As I was in the car on the way home from having picked up a settlement check that I never expected, I heard a radio ad by an attorney making the assertion that not all attorneys are equal. Few statements are more true. And, it truly matters who you choose since the outcomes can be so drastically different depending on who you have advocating for you.
Jason Schneider doesn’t spend big bucks standing on big trucks being filmed by big cameras making big claims. Had he not been referred to me, I would have never discovered him which would have been my loss.
My story went like this. I was rear-ended on the way home from school. There was no blood or obvious injury, but my back and shoulder hurt. I received medical treatment the following day, and it was ongoing. During this process, Jason Schneider was referred to me. As he accepted my case, he made no over-the-top claims but quietly told me that he believed that I had a case. At the time, I did not have medical insurance but was advised to have surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
I declined at the time as the other driver’s insurance company was refusing to accept responsibility, citing pre-existing condition. To some extent, their defense was fair as I did have history with issues regarding that shoulder. However, the accident greatly worsened the condition. The insurance company’s first settlement offer months later was $12,000, of which I would have needed to settle my outstanding medical bills and attorney fees. Despite Mr. Schneider’s assurance that he’d work to make sure that as much of the money as possible came to me, it would have been a negligible amount.
And yet, Mr. Schneider presented the offer, let me come to my own decision, and did so with patience and without pressure. As I declined to accept that offer, the case moved forward. A deposition was conducted; I finally had the surgery that I needed, and today I drove home with a check that came from a 6-figure settlement.
What I so appreciated about Mr. Schneider and his representation of me throughout the process, and my case was indeed a process that spanned a couple of years, mostly due to my slowness in scheduling my surgery, was that he was consistently patient, calm, and never made unfounded promises or claims. And, he delivered, working a case that was no slam dunk. In his office today, as I briefly waited to meet with him, I had the opportunity to see accolades that he has received and read an article on a particularly large settlement that he obtained for a client and had no idea that the understated, unpretentious, but personable lawyer, that I had now known for some length of time was so accomplished.
The other startling moment came when he met me carrying my file, which had reached a height of about 8 inches, and all I could think was that I knew that I hadn’t done the work that produced an 8-inch file, but that he had. It was his hard work and diligence that generated the evidence that led to a favorable settlement and outcome for me. The attorney you choose may indeed be one of the most important decisions that you make. I am so grateful that someone referred Jason Schneider to me, and I would with great confidence recommend him to others. It will be one of the best decisions that you could make.
