I guess the first questions should be, Do I Need a Lawyer? Then ask yourself if you have selected someone before the need arises and you are stressed out?
I meet many people who can’t answer the simple question…Who is your Lawyer? They can name their Plumber and Electrician, but they don’t know the name of their lawyer….which probably means they have not considered the question.
I ask these people, What are you waiting for? Finding a lawyer is not something you want to leave until you urgently need one. Unfortunately “people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan”! I recommend everyone plans now, BEFORE the need arises and you are stressed and have to make a decision RIGHT AWAY when you have been in an accident or arrested for a DUI.
However, not everyone needs a lawyer and that may include you. Before talking or signing anything, call for a FREE Confidential Strategy Analysis Consultation. If you don’t need a lawyer Gribow promises he will tell you. He advises if he doesn’t accept your case, he will personally direct you. He now limits the caseload so calls are answered the “Old Fashioned” way…by Dale. Whether or not he accepts your case, he will personally direct you, because after 50 years he knows the good lawyers.
He warns, you should only hire a local lawyer who focuses on PI or DUI cases. “Don’t hire a non-local, TV/Billboard advertising lawyer, who hasn’t walked in your shoes as a fellow accident victim, tell you how to tie your laces.” You need an Esquire, not an Escort!
Lawyers advertise: Call Me if you have been in an accident, or …I will get you maximum recovery! Most will tell you the same thing…get medical treatment, take your car to a body shop, don’t talk or sign anything etc. However, it’s not that easy, however, as a young PI lawyer, I thought that was all there was to it.
I learned there was more to a PI case than seeing a chiro, and in those days settling for 3 times the meds… which is sadly no longer the case with most ins co’s. I had not yet learned about how to maximize a recovery. I was yet to learn about the psychological overlay after an accident. This includes when driving and hear breaks screech, constantly looking in the rear and side view mirrors, or having nightmares about the accident etc.
As a new lawyer, I didn’t know how to maximize a recovery with Loss of Past Earnings AND loss of Future Earnings, let alone future medical issues that could surface in 6 months to a few years. I didn’t understand why the plaintiff should not let their next door neighbor fix their car at a discount or why, when they were driving an expensive MBZ, they should be limited to the $35-50 a day that the insurance company offers for a cheap rental, when they should be able to rent a comparable car.
Many victims, thinking they are ok, later have problems, and then it is hard to prove they were from the accident. Many say, the most beautiful curve on a woman’s body is her smile, which disappears after an accident. Though she may initially think she is ok, she should still get a complete medical exam from a Doc who focuses on PI’s. An accident victim needs a doctor who understands symptoms don’t always surface the week after an accident and then knows how to document them in a med/legal report.
As a young lawyer I didn’t understand how important the med/legal report was, in addition to finding a specialized doctor, including an orthopedist and psychologist. For decades Gribow has advocated retaining a lawyer who can “assist” your doctor with a good med/report. Many of our local docs were not taught how to a write a medical legal report in “Their Medical School.”
