Q: I talked to a personal injury attorney who I saw advertised on TV. I was in an accident where the defendant rear-ended me. The attorney wanted to charge me a contingent fee of 40% of the recovery. Is this normal?

A: In my view, a contingent fee of 40% in a car accident case is ridiculously high.

To learn more, check out the full FAQ here at BenGlassLaw.com.

Some claimants who interview personal injury attorneys attempt to hide the fact that they have been in prior accidents or had prior injuries. This is always a bad idea.

In order for your attorney to give you the best possible advice about your claim you must divulge the good the bad and the ugly. Let your attorney be in the best position to figure out a strategy for handling these facts. They may not hurt your case at all but attempting to hide the facts or to hide the truth in any way is always a bad idea.

Remember, the insurance companies have access to huge databases of information about you. If there has ever been a claim paid to you for an injury or even for property damage they will find it. If they find that you are not being truthful with information you give them then neither they nor any jury will ever believe you.

Who’s running up the cost of car insurance now. We recently made a demand on USAA to settle a pretty simple case. The defendant, a guy who probably shouldn’t have been driving at all, turned in front of our client, causing an accident.

Clear liability…no defense.

Our client has not medical insurance and incurred about $7,500 of bills to be evaluated and treated for the injuries he sustained. He has got doctors and hospitals sending him dunning notices. He made about $10.00 an hour and supports his family on that.

USAA offered $8.000 on a take it or leave it basis.

OK, we don’t take it. We will immediately file suit and the defendant will be served and he’ll spend time in deposition and trial and in the end of the day USAA will spend more money defending and then paying the case than they could have paid today. And then they’ll blame the lawyers when they increase the rate they charge to customers.

See you in court USAA

Update: the adjuster called back: “we aren’t going to give you our best offer.”

Response:   “OK, thanks for calling. Merry Christmas”

Update #2: we filed suit and USAA immediately doubled its offer and settled the case.

Moral of the story: Skip the attempt to settle with USAA….file suit….you’ll waste less time and get more money.

Notice: each case is different..remember that!

According to published reports, in 2008, an Abingdon woman was outside in an apartment complex common area one evening while walking her dog and talking on her cell phone when she fell in a hole. The hole was formed by a corrugated pipe and was partially covered by grass. The hole was discovered to be part of a drainage system installed back in 1993 and was unbeknownst to the defendant and the maintenance man responsible for the complex.

The most serious injury sustained was a compound fracture below the plaintiff’s right knee which lead to $52,250.46 in medical bills. On top of this the plaintiff was unable to care for herself while recovering and spent 13 weeks in her sister’s basement while recovering from the surgery repairing the breaks. For the first month of this stay the plaintiff was unable to use the bathroom without assistance and was unable to shower at all. The plaintiff’s recovery was a success and she was able to return to work with only a slight limp and no vocational impairment.

On top of her hardships the plaintiff missed four months of work resulting in lost wages of $8,492.12. After mediation by Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski, the apartment complex agreed to settle the matter for the amount of $240,000.

When asked about the outcome, Virginia personal injury attorney Ben Glass said “Slip and fall cases in Virginia are very difficult. The key point is whether or not the hazard was open and obvious and whether or not it was man-made. In this case it turned out that the hole was man-made and that it was hidden enough to not be obvious.  While the press release makes the case seem simple I assure you it was very complex and it’s important to have someone with experience on your side, such as a veteran personal injury attorney, to guide you through the issues of premises liability.”

Each case is different and you have to draw your own conclusions about whether or not you need to hire an attorney for your claim.  However, we will keep recounting for you the stories of dealing with various insurance adjusters.

This accident occurred on December 21, 2006 in Virginia near Dulles Airport. The defendant had just left a Washington Redskins game and was very drunk. The vehicle our clients were riding in was hit from behind and rolled and destroyed.

The defendant hired a good drunk driving attorney and avoid going to jail on a technicality. The judge in traffic court actually said “not guilty does not mean innocent-the next time you do this I hope you go off a bridge by yourself.” (We have the transcript.)

The clients hired an attorney and made a claim against Allstate. At the time the case was referred to Ben Glass the male driver had been offered $20,500 to settle his claim and his wife had been offered $12,000. We thought these offers were ridiculously low and at a northern Virginia jury would see otherwise.

We filed suit and shortly before trial the case is settled as Allstate finally offered fair value for the cases. The case in which Allstate offered $20,500 settled for $85,000. The case in which all state had offered $12,000 settled for $55,000.

Again, each case is different and must be judged on its own merits. Here, the defendant lied in deposition about his prior drunk driving experience and conviction. You can draw your own conclusions as to whether hiring an attorney to prosecute your claim against Ball State is necessary.

This case was handled by attorneys David Marks, Brian Glass and Manuel Leiva, who are of counsel to BenGlassLaw.

According to published reports, a 55-year old Virginia woman has settled her case against a trucking company for $2.5 million. The names of the parties have been withheld as part of the settlement agreement.

The plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by a tractor-trailer owned by the defendant trucking company. The crash caused massive damage to the plaintiff’s vehicle and caused multiple injuries to the driver and other passengers. She claimed physical and psychological trauma, including a closed head injury, and multiple orthopedic injuries which disabled her from working.

The brain injury resulted in dizziness, loss of balance, post-traumatic seizures, and cognitive deficiencies including exacerbation of her ADD. Her severe orthopedic injuries included spinal and knee injuries.

When you are injured in an accident, there are some costs that you will incur.  Medical bills will add up quickly and if you are not able to work, you will experience a drop in income.  These are some of the many factors that are considered when determining the damages in your accident case.

There are basically two types of damages available in personal injury cases – compensatory and punitive (non-compensatory).  Compensatory damages are supposed to provide compensation for your medical bills, legal fees, lost income and pain and suffering.  With compensatory damages, the goal is to reimburse you for various aspects associated with your accident.

Punitive damages are meant to deter the defendant from committing a similar action.  These damages are designed to punish the defendant for egregiously breaching a contract or law.  Punitive damages tend to set an example for other companies or individuals and are not rewarded often.  The majority of judgments only include compensatory damages.