stevestojan Posted September 2, 2006 Posted September 2, 2006 And again, as an asjuster, I would love for all my policyholders and claimants to have an attny. Makes my job easier. But in 99% of the cases, the amount of "work" needed on the side of the clmnt or attny is not anywhere near worth 33% of the amount of money the person deserves for their injuries. Go get that attny. Make your adjuster happy. (I should get that made into a bumper sticker).
slothrop Posted September 2, 2006 Posted September 2, 2006 that is the first thing a lawyer will say is that if you are hurt , stay home . glad it was only you in the car . hope you feel better soon . 758415[/snapback] Absolutely not true. I am a lawyer and the first thing I say to every client is this: "You have responsibilities in the client-attorney relationship. Your duty is to take care of your physical and social health first. My job is to take care of your legal health." I want my clients to try to go back to work (When possible) because juries can sniff out exagerators and liars faster than they can sniff out concepts like "negligence" and "proximate cause." Also, juries like to award people who fight for their livlihood, family, and health.
erynthered Posted September 2, 2006 Posted September 2, 2006 In one year, I have received two promotions, and am now a senior level adjuster... I'm not really a moron, I just play one on TBD. And please let me know at what point in my career my advice will be worthy of your approval. What a shock that your buddy, who works in the field takes offense to my post. Instead of just calling me stupid, why not rebut my points? Why do you suggest getting an attorney for such a small claim? 759795[/snapback] I didn't know, that my friend would have so much fun reading this. I was only glancing, but couldn't help but tell them of your vast experience..... Check the post! I did respond to your points, idiot boy! Yes, I do recommend that he retain an attorney for what you call such a "small claim" Upon what basis are you categorizing this as a "small claim"? He is already having significant residual affects from the accident, and it sounds like this was a significant impact which would inflict a fair amount of trauma upon the body. As you know, since you are such crack adjuster (2 promotions in a year? You must have saved GEICO from paying out its last $2.00 on a claim to get such well-deserved promotions!) oftentimes the true nature of the injury is not evident immediately following the accident. This "small claim" could turn out to be the policy limits claim with a herniated disc requiring surgical intervention. The damages could be substantial given the fact that he is a married male, family to support, good job, etc. And again, enthusiastically, yes, I do recommend that he retain an attorney, and the earlier the better, before he gives an unrepresented recorded statement or takes any other action that might compromise his claim such as negotiating what he thinks is a check to settle his property damage claim which turns out to be a check to settle any and all claims (including his claim for bodily injury). But of course, no self-respecting insurance company would try to pull that trick on a poor unassuming, unrepresented individual, now would they???! Or am I wrong? The insurance companies only have our best interests at heart, right?! I just happen to be having a labor day party here at my house. Ironically, I have about 3 attorney's and 2 judges here with numerous Para-legals. We've made bets on your next post. Come on baby, Momma needs a brand new pair of shoes!!!
stevestojan Posted September 2, 2006 Posted September 2, 2006 Holy crap... your buddy IS an attorney... "significant residual affects" Phrases like that are why the general public gives away 33% of their settlement. And just to clarify, I did recommend not getting an attny, but I did say if you must, avoid the billboard attnys. Your 'buddy' writes "The insurance companies only have our best interests at heart, right"... yeah, the same way Bill Mattar does. I must add, however, that my labor day party is tomorrow. And I would like to comment on how awful your party must be if your guests and you are spending your time reading my posts. Here is the best advice I can give you: GO. GET. BEER.
mead107 Posted September 2, 2006 Posted September 2, 2006 Absolutely not true. I am a lawyer and the first thing I say to every client is this: "You have responsibilities in the client-attorney relationship. Your duty is to take care of your physical and social health first. My job is to take care of your legal health." I want my clients to try to go back to work (When possible) because juries can sniff out exagerators and liars faster than they can sniff out concepts like "negligence" and "proximate cause." Also, juries like to award people who fight for their livlihood, family, and health. 759814[/snapback] without the loss of time from work your chance of getting any money is less . sounds more like you defend the guy that caused the accident . jurys like to give money to people for stupid sh-- .
slothrop Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 without the loss of time from work your chance of getting any money is less . sounds more like you defend the guy that caused the accident . jurys like to give money to people for stupid sh-- . 760077[/snapback] That is true - more time lost equals more money. However, you better have a legitimate claim because a jury (who is sceptical to start with) will sniff out a malingerer. I would rather say to a jury that my client has a residual earning capacity and is fighting for his livlihood than to have a similarly situated client sit on his ass doing nothing. Guess which guy gets a bigger judgment. THe is much more complicated than it sounds because it involves occupational rehabilitation experts, doctors, etc. Any attorney who says otherwise is a bad attorney.
stevestojan Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 That is true - more time lost equals more money. However, you better have a legitimate claim because a jury (who is sceptical to start with) will sniff out a malingerer. I would rather say to a jury that my client has a residual earning capacity and is fighting for his livlihood than to have a similarly situated client sit on his ass doing nothing. Guess which guy gets a bigger judgment. THe is much more complicated than it sounds because it involves occupational rehabilitation experts, doctors, etc. Any attorney who says otherwise is a bad attorney. 760177[/snapback] This is the best post in this thread. Not all lawyers are bad. Not all Insurance Companies are "out to get you". This is the type of attny i LOVE dealing with claims on.
slothrop Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 This is the best post in this thread. Not all lawyers are bad. Not all Insurance Companies are "out to get you". This is the type of attny i LOVE dealing with claims on. 760280[/snapback] I hope you remember that when I call you about one of my client's claim's! LOL!
Terry Tate Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 Cool, Insurance Adjuster vs Lawyer. When's the car salesman vs IRS auditor match? Two men enter, one man leaves!
MarkyMannn Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 might be able to give it.... Details....a couple of days ago I had just dropped my kids off for school and was on my way home to finish getting ready for work and head off to my job. Right as I was fixed to make a left hand turn onto my street (I was doing all the right things, had my turnsignal on, had my seatbelt on I hear the sound of screaching tires (from someone trying to break) and my Hyundai jolted violently like it had been hit with a grenade or something. The next thing I know my car is about 30 feet down the street from where I was an and pushed in from behind like a tin can......I try to turn my head to see what hit me but can because my kneck is very stiff.....but my arms and legs work so I get out of my car (took some doing as none of my car doors wanted to open.....and I see that a young girl (very young....I can see she is already crying on the phone to her mom that she had hit somebody) the front of her car is a mess....my hundai looks smashed beyond repair....I ask her if she is alright and then go back and sit down in my car.....even as I am doing this my back is starting to really hurt and my neck is killing me.... Call the wife...fire trucks, ambulance, police are all there quick....and they strap me down and send me to the hospital in an ambulance..... Emergency did not keep me....they did x rays but I had nothing broken.....they said that my pain was coming from neck and back trauma and that I needed to see my family doctor. OK now here is the wierd part...my wife calls my brother who says that it would be a good idea to talk to a lawyer immediatley. Now.....I am nervous around lawyer types and I am definatley not a "ambulance chaser" or asked for anything from anyone that I didn't think I earned....but I took his advice and saw someone in town. It was a total disaster as far as I am concerned....the guy was a sniviling little prick who was making fun of how fast I came to see him and pretty much insulted me through the whole consultation..... "you aren't hurt" "you aren't going to get rich off of this" etc etc etc Now....at the moment I am having time barely walking and my neck and back are killing me.....I am going to have to under heavy medication and go to physical therapy for a while.....WTF is this guy doing telling me I am not hurt? By that does he mean that my legs are not cut off or my face doesn't look like hamburger meat? And as for the second thing.....I NEVER WANTED TO GET RICH...I just wanted to know what my rights were and what I could expect to happen next with the insurance companies...was that too much to ask? Does anybody have any experience with this happening to them or work in the field.....I am not trying to take this families house our anything.....but the accident is going to screw up my life for the forseeable future. 758336[/snapback] I had a similar accident in January 2003. I was driving with my son to his NYS DMV licensing road test of all things. We're stopped at an intersection, even though we had the green light, and other cars were stopped too, because a fire truck with lights and sirens was entering from a side street. I'm looking at the truck when a 16yr old kid with daddy's car skipping school plows into the back of me. My 94 Taurus was crushed up to the rear window by this kid's 1/2 ton puck-up. I had only 3-4 months earlier dropped collision on the car because of its age. Well the cops tell me it is 100% the other driver's fault. So I contact the other driver's insurance the next day to see what they were going to do about my car. For up to a week they tell me they have no record of their driver being in an accident and they don't believe me. So I fax them the police report, they contact the kid and his parents, and then tell me they will replace the car. They offered me $3500 for a car with a NADA retail of $3550. Not bad. But I counter-offered with a lot of reasoning $6000, and they accepted it. I was really happy over that. But looking back I wonder if they were anxious to get this behind them before I claimed injuries of some sort. Now neither my son or me were hurt. But I was concerned with the jarring my head took when it snapped back and hit the head-rest. Why? I had Lasik about a week earlier. Although I didn't notice any effects, I still went back to the surgeon immediately just to have it checked out. I was OK. Still, NYS no-fault covered that Although I'm sure you'll be OK on the property damage, I would be concerned about your pain now and some how try to protect myself. I too would consider the lawyer part. Lets face it, insurance's goal is to pay out as least as possible on every claim. They could care less about you
/dev/null Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 Cool, Insurance Adjuster vs Lawyer. When's the car salesman vs IRS auditor match? Two men enter, one man leaves! 760469[/snapback] TSW Deathmatch Now we need some claymation
John from Riverside Posted September 3, 2006 Author Posted September 3, 2006 I stopped by TBD to take a look at who has responded to this post and I thank you all for your replies...I will respond to you later on Its a long weekend so I am just taking advantage of it and getting extra rest while under some heavy meds... I know one thing.....I do not appear to be getting better quickly I start PT next week..... God I wish I had taken another road that day.......
RunTheBall Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Ironically, I have about 3 attorney's and 2 judges here with numerous Para-legals. We've made bets on your next post. Come on baby, Momma needs a brand new pair of shoes!!! 759923[/snapback] Hey, how much chum did you throw into the pool to get them all to show up at the same time? That's impressive. RTB
mcjeff215 Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Cool, Insurance Adjuster vs Lawyer. When's the car salesman vs IRS auditor match? Two men enter, one man leaves! 760469[/snapback] Mac's don't get viruses 'cause they're better.
/dev/null Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Mac's don't get viruses 'cause they're better. 760988[/snapback] 1. Mac's don't get viruses because their market share isn't big enough for anyone to bother 2. Mac's do have better security for Windows. Might have something to do with the fact that OS X is based on FreeBSD On the next Deathmatch: Unix Geek vs Mac Hippie
bartshan-83 Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 I just had to chime in on this Bart... No offense! How can an underage drinking tix be unjust?... You were either caught or not, doesn't even having alcohol mean guilt? Wouldn't it be more practical to just pay the nominal amount than fight it? Sorry for being a dickhead... 759386[/snapback] @sshole... short story, we were at a ND tailgate, I didn't drink anything there because there are always cops, but I had a few beers earlier in the day. So its 5 minutes to kickoff and as we are leaving, a bunch of undercover cops came out and grabbed us and told us that they saw everyone drinking and we had to take breathalyzers. I refused b/c I know the cop was lying when he said he saw me drinking because I hadn't touched a beer. He told me that if I didn't do it then I would spend the night in jail. So I did it and I blew a .04....so obviously yes, I broke the law. But it just didn't feel right about how it went down. I felt like I got pushed around and I was pissed about it. And if I could help it, I didn't want a minor in consumption on my record. But yes, overall it was probably cheaper to just take it....$300 fine, 40 hours community service and 1 year probation vs. the lawyers costs.
Gavin in Va Beach Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Riddle me this lawyers- Don't I have the right to refuse a breathalyzer under the 5th Amendment? Seems I hear of famous people refusing to take them all the time and nothing ever happens to them. Course that could be because they are better then the rest of us so regular rules don't apply...
The Avenger Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 Put it this way, Johnathan: it appears you were "more hurt" than I was when I had my accident back in 2000, and I got about $5,500.00 as a personal injury settlement. I also got about $12,500.00 in property damage (what they said the car was worth @ the time), which covered all but $2,500.00 of what I owed on the vehicle. Go see an attorney who has a clue. 758405[/snapback] Wow - I can't imagine hitting a car and then watching Rich come out of the car towards me - I think I'd probably just take my chances running into traffic on the highway.
mead107 Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 @sshole... short story, we were at a ND tailgate, I didn't drink anything there because there are always cops, but I had a few beers earlier in the day. So its 5 minutes to kickoff and as we are leaving, a bunch of undercover cops came out and grabbed us and told us that they saw everyone drinking and we had to take breathalyzers. I refused b/c I know the cop was lying when he said he saw me drinking because I hadn't touched a beer. He told me that if I didn't do it then I would spend the night in jail. So I did it and I blew a .04....so obviously yes, I broke the law. But it just didn't feel right about how it went down. I felt like I got pushed around and I was pissed about it. And if I could help it, I didn't want a minor in consumption on my record. But yes, overall it was probably cheaper to just take it....$300 fine, 40 hours community service and 1 year probation vs. the lawyers costs. 761541[/snapback] when did this happen ?
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