Placidus Aguwa | Jamaica Personal Injury Lawyer

• New York State Trial Lawyers Association
• New York State Bar Association
• Nigerian Lawyers Association
• Queens County Bar Association

• Mr. Aguwa has been active in the local legal community to and has received awards for exceptional services to the community.
  1997

Often, my law firm is saddled with what you may call tough cases for a personal injury lawyer. This would be a case where the injuries are not deemed by the insurance company to be serious enough to extend their monetary grace to the injured client. Most injury lawyers would drop these cases once it's clear that there would be no offer of settlement. Our firm sees these cases from a different perspective. Over the years, we have developed a philosophy that each case must be taken seriously once we have signed up the client. We do not accept the arrogance and autocracy of the insurance companies. We fight with every legal tool at our disposal. In the last year alone, we have dared the insurance companies and taken four cases to trial. Of course this is a shock to these companies because often, when they tell you they will not offer a settlement, they expect you to drop the case. In all four cases, the jury gave verdicts in our clients' favor, then the insurance companies wouldn't stop calling to settle. In a recent case we tried in the Bronx a few months ago, the insurance company offered $5,000 to our client before trial, but the jury said, no way. The award was $300,000.00. In another case, a jury in Dutchess county awarded $138,000.00 for a so-called soft-tissue injury where the insurance company had offered $15,000 before trial. Yet, in another case just a couple of weeks ago, days before jury trial, the insurance company, after offering just $30,000.00 for months, saw the resolve of our firm and made an u-turn and settled the matter for more than half a million. So, while our office handles major injury cases, we cannot ignore the ""little cases."" We continue to exceed our clients' expectations, and at the same time relay to the insurance companies that they must pay what they owe to these injured claimants.

We have built the success of our law office on the principle that every case we accept is important to the client, and we will not rest until the client is made whole. Of course, this entails hard work and steadfastness to the clients. This is the reason why more than 50% of our cases are referrals from other clients.

Clients must look for a lawyer that knows your name and your problem, and not just your case number. You need a lawyer that will stand with you when the insurance company says no. You need a lawyer that is not looking for easy cases only. Often, you see lawyers market themselves as attorneys for the seriously injured. The reality is that the best and easiest cases for a lawyer are the ones with catastrophic injuries. Some lawyers look for such cases only. However, you want to hire a lawyer that is not going to dump your case when your injuries turn out to be not so serious. Provided your injuries meet the legal threshold, it is worth some money, and we will help you recover the real value of your damages.

For a lawyer to be successful, you must be familiar with the local community. Words do get around, so your success depends a lot on how the community has come to know or hear about you. We spend a lot of time in the local community, and that gives us a tremendous advantage in successfully resolving our cases.

As much information that answers basic questions the potential client may have.

A brief description of what problems the client is facing, and quick suggestions about urgent and corrective actions that can be undertaken by the client. Ultimately, I will recommend the client come to our office for a more comprehensive consultation. As a general rule, we do not give legal advice by telephone.

My hands on approach to law practice has been a major difference. Although we have support staff in the office, unlike some of my peers, I personally speak to each client and participate in handling each case from retainer to completion.

Whenever you have a satisfied client, as a lawyer, it means everything. Happy clients keep me motivated to get to work every day and fight.

Community service.

I have been able to serve in many capacities outside of the courtroom, including serving as a diaspora leader and as president of a lawyers association. A few years ago, the New York City Council honored me with an award for service to the community.