Category Archives: Personal Injury
Insurance Companies and Their Mistaken View of a Major Injury Case
This is the second in a series of blogs regarding a federal case going on now between an excess insurer and a primary insurer. I have had a very close vantage point in this trial. The reason is because I was successful in trying the underlying case and now the excess insurer is saying to the primary insurer, ” Why didn’t you settle within the policy limits when you could have?”
How Insurance Companies Evaluate Cases
This will be the first in a 3 part series on how insurance companies evaluate cases. What goes on inside the mind of the company? What gets recorded in their files? The reason that I am able to speak with some degree of confidence on this topic is not simply because I’ve been a personal injury lawyer for 35 years.
Confusion, Complication, and Delay
What I have learned over the years from representing injured victims is that the old maxim of “keep it simple” makes a lot of sense. It should be followed. We, as plaintiffs, when presenting a case, want a very clear, coherent presentation of that case. I find that the other side, the defense, really the insurance company, has another view of things.
Breakdown In Communication
One of the most famous quotations in movie history is from Cool Hand Luke where the brutal prison warden says to the Paul Newman character, Luke, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Actually I believe what it might have been is, “What we got here is a failure to communicate.” Whether it was “have” or “got,” the point is that communication is key. Certainly in the attorney-client relationship, communication is of paramount importance.
BIAS
You know the old expression “If I had a nickle for every time . . .,” so on and so forth. Well I wish I had a nickle for every time in the past several decades that I have told clients, and actually other lawyers, that bias is always relevant. And just why do I say that? We are often confronted with witness statements or anticipated testimony of a person who has a bias.
RES
I have certainly blogged about the contingent fee system, a uniquely American approach. It has been called the “poor man’s key to the courthouse.” Why is that? Because supposedly the poor man is not able to put up money for hourly fees or for a large retainer. Why is personal injury conducive to a contingent fee agreement?
The Five Things to Look for When Finding a Lawyer
Well it certainly is a competitive legal market and that especially concerns the personal injury legal field. Clients or would-be clients are seeking the right match in retaining an attorney to represent them in their personal injury case.
Questioning of Jurors
The rules regarding jury selection in Massachusetts for civil and criminal cases are ever changing. About a year ago, the Massachusetts courts began a process called voir dire which allows more questioning of jurors. Many of you may wonder how intrusive the questioning will get?
Harambe and the Alligator – A Difference in the Eyes of the Law
This blog focuses on the very sharp differences in the knowledge of the parents who suffered the tragic loss as compared with the landowner, in this case, the corporate giant Disney.
The Recollection of a Percipient Witness
Today’s blog topic will be on witness recollection. I do exclusively personal injury cases so I will speak about witness recollection in that context. But you should keep in mind that this has a broader application than just in personal injury cases.