Archive for the ‘Protect Your Rights’ Category

“One call that’s all?” Personal injury “settlement mills” are blasted by Stanford Law professor Nora Freeman Engstrom in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.  “Run-of-the-Mill Justice” reveals some of the unscrupulous practices of “settlement mill” law firms and the dangers they present to unsuspecting people who have been injured and need a lawyer.

“Settlement mill” law firms are lawyers who “advertise aggressively, sign a higher percentage of callers to contract, delegate more duties to non-lawyers, file fewer lawsuits, and take far fewer cases to trial” than law firms and attorneys who practice with integrity zealously advocate for their clients.

The number of high-volume personal injury law firms that aggressively advertise and handle their cases often with little client interaction and without filing a lawsuit has increased significantly over the past thirty years. Settlement mills process tens of thousands of claims each year. Their ads have become a staple of late-night television and their obnoxious billboards have eroded confidence in the legal profession.

These settlement mills differ from conventional law practices because they tend to settle everything and use negotiators who lack “(1) first-hand information about verdicts obtained in comparable cases, (2) detailed information about the intricacies of the particular claim, and (3) the proven willingness and ability to take the claim to court.”

By Settling all cases – including catastrophic and wrongful death cases – cheaply compared to the value the cases would have at trial, the settlement mills lack the credibility to obtain a fair settlement for their clients.

Personal injury lawyers at settlement mills handle an extraordinarily high volume of cases. This prevents them from being able to spend sufficient “time engaged in legal research, investigating claims, and preparing pleadings.” The article reports that one Georgia settlement mill lawyer personally settled approximately 600 to 700 claims in a thirteen-month span.  That’s over fifty cases per month.  In other words, each month she ran fifty clients through her law firm’s settlement mill and settled about two cases per day.
Settlement mills often delegate client screening, legal research, drafting of pleadings, and even settlement negotiations to non-lawyers. Their clients many never even have the opportunity to speak with a lawyer before their case is settled.

Negotiations with insurance adjusters may take no more than ten minutes, and then clients are pressured to take whatever is offered.  These settlement mills prey upon uneducated and vulnerable people and rely heavily on TV advertising.

Since TV advertising lawyers are often looked down upon by lawyers and judges, they may no longer feel the need to do good work for clients in order to maintain a strong reputation among other attorneys and judges. If a lawyer relies solely upon heavy advertising to procure clients, their reputation, work product and relationships don’t matter as much.
These settlement mill lawyers negotiate claims on the basis of formulas that have little to do with the value of cases if they were taken to trial.  The article concludes that insurance companies like settlement mills because they settle quickly, cheaply and without litigation – even in catastrophic and wrongful death cases.  So the question is whose interests are these settlement mill lawyers serving?  Their clients?  The insurance companies?  Or their own?

Following are some ways to protect yourself if you need to hire a personal injury lawyer:  First, ask around about the lawyers you are considering to determine if they have good reputation among other lawyers and with past clients.  Second, it’s helpful to meet with several attorneys who offer free initial consultations.  That way you’ll get a better feel for your case and determine at the beginning how much of your case is going to be handled by a lawyer.  So, don’t be afraid to ask how much of your case will be handled by lawyers and how much will be handled by non-lawyers.  That’s a fair question and any personal injury attorney, in West Virginia or elsewhere, should not hesitate to answer that question.  If he or she does, that may be a sign to look elsewhere.  Good luck and please feel free to contact me with any questions.

– S. Brooks West II, Charleston, WV lawyer

Numerous studies show cell phones are a leading cause of car accidents. One such study estimated that drivers talking on cell phones are four times more likely to be in a car wreck. According to a Harvard University study, cell phones cause over 200 deaths and half a million injuries each year.

Many states have enacted laws limiting or prohibiting cell phone use while driving.  For example, some states require that a hands-free device be used while driving.  However, West Virginia does not have any state-wide cell phone laws.  In fact, it’s perfectly legal in West Virginia to drive while text messaging or even emailing on a Blackberry or iPhone.  That’s  pretty scary considering many of us have problems sending an email from the comfort of our home or office.

Despite the fact that West Virginia has no state-wide cell phone laws, there can still be serious legal consequences for driving in West Virginia while talking on a cell phone.  For example, if you’re involved in a car accident and one of the drivers was talking on a cell phone, you may be able to present evidence of that fact to the jury.  Evidence of that the driver was using a cell phone while driving may help prove the driver’s negligence and win your case.

Cell Phone Records

The issue then becomes how to prove the other driver was talking on a cell phone at the time of your car accident.  One of the best ways is use the other driver’s cell phone records.  Cell phone records show the date, time and duration of all calls made or received from a cell phone.  Of course, the same legal rules apply to you if you decide to use a cell phone while driving.

Thus, to protect your legal rights and most importantly your life, you may want to think twice before driving while talking on a cell phone.  If you decide that you must use a cell phone while driving, you may want to consider a hands-free device.  If you’ve been injured in an accident and would like more information about how to obtain and use cell phone records to win your personal injury claim, CONTACT me.

Note: Although West Virginia has no general state-wide cell phone laws, West Virginia – thankfully – does prohibit drivers with learner’s permit from using a wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle (except in an emergency).

West Virginia, like every other state but New Hampshire, requires all passengers (not including cute dogs) to wear a seat belt. The primary rationale behind seat belt laws is to protect drivers and passengers from injury and death.  However, if the increased risk of injury and death associated with not wearing a seatbelt is not enough to motivate you to wear one, perhaps the limited “seat belt defense” is.

The Limited “Seat Belt Defense”

The limited “seat belt defense”  means if you are injured in a car crash while not wearing a seat belt and your injuries were caused or made worse by your failure to wear a seat belt, then the amount of damages you can collect may be reduced.  In other words, the defendant who may be the primary cause of your car accident , may be able to assert the seatbelt defense to limit the amount of compensation you can recover from him.

In West Virginia, the “seat belt defense” is a little more complicated and limited by statute.  It’s also not available in all circumstances.  Thus, it is important to consult an experienced West Virginia personal injury lawyer regarding your particular situation, and please, take care and wear a seatbelt regardless of the laws.

West Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer

Many times I have heard the adage “knowledge is power.” Perhaps as many times, i have pondered whether there is any truth to that statement.   Completing law school, passing two bar exams, and practicing law for about five years has confirmed that this old adage is indeed true.  Perhaps what has most convinced me that knowledge can in fact be power is the few times in my past (prior to practicing law) where I basically allowed others to steal from me because I lacked the knowledge to protect my rights.

For example, in college my landlord kept my security deposit without a word of explanation even though I left the apartment in better shape than it was in when I first moved in.  I called and wrote my landlord several times requesting my security deposit.  However, he avoided my calls and never answered my letters. I eventually gave up and he got away with stealing $450 from me – a fortune to a poor college student.

This could have all been avoided if I had the knowledge I have now.  My hope is that the West Virginia Personal Injury Law Blog helps others avoid being taken advantage of by those with more power, more money, more resources such as the greedy landlord discussed above.  Thus, below are some things you may want to consider that could help you collect your security deposit and court costs from your landlord and deter him from stealing from his or her tenants again.

First, in West Virginia, unlike many other states, there are unfortunately no special laws to help tenants recover their security deposits.  However, a tenant may file a civil suit against her landlord to recover her security deposit and court costs.  A lawyer is not usually necessary and likely not practical since security deposits are usually less than $1000.  In West Virginia, court staff are generally helpful in explaining the procedures for filing a suit and can direct you to where you can find the necessary forms.

The Basic Steps involved in filing a lawsuit in West Virginia are as follows:

1. File the Complaint. The person starting the case is called the Petitioner or Plaintiff. He files a written statement telling the court what the case is about. That is called the Complaint. Then he arranges to have the Complaint delivered to the other side.

2. File the Answer. The Person being sued is either called the Defendant or the Respondent. He files a written response telling his side of the story and sends it to the other side. This is called an Answer.

3. Prepare the case. Both sides have time to gather evidence to prove their case. Evidence could include papers, photographs or the testimony of witnesses.

4. The judge holds a hearing. This is when both sides appear before the judge to present their evidence to prove their case.  For a lawsuit over a security deposit like above, the hearing will be held in magistrate court before a magistrate and is relatively informal.

5. The judge makes a decision.

There is an easier option available that you may want to try first.  West Virginia tenants may also file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division if their landlord fails to return their security deposit.  Complaint forms and more information can be obtained by calling the West Virginia Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-368-8808. Or click here for their website.  Although this is a West Virginia Personal Injury Law Blog and you may be wondering what the above has to do with personal injury law, loss of personal property – money – is technically a personal injury and is referred to as damages in personal injury law.

The above example is intended to be a simple, personal example of how having the right information can make a difference. I invite readers to leave comments about their own experiences.  There are in fact other options a tenant can pursue, and in some cases a lawyer may be necessary.  The important point is that there are many options available for people who have been wronged.  I suggest searching the keywords “tenant rights” plus “whatever state you live in” for more information.