Avandia cases, plenty of funding available.

Congratulations to those law firms who have resolved their Avandia cases or are about to sign a term sheet. I understand from my sources that it may take 6 to 9 months to pay out. Well, you found the right guy; We have extensive funding available for both attorney and client advances.
Contact me and I'll walk you through the process.

Opening a Law Office, low overhead, low overhead, low overhead.....

If you are thinking about opening a law office, I have some solid advice for you;
1. Keep your overhead down,
2. Have another source of fees other than just contingent personal injury fees,
3. Don't take "bad cases or problematic clients" and
4. **Of course keep a thorough IOLA[Attorney's Trust Account ] ledger..
If you follow this advice and are able to "bring in business, you are 80% there towards a successful practice.
Remember, reasonable rent, easy on the staff, use per diem people for court and depositions and be mindful of your "monthly nut".
Oh, and by the way, never take a case that you're not comfortable handing!

What can you do if your surgeon, who prepared a narrative refuses to testify?

I'm sure we've all had the unpleasant experience of having your surgeon, who also authored your narrative on causation and permanency tell you last minute he is refusing to testify. Makes your day, doesn't it? Well aside from feeling sorry for yourself , there are basically three things you can do to try to extricate yourself from this mess;
1. Request time from the Court to secure a new Dr. to examine and prepare a narrative.You can subpoena in the surgery report of the recalcitrant surgeon. If that doesn't work you can..
2. Subpoena your own doctor and hold him to the contents of the report...or lastly
3. Obtain a Court order and hold him in contempt if he doesn't appear...This option of possibly being led into the courtroom in handcuffs usually does the trick.
I hope this never happens to you; but if it does you know what to do.

Economists, Life Care Planner and Vocational Rehab Experts, no need to wait till you receive a trial date to exchange opinions.

On cases involving significant, life altering type injuries, most attorneys will want to engage an economist,life care planner and even a vocational rehabilitation expert. Great move! The projections/opinions will most certainly give defense counsel and the carrier something to think about , while doubling or even tripling the value of the case.
So why do many attorneys wait until there is a trial date(30 days before) to exchange their opinions. Cost, surprise, decreasing defendants time to " meet the proofs" and of course it's not required earlier , are a few of the reasons you'll hear.
When I practiced, I took the opposite approach. "If you had the goods, show em"! If I had a huge injury(with coverage), I would be busy as a bee...serving reports, supplements, CPLR 3101(d) experts exchanges, narratives, records and anything else I could think of on defense counsel every day if possible. Why? To show the defendants I have the time, energy, money, skill and perseverance to " push the case to the hilt".
I had a case once against Mark Landman involving an Amtrak train derailment where my client underwent 13 procedures. Amtrak removed the case to Federal Court. After defendants conceded liability , I served something new on defendants almost every day . At the end of the case Landman confessed to me that about 3/4's of the way through the case he stopped looking at my daily blasts...
The case settled after defendants refused to consent to a Magistrate to try the case, and I couldn't get a trial date.
Moral of the story, if you got the goods, no need to wait.

At the end of the day, would you rather have a $1.7 million settlement or a $2 million verdict?

There is always much debate about when to settle, should I negotiate, should I take a verdict? At the end of the day you always want to obtain the best result [$ wise] in the shortest amount of time.
So let's compare. On a settlement of $1.7 million before verdict, you get your money immediately, there are no post-trial motions and no appellate costs or delay. Also, no CPLR Section 50 ramifications.
On a verdict of $2 million you have post-trial motions , an appeal and a long, agonizing wait. Not to mention additional costs. Yes, the client will probably get an additional $175,000 to $200,000 in his/her pocket if you are successful....But is it worth the wait to the client? To your firm?
You be the judge.

Let's try mediation at the time of the first preliminary conference.

What a waste of effort, time , resources and clogging of the Court calendar , when you have to do full-blown paper discovery, multiple depositions and engage in dispositive motion practice all over a $10,000 trip and fall accident. There has got to be a better way!
There is actually. At the time when your case comes up for it's first scheduling[preliminary] conference , the parties should be mandated to engage in a 20 minute mediation[carrier's rep on call] to explore early resolution. Granted, some cases may not be ripe for mediation, but many, many more will be. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained".
I think we will be very pleasantly surprised by the results.

It's 2010 get a scanner already, would you?

I'm not saying I'm God's gift to the high tech world. But I'll try my best to stay updated on the latest technology. I't's funny, five years ago if you didn't have voice mail you were archaic. Then if you didn't have email, it was like what are you waiting for....Now , I'm totally amazed when someone says we don't have scanner capabilities. Crazy!
Spend a thousand bucks; make life easy on yourself, your clients, insurance companies and your adversaries....not to mention funders like me. You'll be able to drastically cut down on faxing, paper jams and you will improve your quality of documents and of course your speed in transmission.
You can do it...I know you can.

Post-trial motions; Put your best foot forward.

One of the most excruciating moments for a trial lawyer is at "the moment of reckoning"[i.e. the verdict], when you get hit with a defense verdict, inconsistent or unexpectedly low verdict. Right before your eyes you see all the hard work , money expended , offers turned down etc....pass by. You have to look the client in the eye, console him and somehow assure him the fight is not over. Difficult stuff!
Well, there are two ways to go about things. Feel sorry for yourself and take the easy way out by making a quick oral motion , or "toughen up", request a briefing schedule, order some transcripts and put together the best possible post-trial motion that you and your law man are capable of. This is probably your best chance to address the verdict. You never know; you may even be able to develop some settlement dialogue. If you take your best shot and are unsuccessful, then you can appropriately advise the client that you will not be handling the appeal.
So the next time[hopefully not soon] you have one of these"gutwrenching moments", compose yourself, request to do a motion on the papers, suck it up and live to see another trial!

When funding a significant case, we always want to know who defense counsel is.

Let's face it, when all things are equal as to liability and damages, the particular liability carrier defending a case can greatly influence the value, the point the case settles and even whether a case will ultimately be tried.
Likewise, defense counsel can greatly impact a case. Not only through their skill, doggedness , ability never to leave any stone unturned but also in the way they can act as an obstacle towards settlement. If you've ever dealt with Leahy and Johnson or Landman, Corsi...you will probably go the entire course of the litigation without ever having any direct contact with the carrier. This makes it very difficult to settle a case. These types of firms, not coincidentally, seem to never allow a case to get settled before full -blown multiple ebt's are conducted and the filing of extensive dispositive motions. Is this the way the carrier wants things or just the way defense counsel does it?
So remember ,when we look at a case for the purpose of funding; on similar looking cases, we may assign completely different values depending on who is the liability carrier and what firm is defense counsel.
I'm sure you do to.

In New York if you handle construction accidents, Goldberg Segalla's Labor Law Update is a must read!

For those of you in New York who handle construction-worksite accidents, how would you like to get a quarterly update of all reported "Labor Law " decisions(with commentary)from each Appellate Division Dep't. and the Court of Appeals as well. Well look no further.
If you have not been receiving the "update " from Goldberg Segalla , contact them and request that you be added to their service list. The effort they put into preparing this lengthy newsletter is noteworthy. You really can't do without it .
So the next time a defendant makes a motion for summary judgment on "sole proximate cause", contact me and I'll send you over the latest issue of the "Labor Law Update."
Good luck!

Always, I mean Always, make sure that the driver of the rented vehicle was authorized as driver on rental contract.

You hate to ever learn an expensive lesson. I just witnessed first hand from a funder's point of view, a case that had all the makings of a $5 million case but ended up settling for a shade under a million. Funders were just lucky enough to get out with their investment back.
Here's the scenario. Plaintiff was a passenger in vehicle #2. Vehicle #1, a renta- car[under the old rules] hit vehicle #2. Vehicle #1's driver was highly intoxicated and was actually prosecuted. Plaintiff was in a coma for 3 weeks post-accident and suffered pretty significant TBI. Looks like a great case, right?
Well ordinarily under the old rules it would be. Here's the catch. Defendant driver, the girlfriend of the renter ,was not listed as"a driver" under the rental contract and furthermore she allegedly took the car without permission. The attorney never addressed these two issues until it was too late. Accordingly, the case tanked.
Moral of the story; In any renta-car case, establish that the defenndant driver was a listed driver under the rental contract and don't forget permissive use either. Good luck!

Utilizing the old Notice to Admit.

One of the great unused tools that Article 31 of the CPLR provides for is the Notice to Admit. The Notice to Admit can be used in premises cases to nail down ownership etc., mva cases on license plates etc. and of course in Labor Law cases to establish various elements of your prima facie case. Serious time frames are attached to them and defense counsel usually get "a little bent out of shape " when they are served.
There is even a provision in the CPLR when a party responds with an unreasonable denial. This will give rise to motion practice and possibly costs and sanctions. Plus defendants will know you're playing for real.
So the next time an issue comes up; think about sending a 77 paragraph notice to admit to the defendants.

What do you do if a client agrees to settlement and then renegs?

We've all been down the road to hell, where the client agrees to a large settlement and then refuses to execute a release. Obviously the best thing you can do is to put it "on the record" in open Court and to have the client take the stand and agree to it. Unfortunately, thousands of settlements are not concluded in open Court, but over the phone, via email or at mediation. At a mediation, I would definitely have the client sign the mediation agreement. I'm not ashamed to tell you , when I practiced, I carried a blank release [and retainer] in my bag at all times. You can always pen in the information and substitute a nice "typed version" later on.
So here's the scenario. You have the client's verbal consent to settle a case for $ 3 million. Not only do you get the 3 million; but you get a higher offer to settle from the defense counsel of $5 million. Well I know what I would do...hop in a car, taxi or plane if necessary ,and that night have the client sign the release and all closing documents. Letting the client "think about it" is totally unacceptable.
You can also call the assigned Judge's Chambers and ask to be fit in asap to place a sizable settlement on the record. As soon as you hang up with the client immediately send them an email confirming the settlement.(They have to respond affirmatively via email) Then confirm via email that the settlement is being accepted by the client with the carrier or defense counsel ,or both. Have them countersign the writing.
Then , no matter what time of day, get all the closing documents prepared and let the client know you're on the way to their home to have the release[etc.] signed. Once it is signed, federal express the release, stip. of discontinuance and any hold harmless agreements to the defendants to start the clock ticking under CPLR 5003(a). You're now home free...lost in thoughts about your one third fee, referring attorney, taxes, etc.... Ah, bliss!

What is the thing Plaintiff's Attorneys like doing least?

One gripe I always had about practice is that so much of your time is spent on "non-money making activities". For example, discovery responses, motion practice, 50h's, preliminary conferences, status conferences, client statuses, compliance conferences, and many other parts of litigation, while necessary are not true "money making" activities. How much of one's time is truly spent negotiating settlements, arbitrating, mediating, attending pre-trials or trying cases? A lot less time than you would think.
So what activity "takes the cake" as the least desirable? Compliance conference in the City Part, a 3'oclock Friday afternoon discovery motion, a compliance conference where you know you're going to get reamed for not supplying authorizations....Well you get the point.
To me the worst was the walkin, smelly, drunk client who comes in on a Friday afternoon at 4:30 for a status update. What do you think?

Judicial Handbook on sale for $74.95 from the Law Journal.

Got an email yesterday that the Judicial Handbook, published by the Law Journal is currently on sale for $74.95. In this day and age, with all the information available it certainly can't hurt to know a little about your assigned Judge's background, work history, political affiliations etc.
Definitely good to know if your assigned Judge (on a toxic tort case )was former in-house counsel to Monsanto, etc... Well, you get the point. Anyway, I'm getting it. Will let you know.

Don't Ask For A Reduced Payoff when the Case was Settled for Significant Money.

Every once in a while I will get a call or email from an attorney requesting to negotiate a payoff. The requests fall into 2 general categories;
a. Matters where the recovery was modest and there are multiple liens and
b. Matters where there was "a significant recovery" but the attorney just wants to put more money in the client's pocket.
Because our rates are so low and we assume all the risk, we are reluctant to negotiate at all; but we will in situation (a) above. We don't want to be easy, nor do we want to be an impediment towards resolution.
In situation (b) we will rarely, if ever negotiate. Clients and attorneys have to understand that funding advances are part of the eventual settlement proceeds. So to ask us to take less, just for the sake of taking less, I just don't buy it.
I guess the point I'm making is; "Pick and choose your spots". We will try to do the right thing!

Evaluating a case on appeal for funding purposes.

A growing part of the funding business is providing funding for both attorneys and clients where a plaintiff's verdict was taken and the matter is up on appeal. There is certainly available funding in these circumstances.
Several factors are looked at in evaluating the strength of the verdict which include;
1. The verdict itself; liability, comparative negligence and damages,
2. Amount of available insurance(who is the carrier),
3. Status of post-trial motions;Issues on appeal,
4. Were offers made before the verdict(how much),
5. Has a bond been posted by defendants?
6. Strength of the underlying liability and damages and
7. How long will appellate process take?
These are all pertinent factors considered in evaluating funding for a verdict on appeal.
Contact me if the situation arises for you or your client.
Best to all for the Labor Day holiday.

Civil Rights Cases; To fund there usually must be physical injury.

How many false arrest, false imprisionment, malicious prosecution cases and 42 U.S.C. 1983 cases are filed against the City of New York each year. Hundresds, if not thousands, I'm sure. Whatever the number, a great many do not involve actual physical injury claims. Yes, there are emotional injury and psychiatric injury claims, but the vast majority of those don't even have medical workup.
The City looks at these cases without physical injury or any real psychological workup "as a dime a dozen", unless someone served "real time" with a conviction later being vacated due to prosecutorial misconduct or DNA evidence.(i.e. see The Central Park Joggers Case).
So when your client who was falsely arrested and held for 12 hours in Central Booking comes to you for funding, be conservative, and don't encourage him. The end result will usually be a denial unless there is something really special about the case.
If you have a question/inquiry please contact me.

Refinance your client's funding deals; Do them (and yourself) a favor.

As you may recall, I blogged earlier about refinancing onerous, costly funding deals. You are really doing your client a solid favor if you do.
Real life case in point. Just did a deal where the client had an $850k verdict up on appeal. He owed three funders a total of about $92,000; average rate of the three was about 45% annually. Attorney asked me to consolidate and refinance the rate; which I did at 15% every 6 months, no monthly compounding.
So on our new deal it will cost the claimant around $28,000 per year. Under the old agreements , he would accrue about $45,000 /per year.
You be the judge: Did refinancing make sense? Contact me to discuss options that are available.

If you take a case , don't cut corners.

Being a plaintiff's attorney, you can easily get overwhelmed with stress, volume, time constraints, deadlines, crazy clients and cash-flow problems. Unfortunately, it's usually the client and the case that suffer[ultimately you] if you are unable or refuse to put the resources into a case. After trying cases for 20 yrs and funding for more than 5 yrs, I see day in and day out the stark differences in the workup and presentation of cases. For instance;
1. On a falldown/premises case, a good workup mandates an investigator, good digital color photos of the scene and an engineer;
2. On a motor vehicle accident, certain cases will necessitate a reconstruction expert or biomechanical engineer;
3. Medical malpractice cases require a "real review " from the inception;
4. Products cases-real expert needed and site inspection[see CPLR Section 3102(c) governing pre-suit inspections) and
5. In castostrophic injury cases there is no way to avoid hiring a life care planner, economist, voc. rehab expert and in many cases a photographer to do " a day in the life of".
There is now funding available for all these needs.