Personal injury attorneys typically do not file lawsuits on most cases, and when we do, most of those cases are settled before a jury is empaneled.

lately, though, many attorneys have noticed that insurance carriers are making far more "low-ball" offers and refusing to negotiate reasonable settlements.

I don't believe this trend can continue. Courts encourage negotiation of disputes for the sake of judicial economy. If parties litigated every legal controversy, then the courts would be overwhelmed, and frankly, they are already far too busy.

I suspect we will soon see the courts order a lot more Alternative Dispute Resolution such as mediation and arbitration. Barring that, it is up to juries to find the insurance companies have been acting in bad faith and to award plaintiffs punitive damages in those cases in which it is deserved.

Certainly, the counter-argument is that some plaintiffs (and their attorneys) have unrealistic expectations of recovery, but certainly not all of them. There are, too, many very good insurance carriers who fairly evaluate claims. Sometimes, there is merely a difference of opinion about a case's value. That too is something for a jury to decide.