Reasons To Ask The Defendant To Justify A Low Counteroffer
When you're negotiating a settlement in a personal injury case, receiving a low counteroffer can be a challenging time. It's easy to take a low counteroffer personally — and perhaps be tempted to engage in some type of petty behavior, such as being excessively slow to respond to it, as a result. It's ideal if you can avoid such temptations and, instead, consider the offer itself. Discuss the amount with your personal injury attorney and then consider sending a message to the defendant's legal team with a request to justify the offer. Here are some reasons that this request can be worthwhile.
It Will Give You Points To Refute
A good personal injury attorney won't submit a low counteroffer without putting some thought into it, so there's a considerable chance that the defendant's legal team believes that its counter is at least somewhat fair. When you ask the attorneys to justify the offer, you may get a list of reasons that they came up with this number. This list can be advantageous because you and your attorney can then go through it and refute as many of the points as possible. You'll want to make it clear that you disagree with these points, and explain why, when you submit your counter.
It May Reveal A Strategy
When you have the defendant's legal team justify its low counteroffer to you, your attorney may be able to read this letter and get a sense of what the legal team might be doing in terms of its strategy. Different personal injury attorneys take different approaches to defending suits, and if it becomes clear to your attorney what the other side is trying to do, he or she will be better suited to react accordingly.
It Shows The Other Side That You're Serious
Justifying each of the points in a counteroffer is a lot of work, so making this request shows the defendant's legal team that you aren't playing around. This request can be somewhat intimidating, which is a good thing. In the event that the defendant's attorneys have concocted a number without much legitimate reason, they may even think about submitting a higher counteroffer to you as a way of avoiding having to painstakingly justify each of their reasons for submitting the earlier offer. However they proceed, your own attorney will often feel in the driver's seat because of this request and be confident in settling the case for you.
Contact a law firm like Kilgore Smith LLC to learn more.