I was rear-ended by an 18 wheeler a couple of weeks ago. My car was totaled. I'm honestly lucky to be alive (the handful of you who follow my blog probably know this already). If the driver had poorer reaction time, he'd have hit me head on instead of clipping me and tearing off my rear wheel. Since the accident, I've been in constant pain. I wrestled a little with whether it was ethical to hire an injury attorney, but I have been suffering pain and I didn't do anything to deserve it.
I told the firm about my charges when I first inquired with them (in Louisiana they can bring up felonies within the past year for any court case, apparently). After I signed the paperwork, I told the lawyer assigned to my case about the charges and he didn't seem concerned. The firm sent me to two appointment with a chiropractor. Then, they sent me about two hours away for an X-ray. After I'd already traveled but before my appointment, I got a call from the chiropractor telling me not to come in because they got a call from my lawyer saying they didn't represent me anymore.
I got in touch with my lawyer and he explained that they were worried that the insurance company would decide they didn't want to settle and would force them to take it to trial. Then, they were worried that a jury would decide that, as a sex offender, I didn't deserve compensation for my injuries despite the fact that I was stopped at a redlight when an 18 wheeler ripped my back wheel off.
On the one hand, I appreciated his candor, but on the other I think it was super unprofessional for them to tell the Chiro before they told me. I felt really down about it for awhile afterwards, but I had other errands to run in town (which was a good thing since I'd otherwise have been pretty upset about a wasted trip), so I went on about my day.
I'm going to try to find another injury lawyer to represent me, but I've got a year from the date of the accident to do that. After I finish shopping for a new (to me) car, I'll start shopping for a lawyer again. I may try with smaller firms this time. And I'm going to make sure to tell them this story before anybody wastes anyone else's time.
It's really just another way that things are unexpectedly and arbitrarily hard for sex offenders.
