Originally Posted by
indyfabz
Unless he can get one for free or very low cost, such as through a legal aid society, that $15K + the value of the bike is going to disappear pretty quickly. A better approach might be to see what the "small claims court" jurisdictional limit is. If damages are below that limit, it might be worth pursing the claim on his own after giving the insurance company an ultimatum.
all i know is that when i was hit by a bus with injuries and a totalled bike, i sure was glad that i hired a lawyer.
he worked 100% on contingency and was able to get the CTA to settle for $8,500. he took 1/3, or $2,800, for his efforts. medical bills took another $3,500, which left me with $2,200 to buy a new bike (the bike that was totalled was an old '90s MTB that was probably "worth" ~$200, but i had put a bunch of upgrades/customizations into it, making its replacement cost a fair bit more)
was it worth $2,200 dollars to get hit by a bus? hell no, but i sure was glad to have a lawyer on my side fighting for me to make sure i was fairly compensated for the trouble.