Blog
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What’s an “Ambulance Chaser”?
Origins of the Ambulance Chaser Why are personal injury lawyers called “ambulance chasers”?It all started with some very aggressive marketing tactics used by personal injury lawyers back in the late 1890’s. There would be an accident, usually somewhere in a big city. Since it was the 1890’s, we’re not talking about motor vehicle accidents, so…
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Does Breaking the Speed Limit Always Mean a Driver is Negligent?
If you’re driving faster than the speed limit and an accident occurs, will you always be considered negligent? No. Not necessarily. Speeding obviously causes a lot of accidents. If you’re speeding, you have a good chance of being found to have some fault in the accident, possibly all of the fault. But just because you’re…
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6 Ways to Pay for Your Medical Expenses While Your Personal Injury Case is Pending
How Can You Pay for Your Medical Expenses While Your Personal Injury Case is Pending? The at-fault driver’s insurance carrier is not going to pay for your medical expenses while your personal injury case is pending. They won’t pay anything until your case is settled. So how should you pay for the medical treatment that…
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Will the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Pay for My Medical Expenses While My Personal Injury Case is Pending?
How Will My Personal Injury Medical Expenses Be Covered? Many personal injury victims are under the impression that the at-fault driver’s insurance will pay for their medical expenses while their case is pending. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The at-fault driver’s insurance will not pay for any of your medical expenses until your case…
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6 Reasons Why A Client Might Fire Their Personal Injury Lawyer
Firing Your Personal Injury Lawyer Can I fire my lawyer in a personal injury case? You bet! A personal injury client has the absolute right to fire their lawyer, with or without cause. The lawyer can be fired at any time during the case. The client can terminate their lawyer for any reason, or no…
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My Best Advice for Handling Calls from Prospective Clients
What’s My Best Advice for Handling Calls from Prospective Clients? Here’s my best advice for handling calls from prospective clients: LISTEN!!!!!! Just shut up and listen. Simple as that. The prospective client does the talking. You do the listening. That’s all there is to it. People Want You to Listen to Them The person who…
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Are You Committing Perjury When You Prepare A Proof Of Service?
Proof of Service Perjury If I had a nickel for every proof of service that I’ve received where the person serving the documents has committed perjury, I’d have a lot of nickels. It happens all the time and it drives me bananas. This is how it works: The other party in a case that we’re…
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The 3-2-1 Method for Granting Requests for Discovery Response Extensions
How Many Extensions to Respond to Discovery Should Be Provided to Opposing Counsel? Lawyers have plenty of differing opinions on this issue. Some lawyers are very generous about granting extensions to opposing counsel. Other lawyers are not so generous when it comes to granting extensions. The Santa Clara County Bar Association Code of Professionalism, Section…
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Liability Waivers Will Not Protect Oceangate From Wrongful Death Lawsuits After the Titan Submersible Disaster
Titan Submersible Disaster On June 18, 2023, OceanGate sent its Titan submersible down into the depths of the ocean to view the Titanic wreckage. Aboard the submersible were five individuals, including the Chief Executive Officer of OceanGate, Stockton Rush, and four passengers who had paid for the trip, including Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood,…
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Whatever Happened to Municipal Courts in California?
When I was growing up in California, we had both superior courts and municipal courts. Municipal courts were in every county throughout California. They handled smaller cases than the superior courts, such as civil cases involving disputes of $25,000 or less, and criminal cases involving misdemeanors and infractions. But at some point, municipal courts vanished,…
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POLICY LIMIT DEMANDS UNDER CALIFORNIA CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE § 999 – 999.5
Policy Limit Demands Personal injury lawyers love sending out policy limit demands. When we send them out, we may actually be trying to settle the case for policy limits, or in some instances, we’re actually hoping that the insurance carrier refuses to settle for policy limits. In that case, we can potentially assert that policy…
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How do Contingency Fees Work in a Personal Injury Case?
If an attorney is hired on a contingency basis, that means the client only has to pay if they win.