The basic insurance company thinking goes something like this: “The accident was not our insured's fault. If it was his fault, you probably don't have serious injuries. If you do have serious injuries, you probably had these health problems before the accident.” Backfire! Sometimes insurance t...
1. Will you put in writing the fact that the accident was not my fault? 2. Will you tell me the maximum dollar amount of the insurance policy of the person who caused the accident? 3. If I give you a recorded statement, will you let me take a recorded statement of the person who caused the acc...
Hospital and doctor liens Liens. Liens against your case can be created by payments made for your health care by car insurance companies, health insurance companies, Medicare, or Medicaid. For example, if your health insurance company pays a $2000 hospital bill, then that insurance compan...
The Beginning • Initial interview with the client, getting a basic understanding of how the injury occurred and what medical conditions have followed from it. • Gathering all of the paperwork associated with the injury, including police reports, accident reports, medical records and bills, weat...
1. Can you provide me with a sample of your fee agreement? (Ask for a full explanation of his or her fees and costs, and how they are calculated.) 2. How many years have you been handling personal injury cases? 3. How many years of trial experience do you have? 4. Do you also have experience r...
1. Feel free to interview more than one attorney. 2. Don't hire an attorney who rushes you to sign a fee agreement without fully explaining the terms of the fee agreement. 3. Do not hire an attorney who does not have significant trial experience. 4. Try to find an attorney who has not only rep...
Hiring an Attorney is Not Essential You do not need an attorney to settle a small personal injury case. In fact, you might end up with a net smaller settlement after the attorney subtracts his or her fee in smaller cases. This outcome would not be fair to you; therefore, I do not handle ver...
A number of things must be proved at trial to win a personal injury case. Although most cases are settled before trial, it is important to muster the evidence needed to demonstrate to the insurance adjuster the fact that your case will be a winner at trial if the case is not settled Everything s...
When lawyers say they handle “personal injury,” “wrongful death,” “auto accident,” or “serious accident” cases, what are they talking about? Well, here are the basics. The Basics All of these claims are cases where someone has been injured or killed due to someone else's negligence (carelessnes...
It is unfortunately true that many claims adjusters take advantage of injured people before they have a chance to speak with an attorney. Some adjusters will try to scare you by telling you that an attorney will take a portion of your recovery for just a brief consultation. Some claims adjust...
When I have my first meeting with a new personal injury client, one of the first things I do is ask about their insurance coverage and the insurance coverage of the at-fault driver. There is No Such Thing as Full Coverage Very often, the clients will say, “don't worry I have full coverage.” Her...
Persons injured in Kootenai County or elsewhere in Idaho are entitled to ask the jury for monetary damages for past and future medical bills and past and future loss of income. However, a person injured in a car crash or some other injury caused by the negligence of others, is also entitled to as...
Persons injured in car crash in Kootenai County, Spokane, or elsewhere in Idaho and Washington will suddenly be faced with a barrage of decisions to make. One critical decision is whether to give a recorded statement to the insurance companies involved in the crash. An important distinction must ...
When a person in Kootenai County, or elsewhere in Idaho, files a personal injury lawsuit, the attorney hired by the defendant's insurance company is usually permitted to have a doctor conduct an “independent” medical exam of the injured plaintiff. I place the word independent in quotation marks b...
In England, the loser of a lawsuit must pay the attorney fees of the winning party. In Kootenai County and elsewhere in Idaho, the Courts require each party to pay their own attorney fees. Thus, these two systems have become known as the English Rule and the American Rule. Pointless Litigation ...
In Kootenai County, and elsewhere in Idaho, it is not uncommon for persons seeking to form a new corporation or Limited Liability Company to seek the services of a single attorney in drafting the documents needed to form the new business. Is this a good idea? The Bare Minimum The Idaho Code of ...
Recently I handled a Kootenai County motorcycle death case which involved one of the most common types of motorcycle accidents; namely, when a car turns left in front of a person driving the motorcycle. The general category of the cause of the crash is that the car driver is looking for the absen...
Persons in Kootenai County or elsewhere in Idaho will find that, after successfully settling a personal injury case, they must now deal with reimbursing their health insurance company out of the proceeds of the settlement. This principle is known as the right of subrogation. That is, if a portio...
Many states allow a jury in a criminal trial to return a verdict of “Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.” The law in Kootenai County and elsewhere in Idaho does not allow a complete insanity defense. Idaho statute 18-207 specifically states that a “mental condition shall not be a defense to any c...
The fact that a lawsuit has been filed in Kootenai County, or elsewhere in Idaho, usually means that attempts at settlement have been fruitless. Nevertheless, the settlement option will continue to reappear during the course of the pretrial process, and even during trial. Sometimes a lawsuit is ...
When working with an attorney to prepare a Will, most people will spend a great deal of time thinking about which family members they wish to leave their property to, but very little time thinking about who will be the Personal Representative of their estate upon their death. In Kootenai County ...
The general statute of limitations for negligence cases in Idaho is two years, as of this writing (May, 2020). This is the statute of limitations that would apply to car accidents, slip and fall cases, negligent supervision of children, and many other types of injuries that result from the carele...
One of the most tragic scenarios that can arise in serious motor vehicle collisions in Kootenai County and elsewhere in Idaho, is where the insurance policy of the at-fault driver is too small to cover the damages of the injured Plaintiff. At the time of this writing (May, 2020), Idaho law only ...
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, will Kootenai County and other Idaho counties see a flood of litigation stemming from physical or economic harm caused by the virus? In the case of Archer v. Carnival Corporation et al, filed in the Northern District of California, passengers of the cruise s...
Prior to 1954, lawsuits generally were commenced, and then went to trial some months later, without a lot of interaction between the attorneys. The problem with this format is that it led to “trial by ambush.” That is, the attorneys on both sides of the case really didn't know what the opposing s...
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