NEW YORK QUICK AND EASY CONSUMER GUIDES TO ACCIDENTS AND MEDICAL MALPRACTICE VOLUME 5-CHOOSING THE RIGHT ACCIDENT OR MALPRACTICE LAWYER 10 SECRETS YOUR ACCIDENT OR MALPRACTICE LAWYER DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CASE The Insurance companies are working against your interests right now. Have you chosen the right lawyer? Protect yourself. Be informed.
New York Accident and Medical Malpractice Attorney
PETER PANAS
10 SECRETS YOUR ACCIDENT OR MALPRACTICE LAWYER DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR CASE: 1) You are not guaranteed to win your case. I know this is something you don’t want to hear after a terrible accident has changed you or your family’s life forever, but I have seen too may just cases in the most celebrated lawyer’s hands lost through no fault of that lawyer. If any lawyer tells you that your case is a guaranteed winner, he or she is either lying or does not know any better. In either case, you are better served elsewhere. What guarantees can a qualified lawyer make? Turn to the end of this book and find out. 2) You are not guaranteed a certain amount of money for your case. If your lawyer tells you your case is worth over a million dollars on the first visit with him, run out the door. He or she is only trying to get you to retain him or her. While it is certainly true that certain injuries generally have a range of values that is known by published sources and that lawyer’s experience, the value of your case cannot be known until all medical records are procured, all witnesses are interviewed, and in all malpractice cases and many trip and fall cases, your entire case is reviewed by a qualified expert. Again, guarantees on the amount of money your case is worth are irresponsible and simply untrue, especially early in the litigation. 3) A lawyer may never handle your case. I know this may sound shocking, but many personal injury firms in New York are what are known as “mills.” They handle a large volume of small cases with little, if any, work on the case performed by attorneys. This is not a misprint. Paralegals handle these injured persons cases and some firms go as far as allowing paralegals to handle settlement negotiations with insurance adjusters. Be aware of any firm where you do not meet with an attorney at your initial consultation with the firm or before your deposition. In my opinion, these are tasks that must be handled by a lawyer. 4) If you are fortunate enough to have a lawyer handle your case, that lawyer may not be a partner. In too many “big firms” the lawyer who will be handling your case will be an associate of the firm. Many of these associates are qualified, hard working lawyers. However, a depressingly high number of associates feel overworked and underpaid. Whether they are overworked and underpaid is not important. What is important is that attitude may filter into their work on your case. You deserve better. Ask this question and listen to the answer: Will you guarantee that a partner will be at my deposition and try my case? 5) The law is growing increasingly specialized in accident and malpractice cases. Let’s get real here. How can someone who does not concentrate in this area keep up with the changes in the law? They can’t. Every year the New York State Trial Lawyers (an organization of attorneys who dedicate
their practices to accidents and malpractice) sponsors a sixteen hour seminar called “Decisions.” The seminar highlights the important legal decisions that affect the practice of accident and malpractice law and provides literally hundreds of cases for a busy practitioner to review. I review these cases. This process takes a lot of time. Does your lawyer? 6) Your lawyer cannot guarantee how long it will take to resolve your case. While it is generally true that most cases resolve within 2-3 years, sometimes cases can take longer to resolve. The question is why the delay? Sometimes the delay is not your lawyer’s fault. For example, your lawyer may have defeated a motion to dismiss your case, and now the defense wants to appeal that decision. Nevertheless, sometimes your lawyer is simply neglecting your case. If you think your lawyer is neglecting your case ask him or her to explain in writing the reason for the delay. If he or she does not comply, get another lawyer. 7) You can fire your lawyer. Your case is too important for you to be unsatisfied with your lawyer’s representation. You should know, however, that your lawyer may still be entitled to a portion of the legal fee for the work that that lawyer performed up to the time of discharge. You should also know that if you have retained another lawyer, I will probably not take your case unless it is soon after the accident and/or you have suffered a serious or catastrophic injury. In my opinion, early investigation and early retention of experts are crucial to the outcome of your case. I simply won’t compromise this notion absent special circumstances. 8) Experts matter in the outcome of your case. This is especially true in medical malpractice cases because you cannot even prove the overwhelming majority of malpractice cases without an expert. I also routinely use experts in my trip and fall and slip and fall cases and construction accident cases to prove a case under a particular statute or ordinance. Also know that doctors, economists, and life care planners may be necessary to prove the damages you suffered as a result of your accident or malpractice. 9) Experts can be expensive. Some experts charge over $7,500 to testify in a case. If your lawyer is not willing to spend money for the right experts on your case, he or she should not be representing you. 10) Not all lawyers are created equal. Something all insurance companies know but too many injured people do not. Insurance companies know who practices in the area of accidents and malpractice and who “dabbles” in it. You should know too.
NOW THAT YOU KNOW THESE 10 SECRETS, WHY SHOULD YOU HIRE ME? HERE ARE 5 REASONS: BECAUSE……. 1) I am a lawyer who is bold enough to reveal these well guarded secrets despite criticism by others in my field. 2) I am the only lawyer I know of who gives guarantees and puts them in writing. Here are 3 guarantees: 1) Guaranteed Individualized Attention: I will interview you. A paralegal or an associate will not. I will answer your questions, not another lawyer or paralegal. I will appear with you for your deposition. A paralegal or another associate will not. Though most cases settle, I will try your case if it does not settle. Most important, I will not refer your case to another lawyer. Too many lawyers advertise for cases just so that they can refer them to other lawyers and collect a fee. When you hire me, you get me. 2) Guaranteed Aggressive Representation: How can I guarantee this? Simple. I only take cases I believe in. I turn down those that I don’t believe in or meet my strict criteria. I have provided my criteria for selecting cases in the Special Appendix section of each volume in this series. I know these criteria may sound harsh, but I can only guarantee you individualized attention and aggressive representation if these criteria are met. I limit my case intake. My smaller case load allows me to give your case my full commitment. You deserve that commitment. If I can’t give you that full commitment, I will tell you. I don’t want to hurt you again after what you have been through. 3) Guaranteed no legalese or lawyer talk when speaking or communicating with me: I am a straight shooter. I hate lawyer talk. I will communicate and explain legal concepts to you in plain English. I will write to you in plain English. If you hear me say subsequent instead of after, you have my permission to scream “lawyer talk” loudly. I promise I will stop. 3) You deserve a lawyer with experience as a person representing both the injured and those who the injured sue: For the first part of my professional life, I represented injured people. For the past few years, I
trained with the senior partner of a leading medical malpractice defense firm who was the editor and chief of the New York State Bar Association’s book Medical Malpractice in New York. I have seen how the insurance companies and their lawyers work and I can put that knowledge to work for you. 4) You deserve a lawyer with results when representing the injured: I have attained verdicts and settlements for injured New York consumers in the six and seven figures, including a verdict of over $2,000,000. 5) After reading this book or another book in this series, you have grown to trust me to do what is right for you and your family.
Whatever you or your family decide to do next, I wish you the best of luck.
PETER PANAS