Personal Injury Law

What is the "Million Dollar Advocates Forum?"

By Gerry Oginski

Answer: It means that they have paid a fee of $400, and filled out a form claiming that they have achieved a verdict or settlement on behalf of a client in an amount of $1 Million dollars or more. That's it. There's no verification process, there's no organization that checks or confirms that the lawyer did in fact achieve such a result. Rather, this organization relies on the lawyer to accurately state that this is the result they achieved. Oh yes, did I mention that they have to pay a $400 to get their fancy "Certificate" that they can now hang in their office to show everyone who walks in?

Here's my question: Why does a lawyer feel the need to display a certificate, that they paid for, to show clients and friends what they have achieved? In my opinion, they don't. Instead, why don't these lawyers simply enlarge an exhibit from that million-dollar case, and with a title, or sub-heading, indicate that the attorney achieved a result of "X Million Dollars." This way the lawyer saves the $400, and doesn't need to hang an expensive certificate that has nothing to do with any official legal organization or bar association.

Question: "Are you eligible to become a member of this 'fee-for-certificate' organization?"

Answer: Yes, I am. But I don't need a certificate to show my clients and prospective clients the results I achieved for my former clients. Instead, I'd show them the tangible results, like a copy of the multi-million dollar check I obtained for a young man whose heart attack was missed despite every warning sign, or a copy of the deposition transcript of an eye doctor who inexplicably cut my client's optic nerve causing her to be permanently blind. Or how about the young woman who was in a car accident and had a CAT scan of her head showing she had an unrelated tumor that was compressing the optic nerve? The only problem was that nobody bothered to tell my client that she had this benign tumor. She too, lost total vision in her eye because of medical malpractice. Or how about the $1.5 Million dollar judgment I achieved on behalf of a family whose son was shot to death by a deranged store owner?

So, to answer the question, yes I am able to get this certificate, as long as I pay my $400 fee. In my opinion, my clients don't need a fancy certificate to show them what I've accomplished- they can speak to my former clients and judge for themselves.

Full post as published by New York Medical Malpractice Blog on May 14, 2008 (boomark / email).