“How Much Is My Case Worth”?
I have heard this question thousands of times. And there is no easy answer. That’s because so many factors affect the “value” of a case. What do we mean by “value” anyway?
The settlement value of a case is based on a prediction of whether a jury will find you have a valid case, and if so, what the jury will award you for your injury. Since juries vary widely, and it is impossible to predict what any particular jury will do, we consider what an average jury would do.
Do you think you might be a safer driver if your traffic convictions and accidents were posted on line and easily searchable so that all your neighbors and friends could look your record up?
If your answer to that question is “yes”, then you’ll like a new rule by the Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) which makes companies’ safety records easily available on a government website.
Why this new rule? The shame factor. OSHA’s thinking is that if companies with a bad safety record know their record will not remain hidden is some dusty notebook in a government basement, but rather see the light of day on the world-wide web, they might think twice about cutting safety corners. In addition, prospective employees will be able to compare, when deciding which job to accept, not only the wages of the employers but also their safety records. As a side benefit, personal injury lawyers like me can build negligence cases against repeat offenders with greater ease.
Being stupid and dishonest at the same time is a toxic mix. The math goes like this: stupid + dishonest = disaster. And here’s an example:
An Iowa lawyer was stupid enough to fall for one of those obvious email scams cooked up by some Nigerian shysters. You know, one of those emails that starts out with “Dear Attorney: We have urgent need to hire your firm for important matter involving large estate . . ..”
The Nigerian email schemers had a U.S.-based confederate, an existing client of the lawyer, help them convince the lawyer that the client was about to inherit $18.8 million from a long-lost Nigerian cousin. They then convinced the lawyer to represent the client to procure the inheritance in exchange for a 10% fee, which would amount to about $1.8 million.
If you are like me, you might end up downing a few more drinks than usual during the Holiday Season, especially at the dreaded “office party”! And I am sure I don’t have to tell you that it is illegal, dangerous, and plain wrong to drink and drive — your judgment, coordination, and reflexes are all impaired.
But did you know it may not not be safe to drive the next day, either? According to two recent studies, being hungover, even with zero alcohol content in your blood, impairs your driving performance almost as much as being drunk.
Participants in the experiments went out drinking on the designated night (I am sure they found plenty of “volunteers” for this experiment), had about 10 drinks each (yowzer!), and the next morning took a 20-minute simulated drive through urban and rural settings.
Doctors, nurses, physicians’ assistants and other medical providers are not always good listeners. I know this from personal experience, but also because they frequently misquote my clients in their medical records.
For example, I once had a client who tripped on a broken-up walkway on the way into a store and suffered a serious knee injury. But the emergency room record said that the patient had “slipped and fell” and injured his knee.
“Slipped”, “tripped”, what’s the difference, right? For the doctor, none. For me, the difference was crucial. The doctor made this mistake because it didn’t matter to him how the plaintiff came to fall; for the purposes of diagnosing and treating the patient, his or her only concern was that he fell, and what part of his body he landed on. So he was only half listening when the patient told him how he ended up falling. He was more interested in learning what part of the knee hit the concrete, where it hurt, and whether the patient had mobility there.
I hate legal advertising. But for a New York personal injury lawyer these days, even the best, it’s tough to get by without advertising, at least some. That’s because a few lawyers have bombarded the airwaves, TV included, and billboards, with catchy names and easy-to-remember phone numbers. A lot of injured folks know those ads and numbers by heart, and the easiest thing to do when they are injured is to dial one of those numbers instead of investigating who the best lawyer for them might be.
For example, one Rochester New York personal injury lawyer has played off his surname, “Mattar”, because it rhymes with “car”. So if you are hurt in a car, call William Mattar.
I’m not so lucky. My surname, “Bersani“, does not rhyme with “car”. But hey — it DOES kinda rhyme with Ferrari. So what about an ad, “if you are hurt in a Ferrari, call Mike Bersani“. The problem is there are not enough Ferraris in central New York where I practice personal injury law. Should I move to Greenwich Connecticut?
Blow a stop sign, speed, or turn without signaling, and a cop can see it, stop you, and ticket you. Even talking on a hand-held cell phone (illegal in New York) can be seen from outside your car. But texting-while-driving is different. How does a cop “catch” you doing it? Most texters keep their phone down on their lap or at least below the window line, so a cop traveling behind, or even beside the texter, is not going to see it happen.
Until now. New York has recently given State Troopers thirty-two tall, unmarked SUVs for the express purpose of peering down at drivers’ hands and catching them “red-handed”.
This reminds me of a funny scene from the 1960’s Peter Sellers’ film, “A Shot in the Dark”, where Peter Sellers and a young lady end up having to escape naked in a small car. They are able to navigate the narrow streets of Paris without other motorists noticing they are naked, until a tall tourist bus pulls up next to them. Hilarious. See the scene here.
As Syracuse Crunch fans all know by now, Michaels Bersani Kalabanka, your Central New York Injury Law Firm, is honoring “Everyday Heroes” at all Syracuse Crunch home hockey games this winter. “Everyday heroes” are local community volunteers who have given their time and talents to a local charitable organization. In front of the whole Crunch crowd, we regal them, and their family and friends, with free game tickets, food, drink, etc.
Now let me tell you about one of our recent “Everyday Hero” winners, Tim Coolbaugh.
For many guys Sundays means the couch, a brew and a game. Not for Tim (though he loves all three of those!). He has more important things to do. You can find him on Sundays rescuing and transporting abandoned dogs to and from Syracuse to Binghamton, Rochester, Albany or Canada. The only compensation Tim receives is the love of the dogs (and an occasional cat). He gives his time, use of his car, and his money. Why? To save dogs, many of which have been abandoned by “puppy mills” that can’t sell them for a profit.
Jerry Sandusky sexually abused and raped boys in Penn State showers, and elsewhere on Penn State grounds, and Penn State let him.
Jerry Sandusky is in jail and broke. But Penn State is not. That’s why Sanduski’s victims, now grown men, are suing Penn State and not Sandusky for money damages. You can’t get water from a rock. But Penn State is no rock. It’s a reservoir.
Michaels Bersani Kalabanka has recently taken on a similar case involving a New York State school district whose administrators knew, or should have known, that one of its teachers was sexually abusing and raping young students. And we are suing the school district rather than the jailed and disgraced teacher. Again, you can’t get water from a rock.
The “Creepy Jury Stalker” story, straight from my hometown, Syracuse, New York, has gone “viral”. The New York Law Journal covered it, and so did the American Bar Association Journal not to mention the Syracuse Post Standard.
Now an even more important news source is covering it: Me.
The backdrop to the story is a dental malpractice trial in Onondaga County Supreme Court. The insurer for the defendant dental practice was AIG, the same AIG which helped collapse the global economy in 2008. I guess their fifteen minutes of fame infamy back then wasn’t enough, and they have come back to the trough for more.
Central New York Injury Lawyer Blog
