Law Technology

Adjuster Law: Not Enough Damage to the Car

Posted on November 19, 2009
I sent a demand package to an insurance company on a car wreck case with about $26,000 in bills for medical treatment and two herniated disks. The adjuster wanted us to get information on prior medical treatment because of the severity of the claim, they felt there had to be some pre-existing condition...

Funny Answer for Request on Information for an Expert

Posted on August 19, 2009
In a recent conversation: Question: Does anyone have any information on expert _______? Answer: You are in trouble.  ______ is formidable.  I have used the expert myself on several occasions.  The expert is well qualified, very articulate, makes a very good witness, quick on his/her feet, and is married to a judge...

Don Keenan and David Ball Seminar on the Reptilian Brain

Posted on May 23, 2009
I went to their seminare in Atlanta 2 weeks ago. Great, great stuff. Unfortunately, the book was still at the printers and won't be out for another week or so. They conducted a lot of focus groups and studies based on Clotaire Rapaille's work. Here is Rapaille's home page...

Update on Case Management Software

Posted on May 03, 2009
As many of you know, I have a penchance for case management and a background in programming and technology. Lately, Needles and TrialWorks have been the top two dogs in case management. Historically Needles was the leader and over the past 5 years, TrialWorks has been coming on strong and overtaking Needles as a better case management program...

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Why Listen to Me about Interrogation?

Posted on May 03, 2009
I've stayed out of the fray on this for as long as possible, but with the release of the memos from the Office of Legal Counsel, I juat have to include my opinion. As my readers know, I'm a plaintiff's attorney and the tagline of this blog is ‘Using Technology to Be a Better Trial Lawyer'...

Trial Works Online Takes a Quantum Leap in Case Management

Posted on May 03, 2009
TrialWorks has added a extra-net or web-based component to their program. They've always had the remote access, but this allows you to give anyone a username and a password and access to a portion of your database. You can give a new client access to their case information...

New Trial Tech from David Ball, Don Keenan, Jim Fitzgerald and Gary Johnson

Posted on May 02, 2009
  With his Damages book, David Ball gave plaintiff's attorneys a structured way to talk about damages and to present a case from opening statements throughout the trial. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say it revolutionized the courtroom for many plaintiff's attorneys...

How to Get the Last Dollar out of Mediation

Posted on February 24, 2009
One negotiating tactic that I can share we used today to get some extra money at mediation. But it should be used sparingly and in the right situation. We were in mediation today and the defense had topped out. After the first offer, it looked like they were going to top out in the $40,000 – $50,000 range...

Negotiating

Posted on February 24, 2009
One of my favorite parts of being a trial lawyer is negotiating. Getting the other side to pay more than they wanted to. In doing this for nearly ten years, I’ve picked up a few tricks of the trade. I am consistently getting about 20% more for the same case than I would five years ago...

My First Experience with Adjuster Law

Posted on February 15, 2009
When I was relatively new as a Plaintiff’s attorney, I received a call from a GEICO adjuster stating that at the beginning of December, that they wanted to take all of their cases and wrap them up for the year’s end. That a super adjuster was coming in from Atlanta and would take care of all the cases at once...

The Law According to Insurance Adjusters

Posted on February 12, 2009
Being an insurance adjuster is a hard job. They have to know a lot about medicine, law and insurance. Most adjusters also have a staggering caseload and are under fairly strict instructions on what they can and can’t pay from their company. I often get responses from adjusters on why they can’t pay a claim...

Workers Comp: Loss of Earning Capacity

Posted on February 12, 2009
Frequently when someone gets hurt on the job, they get well enough to work, but not in the same job and can’t earn as much money. South Carolina’s code to deal with that is 42–9–20, which reads: § 42-9-20. Amount of compensation for partial disability...

Smart Advocate - The Best Program that's NOT being Sold

Posted on February 10, 2009
I’ve had a strange odyssey in my search for case management programs. I knew I needed to upgrade, but honestly didn’t know how to manage my firm. I knew how to practice law, but not how to manage my practice. No problem, I thought. I’ll just get the best program out there, use the examples they have and then adjust and modify from there...

$15 iPhone Replacement

Posted on February 04, 2009
Yes. You read that right. Fifteen dollars. I cracked the glass on the front of my iPhone and sent it in for a replacement. However, that means I will be without a phone for 2–3 days. It turns out that Wal-Mart (of all places) sells a Go Phone. This is a pre-paid phone that allows you to get a cellphone without a contract or a credit check...

Third Party Vendors for Broken iPhone Glass

Posted on February 04, 2009
iPhones have a glass front that is easy to scratch. If you drop it, they break pretty easy. Unfortunately, the glass front of the iPhone is not covered under warranty. Even if you get the Applecare Protection Plan, the broken glass is not covered under the warranty...

I'm Back. Plus an Update on the Exercise

Posted on February 03, 2009
A lot of things have been going on lately and I’ve gotten out of the habit of posting. Hopefully that will be changing soon. Jessica and Eric are now 5 and 2. Erica just had her second birthday a few weeks ago and Jessica is in pre-kindergarden and is learning how to read...

Should You Videotape a Doctor's Deposition?

Posted on February 03, 2009
The best surgeons are best at surgery. Some of them are good speakers, some of them can teach, some of them can educate. A lot of them can’t. While it’s important for everyone in every profession to be able to get their point across, not every one can...

Cell Phone Use While Driving

Posted on October 14, 2008
In a recent discussion, several lawyers thought that a jury would react more harshly to a driver talking on a cell phone while getting into an accident than a drunk driver. It’s a conscious choice to talk on the phone in a traffic situation and I think that most people can relate to that...

Myrtle Beach Lawyer Returns from AAJ Ultimate Case Workshop

Posted on October 08, 2008
I just got back (well a few weeks ago), from AAJ’s Ultimate Case Workshop in Charlotte, NC. Wow, what a great experience. I can’t talk about specifics, but there were a few things I got the okay to share and I can share some of my general impressions from the workshop...

Hiring an Associate Lawyer in Myrtle Beach

Posted on September 21, 2008
I'm getting close to the point where I need to bring on another attorney. My options are: Associate Straight out of School Associate with 2–3 years experience Journeyman attorney with 5–10 years experience that doesn’t want to be a partner Partner I’m leaning towards hiring an associate...

Top 5 iPhone G3 Applications for Lawyers

Posted on September 18, 2008
We have a guest post from Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of the colleges for criminal justice. I wasn’t familiar with their site before talking to Kelly, but she has a very comprehensive site for anyone wanting a criminal justice degree, regardless of where you live, or whether you want to be in a regular classroom, take classes by correspondence or take on-line courses...

Lawsuit! the Board Game

Posted on August 24, 2008
I was recently sent a copy of Lawsuit! The Board Game. They describe the game as follows: is a fun and educational game for adults and children ages 6 and up. Players experience and learn about the law in a fun way as they make their way through law school, past the bar exam and into their own law practice and the courtroom...

What's the Game Plan for Your Practice?

Posted on August 23, 2008
I’ve been working with Cheryl Leone of Catalyst, Inc. for awhile. Cheryl is a very talented law firm coach. Cheryl has taught me to focus on the type of cases I take. In addition to traditional screening “Is it a good case?” but also is it a good fit for my practice and the resources in both staffing and money at the time...

What Do Your Reports Say?

Posted on August 18, 2008
There’s an old joke that goes “What time does your watch say it is?” and the response is “It doesn’t say anything. You have to look at it”. It’s the same way with reports and your cases. It doesn’t matter what reports you have or information you have on your cases...

Book Review: The Art of Learning

Posted on July 28, 2008
I just finished reading the Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. Josh was the young chess prodigy that was featured in the movie Waiting for Bobby Fischer. Well, Josh has gone from winning a number of National chess championships to moving to Tai Chi, a martial arts...

Some Thoughts on Interrogation and Questioning

Posted on July 26, 2008
I was an interrogator for the U.S. Army for 7 years and taught interrogation for 3 years. I learned a lot. Some of the things I learned that can be applied to being a trial lawyer:Proper Questioning: Ask the question you want the answer to. We speak in a lexical shorthand and are not as precise as we need to be...

Visiting Charleston, S.C., on the Cheap

Posted on July 26, 2008
The New York Times has an article on seeing visiting Charleston, S.C., on a Budget“WHEN celebrities and other well-heeled travelers fell in love with Charleston, S.C., drawn by its air of 19th-century elegance and its palm-fringed seacoast setting, the $400-a-night hotel room and the $100 dinner entree inevitably followed...

Attorney Reese Joye Dies

Posted on July 25, 2008
A lion of the Charleston bar, Reese Joy of the Joye Law Firm, died on Sunday morning. I didn’t know Reese well, but he was very well respected for how hard he worked and how prepared he was for his trials. Geoffrey Waggoner, tells a remembrance of Reese from his ‘early days’ of practicing law...

The Myrtle Beach Lawyer Gets in Shape

Posted on July 04, 2008
I know it’s off-topic, but being over 40, getting in the car wreck, having two children under the age of five, and being failry sedentary to begin with has taken it’s toll. I’ve decided that I have to do something about it. I’ve been doing cardio on a fairly consistent basis and that’s helped some, but not enough...

Effectiveness of MRI's on Diagnosing Spinal Problems

Posted on June 30, 2008
We have a guest post from David Ketroser. J.D., M.D. an attorney/doctor from Minnesota gives the following advice on backs and imaging:  There is extensive literature documenting that spinal imaging is essentially worthless for anything but showing what is causing the radiculopathy after the clinical diagnosis of radiculopathy has been made...

Making Money by Not Taking Cases

Posted on June 21, 2008
I did a very difficult thing yesterday. I turned down a case of a friend’s son. The facts aren’t important, other than it wasn’t a good case. Liability and causation of injuries were not there. There was a significant gap in treatment and even pain symptoms and the young man worked in construction...

What is Your Average Case Settlement?

Posted on June 04, 2008
I’ve been working with Cheryl Leone of Catalyst Group and one of the metrics that she harps on is the average case settlement. After being an injury lawyer for a period of time, I’ve noticed that if I divide the cases into smaller, medium and more substantial cases that they tend to follow the same pattern...

Should Lawyer's Use Facebook?

Posted on June 02, 2008
A friend recently asked with the advent of social networking, whether he should be on Facebook and what good is it? Here's an example of the power of social networking from Seth Godin's Blog. The flipside? A friend got into college last week. The university gave her a list of the kids from our state who also got in...

What Do You Want From Your Employees?

Posted on May 18, 2008
I was at a practice management retreat where they posed a question. Looking for a new staff member, you have the option of choosing two great people. The first has 20 years experience and can hit the ground running, but is very expensive. The second has limited experience, is a fast learner is relatively inexpensive, but will require training...

What Operating Systems Do You Use?

Posted on May 18, 2008
I was recently asked whether I use Windows of Mac OS X at home. I use Windows (Toshiba R500) and Max OS X (MacBook Pro), my wife uses a MacBook and my 4 year old daughter kicks it with Linux (Asus Eee PC). Hmmm…….I didn’t realize we had that much going on...

Why People Don't Like Lawyers

Posted on May 16, 2008
A guest post from a friend: Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.So this lawyer is in a doctor's office in Mount Pleasant yesterday. She is asked to present an identification with a picture so that herinsurance card and use can be confirmed. She IMMEDIATELY begins toyell loud enough for my friend (and the other 20 people in the waitingroom to hear): "I am a lawyer and I know the law...

Using Multi-Media at Trial

Posted on May 01, 2008
Here is a guest post from Brian White. As a Multimedia Trial Site Specialist, the general rule of thumb has always been that a "seamless" presentation plays best in front of a Jury. This means, in part, avoiding the use of on-screen toolbars and minimizing vocal communication between the presenting attorney and the tech specialist...

How to Ace a Job Interview with Me

Posted on April 17, 2008
I’m willing to give away a few secrets. Here is how to ace a job interview with me: Read this Blog Post – One of the first questions I ask is “What do you know about me?” It amazes me the number of people of people that don’t even take the time and effort to type my name in Google and see what pops up...

Give Your Staff Friday Afternoon Off

Posted on April 15, 2008
I got this idea from Cheryl Leone in Raleigh. At the beginning of April, we started leaving the office at 1:00 p.m. on Fridays. We cut the lunch hour from an hour to half an hour and came in half an hour early each day of the week. Then we work through lunch on Friday and leave at 1:00 p...

A Better Way to View Images on the Internet

Posted on April 14, 2008
The picture doesn’t do justice to how cool PicLens actually is.PicLens is a FireFox or Explorer add-on (yes, it also works with Safari) that allows you to scroll through pictures very quickly. Install it, go to Google Images and type in ‘herniated disk’ then click on the little > Play icon, and you will see a wall of herniated disks...

Once You Have the Answer You Want. Leave it Alone.

Posted on April 13, 2008
Some excellent advice from Evan Schaeffer at the Illinois Trial Practice Blog: Once you get good testimony at a deposition, you're best to leave the testimony alone. Take the good answer from the witness and move on.It seems like obvious advice, but some lawyers can't wait to read the good answer in the printed transcript...

SmartAdvocate New Case Management System on the Block

Posted on April 12, 2008
I am very interested in SmartAdvocate. It’s a new case management system that’s coming out on the market. It’s specifically geared towards, plaintiff’s personal injury work. It is an off-shoot of the in-house program that Parker & Waichman has been using...

New Laptop Toshiba Portege R500

Posted on March 26, 2008
I finally broke down and got a new laptop. For those who are long time readers, they know I’ve been searching for a laptop for awhile. I dearly loved my Japanese Panasonic Y2 but after three and a half years, it was time for an upgrade. After the third system failure in nine months, it really was time to get a new one...

What Cases Do You Take?

Posted on March 17, 2008
I was talking with a friend recently about case selection. He said he was taught to take the following cases:Limited Damages with Very Clear LiabilityTough Liability with Significant DamagesThat’s a good rule of thumb. It takes an awful lot of time and effort to gear up for trial, and you typically want significant damages to be cost effective, but if there’s very clear liability, you can do that with lesser damages...

Small, Lightweight VideoCamera that's EASY to Use

Posted on March 13, 2008
For years, I’ve bought computers with dvd-burners and looked at video editing software and have never been able to make anything work. All I want to do is do a 5–10 minute interview with my client and then pull 15 second clips out of the full length video...

Using iMacs to Build a Better Windows Network

Posted on March 06, 2008
 Okay, this is going to sound a bit odd, but my tech guy is using Apple iMacs to build a more stable, easier to maintain Windows network. About 2 years back, Apple started using the Intel processor in it’s computers, which is the same processor that Windows machines use...

Explaining Being a Plaintiff's Lawyer to a 4 Year Old

Posted on March 04, 2008
I was going to a mediation yesterday morning and was pulling everything together. My daughter wanted to know what I was doing. How do you explain being a lawyer to a small child? The conversation went something like this: Jessica: “What are you doing?”Me: “I’m preparing for mediation...

Court TV to Televise Horry County Murder Case

Posted on March 04, 2008
The Myrtle Beach Sun News  reports: truTV - formerly Court TV - will be stationed in the Horry County Courthouse to televise a pair of murder trials over the next two weeks.A trial for Richard Gagnon, accused of killing his estranged girlfriend's parents in 2006, is scheduled to start March 10...

How Fast Can You Make Your Case?

Posted on March 01, 2008
I go to a lot of seminars and conferences on how to be a better trial lawyer. There are always better ways to build your case, but they almost never focus on practice management on how to you can build your case faster. I’ve been talking to Cheryl Leone and she has emphasized this point...

Two Books on Building Cases

Posted on March 01, 2008
In a recent discussion, Kenn Suggs recommended the following books:The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making by Scott PlousLegal Blame by Neil FeigensteinKen’s not only a past President of AAJ, but also a helluva trial lawyer. So when he takes the time to give advice, I listen...

Calculating Witness Fees in South Carolina

Posted on February 27, 2008
In a recent discussion, John Nichols, reminded everyone where to find the current federal mileage rates Method of Calculating Mileage according to Rule 45(b)(1); andState Mileage Rate – which the SC Budget & Control Board generally follows the federal rate for "official travel of State officers and employees"...

Sending Print Jobs to Kinko's Online

Posted on February 18, 2008
I have started to use Kinko’s online printing feature and it works like a charm. I upload a .pdf to them and then a secretary can pick up the job the next day. It’s a lot more convenient than dropping the print job off in person and saves a lot of time.

Don't Use FindLaw or Martindale-Hubbell if You Want an Internet Presence

Posted on February 15, 2008
IN a recent discussion, some lawyers wanted to know whether they should use Martindale-Hubbell’s Lawyers.com or FindLaw. My personal opinion is that either is a huge waste of money. These are large law portals that are focused on building their brand and not on building your brand...

Marketing Ideas for Lawyers from Stacy West Clark

Posted on January 01, 2008
Tom Kane of the Legal Marketing Blog points to an article My 2007 Holiday Gift: Advice from Top Marketing Consultants by Stacy Clark. The bulletpoints of the advice is below. Click on the link for the full article. * Give so you can receive (Sally Schmidt)* Visit Clients (yours truly)* Fix up your web site (Deborah McMurray)* Don’t waste marketing dollars (Andy Havens)* Focus on your own market (Susan Saltonstall Duncan)* Spend 200 hours on marketing (Larry Bodine)* Have a plan (John Remsen)* Happy Birthday, client (Elizabeth Lampert)* Meet face to face (Sylvia Coulter)* Keep what works secret (Micah Buchdahl) I think these are all great ideas, but I don’t agree with Micah Buchdahl’s suggestion of keeping what works secret...

Holiday Fun

Posted on December 31, 2007
JibJab, those people that brought the very funny political parody of 2004, where they skewered both sides, has a new service. You can upload pictures, trim the heads and put your own family and friends in the video. Here is one I did with my daughters, Jessica and Erica...

My Goals for the Firm for 2008

Posted on December 17, 2007
It’s the time of year to take stock.  Looking back at the year we’re finishing and the year ahead. One of my goals is to get cases prepared and moving as quick as possible. Cases don’t do any good sitting in the filing cabinet. So here are the goals: Demand Packages are prepared and sent out within 30 days of the client finishing treatment...

How to Challenge an Expert with Excellent Credentials

Posted on December 03, 2007
In DesKuys v. Berkowitz, the plaintiff received a $1 Million Dollar Verdict. Bernard Smalley obtained a million dollar verdict after the defense lawyer argued that his expert witness, with an 86-page resume, must be believed. In rebuttal, Bernie told the jury that Richard Nixon had a longer resume, and he lied...

Accessing Your Computer Remotely at a Fast Speed

Posted on November 17, 2007
I’ve been using some form of remote computing since 1989. First starting with PCAnywhere and then moving to GoToMyPC. PCAnywhere is a software based solution and GoToMyPC is a web based subscription solution. When PCAnywhere got bought out by Symantec, they started upgrading so frequently that I decided to go with GoToMyPC...

Don't Keep the Jury Waiting

Posted on October 30, 2007
Fellow trial attorney Ronnie Richter was recently on jury duty and had the I was recently called for jury duty in Charleston County.  I did not get picked (surprise) to sit on a jury, but was called on 3 separate occasions to the jury assembly room...

Try a Medical Mis-Management Case

Posted on October 27, 2007
I have a number of notes from seminars that I’ve attended the past year and I don’t know where the information came from or who said it. It’s good stuff, so I  am going to post it without attribution. Please let me know if you’re the one the information came from and I’ll change the post to reflect that...

Back in the Saddle Again

Posted on October 22, 2007
Well, I’ve seriously slowed down on the blogging, lately. A few people have been kind enough to check and see if I’m okay. A combination of our second child and a car wreck have slowed me down. The second child has been a lot more work than I thought...

Apple Comes Out with an iPhone without the Phone

Posted on September 09, 2007
I was really excited about the iPhone coming out. It looked like Apple spent a lot of time on the interface and worked to make it very simple to use. Anyone that has seen a demonstration of the iPhone with expanding or collapsing text by taking two fingers on the screen and pulling them apart or pushing them together can’t help but be taken by the gadget...

Going with the Toshiba Laptop

Posted on September 09, 2007
 After a lot of deliberation, I decided to go with the Toshiba R500. General specs are 12” LED screen, 19mm pitch keyboard, 8.5” x 11” footprint, 2 gigabytes of RAM, 64 gig solid state drive, internal DVD burner that is only 7mm thick, About 3/4 inch thick and it only weighs 1...

The Myrtle Beach Lawyer Goes Digital

Posted on August 15, 2007
After that great guest post on using an open source PBX system, I thought I would share what we’ve been working on. We’ve been working on taking the entire office electronic. It’s time to take the office digital. What does that mean? Documents Will be Digital – Everything coming in or going out of the office will be scanned...

Going Digital for Phone Service

Posted on August 14, 2007
Today we have a guest post from James Torres, of Indialantic, Florida. James is using VOIP, landlines, cell phones and all with an open source computerd based PBX program. It sounds fascinating. Take it away James: Let me preface this by agreeing in advance that I am a total geek...

How Does a Case Get a Year Behind?

Posted on August 10, 2007
I’ve been reading The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick Brooks. Why would a lawyer be reading an essay on software engineering? Because it’s all about project management. Some of it is computer specific, but the vast bulk of the book is how to get a large group of talented people all going in the same direction...

Shopping for a New Laptop, Continued

Posted on July 16, 2007
Panasonic Y-7 – The Old StandbyThis is Panasonic’s newer version of the Y-2. 14.1” screen, full 19mm pitch keyboard, built-in cd/dvd burner, lots of RAM, 160 gig hard-drive and Windows XP and weighing in at 3.3 pounds. It even comes in colors now...

Shopping for a New Laptop

Posted on July 15, 2007
Time for a new laptop. What features am I looking for? Weight Under 4 Pounds – This is a definite requirement. The lighter the better. I take my laptop with me everywhere that I would take a pad of paper. It needs to be in the 3 pound (or lighter) range...

A Good Case with a Bad Client is a Bad Case

Posted on December 31, 1969
No matter how good the case is, if you have a ‘bad client’, it’s still a bad case. What is a bad client? Unreasonable ExpectationsWon’t Follow Reasonable Medical AdviceWon’t Follow Reasonable Legal AdviceAbusiveWhen people get injured, they’re in pain, they’re out of work, money is tight and at times they get stressed...