Iowa Personal Injury Attorney Jeff Mathias

Welcome to Iowa Personal Injury Law!

My name is Jeff Mathias and I practice in Iowa Personal Injury law here in Des Moines, Iowa serving clients from all Iowa Counties. Most of us have a car accident at least once in our life. If you have been injured through the negligence of another you probably just want to be treated fairly, get your car fixed, your medical bills paid and move on with your life. But you may have discovered that the insurance industry does not exist to make your life easier or even to treat you fairly. Big insurance companies don't make money by paying claims. They make money through the "Big 3"; Diminish, Delay & Deny. If they are in usual form on your case they will try to diminish your injuries, delay payment as long as they can and deny payment to the extent possible.

Your Iowa Personal Injury Attorney stands as your defense against these insurance company tactics. If they do not deal fairly with you once you hire an attorney they know you can take the case to trial and give an Iowa jury a shot at making you whole. As a rule, insurance companies risk aversion leads them to settle cases short of trial if they can. In all liklihood, your Iowa personal injury attorney can get you a significantly better result even after you pay the usual 33% of your recovery to the attorney.

Fees:
That brings us to fees, a primary concern for most personal injury clients. Like most attorneys I do not charge you anything in attorney fees until you recover. When you do recover, you pay me 1/3 of your recovery. Under Iowa law, clients are responsible for expenses like paying for copies of medical records and depositions. In many cases we can keep these expenses low. If we settle your case before the need for a doctor deposition, that saves quite a bit of money.

How Jeff does it:
I was a policeman before going to law school so I guess I got used to collecting information from several sources and then telling a story. I will collect your police report, medical records and billing statements, and hopefully get pictures of your car. I will ask you for a personal statement describing how your injuries have affected you. I put everything together in a settlement package for the adjuster and make an initial offer of settlement that you have approved. Most cases do not settle with adjusters so I normally file your lawsuit once the adjuster has had a reasonable amount of time to evaluate the package and make an offer. Filing the suit early gets the clock ticking toward trial and creates more incentive for the insurance company to resolve your case with a reasonable settlement. Once the case is on file we can exchange written discovery with the insurance companies attorney and then I ask for a trial setting conference. Requesting the trial setting conference early results in an earlier trial setting and more incentive to get things moving forward. An exception to this rule would be if your medical treatment will go on for a long time. If so, it is sometimes better to wait and let the damanges mature before pushing for a trial date.

Most Iowa personal injury cases settle without trial after the insurance companies attorney has done a deposition of you to fully document your claim. Fortunately, they pay for this deposition. I will help you get ready for the deposition and have some idea of what questions to expect. If you have any prior medical conditions related to your present injury that will normally come up, so you will want to tell me if you do.

In some cases we will try a mediation to get your case resolved. During mediation we meet with the other attorney and an independent mediatior who is also an attorney. The mediatior trys to help us resolve the matter without going to the cost and further delay of trial. It is up to you whether you agree to go to mediation or settle if you do. In some cases, we may not agree to mediate unless the insurance company agrees to pay for it.

Most cases follow a fairly predictable life span; initial interview between you and I; collection of documents & completion of medical treatment; presentation of settlement package; negotiation with adjuster; filing of lawsuit; discovery; possible mediation & settlement. If the insurance company simply will not be reasonable a trial is possible although not usually the best way to optimize your result.

If you would like to meet to discuss your case you can call Jeff Toll Free: 1-800-997-1395, locally at 515-261-7526 or email Jeff at jeff.mathias@gmail.com. Jeff can give you a pretty good idea over the phone if your case may be viable. Jeff also responds to email after hours so feel free to email any time. Jeff does not charge for the initial consultation and you do not pay Jeff unless you recover.

Jeff Mathias
Iowa Personal Injury Attorney
Somerfield Village - Just East of I35 on Mills Civic Parkway
4800 Mills Civic Parkway, Suite 205
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
Des Moines Office Mapquest
Tel. 515-261-7526
Toll Free 1-800-997-1395

jeff.mathias@gmail.com
*You can cut and paste the email.
I have to do it this way to control spam.

Iowa State Bar No. 15903

Disclaimer: The stated fixed fees or range of fees will be available only to clients whose matters are encompassed within the described services. If the client's matters are not encompassed within the described services, or if an hourly fee rate is stated, the client is entitled, without obligation, to a specific written estimate of the fees likely to be charged.


Iowa Personal Injury Attorney serving Algona, Altoona, Ames, Anamosa, Ankeny, Atlantic, Bettendorf, Boone, Bondurant, Burlington, Carroll, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Centerville, Charles City, Chariton, Cherokee, Clarinda, Clear Lake, Clinton, Clive, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Creston, Davenport, Decorah, Denison, Des Moines, Dewitt, Dubuque, Estherville, Fairfield, Fort Dodge, Fort Madison, Glenwood, Grimes, Grinnell, Hiawatha, Humboldt, Independence, Indianola, Iowa City, Iowa Falls, Jefferson, Johnston, Keokuk, Knoxville, Le Mars, Mason City, Manchester, Marion, Marshalltown, Maquoketa, Mitchellville, Mount Pleasant, Muscatine, Nevada, New Hampton, Newton, North Liberty, Norwalk, Oelwein Okoboji, Orange City, Osage, Osceola, Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Pella, Perry, Pleasant Hill, Quad Cities, Sheldon, Shenandoah, Sioux Center, Sioux City, Spencer, Spirit Lake, Storm Lake, Story City, Urbandale, Washington, Waterloo, Waukon, Waverly, Webster City, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights and all other Iowa communities and counties.