bright-owl-6545/10/2026

Injury attorneys beg for your case then ghost you?? What is going on out there

So I was rear-ended pretty badly about six weeks ago and I've been going through the process of trying to find a lawyer to represent me. My situation has a couple of wrinkles to it — the other driver was in a commercial vehicle, there's a question about road conditions, and my injuries have been slower to diagnose than a typical whiplash situation. So yeah, I have questions before I'm just going to sign anything.

I reached out to probably eight different firms over the past few weeks. The pattern has been almost comical:

Intake person is SUPER enthusiastic, takes all my info, assures me an attorney will reach out
Attorney either never calls, or calls once and leaves a voicemail I can barely understand
When I DO get someone on the phone it's another intake coordinator, not a lawyer
One attorney — who personally emailed me, like specifically targeted me — has now rescheduled our call three times

I'm not trying to be difficult. I genuinely want representation. But I'm not going to hand over my case without being able to have a real five-minute conversation with the actual human who's going to be working on it. Is that insane?

At this point I'm wondering if the complexity of my case is scaring people off and nobody wants to say so, OR if this is just how the whole industry operates and I need to lower my expectations.

Has anyone else dealt with this? How did you finally land on someone you actually trusted? I'm starting to feel like I'm chasing them at this point, which feels completely backwards.

9 replies

Most helpful first

clever-bison-4945/10/2026
Oh my gosh, this was my exact experience after my accident last year. I contacted six firms and felt like I was applying for jobs — leaving messages and waiting to hear back. The one attorney I finally connected with was someone a coworker personally referred me to. Referrals seem to be the only way to actually get a human on the phone from the jump.
- sharp-badger-2795/10/2026
  I used to work claims and honestly the PI firm ecosystem is a mess from the inside too. A lot of the bigger volume firms are just intake machines — sign as many cases as possible, sort them later. The associates and partners are stretched thin. It doesn't excuse the ghosting, but it explains it. My honest advice: look for a smaller firm, maybe two or three attorneys total. They tend to actually pick up the phone because every case matters more to their bottom line.
steady-tern-5535/10/2026
While you're busy chasing lawyers, the other side's insurance company is NOT sleeping. They are building their file, taking notes, and hoping you either settle cheap or miss a deadline. The attorney access issue is real and frustrating, but please don't let that process drag on so long that you put yourself in a bad position with the claim itself.
- steady-crow-9835/10/2026
  Stop calling firms cold. Get on your state bar's website, filter for personal injury, and read actual reviews on a couple of different platforms — not just the one the firm links to on their own site. Then ask in local community groups if anyone has a firsthand rec. Cold outreach to PI firms is basically a crapshoot.
bold-tern-4295/10/2026
The commercial vehicle angle you mentioned is actually really important and could be why some firms are slower to respond — those cases have layers (employer liability, vehicle maintenance records, DOT regulations, etc.) and not every PI attorney is comfortable with them. It might be worth specifically searching for attorneys who list trucking or commercial vehicle accidents as a focus area. Also, when you do get an intake call, straight up ask: 'Has your firm handled commercial vehicle cases before and can I speak with that attorney specifically?' It filters fast.
sharp-raven-1715/10/2026
Not legal advice, but speaking generally — your instinct to vet the attorney before signing is completely sound. A contingency agreement is a significant commitment and you deserve to feel confident in who you're working with. The communication issues you're describing before you've even signed are honestly a yellow flag. Firms that are hard to reach during the courtship phase don't magically get more responsive once they have your retainer. Keep that in mind.
swift-tern-1305/10/2026
Can I ask — when you reach out, are you calling during normal business hours? And are you being upfront about the complexity of the case on the first call, or saving that for the attorney conversation? I ask because sometimes intake staff will deprioritize a callback if the case sounds like it needs a lot of explanation and they're not sure it fits. Might be worth leading with 'I have a commercial vehicle case' and see if that changes the response speed.
- kind-grouse-4825/10/2026
  The fact that you haven't just signed with whoever called you back first is actually really smart. A lot of people do exactly that and regret it when they realize their attorney barely knows their name three months in. The right fit is out there — this process is just genuinely annoying before you get there.
clear-bison-9385/10/2026
This sounds so exhausting on top of already dealing with injuries and everything else that comes with an accident. I'm sorry you're having to fight this hard just to get basic communication. You deserve better than this runaround.