Letters rejecting new cases are virtually identical. Most rejection letters read, “We cannot represent you and you better find a lawyer before the statute of limitations expires.”
This letter serves the purpose of documenting your rejection of the new case, but you are losing a golden opportunity to show kindness, a little compassion and maybe even educate the client about the reasons underlying your decision. By showing a touch of compassion and kindness, you are instantly unique from every other law firm’s generic, cold rejection letter.
Here’s our attempt at declining new cases in a kinder, more compassionate way:
The Rejection Letter of John H. Fisher, P.C.
Dear Mr. Jones,
Thank you for the opportunity to evaluate your potential case. We are grateful that you’ve entrusted such an important matter to us.
One of the core values of our law firm is that we are brutally honest with our clients. This means, we are say it like it is. Over time, we’ve come to realize that our clients appreciate brutal honesty and we feel that this letter should be no exception.
The brutal truth is that we cannot accept every case. This is usually due to several reasons.
In many cases, there was no deviation from good and accepted standards of care. When there is no deviation from the standard of care, we must decline the potential case due to lack of merit.
Even in those cases where there was substandard medical care, in some cases the treatment (or lack thereof) did not cause harm or injury to the patient.
Frequently, our clients’ injuries or damages are not substantial enough to warrant a lawsuit. Medical malpractice cases are usually very expensive and for this reason, the potential monetary recovery must be substantial. We would like to accept every meritorious case, but in some cases, the expenses of a lawsuit can exceed the amount of the potential monetary recovery. These are the most common reasons we cannot accept a case.
Our brutal honesty is that we are extremely selective in the cases that we accept and we can only accept a very limited number of cases involving catastrophic injury or death. We hope you understand.
For these reasons, we regret that we cannot accept your case.
Please keep in mind that there is a strict statute of limitations that applies to your claim for damages. If you do not bring a claim within the applicable statute of limitations, your claim will be forever barred and you will lose the right to sue.
If you’d like more information about the statute of limitations that applies to your claim, please call us and we will be more than happy to provide our best guidance and advice.
If you’d like more information about your rights, we encourage you to get a free digital copy of our book, The 7 Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, which you can obtain at www.ProtectingPatientRights.com.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely yours,
John H. Fisher
