Attorney Advertising: How To Choose an Injury and Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Attorney advertising and how to choose an attorney from an ad. Ooh, ooh, pick me, No, pick me, yelled the ad in the phone book. I needed an accident lawyer to find out what I need to do since I was hit from behind last week. I looked in the yellow pages in Brooklyn, and found over 40 pages of lawyer ads. Who do I pick?

The truth is, not all lawyers advertise. Those who do are required to list specific areas of law in which they practice. In New York, injury and malpractice lawyers are not allowed to call themselves experts in their field of law. Nor can they misrepresent themselves in an advertisement. For example, they cannot stand next to a person with a cast on their leg, in a wheelchair and a pile of cash on the table claiming that since this person recovered all that money, he or she could do the same for you. Thats nothing more than a shameless sales pitch. The reality is that no lawyer can claim to get you cold hard cash because every case is different. Some lawyers claim that they can Settle your case fast! Sure they can, for a lower amount than your case might be worth.

Dont you think the insurance companies that deal with law firms like those know theyre looking for a fast settlement? Theres no incentive for the insurance company to offer top dollar because they know that this law firm isnt going to take the case to trial. Theyre settlers!

There are some yellow pages ads that proclaim the lawyers handle everything from criminal to real estate to injury cases to malpractice matters. Be weary of a firm that claims they can do everything. In todays legal climate its rare that a general practice firm can do all that extremely well. Thats why there are firms that focus exclusively on one or two areas of law, such as medical malpractice and personal injury.

If you call a law firm youve found in the yellow pages, ask these important questions: Who will be handling my case day to day? When will I meet with the partner? Who will be negotiating my case? Who will be trying my case? How quickly are my phone calls returned? What is your experience with my type of case? How many cases do each of your attorneys handle at one time?

Does the size of the lawyers ad mean theyre a better firm than the one with a page ad or smaller ad? No. It only means that the larger ad costs a lot more (The Verizon yellow pages charges lawyers about $6,500-$7,000 per month for a full page ad. In some counties, lawyers take out a double page ad which can cost between $12,000-$15,000 PER MONTH!). Thats not a typo. Thats per month. Weve all been trained to think that just because an ad is larger, that it must somehow correlate to how well that firm does for its clients. Not necessarily true. You must ask lots of questions and you must become an informed consumer before you choose to hire an attorney based upon an ad in the yellow pages.

Ask the attorney you call whether they can recommend another colleague to get another opinion about your case. If theyre reluctant to do this, I suggest you look elsewhere. Why should the lawyer be afraid to recommend another good lawyer? In all likelihood the injured client will stay with them, especially when theyve been so honest and willingly advised the client to get another opinion.

Ask the attorney for references from clients hes helped. Ask about cases hes lost, and ask whether hes ever had a client go to another attorney after he started their case. The lawyer you choose must be able to communicate with you and spend time explaining the legal process and what to expect down the road. Ive never liked it when Im handed off to a junior associate to handle my questions and the rookie has to go back to the senior partner with all of my questions. Like many of you, I appreciate personal attention- especially in a case where the injuries are severe and life altering. Having an attorney know your file as well as you do, if not better, is extremely important.

When you call the lawyers office for an update on your case, do you really want to be asked How do you spell your last name? Or how about, Uh, let me pull your file and see what the other five lawyers did on your case recently. Or how about, Im with another client now, and Ill call you back, and you dont get a return call for days. To me, thats not professional service. Its bad enough that you were injured through someone elses wrongdoing, but you shouldnt have to suffer the indignity of having your law firm figure out who you are when you call.☺

Attorney Oginski has been in practice for almost 17 years as a trial lawyer in New York. In 2002, Attorney Oginski decided he could best serve his clients by opening his own office for the practice of law in cases dealing with injured victims of medical malpractice and accident cases. Having his own law firm, he is able to provide the utmost in personalized, individualized attention to each and every client. In our office, a client is not a file number. Client's are always treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. Gerry Oginski can be reached at http://www.oginski-law.com or lawmed1@optonline.net or 516-487-8207.

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Medical Bills - Evaluating Your Personal Injury Insurance Claim

The value of a personal injury claim has a direct relationship to the amount of your medical bills. Why? Because a claim with medical bills of $500.00 is worth three to five times more than a claim with $100.00, or less. And thats a fact of life in the world of insurance claims.

The adjuster will reason if you were hurt badly enough to run up $500.00 in medical expenses than its correct to assume that your injuries must be substantial. But, if you see your chiropractor or physician only once or twice, and your final bills are in the vicinity of $100.00, that adjuster will assume you werent hurt too seriously.

DEMAND THAT ALL YOUR MEDICAL BILLS BE PAID: The adjuster may try to disallow a substantial part of your total medical expenses which he contends doesnt qualify as medical in character. Hell often attempt to divide your medical costs into two arbitrary parts - - Diagnostic and Treatment. In the Diagnostic category hell include items such as ambulance and emergency room costs, costs of X-rays, and other diagnostic procedures, plus visits to specialists. And the rest (principally costs of the hospital and regular office visits to doctors, physical therapy and medication) will be termed "Treatment. The items that are categorized as Diagnostic expenses are the bills the adjuster would like to disallow as not being Medical types of activities.

He may try to do this because with a differentiation (between what is Diagnostic and what is supposedly true medical Treatment) the basic worth of your claim will have been drastically reduced, as the amount of your Special Damages and thus drastically reduce the true value of your claim. At that point the adjuster will argue that the Treatment portion of your medical bills thats directly related to the severity of your injury, therefore its what truly reflects (and measures) your Pain and Suffering.

Dont let him get away with that! If he should attempt to pull this on you tell him, Its absurd and illogical to separate medical expenses into two arbitrary categories and designate one as Diagnostic and the other as Treatment. Each area works hand-in-hand with the other in medical practice. I cant get properly treated without being diagnosed!

Hell gulp, because he knows what you say is true and that will usually be the end of such nonsense on his part.

PERMANENT AND/OR TEMPORARY DISABILITY: In discussing Disability. its important to develop a working knowledge of these two legitimate concepts. Commonly, personal injuries are classified as either Permanent or Temporary. These two terms are used basically to describe the anticipated duration of an injury, and not its degree of severity! Thus, if an injury is conceived as one which would continue throughout the remainder of an individuals lifetime, its said to be Permanent in nature. Conversely, if its a reasonable probably that the claimant will attain a full or complete recovery (within some future period) the injury is classified as Temporary" - - regardless of how severe or extensive the injury might otherwise appear.

TOTAL AND/OR PARTIAL DISABILITY: Another common classification of Disabilities will relate to whether they are considered to be Total or Partial. These terms refer to the actual extent of the claimants injuries, regardless of whether theyre permanent or temporary in duration.

THE FOLLOWING FOUR SPECIAL CATEGORIES

ARE REFERRED TO AND UTILIZED IN PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION

1. TEMPORARY TOTAL DISABILITY: This is symbolized by a seriously injured person who is temporarily hospitalized or otherwise completely impaired, although expected to eventually regain full function.

2. TEMPORARY PARTIAL DISABILITY: This is that period when, following the initial period of complete impairment of the seriously injured party (that period of Temporary Total Disability), the party recovers and is able to resume some (but not all) formal activities.

3. PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY: This describes a condition (usually applicable in the most sever cases, in which the injury produces a nearly total impairment to the body as a whole) - - again placing the emphasis both on the extent of the functional impairment and its duration.

4. PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY: This describes a condition where the injured party, (even after sustaining a permanent injury) still retains some substantial body function or earning capacity, with the emphasis centered on the extent of the functional impairment itself.

MEDICAL BILL COVERAGES: Read your Motor Vehicle Policy to discover if you have Medical Payments Coverage. Also check all your non-automobile insurance policies. You may have coverage(s) to pay your medical bills regardless of who was at fault. If you have a Health Insurance Policy and/or Health Plan of some sort, read the fine print. Your policy may not require you to pay back the medical bill payments made in your behalf - - even if you collect from the person who struck you!

DISCLAIMER: This article ~Medical Bills ~ Evaluating Your Insurance Claim, is intended for background information. Its only purpose is to help people understand the motor vehicle accident claim process. Neither Dan Baldyga, Peter Go nor ARTICLE CITY make no guarantee of any kind whatsoever, NOR DO THEY purport to engage in rendering any professional or legal service, NOR TO substitute for a lawyer, an insurance adjuster, or claims consultant, or the like. Where such professional help is desired IT IS THE INDIVIDUALS RESPONSIBILITY to obtain it!

For more How To insurance claim insights read Dan Baldygas latest book AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM (How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss). This book can be found on the internet at http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com. This book reveals How To successfully handle your motor vehicle accident claim, so you wont be taken advantage of. It also goes into detail regarding the revolutionary BASE(The Baldyga Auto Accident Settlement Evaluation Formula). BASE explains how to determine the value of the Pain and Suffering you endured - - because of your personal injury.

Copyright (c) 2003 By Daniel G. Baldyga. All Rights Reserved

Dan Baldyga - Author

19 Winona Drive, West Springfield, MA 01089
Phone: (413) 733 0127 FAX: (413) 731 8358
Mail to: dbpaw@attbi.com
AUTO ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY INSURANCE CLAIM
(How To Evaluate And Settle Your Loss)
Found On The Internet At: http://www.autoaccidentclaims.com
Or: http://www.caraccidentclaims.com

About The Author

For 30 years Dan Baldyga was a claims adjuster, supervisor, manager and also a trial assistant.He is now retired and spends his time attempting to assist those involed in motor vehicle accident claims so they will not be taken advantage of. Mail to: dbpaw@attbi.com

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