Personal Injury Lawyer in Dracut & Lowell, MA
You focus on healing.
We'll handle the rest.
The adjuster is not on your side
That is not an accusation. It is the job description.
An adjuster is measured on how efficiently claims are closed. Yours is one file among a great many, and the first offer reflects what that file looks like on the day it is opened — not what the year ahead is actually going to cost you.
Part of this firm's history is insurance defense work, which is an unusual thing for a neighborhood office to be able to say. It means we have sat on the other side of these files: we know how a carrier sets a reserve, what moves it, and which parts of a record actually get read. A demand from this office is built for the person who has to evaluate it.
You do not pay us by the hour for this work. Injury matters are handled on a contingency fee — our fee comes out of what we recover, and if there is no recovery there is no fee. The first conversation is free, and if we do not think you have a claim worth bringing, we will tell you that rather than sign you up.
What we handle
Injuries caused by someone else's carelessness. Most of what comes through the door looks like one of these, though the list is not meant to be exhaustive — if you are not sure whether what happened to you is a claim, that is a perfectly normal thing not to know, and it is worth a phone call.
- 01Motor vehicle collisionsCars, trucks, motorcycles, cyclists and pedestrians
- 02Falls and unsafe propertyIncluding Massachusetts snow and ice
- 03Dog bitesMassachusetts holds the owner responsible without proof of carelessness
- 04Wrongful deathBrought through the estate, which this office can open for you
What we do not take on are medical malpractice and product liability claims. Those are their own specialty and they belong with a firm that does nothing else; if that is what you have, tell us and we will point you somewhere sensible.
How a claim actually moves
Treatment first. Nothing useful happens until you have seen the right people and there is a record of what is wrong with you. Gaps in treatment are the single most common thing a carrier uses to discount a claim, and they are usually not the injured person's fault — they are what happens when nobody explains this at the start.
The file. We gather the records and the bills, the police or incident report, the photographs, and your wage information if you lost time at work. We also find out what coverage actually exists, which sets the practical ceiling on the claim no matter how badly you were hurt.
The demand. Once your treatment has settled enough that we know what we are dealing with, we put the claim to the carrier in writing with the record attached. Most claims resolve at this stage, and how well they resolve depends almost entirely on what is in that package.
Suit, if it comes to that. If the offer does not reflect the file, we file — in the District or Superior Court in Middlesex or Essex County, depending on where it happened and what is at stake. Filing is not a declaration of war. A great many cases settle after suit and before any trial.
Deadlines that end claims before they start
Three years, generally. Most Massachusetts personal injury claims have to be filed within three years of the injury. After that the merits stop mattering.
Public bodies are on a shorter clock. If a city, a town, or a state agency may be responsible — a municipal vehicle, a sidewalk, a public building — written notice has to be given well before that three-year deadline, and the window is short enough that people miss it while they are still in treatment.
Wrongful death runs through the estate. A Massachusetts wrongful death claim is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate, not by the family directly, so the estate has to be opened before the claim can be filed. That takes time. We do probate in this office, which makes it one call instead of two.
Your own policy has deadlines too. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is a claim against your own insurer under your own contract, with its own notice requirements. Tell us early if the at-fault driver had no insurance, or nowhere near enough.
Questions we get asked
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front. Injury matters here are handled on a contingency fee, which means our fee is a share of what we recover and there is no fee if we recover nothing. Massachusetts requires that agreement to be in writing, and we will go through it with you line by line before you sign it. Case expenses are a separate question from the fee, and we will tell you plainly how those are handled in your matter.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Three years from the date of the injury, for most Massachusetts personal injury claims. That sounds like plenty and it goes quickly, because the work that makes a claim worth something — treatment records, witnesses, photographs of a place that will not look the same next spring — is easiest at the beginning. Claims against a city, a town, or a state agency carry their own notice requirements on a much shorter clock, so tell us early if a public body might be involved.
Should I give the other driver's insurer a recorded statement?
Talk to us first. You generally do have to cooperate with your own insurer, but you are not obliged to give a recorded statement to the other side's carrier, and that call tends to come early — while you are still sore and still guessing about your own injuries. An offhand “I’m doing all right” can follow a claim for years.
What if I was partly at fault?
You may still recover. Massachusetts reduces your damages by your share of the blame and bars you only if your share is greater than everyone else's combined. People talk themselves out of legitimate claims all the time because they assume that any fault at all is the end of it. It is not.
How much is my case worth?
Anyone who answers that on a first phone call is guessing. It depends on the injury, the treatment, how much of it turns out to be permanent, what it kept you from doing, and how much insurance actually exists to pay for it. Early on the honest answer is that we do not know yet — and settling before your treatment has run its course is the most common way people end up with too little.
What kinds of injury cases do you take?
Motor vehicle collisions, falls and unsafe property, dog bites, and wrongful death.
General information about Massachusetts law, current as of publication — not legal advice, and not a substitute for talking through your own circumstances with an attorney. Reading this page does not create an attorney–client relationship.
When you're ready,
we'll take it from here.
Free initial consultations. We'll listen first, then lay out a plan in plain language.