Things I won't do for personal injury clients

I've been asked to do some crazy things in my career as a lawyer - not only in my former life as a defense lawyer for the insurance companies, but also as a lawyer for plaintiffs.

I got a call from a client recently, and he was telling me about his accident. It was a decent impact but he wasn't really hurt. He suggested I refer him to a chiropractor for treatment although he wasn't in any pain. Then he suggested he would visit the chiropractor once a week, but he wanted me and chiropractor to say he treated three times per week!

Needless to say, this client was not a good match for my office. I explained that I would not engage in such dishonest behavior. He was surprised, "You mean to tell me you're going to walk away from what could be a very good case? My former attorney did this for me...why can't you?" I told him to keep searching for a lawyer because I wasn't going to participate in his game.  Not only is it dishonest, but it's insurance fraud.

This kind of fraud gives my profession a bad name. Sometimes it starts with the lawyer's office, but sometimes, it starts with the doctors, the clients, etc. If a lawyer or a doctor (or anyone else) suggests fabricating evidence or any kind of dishonest behavior, run the other direction. I did.