Today is
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 TEAMWORK:
The insurance companies' own research makes it clear that
hiring an attorney will result in a better net settlement to
you. I will aggressively represent your interests with your
insurance company and the other party's insurance company so
you can focus on getting better. However, I can not do this
on my own. My office takes a team approach to handling your
personal injury case. It is important that you follow the
advice as set forth below. Some accident victims believe
they can do a good job handling their case without a good
attorney. Others believe they can get an extremely high
settlement or award of money if all they do is hire a
good attorney. Both are false. Case value is maximized when
an informed client cooperates with a good attorney.
TALKING
WITH THE ADJUSTER:
I generally direct clients to deal with the adjuster about
property damage only. Many people hurt their case by talking
with the insurance adjuster about other matters before I am
retained. The adjuster is sizing you up during this time and
may be making judgment decisions about you and what kind of
person you are, how financially needy you are and what kind
of witness you will make. Therefore, do not talk about how
the accident happened, your injuries, your job, your family
or how the accident has affected you. I suggest limiting
your discussion to getting your car fixed because what you
say, and more importantly, what you forget to say can really
hurt your case down the road.
PROPERTY
DAMAGE:
I do not usually handle the property damage portion of your
case but frequently help client's through the process. It is
typically more efficient for you to deal with the adjuster
here where quick decisions need to be made to get your car
fixed, procure a rental and so forth. Sometimes the at-fault
insurance company will accept liability and work
cooperatively to fix your car. This will mean you have no
deductible. Many clients who have comprehensive insurance
coverage obtain better, faster service by making a claim
through their own insurance company. You have the right to
have your car fixed where you want, but you might end up in
a fight over what the insurance company will pay for the
repairs. It is a good idea to get three or four estimates of
repairs. However, the other insurance company may appraise
the damages and only pay you the reasonable cost of repair,
which sometimes may be less. If your car is considered to be
"totaled" (repairing it would cost more than it is worth)
you should try to get as much as possible for your car. Put
together information about your car, including year, make,
mileage, extra equipment and recent repairs or custom
improvements. Do a bluebook estimate online. Present this to
the adjuster.
DAMAGES
AND LIABILITY:
To have a right to recover
damages you must prove you have been hurt (damaged) due to
someone else’s fault (liability).
LIABILITY:
The area of liability has undergone significant legislative
reform in Oregon. Currently, your claim is invalid if it is
determined that you had more than 50% of the responsibility
for an accident. Resulting in the insurance company being
increasingly anxious to assign fault to you that may not
exist in an attempt to lessen their responsibility.
DAMAGES:
Two types of damages exist under Oregon law--economic and
non-economic. Economic damages are “hard costs” of your
case--medical bills, wage loss, pharmacy costs,
treatment-related travel expenses, baby-sitting costs during
treatment, etc. Non-economic damages are the pain, suffering
and interference with activities and relationships that your
injuries caused you. Because juries are increasingly
skeptical of pain and suffering claims, having well
documented economic damages are increasingly important. The
end of your case is no time to start trying to remember what
days you missed work, what mileage you drove for treatments,
day-care costs during treatment, etc. Documenting these in
an “injury journal” can significantly increase the value of
your case.
PERSONAL
INJURY PROTECTION:
If you were in an auto accident you qualify for Personal
Injury Protection (PIP) Benefits through your own auto
insurance carrier. This allows limited wage loss and medical
bill payments. Your own auto insurance company, the auto
insurance of any household member, or, if a passenger, the
auto insurance of the driver, has the primary obligation to
pay your reasonable and necessary medical bills and wage
loss (partial in many cases) for the first year following
the accident. To qualify you must fill out an Application
for Benefits, commonly called a "PIP Application." It is
imperative that you request this from your insurance company
immediately to insure that your medical bills get paid by
your auto insurance carrier rather than a medical insurance
carrier.
MEDICAL
BILLS:
Your own insurance (or if a passenger the insurance of the
driver) has the primary obligation to pay your reasonable
and necessary medical bills for the first year following the
accident for a minimum of $10,000.00. If your injuries are
more serious often other auto insurance policies of
household members and medical insurance policies can be
“stacked” onto this first policy. If you are receiving
medical bills and they aren’t getting paid, notify my office
immediately! The end of your case is no time to start
submitting medical bills to the adjuster.
WAGE
LOSS:
Your own insurance (or if a passenger the insurance of the
driver) has the primary obligation to pay your lost wages
for the first year following the accident. To qualify for
wage loss, you must have a disability slip from your
treating physician or treating chiropractor prescribing rest
from work. The insurance company will then pay 70% of your
wage loss (up to $1250 per month) if you miss 14 days of
work or more.
GATHERING
PROOF:
It is critical that you take pictures of your car, the
intersection or area of the accident, and when possible the
other car. Because the other driver may have no insurance or
inadequate insurance you can’t rely on your insurance
company’s pictures as they may take them in such a way that
minimizes the damage to your car. You should take pictures
of the car from different angles, including in the trunk and
underneath the car for rear end accidents. It is similarly
important to take or allow pictures to be taken of any cuts,
bruises, tears or scars caused by the accident. I have seen
pictures of injuries double even triple the value of a case.
Some people feel uncomfortable taking pictures of injuries,
however, they often express regret later that they have not
done so. I also want to know about witnesses so I can have
them interviewed before the insurance company or the other
party influences their statement.
In more serious accidents or accidents where liability may
be disputed, we may hire a private investigator for
professional information gathering.
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YOUR
JOB – GET BETTER!
After an accident where you suffer injuries, the law places
upon you one primary duty--mitigation of damages. That means
you must do whatever is necessary to minimize the effects
the accident has on you financially and physically. This has
different implications depending upon the kind of damages
you are suffering. For example, if you are injured and seek
no medical attention which makes your injuries linger for a
year, you can not claim a years worth of pain and suffering.
Similarly, if you are able to work initially, you can not
claim ongoing wage loss past when your doctor releases you
to return to work.
DEALING
WITH DOCTORS:
Having a broken bone is an objective injury that is
generally easy to see and prove. Having muscles and
ligaments torn and strained can be even more painful and
difficult to recover from. These "soft tissue" injuries are
sometimes called "black box" injuries because they generally
can't be seen. Consequently, some medical providers (and
accident victims) take soft tissue injuries for granted.
Often the only thing prescribed are pain killers and a few
days rest. If this doesn't work you should ask your doctor
about other options besides sitting around, such as physical
therapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy or a combination
thereof. One advantage of using a chiropractor is that they
will take a patient without a referral, often on a walk in
basis and specialize in treatment of "soft tissue" injuries.
Your treatments almost always help you get better. An
ancillary benefit of treatment is that it documents your
injuries. Keep your appointments! You can not expect limited
or sporadic treatments to help you or your case.
Occasionally a client expects a large settlement, but as I
review their treatment history, it is full of gaps and
missed appointments. Do what your doctor tells you. You are
entitled to a second opinion if you disagree with a doctor’s
diagnosis, but do not ignore medical advice without talking
to me about it.
MEDICALLY
STATIONARY:
It is my office policy to not settle a client’s case until
they have reached a point of maximum medical improvement. I
almost never have a problem with client’s who I sense are
treating too long. Most often, people over optimistically
report complete recovery. You should not report being
improved when you are not in an effort to speed up your
case. I have seen client’s facing the initial financial
distress of an accident suddenly “get better”, or even tell
me they want me to say they are better so they can get a
quick settlement. Honesty, as always, is the best policy in
this regards. Regretfully, injuries can flare up and get
worse unexpectedly which is why we may monitor your case
past the point of you being “medically stationary” before
attempting settlement. Once you have settled your case you
may also lose “PIP” benefits and have no way of getting
medical bills paid.
HOW
ARE YOU DOING:
About every 60 to 90 days I will send out a “How Are You
Doing” questionnaire. It is important that you fill this out
and return it to me. You don’t need to wait for the
questionnaire if you have other questions. The best way to
communicate with my office is by e-mail, letter or the
scheduling of an appointment.
CASE
VALUE:
There are dozens of items that make a case more or less
valuable. I can’t not tell you what your case is worth at
the outset, in fact, doing so would probably be legal
malpractice. My goal, of course, is to maximize your
settlement. As you approach or become “medically stationary”
and I have collected all of your medical records I can talk
to you about case value.
GETTING
SETTLEMENTS QUICKER:
We want to get your settlement as quickly as we can. A
teamwork approach helps us do this. To do this we will
request records throughout your case as you go, allowing us
to settle the case sooner.
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For
your convenience we offer telephone consultations as well as
in-office appointments
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