While working as an insurance adjuster in DC. my truck was totalled
from the rear by a commercial cargo van. No broken bones but a trip to
the ER was in order as my head was propelled through the rear glass
and I had an arm stinger. The arm still gets numb at times and the
headaches are incessant as is the pain of the 2 bulging disks in my
neck and lower back. After returning home to New Orleans I hired an
"accident specialist" who seemed eager to sign me up. Upon examination
of the contract I balked at the wording that could leave me without 1
cent after all of his expences were deducted. After 7 months of
treatment by various specialists it is concluded I may need neck and
knee operations as well as have memory loss and headaches . During my
last meeting with "Doctor H" as the nurses laughingly refer to my
lawyer as he pulls out loan papers for me to sign a $10,000 loan with
he as co-signer to go into a trust to "cover the cost of the knee
repair",with future loans for other procedures. I decided to not sign
the papers and am considering firing him and asking the insurance Co.
for a 4 times damage of the pending operations and treatment and
using the memory loss and headaches as a trump card. 17K Dr. bills
with 15K knee, and 35k neck operations pending for a total of 245k.
The granite Co. that hit me has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
dollar coverage. I only want what is fair and will probably never be
a commercial adjuster again. The open contract and the presentation of
the loan has soured me on him. Any thoughts?

newrichmexico@yahoo.com (new orleans rich) wrote in message
news:<tt5gg09dqgqn2qv5pr72b9rfi5mqgire85@4ax.com>... While working as an insurance adjuster in DC. my truck was totalled from the rear by a commercial cargo van. No broken bones but a trip to the ER was in order as my head was propelled through the rear glass and I had an arm stinger. The arm still gets numb at times and the headaches are incessant as is the pain of the 2 bulging disks in my neck and lower back.

Sorry to hear about your accident. Maybe you can spread the word to
your fellow adjusters that people whose cars get hit in traffic
accidents but have no broken bones, really _do_ get injured. Many of
your colleagues seem to think that all soft tissue "injury" claims
(i.e. "whiplash") are fake. NOT.
After returning home to New Orleans I hired an "accident specialist" who seemed eager to sign me up.

Of course he was, if you were genuinely injured. That's how he earns
his living, representing accident victims. That's how I earn _my_
living. Good new clients are always welcome.
Upon examination of the contract I balked at the wording that could leave me without 1 cent after all of his expences were deducted.

Sure that's possible, but unlikely. His fee is a percentage of the
gross recovery, so if you get an unexpectedly small recovery, his fee
is proportionately smaller too. Some contingent-fee attys are willing
to agree up front to waive recovery of expenses in case you lose to
the Defendant at trial or otherwise don't recover enough money to
cover the legal expenses. That is separate of course from your
medical bills, which would be yours to pay (or submit to your ins.
co.) whether or not you were represented by a lawyer and/or pursuing
an injury claim. Yes, often the jury awards victims less than the
amount of their medical expenses, and nothing for pain and suffering.
They have listened well to the years of propaganda put out by
insurance companies that plaster all injury claimants as fakers and as
the reason local doctors, churches, playgrounds, etc. can't afford
insurance. So juries are quite happy to minimize the damages they
award, esp. in a "soft tissue" case like yours, where (in their view)
the amount of treatment seems excessive in relation to the soft-tissue
nature of the injury.
After 7 months of treatment by various specialists it is concluded I may need neck and knee operations as well as have memory loss and headaches.

It's easier, but still no slam dunk, to convince juries you are really
injured if you needed surgery. But sometimes, they think the surgeon
is just running up bills by doing unnecessary surgery too, and the
insurance companies' defense lawyers are happy to lead them to that
conclusion.
During my last meeting with "Doctor H" as the nurses laughingly refer to my lawyer

You give us no idea why they should do that. Is he trying to diagnose
you? Or just trying to help you get the treatment you need from the
right kinds of doctors? If he referred you to the doctors, does that
mean _he's_ playing doctor? No, but many defense attys would like to
get juries to believe so.
as he pulls out loan papers for me to sign a $10,000 loan with he as co-signer to go into a trust to "cover the cost of the knee repair",with future loans for other procedures. I decided to not sign

OK. Do you have some _other_ means to pay for your surgery? He's
offering you a favor by advancing you the money, and you get mad? So
submit the claim to your health insurance.
the papers and am considering firing him and asking the insurance Co. for a 4 times damage of the pending operations and treatment and using the memory loss and headaches as a trump card. 17K Dr. bills with 15K knee, and 35k neck operations pending for a total of 245k.

Go ahead and ask, but even though you're an experienced ins. adjuster
and may do better than the average Joe who represents himself, I
strongly doubt they will offer you anywhere near the amount you are
asking. And then you will be crawling back asking the lawyer to
represent you again. And, assuming the loan from your atty was
necessary to that purpose, how are you going to get that surgery,
without the funds up front? Lots of luck dealing with the
tortfeasor's ins. co.
The granite Co. that hit me has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollar coverage.

That doesn't mean they're going to offer it all to you. My guess is
they will want to minimize the value of unliquidated claims to save
their company money, just like any other adjuster does.
I only want what is fair and will probably never be a commercial adjuster again.

To get what's fair, IMO you will almost certainly need a lawyer.
Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. If you don't want or
need a loan to cover your medical expenses, tell your lawyer that.
But you're going to incur those expenses anyway, one way or another.
That's not the lawyer's fault -- in fact, it's due to the injury
regarding which you hired him to help you. So when he offers to help
above and beyond the basic call of duty, by advancing funds to you --
something he is _not_ required to do -- you get mad? I don't follow
your logic.
The open contract and the presentation of the loan has soured me on him. Any thoughts?

I'm not going to try to convince you that negotiating with adjusters
using lawyers is better than going it alone. If you don't already
feel that way based on your years of experience in the industry, I'd
be very interested to know why, if you're willing to tell us. Good
luck handling your own case.

--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.

Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300

"new orleans rich" <newrichmexico@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:tt5gg09dqgqn2qv5pr72b9rfi5mqgire85@4ax.com... While working as an insurance adjuster in DC. my truck was totalled from the rear by a commercial cargo van. No broken bones but a trip to the ER was in order as my head was propelled through the rear glass and I had an arm stinger. The arm still gets numb at times and the headaches are incessant as is the pain of the 2 bulging disks in my neck and lower back. After returning home to New Orleans I hired an "accident specialist" who seemed eager to sign me up. Upon examination of the contract I balked at the wording that could leave me without 1 cent after all of his expences were deducted. After 7 months of treatment by various specialists it is concluded I may need neck and knee operations as well as have memory loss and headaches . During my last meeting with "Doctor H" as the nurses laughingly refer to my lawyer as he pulls out loan papers for me to sign a $10,000 loan with he as co-signer to go into a trust to "cover the cost of the knee repair",with future loans for other procedures. I decided to not sign the papers and am considering firing him and asking the insurance Co. for a 4 times damage of the pending operations and treatment and using the memory loss and headaches as a trump card. 17K Dr. bills with 15K knee, and 35k neck operations pending for a total of 245k. The granite Co. that hit me has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollar coverage. I only want what is fair and will probably never be a commercial adjuster again. The open contract and the presentation of the loan has soured me on him. Any thoughts?

I'm not a lawyer (and I don't play one on TV), but my advice is for you to
check with at least two other attorneys. The one you have has already lost
your trust.

Good luck!

Gary

--
<------------------------------->
Figure X out which X letters to remove to X e-mail me.

new orleans rich wrote: While working as an insurance adjuster in DC. my truck was totalled from the rear by a commercial cargo van.

It would seem to me that you are an expert here or have access to experts if
not expert in this specific field.
No broken bones but a trip to the ER was in order as my head was propelled through the rear glass and I had an arm stinger. The arm still gets numb at times and the headaches are incessant as is the pain of the 2 bulging disks in my neck and lower back. After returning home to New Orleans I hired an "accident specialist" who seemed eager to sign me up. Upon examination of the contract I balked at the wording that could leave me without 1 cent after all of his expences were deducted. After 7 months of treatment by various specialists it is concluded I may need neck and knee operations as well as have memory loss and headaches .

The words "may" and "concluded" do not go together logically. Either the
medical decision is that you need surgery or you do not.
It seems from the balance of your post that you do or that you are going to
have it needed or not.
During my last meeting with "Doctor H" as the nurses laughingly refer to my lawyer as he pulls out loan papers for me to sign a $10,000 loan with he as co-signer to go into a trust to "cover the cost of the knee repair",with future loans for other procedures.

I don't get the joke about Doctor H here. Is it that he is a loan shark or
so notorious that the nurses think that he is a thief? Or do they think he
incompetent or is it that his customers end up in worse medical condition
due to having surgeries that they don't need? Is he in a conspiricy with
certain doctors to perform unneeded medical procedures or not perform needed
ones? Why is is a joke that an attorney is lending you money to get needed
surgery if you can't afford to get the surgery and don't have insurance
coverage yourself? I think it strange, but not worth laughing about unless
I'm missing something.
I decided to not sign the papers and am considering firing him and asking the insurance Co. for a 4 times damage of the pending operations and treatment and using the memory loss and headaches as a trump card. 17K Dr. bills with 15K knee, and 35k neck operations pending for a total of 245k. The granite Co. that hit me has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollar coverage. I only want what is fair and will probably never be a commercial adjuster again. The open contract and the presentation of the loan has soured me on him. Any thoughts?

I can't answer for anybody but me here on this forum, but I'm sure nobody
can answer whether your dollar amounts demanded are reasonable or obtainable
without a full evaluation of your injuries and an evaluation of awards given
similar injuries in the jurisdiction where you are --assuming the insurance
coverage is as wide as you say it is. As far as you firing the attorney,
whether you can do so without consequences would demand examination of any
agreements you have with him. He may have a binding agreement with you and
may have already put out significant out of pocket expenses. You can't
expect him to just ignore these expenses and let you settle with the
insurance company on your own. He is not in business for his own amusement.

As far as you retaining this attorney, you signed with him and have not
mentioned any duress in doing so. You have an obligation to either follow
though or to end your contract according to its terms which may end up with
you owing this man liquidation damages.

-paul
ianal

"new orleans rich" <newrichmexico@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:tt5gg09dqgqn2qv5pr72b9rfi5mqgire85@4ax.com...
While working as an insurance adjuster in DC. my truck was totalled from the rear by a commercial cargo van. No broken bones but a trip to the ER was in order as my head was propelled through the rear glass and I had an arm stinger. The arm still gets numb at times and the headaches are incessant as is the pain of the 2 bulging disks in my neck and lower back. After returning home to New Orleans I hired an "accident specialist" who seemed eager to sign me up. Upon examination of the contract I balked at the wording that could leave me without 1 cent after all of his expences were deducted. After 7 months of treatment by various specialists it is concluded I may need neck and knee operations as well as have memory loss and headaches . During my last meeting with "Doctor H" as the nurses laughingly refer to my lawyer as he pulls out loan papers for me to sign a $10,000 loan with he as co-signer to go into a trust to "cover the cost of the knee repair",with future loans for other procedures. I decided to not sign the papers and am considering firing him and asking the insurance Co. for a 4 times damage of the pending operations and treatment and using the memory loss and headaches as a trump card. 17K Dr. bills with 15K knee, and 35k neck operations pending for a total of 245k. The granite Co. that hit me has hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollar coverage. I only want what is fair and will probably never be a commercial adjuster again. The open contract and the presentation of the loan has soured me on him. Any thoughts?

yes ... go get a good, reputable personal injury lawyer; do not do this by
yourself and do not do it with a schmuck ... it may take a little work to
find the right lawyer but it will be worth the time