What Do Lawyers Do For Fun?

Run, exercise, clean up and mow the yard, play golf, go to horse races, watch baseball games (of our kids and grandkids) and the pros, play cards, watch football, take our wives, husbands and friends out to dinner, watch fireworks on the 4th, eat too much on Thanksgiving, help neighbors after storms or when cars won't run, make home improvements, shop for bargains at garage sales, grill out on the patio or deck, wash the car, watch basketball, and, sometimes NOTHING!  Lawyers are people too!  Indeed they are.

After an Injury

MEDICAL TREATMENT after an injury.  No one wants to sit in an emergency room or a doctor's office or be in the hospital after an injury.  We all have been there, and it is no fun.  But, if you don't get the treatment prescribed for you or that you need the insurance company will believe that you did not get hurt...because you did not get treatment!!  Makes sense doesn't it!         

3 things insurance companies LOVE to hear:

1.  I had no car to get to the doctor or hospital or P/T sessions ordered;
2.  I have no insurance and no money for treatment;
3.  I could not get off work to go.   

Insurance companies KNOW that these are REAL concerns, BUT THEY DON'T CARE!!!!  WHY?   Because there will be no records to support your case, and, without records showing your treatment, it is as if your need for medical care care really DID NOT EXIST!  

Do what you can to get treatment (borrow from family and friends temporarily) ask help for rides and talk to your boss.  It is surprising how often these things work.  Months down the road you will be glad you did, and, feel better with good medical care too!!! 

Pain and Suffering?

What is legal PAIN AND SUFFERING?  It is just what is sounds like!!!  But, it's not quite so simple.  Let's take PAIN, for example. What kind of pain (one size does NOT fit all)?  Is it SHARP, THROBBING, DULL, ACHING, STABBING, BURNING???   

Each word paints a different picture, doesn't it! 

Is it CONSTANT, INTERMITTENT, UNRELENTING or only TEMPORARY??? See the difference a word  makes?  Is it GONE, or does it "come back" when  you WALK, BEND, STOOP, EXERT, PULL, PUSH, OR LIFT?      

Think about it before you answer a question from an insurance adjuster who wants to take your statement!  The way you describe it MATTERS and can affect your case.       

BETTER YET -- CALL US FIRST -- we do this everyday and help injured people get the best settlements for their claims.

Do You Have a Disaster Recovery Plan??? By George Tofaute

TORNADOS, HAIL AND STORMS -- how do we protect ourselves?   Take a look at your PERSONAL DISASTER PLANNING -- is it ok?  Or, like most of us, is it time for a review?


Find a safe place for the following:

• family pictures 
• your legal documents 
• will
• insurance policies 
• birth/death certificates 
• social security card
• military discharge
• marriage records 
• baptism records and family bibles 
• adoption records and family trees 
• auto titles and house deeds
• cemetery lot records
• personal letters

Are these safe in the event of a flood or tornado?  Better get them to a bank lock box or in a home safe.  The victims of the tornadoes this spring WISH THEY HAD DONE SO. 


And, while you are at it, now is a great time to make those yearly donations of clothes, money, and blood to the Salvation Army or American Red Cross help to them if you can.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of the storms and flooding!  


Red Cross Website

Salvation Army Website

Ethics...part 2

Highly respected attorneys and those following the rules of ethics do NOT call you to get your case.  They do not show up at your home, hospital room, or job and start giving you legal advice.  You must ASK them to COME TO YOU FIRST.    

In fact, if an attorney did that, they can be disbarred by the SUPREME COURT OF INDIANA for engaging in STRICTLY PROHIBITED UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR.  

If you're in an accident and this happens to you, you SHOULD report them or their "runners" who sometimes do their dirty work for them to :  G. MICHAEL WITTE, Executive Director, INDIANA SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINARY COMMISSION, 30 South Meridian Street, Suite 850, Indianapolis, IN  46204,  or  CALL 1-317-232-1807.

What Everyone Should Have in the Trunk of their Vehicle

Ethics...and Your Case pt. 1

When you talk to an insurance adjuster be VERY CAREFUL in naming money figures before you get legal advice.   Once you "set a price" on your case, it is almost literally impossible to get the insurance company to go higher, even if you then get an attorney.  Why?  Once the insurance company sees what you will likely settle for,  WHY would they pay MORE?  They likely will not. TALK TO US.  WE CARE AND CAN HELP YOU!

Do insurance adjusters get a bonus or fee for what they save on a claim? Generally, NO. But, we have seen some insurance adjusters BRAG about "how much they shaved" on a claim where they had been given a certain amount to pay the injured person and "got the claim for less."  While they generally do not get the "difference" they may get a promotion for being able to sweet talk people. This is how they trick you!  And to do this at a time when a person is vulnerable and in pain is WRONG. Be careful.  Call us for a free evaluation of you case and don't get TAKEN!  800-468-8736 the call and our recommendations are free!