Can I still reopen a personal injury case?

I settled my case last year around September with no future medical. I am still messed up from my injuries and mental condition if anything I keep getting worst. The reason I signed was because I was almost 3/4 years in to my case. They didn’t want to give me more than what they were offering they were giving me extra checks that I had to pay back with my settlement. And my lawyer was saying she couldn’t do anymore for me, to me it sounded like a bad situation. My money situation was bad at the time I had my kid in the hospital and I am bipolar. I was not in the right state of mind when I signed everything was like rushed I was supposed to see my psychologist before I signed but with my state of mind and my lawyer didn’t push me to see him first I signed. I don’t think she understood that someone with bipolar disorder will make unstable decisions in a bad situation is like I was someone else at the time. My physical and mental condition keeps getting worst I need help. Can I reopen my case I feel like I got taken advantage of my bipolar disorder? When I still needed mental help and physical treatment and way more money to continue in my future. I felt like if I kept fighting my case I was going to owe them back more in extra checks than my settlement and I was already in debt with people. Please help me out or point me in the right direction if you can. Thank you for your time.

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Answered By: Andrew T. Velonis, P.C.

The matter is a little too complex to be answered definitively on a website. It would be difficult at best to try to re-open the case, as the idea of a settlement is that it is ended that's why they call it a "settlement" and that's why you have to sign off on it. Possibly, you could make a claim against your former lawyer for having you accept the settlement against your interests, but there again it would be a difficult case to make: you would have to show that your lawyer knew or should have known that you were incapable of making a sound judgment and that the terms of the settlement were in fact contrary to your interests and that your lawyer knew or should have known that this was a bad deal for you. Having regrets afterwards and thinking that you might have gotten a better deal is not enough to prove such a case. Also, it may be that this was indeed the best deal you could get: any case can go bad, the evidence may not have been very strong for you, the stress of litigation might have been detrimental to your mental health, etc.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 10/17/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.

Answered By: Law Office of Jared Altman

You are going to have a very tough, almost impossible, time trying to re-open the case. I doubt that you will succeed.

Answer Applies to: New York
Replied: 10/13/2011

Disclaimer: The response above does not form an attorney-client relationship. This answer may or may not apply to you and should not be relied upon as legal advice. LawQA does not make any representation as to the expertise or qualifications of this attorney. This attorney may or may not be admitted to state bar of your state.