpose of the meeting is so you can have the lawyer lay out the strategy and timelines. The questions you want to be answered are:

• How much do you think my case is worth? Ask for a settlement value and an at trial value.
• What steps lie ahead of us and approximately how long will each one take?
• What factors will slow things down and what can I do to speed them up?
• What has been your experience with this insurance company in the past?
• What was the last jury verdict you got and in front of what Judge and in what Court? Tell them you will check up on them.
• After the medical bills, how much do I get to keep in my pocket?

With a low-grade TV firm, you may never even speak with the lawyer and your calls and questions are dealt with by the case manager only. Some are competent, some not so much. The real problem here is that you rarely get to actually speak with the handling attorney. If you ask me, a lawyer who never talks to his client is malpracticing.

IF YOUR LAWYER CANNOT BE BOTHERED TO TAKE THE TIME TO TALK TO YOU, FIRE THEM! WE WORK FOR YOU.

Case managers basically run interference for the lawyer and free them up to malpractice on larger cases. If you have a serious case and every time you call, you only speak with a case manager, it is time to fire your lawyer. Read our article answering the question “How Do I Fire My Car Accident Lawyer?” for more detailed reading on that topic.

If you decide to stay with the case manager because they seem nice, you are doing it at your own considerable risk. Case managers cannot file lawsuits and tend to switch law firms on a frequent basis. We get so many calls from people saying “My case manager left the firm and now I have a new one, is that a problem?” Yes, it’s a problem because a high turnover rate means the employees are unhappy and the firm is badly run. If they cannot handle their own business, how are they going to handle yours?