I am deep into this Netflix series that is sort of a 1920’s British Sopranos/Breaking Bad mashup. It is great if you like that sort of thing. How does that affect what we are doing here at Neuwirth Law or in personal injury land generally?
I am largely unknown to most defense lawyers and insurers. I take millions in settlement dollars from them, but they really have no idea who I am or what I am up to. The Blinders are struggling to make their name outside of their home base in Birmingham in a tough period of time following World War One. Thomas Shelby, played by Tom Hardy, has a really hard edge to him, but recognizes that those who did not fight in the war like him and his brothers, are not scarred like he is. He doesn’t want to fight, but is more than able to when necessary.
For me, I try not to be a thug about things in my practice. But, it is critically important to quickly size up a situation and decide if we are going to have a fight or not. The Blinders always have guns available and razor blades tucked away for a fight. For me, I don’t really care one whit about the defendant on the other side, meaning the person who injured my client. They do not figure into my calculus until we are on the verge of trial. The more important variable is the insurer and my experience with them. Since the pandemic, I have seen more and more insurers, who are simply unable to perform their basic function of timely evaluating a claim and making an offer. We don’t expect them to make fair offers pre-suit, but I expect them to make an offer. A lot are failing to do that. So, we end up filing suit on cases and their lawyers are going to be having some tough calls with their claim reps about why the case wasn’t fully evaluated more promptly.
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Would You Rather…
Posted on January 15, 2023 in Case Matters
Do you think you would rather have 1) a medical malpractice case where the doctor admits he missed something, but the miss has limited or hard to figure damages or 2) a slip and fall case resulting in the doctor admitting he missed something, but the miss has limited or hard to figure damages?
Several new cases of mine have this interesting twist. The legal rule of thumb is that a defendant’s negligent act makes her responsible for all negligence that flows from the original act. So, if you did not salt your sidewalk and Andre falls, you are responsible. Furthermore, if Andre falls and a doctor messes up his surgery and he needs a second surgery you are still responsible for the malpractice. Why? Because it was foreseeable that if someone were hurt by your negligence, surgery and hence errors in surgery may result. Recently, two people came to me with this same scenario. They were complaining that they were the victims of medical malpractice following a fall and a botched first surgery. While they both appeared to have been the victims of less than stellar doctoring, medical malpractice cases are very tough to pursue because the physician is entitled to wide latitude in the use of their judgment. The slip and fall cases are far easier to pursue and the slip and fall defendant is just as responsible for the injuries as the doctor is. Plus, you don’t have to fight over whether the doctor breached the standard of care, which is always a tough fight. Double plus, if the doctor’s error resulted in some minor damage, but it was quickly repaired by a better doctor, then while you have a malpractice claim, it will never be worth it to pursue the case into court. There, the slip and fall case is your friend.
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2023 BEGINS…
Posted on January 04, 2023 in Uncategorized
As we swirl around the sun again another time, we hope all your 2023 verdicts go your way, and may Judges laugh at all your jokes.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION 101:
Posted on January 04, 2023 in For Lawyers
I like to think that preparing my client for defense cross examination at a deposition is important. I have sort of a standard set of instructions I give my clients about depositions and then work on the key facts of the case. I like to think in terms of themes to the case that can be regurgitated in a sentence and encapsulate the case. This takes a bit of work with the client and some back and forth practice. The critical part of every case is searching for statements made by my client, whether they remember them or not. Did you tell your physical therapist you felt great? Did you tell the police officer that you were switching lanes? Did you tell the ER doc that you were out drinking? The good, the bad, and the ugly should come out in prep so that I don’t have to say much in the deposition itself. I do not like to have to ask my clients questions at their depositions. I know that there is a school of thought that says that you should have your client at least audition or recount how this incident has altered their lives or destroyed who they were before the incident, but I feel like it opens too many doors for a semi-conscious defense lawyer to attack. This is especially true if the defense lawyer has missed key points in their questioning.
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THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Posted on January 04, 2023 in Case Matters
So, summer has come to a close and now the real work of litigation kicks into high gear. Anything that was put off for summer reasons, whether good or bad, is now on the front burner. A lot of work was put off till after Labor Day and now we are going to be in the middle of a lot of depositions, pre-trial conferences and generally productive lawyer work through Thanksgiving.
There is a weird but interesting phenomenon that affects personal injury law at this time of year. Insurers like to close what cases they can before the close of the calendar year. So, a case that may not have a lot of value, at least has some urgency as the end of the year approaches. But, it’s not even time for the pumpkin spiced latte you say! Well, actually, if you want to have your case settled by early December and get paid out before Christmas, so you can buy presents, then your lawyer has to have started the demand and settlement negotiation sooner than later. Why?
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SEASONS GREETINGS!
Posted on December 20, 2022 in Best of
From all of Us to all of YOU,
May 2023 be the best year yet, and may your holidays be festive, fun, and most importantly–SAFE!
Warmest Regards for the Season,
Neuwirth Law Group
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TELADOC: RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Posted on November 29, 2022 in Medical Malpractice
So, Teladoc is a company / platform that has you meet with a doctor on line for various purposes. I am getting ready to travel abroad and am fairly healthy. So, for me, this is a great use of my time, the doctor’s time etc. But, Teladoc and urgent care situations in general present a real risk of inadvertently promoting medical malpractice. The reason is that there is a lot of information that a doctor gleans from in person visits. And, I mean a doctor, not a physician assistant (PA) or a nurse practitioner (CRNP or NP). I strongly encourage you to see an MD once a year now that we are done with the whole masking experience. An in person visit allows the doc to see how you breathe, walk, inspect your bumps and bruises, see how your skin carries blood to your extremities, and a thousand other things that can signal you are healthy or not. I have worked on cases where someone went to urgent care, was misdiagnosed and died at home. I expect that these are not isolated events. I have not worked on Teladoc or remote doctoring cases, but it is just a matter of time for those to work through the system. Interestingly, radiologists have worked from home for years without too much trouble. However, your radiologist never interacts with the patient. The film studies are performed by a technician and read remotely and the results then conveyed to your doctor. While there are still plenty of medical malpractice cases against radiologists, they are rarely related to the remote aspect of their work. That is not the case with internal medicine doctors. Unfortunately, insurers have tried to reduce the level of expertise that you as a patient receive in an effort to reduce costs. “Physician Extender” is the polite moniker for the PA or NP that you see, but the truth is you are accepting a poorer level of care. Most likely you may even call your PA or NP “doctor” without realizing that they are not trained as a doctor. It is a sad state of affairs. Yes, it is hard to get to see a doctor and Teladoc makes that easier. But, there are a lot of unusual things that are hard and you would prefer a trained person see you in person rather than over a video feed. I promise.
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Tony Beets: King of the Klondike
Posted on November 29, 2022 in For Lawyers
You don’t know who this is do you? Like all things these days, there are a lot of things funny and not pulling on our attention and time. Tony is, apparently, the gold mining king of the Klondike a star of the show Gold Rush. But, for me, he is a very entertaining, no bs kind of business owner. I would guess he makes millions of dollars mining gold in his small business. He has comically large expenses, like he needs to buy a million dollar bulldozer and there are days and weeks when he is putting money into the business stripping the overburden before he can get to the gold. But, once on the gold, Tony is relentless about pushing his crew to get results. Described by his daughter as loved by animals and small children, Tony is one of a kind. If you are loved by animals and small children, there are a lot of people who don’t love you or your manner. It bespeaks a disregard of social norms, but a good heart underneath. Tony curses so much and is so rough on his people that you have to see that success is what keeps people coming back to work for him. In gold mining, there are lots of failed miners and few success stories. Tony is a success and survivor.
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