The lawyer WE hired is pushing my wife to take a lowball offer — are they even on our side?

Yes, you can absolutely fire your PI attorney — I did exactly this about six months into my case. There's usually a fee arrangement to sort out, but most attorneys handle the transition professionally. I felt so much relief after switching to someone who actually listened. Don't let exhaustion pressure her into signing something permanent.

Not legal advice, but — yes, clients can discharge their attorney at any time. The original firm may have a lien on any eventual recovery for work already performed, but that gets sorted out later and shouldn't stop you from seeking new representation. A pre-suit push like you're describing isn't automatically wrong, but if the offer doesn't account for future lost earnings and ongoing care, it deserves serious scrutiny. A free second opinion from another PI attorney costs nothing and could tell you a lot. Most will review a case without any obligation.

The pressure to settle fast before filing suit is a HUGE flag. Insurance companies know that once you're in litigation, discovery opens up and things get expensive for them. A quick pre-suit settlement is almost always better for them, not for you. I'd be very skeptical of any attorney who's echoing that urgency.

I used to work on the carrier side and I'll tell you honestly — when a claimant settles pre-suit, we considered that a win. It kept our exposure capped before anyone dug into the full picture of long-term damages. Loss of a specialized career like dental hygiene is a significant damages category. If her attorney isn't factoring in vocational loss and future earning capacity, that settlement number is almost certainly too low.

Thoracic herniations are no joke and the headache piece shouldn't be minimized either — post-traumatic headache disorders can be genuinely disabling and expensive to manage long-term. Make sure every single treatment, every specialist visit, every prescription is documented thoroughly. That ongoing care picture matters enormously for what the case is actually worth.

From a process standpoint — before you do anything, request a complete copy of your wife's file from the current firm. You're entitled to it. Also pull together all her medical records and billing independently if you can. When you consult with a new attorney, having that organized will speed things up a lot and show you're serious. The new attorney will also want to see what treatment is still ongoing versus what's been completed.

I'm so sorry you're both going through this. She lost her career. That's not a minor inconvenience, that's her whole professional identity and income. Please don't let anyone — including her own lawyer — make her feel like that's not worth fighting for.

Get a second opinion this week, not next month. Call two or three other PI attorneys, most do free consultations. Bring everything you have. If the new attorneys all say the offer is fair, okay, you'll have more confidence. If they say what you're suspecting — that she's being undervalued — you'll know it's time to make a change. Either way you'll know more than you do now.

I don't want to be harsh but I do want to ask — has her doctor actually put in writing that she can't return to dental hygiene long-term? Because there's a big difference between 'can't work right now' and 'permanently unable to return to her profession.' That documentation matters a lot for the value of the case, and I'm wondering if the attorney is seeing gaps there that are affecting their confidence.