Update on that 18 wheeler /coma case that sounded too good to be true. Got the police report today. She rear ended the 18 wheeler. Never got my hopes up, was still worth looking into.
Signed up a guy today that got in a wreck in April and got ER treatment. Really bad /high impact /high speed collision. He hired one of the big advertising firms around here and they thought for some reason that adverse driver didn't have coverage even though the driver claimed they did and it was on the police report. So they dumped him. He says that after they TORed him , State Farm reached out to him and is accepting liability. The problem is now he has this gap in treatment. He also has no health insurance. He says he continues to have pain and limitations with range of motion in his shoulder. Can't lift it all the way without a lot of pain. If he's being honest and that's the case and there is no pre existing injury then it could be a slap tear/rotator cuff tear/ labrum tear etc. I told him I'd get him in for a one time visit with an ortho and a MRI. If the MRI is positive and the ortho will opine that it was caused by the wreck, then we've got something going. My question is whether an insurance company, even with a positive MRI and doc giving causation will balk and claim gap in treatment and only factor the initial treatment in their evaluation of the claim. My gut is that they will do exactly that and now I've got LOP costs that are forcing me into litigation. Just sounds like a cluster. Sometimes I have a hard time turning down cases.
Big impact and a good plaintiff is always gonna trump any gap in treatment, especially if there's a decent explanation for the gap
If your plaintiff is seriously injured and liability is clear, a gap in treatment to save costs on care isn’t going to hurt you.
It happened in Mobile and AL is pure contrib. wes tegg and BamaNug would a carrier pay something for a lady that was in coma etc in an AL wreck even if she was at fault? Would it matter if the TT didn't have the rear guard? She does claim that she was stuck under it and they had a hell of a time getting her extracted.
Was the tt parked somewhere? Figure out who the carrier is and where you can sue them Some states won’t apply contrib
no they were just going down I10. Client has no memory if how it happened. Her insurance placed her at fault and paid for her property damage. Police report says she just rear ended the TT
You’re way too late to inspect the trailer obviously. Do you have any pictures of it? And you’re sure the trailer didn’t have the rear underride guard? If it didn’t have that, you’ve got something to look into.
Carriers will normally pay something in truck cases, but they’d probably work you until MSJ in this one.
RJF-GUMP yes, I would think that case is worth something. I've had similar facts and we've paid, especially in Mobile County. I would try and settle early, recognize your case isn't sure-fire, and take what you could get. Of course, you could always get a zealous Defense attorney and adjuster. Do you know what company the truck was? The guard is also known as a "mansfield bar," I see that term used more often.
Possibly true, but I've also had 2 Mobile County judges tell me "Rule 56 doesn't apply in this Courtroom." That's a fundamental misunderstanding of your role as a Judge, but OK.
I (try to) stand by the rule that you don't take a case unless you're willing to immediately file suit. That case has a bad enough injury that it's at least worth looking into whether you can make a crashworthiness case by not having a mansfield bar. It might be worth a call to an accident reconstructionist and biomechanical engineer, but that's going to mean costs.
I don't get very excited to take loser claims just because someone will pay something. If the case isn't righteous I probably won't take it.
The lady was in a coma. How much more righteous do you need Send a retainer to a good accident recon and have them give you an informal opinion about whether they can help you. Most guys will do it for very cheap, sometimes for free. And figure out if there’s a better place you could sue the trucking company.
We both know people can end up hurt badly through their own fault. Accidents happen! Assuming the truck has been preserved. A recon guy may not be able to do shit for him. Probably the defense lawyer in me, but I don’t think I’d do much on that one beyond determining whether there was a Mansfield bar and/or the trucking company or trailer manufacturer was out of somewhere that would allow for a better jurisdiction. Contrib is a bitch. RJF-GUMP It might be worth looking into UIM and medpay. Some carriers will pay UIM based on injury without doing much on the liability front.
Got a case involving a malfunctioning/recalled product. It had premarktet approval from the FDA. I think federal preemption knocks out a defective design claim, but do y'all think a warranty/failure to warn claim could survive?
I was fucking around. I have no problem with filing lawsuits when someone was hurt badly but liability was questionable, especially when it’s a business entity. I’m a little bearish when it’s an individual defendant who can be emotionally/psychologically harmed by the suit.
Criminal is where it’s at baby. Come on over PS the city atty handles criminal matters in Denver? Weird. Usually that office handles civil and the DA handles criminal,
City atty's office has a separate civil and criminal division. Denver County DA exists. ( Criminal )City Attorney's Office in Denver handles municipal violations and smaller state violations. Evidently city of denver pays pretty well all around. And I'd like to wiggle into their civil division one day. I'm excited I got the interview but I assume the process is gonna go a little too slow for my timeline.
Wooooo got a $9k top offer from Allstate at mediator when their client admitted in depo to being on coke, X and drunk. Clients have ~180k in medical bills Mediator offered to do a proposal for $20k for each client and I told my associate to literally just walk out
A ton of people in Houston don’t take Allstate cases anymore Has resulted in a lot of referrals to us
I don't consider it righteous if you end up in a coma because you're a dumbass and rear end an 18 wheeler. But you're right, it's worth looking into a little further. I have an accident recon guy that looks at stuff for me for free all the time just to give an opinion.
Probably six fluoroscopic guided ESI’s under anesthesia for bulging discs for each client at $15k a pop
Worked at a small plaintiff's firm for the past 2 years, and looking to move on. Anyone got tips/good samples for a 2 year associate resume? My last resume was drafted after graduating law school, and I'm not sure how a resume with actual experience is supposed to read. Google varies wildly in formatting/content