Posts tagged General Personal Injury

• Pain and Suffering: Getting the Jury to "Feel Your Pain" in a Personal Injury Matter

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 11, 2007 10:06 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Pain and suffering. Two "legal words" that literally roll off your tongue. Words that are easy to say, but are hard to live with, especially when you are injured or disfigured by someone else's carelessness.One of the jobs of trial attorneys is to convey a client's pain and suffering to a jury, and it's not an easy thing to do. In fact, it is one of the hardest things trial lawyers do, and it...

• How Do You Know What My Case is Worth?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 09, 2007 3:15 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  One of the things a good personal attorney provides is assistance evaluating a case. After all, when all is said and done, that is really what matters most: what's it worth? The answer to this question is more complicated, since every case is different. If you believe myths about cases being worth "three times medical bills" or the like, you are likely to be way off base 95% of the...

• Arizona Considering Unconstitutional Changes to Compulsory Arbitration Procedure To Benefit Insurers

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 06, 2007 2:26 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  In the past I have written about the compulsory arbitration procedure in Arizona.Currently, there is a bill, SB1054, in the Arizona Legislature amending ARS 12-133, i.e., changing the mandatory arbitration procedure.While I could care less about the bulk of main charge of the amendment (i.e., to raise the permissible arbitration limits to $65,000 and modestly raise arbitrator pay), it also...

• Understanding the Compulsory Arbitration System in Personal Injury Cases From Both Perspectives

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 02, 2007 8:22 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Like many states, Arizona has a compulsory arbitration system in place for "smaller" disputes. Depending upon the County where the action is brought and the amount sought (e.g., less than $50,000 in Maricopa County), these matters are subject to mandatory court-annexed arbitration. Such claims are supposed to be conducted on an accelerated schedule and decided by a court-appointed arbitrator...

• Intoxicated Drivers Can Be Subject to Punitive Damages

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 30, 2007 11:33 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  An intoxicated defendant who injures someone is often exposed to punitive damages. Arizona Appellate Courts have unanimously affirmed punitive damage awards against drunk drivers in cases where it is proven that intoxicated driving was a proximate cause of the collision.An intoxicated defendant who injures someone is often exposed to punitive damages. Arizona Appellate Courts have unanimously...

• Can a Medical Provider Bill You After Accepting Insurance Payment in a Personal Injury Matter?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 28, 2007 10:26 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Sometimes, when a medical provider learns there is a third-party at fault for an injury, they bill an injured party's insurance and then seek to recover the "balance" from the injured person's recovery. In fact, sometimes they even try to collect twice (which is fraud, and well-beyond the scope of this article), but can they even attempt to collect the "balance" of the bill after accepting...

• Why You Need an Attorney That Knows How to Resolve Liens in a Personal Injury Matter

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 27, 2007 9:15 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  There's a saying concerning doctors that applies with equal force to lawyers:Do you know what they call the person graduating medical school in the bottom of their class?"Doctor."On par with hiring an attorney with superior personal injury knowledge and experience is finding an attorney with the knowledge and skill to properly resolve healthcare-related liens. Such an attorney can make the...

• Attorney Referrals Used to Show Bias In Personal Injury Suits

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 26, 2007 11:21 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  It might surprise you, but defense lawyers salivate over attorney referrals to medical providers. Indeed, "attorney referral" is even a factor in the pre-litigation "evaluation" systems used by insurers. Defense lawyers make the argument that, where a tort victim goes to an attorney and gets a doctor referral, the injured person's care is suspect and/or "attorney-driven," regardless of any...

• Insurance: Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 24, 2007 9:28 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Negligent infliction of emotional distress claims often arise where someone who is in the "zone of danger," i.e., subject to being injured, and they witness a family member's injury or death. Like most serious injury claims, limited insurance can present a barrier to recovery. Recently, however, the Arizona Court of Appeals held that a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim is...

• Like a Good Neighbor?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 22, 2007 10:17 PM | 1 CommentScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Randy Udelman reports on the record profits from State Farm Insurance, noting:In the midst of its record-setting year, according to a recent story on CNN, State Farm apparently adopted a policy to minimize settlement offers for low-impact motor vehicle collisions forcing accident victims to take substantially low settlement offers or spent significant costs in litigation. Moreover, Katrina...