I've been doing personal injury work for over 50 years. One of the saddest cases that I see are dog bite cases, and I've handled many, many dog bite cases over my career. Those are troubling cases. They're problem cases. Many lawyers don't have the faintest idea of what it takes to handle a dog bite case because there are a lot of points and a lot of roads you have to go down. So you need to have a lawyer who's experienced in handling dog bite cases because if he's not, or she's not, how do they know to find out whether or not the dog has bitten anybody before?
Are they willing to hire an investigator and canvas the neighborhood if the person says, "My dog never bit anybody before?" Are they willing to take the time to check with the sheriff's office, check with the animal control to do all that work?
Number two, are they willing to take the time to find out whether or not the person who owns the dog, they have to find out who owns the dog, is a property owner that has a house that has a home owner's policy? Because if there's no home owner's policy, there's no insurance coverage.
Number three, what is the value of the case? Are they willing to take the injured child or the injured person, if there's scars and everything and advance the money to send them to a plastic surgeon to find out whether or not these scars can be revised? So there are a lot of hoops you've gotta jump through in a dog bite case, and most lawyers don't know it.
If you don't get an experienced personal injury lawyer, what happens they sign you up, they make all kinds of promises, and the file sits in their desk until the statute of limitations run. That's my experience. I get calls all the time for people for a second opinion. "I've had this case, this lawyer's had it for 18 months, and he's done nothing for me." A good experienced personal injury lawyer, a good dog bite lawyer, is one that does all the work in the beginning, follows it through, and moves ahead to settlement right away.
And the most important thing is, willing to go to court and recover a verdict for the injured person.
If you've been injured and need help, Dwyer Williams Cherkoss attorneys will get you the settlement you deserve. Experience gets results.