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.
Showing posts with label expert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label expert. Show all posts
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