My step-father was a client of Chad Golightly. He was in an automotive accident and had a prior 'condition' (disability) that compounded the injury. Golightly initially promised a high settlement after referencing several doctors (which he has been in trouble over).
It took nearly 2 years to get any sort of settlement and by then it was a trifling amount compared to what the attorney promised us.
Also, one incident occured when he did not return our phone calls for several months or was unable to schedule an appointment. So we wrote the state bar complaining about this. All of a sudden, he wants to speak with us. So he invites us and he decides to chew my step-dad out (who is a quadraplegic) by cursing at him for writing the Bar about this. Then and there Golightly said: "Well you had a prior condition before the accident, so we're better off settling out of court. Blah blah blah the courts are crowded with cases so we wont' be able to get your case in court until 1-2 years from now..."
Wrong, Golightly didn't want to pursue the case at all. I'm a 2L at Loyola and any trial attorney can make a case out of this. Evidently, Golightly was lazy enough to not remember the "Eggshell Skull" doctrine from his tort class from his clown law school in Idaho.
I was too ignorant to understand it at the time, but this is a typical practice of trial attorneys like Chad Golightly. He advertises on TV just to make himself appear socially responsible and endearing to possible clients. And once he makes clients sign any sort of contractual obligation, it automatically makes him eligible to receive compensation regardless of how he decides to pursue the case. He is the epitome of bait and switch.
Avoid at all costs.
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