Energy Crisis and Personal Injury In Maryland

The effects of the energy crisis are realized everywhere even in subtle manners. For example, in my practice I am finding more and more occasions where I am hired by multiple clients all from the same host vehicle which was involved in a car accident. The reason is car pooling as a result of efforts to save on gas cost. What issues does this raise for the Maryland personal injury lawyer? Aside from the benefits which are obvious. This generally means we are taking policy limits. But this situation gives rise to several very serious complications. For example, conflict of interest issues involving liability and settlements. Additionally, you can encounter insurance coverage issues and UM/UIM issues.

In the event of a liability conflicts you simply can not represent the driver. And if you have met the driver as an initial interview you may find yourself in a situation where you can not represent anyone in the case, absent a written consent.

As far as settlements, assuming liability is a non issue, in which case representing the driver is also fine, again as an attorney you will encounter a problem. For example let say you have five clients in your host vehicle. There is a 20/40 policy. How do you decide who gets what from the settlement with out adversely affecting the interest of any one single client over the interest of another. This is a serious situation as far as conflict of interest is concerned. The solution I have found is Consent to Representation executed by each client. The Consent tells each client of the exact conflict at issue as well as their right to seek independent counsel. As long as you as an attorney are confident your representation of any one client is not adverse to the interest of another client and this confidence is reasonable and each client is informed of the issues and consents, then you are able to represent each. Please feel free to call me to discuss if you as a Maryland personal injury lawyer are encountering the same problem.