If you have been unfortunate to get caught up in these ADA lawsuits it is imperative that you follow a few steps, so you do not end up in multiple lawsuits. When the case is filed against you there will be multiple attorneys sending you letters making a variety of claims. Some attorneys will claim to settle your lawsuit for as low as $500 and even drive out to you to have you sign the retainer. Be very careful since this often is not in your best interest and the old
phrase “You get what you pay for” is correct. Think about it, most attorneys hourly rate is $350-450 per hour so how can an attorney truly represent you for $500-1,000?
Typically, in the cases of attorneys settling cases for this amount you will find they want to settle the case as quickly as possible so not too much time is spent on your case. The strategy that the attorney uses is to settle the case according to the allegations within the lawsuit only and settle quickly. The common problem with this is there may only be a few allegations yet the CASp report identified 15-20 corrections. So, if you only correct a couple noted within the lawsuit you may be open and vulnerable for the remaining corrections noted in the CASp report.
The law firms that file these lawsuits often only list a couple allegations and hope your attorney directs to only correct a few corrections, so it leaves the door open for other law firms or plaintiffs to file again on the corrections that were not completed. This is how multiple lawsuits occur.
ACR highly suggests that when involved in a lawsuit you hire an expert ADA TEAM rather than just securing legal counsel. We instantly perform a CASp inspection and report to truly identify the corrections according to Federal and California Building Code 11B for Accessibility. The report will be accurate, and we will compare it to the allegations within the lawsuit to see if they are valid. At this point, the report is provided to our expert ADA attorney to compare and start the settlement process. ACR highly suggests to our clients to perform all of the corrections and document through our 4-step process and NOT to simply perform the corrections per the allegations within the lawsuit. The intent is to bring the property into compliance correctly the first time according to the law which is to provide a complete Accessible Route from site arrival points, city path of travel to accessible entrances free of barriers.
The additional problems are when these attorneys suggest you only make the couple of corrections per the lawsuit is you could be wasting money performing these corrections. Example, using a typical allegation of the slope and signage at the disabled parking stall is incorrect and they are asking for $10K in a settlement. Your attorney then suggests you to make these corrections and spend $15K so he can settle the lawsuit quickly and get paid. Problem is, how do you know if the disabled parking stall is even in the correct place. You most likely just spent $15K for the corrections and get sued again because the disabled parking stall is in the wrong location.
Be very careful how you navigate through and ADA lawsuit. Hire an expert ADA TEAM such as ACR to save you money, time and frustration. In addition, we provide a 4-step process that provides the best protection through multiple inspections and documentation.
