I. Determine If There Is A Case: Immediately after signing up a case, a personal injury attorney begins an investigation to determine who is at fault, whether or not there were any injuries caused by the accident, and what insurance is available for recovery. The attorney may hire an accident investigator to examine the vehicle, premises, and scene to take photos of the evidence and interview any witnesses. The attorney will also order all medical records associated with the injury victim including records from before the accident, the EMS reports, and records from the first and subsequent doctor visits. Pre-existing conditions are fully explored to determine if the new injury is an aggravation of an existing injury. The attorney will also request and then examine insurance coverage documentation for 1. the at fault parties including the owner of the vehicle, driver, and employer and 2. all possible coverage that may be available to the injury victim such as uninsured motorist coverage, health insurance, PIP, and medical payment’s coverage.

II. Compile and Send A Demand Package: Once the attorney has determined that there is a claim, a demand package is prepared. The package can consist of the following documents: crash report, photos of the vehicle/accident scene, property damage report, EMS report, ER records, doctor reports, diagnostic tests, medical bills, prior medical records, final medical evaluation, expert witness reports, witness statements, evaluation of future medical expenses, and an evaluation of loss of future earning capacity. The package is introduced by a letter from the attorney which summarizes all the information and states the “demand” to the insurance company that they pay a certain amount of money within a certain period of time.

III. Conduct Negotiations: After the insurance company receives and reviews the demand package, it will make an initial offer to settle the case. In the instances where the offer is the maximum limit of coverage, typically the client and attorney will decide to accept it. Other times, when the offer is much less than the client and attorney believe the recovery should be, negotiations begin. Offers can continue for many rounds until either the offer is accepted by the client or a lawsuit is filed. It is important to understand that there are advantages to settling claim before a lawsuit is filed. Advantages include lower attorney fees, lower case costs, quick availability of cash, less stress, and a guaranteed outcome.

IV. File A Lawsuit: If the highest offer made by the insurance company is rejected, the next phase in the personal injury claim process is to serve a complaint (i.e. file a lawsuit). The attorney will file the complaint on the people who they believe are legally at fault for the accident and injuries. In Wisconsin, there can be more than one person that is deemed legally at fault and more than one person can contribute to causing the accident. Each person believed to be at fault is served with the complaint. Once the lawsuit is filed, the attorneys proceed with interrogatories, requests for records, depositions, and motions.

V. Conduct Mediation: Mediation is when both sides come together with a mediator (usually a retired judge) to try and settle the case without going to a courtroom. Each side gets time to explain the case as they know it and present any exhibits. Then each side goes into separate rooms while a mediator goes back and forth between the parties attempting to reach a settlement.  If a settlement is reached, the insurance company will usually cut a check within 2-3 weeks and the lawsuit is dropped.

VI. Conduct a Trial: If a settlement was not reached in mediation, a date for trial is set. A jury will be picked to determine who was at fault and how much money, if any, is to be awarded. Trials can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on how many witnesses are put on the stand.

VII. Administer An Appeal: The insurance company always has the right to appeal the verdict or rulings of the judge. Appeals can take years to resolve. If an appellate court judge orders a new trial, the process is started over.

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For more information on the Wisconsin Personal Injury Process.

So, what should you do?

Unfortunately, in Wisconsin, and most predominately the City of Milwaukee, you do not have to do a thing. Attorneys, intermediaries, legal and medical coordinators, insurance agents and representatives of doctors offices will be flying to you. Your telephone may right. Someone may tell you that the hospital has assigned you a doctor or a lawyer. You Many find a business card in your door or mailbox. You may notice an attorney is now “following” you on twitter.Your mailbox is filled with promotional literature on personal injury attorney firms!

There are other variations of this scene and its important to know it is all a scam. “Runners” sometimes drive around with police scanners in their car. You may have an accident, and they appear asking if they can drive you to a doctor or lawyer. I have heard of tow truck drivers or body shops that also do this. There are reports of runners walking hospital hallways and entering rooms or striking up conversation in hospital waiting rooms, all while passing out their business cards. Runners may call themselves “Legal Referral Service” or “Medical Referral Service” or something similar. Don’t be fooled.

There are stories of people who have been injured and riding in the ambulance when the ambulance attendant passes them a cell phone to speak with an attorney. Others have reported that the tow truck drivers have dropped off their car at the auto repair shop and then offered to drive the injured person to a lawyer’s office.

The following are things that you should know if you have or are ever in an accident.

Hospitals do not assign anyone an accident or injury lawyer. A patients file including phone number and other contact information are kept confidential and never distributed without your permission. If the hospital refers you to a doctor other than your family doctor, they usually will give you a list of doctors with several names to chose from, which is ok.

The people running around with business cards, calling you, following yo9u on twitter, or offering to drive you to a doctor or lawyer (called “runners”) are not doing so out of pure kindness. They are getting paid. In the most outrageous cases, lawyers may offer you money directly. This is illegal. These are the kind of professionals that give all lawyers and doctors a bad rap. You should not want an attorney or doctor that gets patients this way. Any lawyer or doctor that would pay cash for a case can not be any good. The best lawyers act legally and ethically. They are the ones that do not call you first.

Insurance companies know who the dishonest lawyers are. They have departments staffed by retires law enforcement agents whose only job is to discover fraud. Even if you have a legitimate injury and case, if your lawyer is known to be dishonest, you may be investigated and watched.

So, how should you find an ethical personal injury attorney?

First and Foremost, you should be looking for an attorney that is not looking for you! Toss all the mail solicitations, block attorney “followers” on twitter, politely take business card from an y runner or person lingering in the medical facility and then throw them away. You have 3 options left: turn on TV and listen to 30 second attorney commercial (won’t learn much about the firm beyond “one call that’s all” or “don’t drop the ball, just call” ); pull out the yellow pages (not much here either since there is limited space and again filled with slogans and jargon; go to your computer and search for your type of accident or injury (finally, you will be getting solid facts, listings of experience and even free information). We would recommend searching for your type of accident using the location in your search terms (ex: Wisconsin Bicycle Accident Attorney) or your type of injury using your location in your search terms (ex: Wisconsin Brain Injury Attorney).

Once at the website, we recommend  spending some time, clicking around the site to find useful information that the firm provides. Are there any free guides that you can order? Are there any injury tools available such as a migraine diary? Are there any symptom checklists that you can print off for your use? Does the site have a blog that you can go to to find more information on your injury?

Once you have read over the information from various sites, contact the attorney using the contact method that you feel most comfortable. The firm should have on their website multiple contact options that you can choose from (i.e. instant chat, case evaluation form, email address, phone number, etc.).

Once you have contacted the attorney, ask him/her questions that help you determine who will actually be handling your case from start to finish, what is their experience with the particular injury you have sustain, who are their experts on these injuries, if the case does not settle, are they prepared to go to trial? (Very important note: If the attorney says he can get you a “quick” settlement, politely finish the conversation and move on to the next attorney. Quick settlement discussion at the onset of your case can only mean less compensation for you the injured individual).

Good luck in your pursuit for justice and your road to recovery, both financially and medically. If you would like to speak with an experienced Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney, please do not hesitate to click on the link, view the website, and contact Attorney Randy Rozek.

Question:

Answer: The simple answer is, you won’t. A jury will never know if the defendant has insurance or how much he/she may have. Attorneys and judges are prohibited from mentioning whether the defendant is insured. If they do, a mistrial will occur.

Typically, if a trial is scheduled to occur, it will be safe for you to assume that the defendant has insurance. A plaintiff lawyer will rarely devote the countless hours of time it takes to pursue a claim unless there is a guaranteed source of recovery- that being an insurance policy.

You many find it interesting to know that most personal injury attorneys would rather have a judge decide the case rather than a jury. This is due to the skepticism that citizens have of injured plaintiffs. Oftentimes, this skepticism of a legitimate claim causes jurors to refuse to award money to those who are legitimately hurt. Insurance companies and their defense lawyers are completely aware that juries typically award less money to an injured plaintiff than an experienced judge. That’s why in more than 90% of personal injury lawsuits, its the defendant (or more like their insurance company) that requests the jury.

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If you have been injured and have questions about the legal process in Milwaukee including the costs and benefits of filing a personal injury claim, please contact an experienced Milwaukee Personal Injury Attorney who can walk you through the process and answer your questions before you make a decision.

The recent popularity of Web 2.0 and Social Media sites have prompted the insurance industry to take notice. Many insurance companies now routinely utilize software programs that “scour” the Internet for social media information on injury victims. This includes all the popular social networking sites, including:

• FaceBook.com
• Twitter.com
• MySpace.com
• LinkedIn.com
• Classmates.com
• Ning.com
• Tagged.com
• Friendster.com
• and dozens of other sites

For years, unscrupulous defense attorneys hired by these insurance companies have used the formal discovery process to intimidate and harass personal injury victims. These defense attorneys now see social networking information as a new means to harass personal injury victims. Unfortunately, many judges have ruled in favor of defense attorneys and their insurance company clients in ordering the production of all of the social networking communications  under the theory that injury victims do not have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” when they communicate through these sites.

There have also been instances where defense attorneys have asked their legal assistants, paralegals, and even family members to “friend” an injury victim in order for the defense attorney to obtain the social networking communications. While this clearly violates the Wisconsin Supreme Court Rule prohibiting communications with a person that is represented by a different attorney, the damage may have already been done.

If you have been involved in a Wisconsin personal injury accident, be cognizant of the fact that there is an insurance company out their trying to invade your privacy and ALWAYS assume they will be reading your social networking status updates, posts and messages.

For more insight on how to protect your Wisconsin Personal Injury Case, Order your free copy of a Consumer’s Guide to Personal Injury Claims in Wisconsin.

The women who was hit head on was severely injured. Her entire left forearm was broken and her right knee cap was shattered. She was forced to quit her job due to the injuries and has not able to do just about any activity until recently. Her last surgery was preformed in early 2009, however, she is still receiving treatment.  It is most likely that she will need a knee replacement in the future and the metal in her arm may never be removed.  She hurts everyday.

Prior to getting behind the wheel, the intoxicated driver was at a local tavern and was clearly over served.

Also, the intoxicated driver was uninsured with no assets. The victim only had $50,000 of uninsured motorist coverage. Therefore, the only way for the injured women to get her medical bills paid would be to file a law suit., and since the intoxicated driver did not have insurance, the injury victim would need to sue the tavern for over serving a patron.

Unlike many other states that allow for a claim to be filed against a bar owner for negligent behavior (over serving a customer), Wisconsin is one of the few states without Dram Shop Liability. Pursuant to Sec. 125.035 Wisconsin Statutes, bars are not held responsible for over-serving customers who later crash and injure another person.

This Wisconsin law unfairly burdens the taxpayers, through government assistance programs and the health care system, to pay millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills that could and more importantly SHOULD be paid by bar owners insurance for negligently over serving its patrons.

For more information on Wisconsin Law and Drunk Driving