Articles Posted in Trucking Accidents

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Massachusetts Personal Injury Deposition Tips for Plaintiffs

If you were injured due to negligence, you may find yourself involved in a lawsuit.  If it is you (or your attorney) that filed the lawsuit then you are referred to as the plaintiff and the party you sued is the defendant.

A deposition is a part of the lawsuit process which you may be required to undergo.  Whether it be a car accident case or other type of injury claim, most depositions work the same way.  Note if your case is a workers’ compensation case you will not be expected to go to a deposition.

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Millions of Americans have Medicare health insurance coverage.  Oftentimes however, when a Medicare beneficiary is involved in a personal injury event, dealing with Medicare can be a tedious and interminable process.

By law, Medicare has an automatic lien for any medical bills they paid out on your behalf in connection with medical treatment you received stemming from a personal injury case.  There is no way to avoid such a lien, and myself, and thousands of personal injury attorneys throughout America deal with the Medicare behemoth daily.

Therefore, if you have been injured in an accident in Massachusetts, or any other state, and you are a Medicare beneficiary, your attorney (or yourself if you are pro se) will have to work with Medicare to see to it that their lien is satisfied out of any settlement or verdict proceeds.  Because even if a case is concluded, Medicare can still pursue the beneficiary, and even the attorney, if Medicare discovers their lien was not satisfied.

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Absolutely.  The attorney/client relationship is based on a mutual and voluntary contractual relationship.  The client can exit the relationship at any time.  In fact, you are allowed to fire your Massachusetts personal lawyer at any time and you don't even need a reason for doing so.

I find that many people who call me and are interested in changing lawyers are doing so because they feel their lawyer is not communicating with them.  If your lawyer is not calling you back and/or not keeping you updated on your case, you have the right to change lawyers.  You may, however, be responsible for paying the lawyer back the expenses the lawyer put into the case. 

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Here is a great article I came across written by Maryland personal injury lawyer Ronald Miller regarding how the issue of defense costs affects an insurer's willingness to settle a personal injury case.  Here is the article:

Can I Expect the Insurance Company to Settle to Avoid the Costs of Litigation?

by Ron Miller on July 13, 2012

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Many people decide to take a stab at handling their automobile accident claim without an attorney.  That usually turns out to be a bad idea. 

Why would an insurance company be concerned about you suing their insured (the person or company that injured you and whom they insure) when you are not a lawyer?  Why would an insurance company pay you fair and reasonable compensation for your injuries when they know you don't have the leverage that an experienced attorney provides?  Why would an insurance company not try to trick you since you don't regularly handle personal injury claims? 

If you, or someone you know, has been injured in a car accident, call my office right now at 617 338 7400 or email me at cearley@earleylawgroup.com for a completely free, no obligation consultation.  My office does not get paid unless your case settles or wins in court.

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Don’t Have a Lawyer and the Insurance Company is Contacting You?

Each and every day Massachusetts auto insurance companies, upon learning of an auto accident in which they may have to pay out money damages, will contact you.  They will send an insurance adjuster to the home of the injured party and attempt to have him/her sign a release. The insurance adjuster shows up, big smile, and explains there is no need to get a lawyer. Then, as is very common, the adjuster will offer some small money, maybe $500, maybe $1000, to the injury victim in order to settle the case as quickly as possible.

This scenario gets me upset – and I see it all the time – because most people, after an accident, don’t know their rights, unless he/she first speaks with an auto accident attorney. The insurance adjuster know this, and capitalizes on it, in order to save the insurance company money (better for the insurance company to get rid of case fast before it has to pay out much more money when an attorney becomes involved in the case). By signing a release without first speaking with an attorney basically guarantees that you are severely limiting your rights and potential compensation.

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Each and every day Massachusetts auto insurance companies, upon learning of an auto accident in which they may have to pay out money damages, will send an insurance adjuster to the home of the injured party and attempt to have him/her sign a release.  The insurance adjuster shows up, big smile, and explains there is no need to get a lawyer.  Then, as is very common, the adjuster will offer some small money, maybe $500, maybe $1000, to the injury victim in order to settle the case as quickly as possible. 

This scenario gets me upset - and I see it all the time - because most people, after an accident, don't know their rights, unless he/she first speaks with an attorney.  The insurance adjuster know this, and capitalizes on it, in order to save the insurance company money (better for the insurance company to get rid of case fast before it has to pay out much more money when an attorney becomes involved in the case).

By signing a release without first speaking with an attorney basically guarantees that you are severely limiting your rights and potential compensation.  Do not sign ANYTHING the adjuster gives to you.  When the adjuster (still with the big smile) tells you there is no need to get a lawyer, tell him or her that you disagree.  End the meeting, and find a lawyer to consult with about your rights, should you be injured in a car accident in Massachusetts. 

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1) It compensates for the medical treatment the injury victim had to endure;

2) It covers the medical bills and liens that must be paid out of the settlement;

3) It adequately compensates the injury victim for lost wages, and if applicable, future lost wages or impairment of earning capacity;

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Someone Injured Me But I Can’t Afford To Hire An Attorney!

Not to worry.  One of the hallmarks of personal injury law is that the injury victim does not get billed an hourly rate.  Rather, the legal fee is a percentage of the gross amount recovered for the client.

Nearly all Massachusetts personal injury lawyers – as well as personal injury lawyers in other states –  take motor vehicle accident cases on a contingency fee basis.  What that means is that your attorney will take 33 1/3% (or possibly more if your case goes into suit) of any settlement or judgment amount as his/her legal fee at the conclusion of the case.  If your attorney advances any costs in prosecuting your claim, it is you that is ultimately responsible for any such costs.  Massachusetts workers’ compensation cases are also handled by contingency basis, and the amounts are set by law.

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Here is a great guest post kindly written by the nice folks over at the Utah personal injury firm of Christensen Law Firm regarding automobile accidents.  Here is the post:

There are a variety of ways that a person can suffer from spinal cord injuries, from acts of violence to diving into a shallow pool, to playing football. But by far the most common cause of spinal cord injuries is automobile accidents. This is why there are specialized auto accident attorneys there to help.

Automobile accidents often involve high impact blows that have the result of crushing or dislocating vertebrae in the spinal cord that then results in paralysis. However, even if the actual crash does not result in a particularly high impact blow, other elements of riding in a car often combine to cause a spinal cord injury nevertheless.

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