Should you represent your business’ former employee? From the plaintiff’s perspective, I am always happiest to see a business’ former employee testifying at a deposition without counsel. I am also puzzled by the failure of a former employer to represent the witness. There are multiple reasons why a business may not want to represent a former employee including bad blood, …
What is the Prime Motivating Factor for Settlements of a Six-Figure Case?
In my experience, the prime motivating factor is that both sides do not know how a jury will decide the case and therefore neither wants to take the risk of a verdict for or against. Juries are very unpredictable in the mid-six figure cases. On smaller cases, juries may not care too much. On huge cases involving deaths or paralysis, …
TSA Checkpoint Slip & Fall and the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA)
I am in the middle of a case involving a slip and fall at a TSA checkpoint at our beloved Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). It now involves a gobbledygook of abbreviations as with many things involving the federal government. As the lawyers reading may know, you cannot sue the sovereign or your government without their expressed permission. You can sue …
Ask Andy How To Be A Good Personal Injury Client
In this podcast, I discuss how contingency fee cases work, how personal injury lawyers are paid, what costs and expenses there are and how they affect or reduce the money in your pocket. I also discuss the risk a lawyer takes in personal injury cases.
The Advertising Lawyers
What are they doing and why? Morgan and Morgan/Lundy/Top Dog law: Why do people go the route of the big advertising law firms? I think it is fairly simple. They don’t know lawyers, don’t have someone to turn to who knows a good lawyer, or they are new to the legal system. Top Dog has a new billboard on the …
Peaky Blinders
I am deep into this Netflix series that is sort of a 1920’s British Sopranos/Breaking Bad mashup. It is great if you like that sort of thing. How does that affect what we are doing here at Neuwirth Law or in personal injury land generally? I am largely unknown to most defense lawyers and insurers. I take millions in settlement …
Would You Rather…
Do you think you would rather have 1) a medical malpractice case where the doctor admits he missed something, but the miss has limited or hard to figure damages or 2) a slip and fall case resulting in the doctor admitting he missed something, but the miss has limited or hard to figure damages? Several new cases of mine have …
South Africa Trip
As some of you may know, I was away in South Africa for two weeks over the holidays. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime and I highly recommend it. Safari is really an eye opener on a few fronts. First, it is fascinating seeing the African bush as it has been for thousands of years. In the game …
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
So, summer has come to a close and now the real work of litigation kicks into high gear. Anything that was put off for summer reasons, whether good or bad, is now on the front burner. A lot of work was put off till after Labor Day and now we are going to be in the middle of a lot …
CROSS-EXAMINATION 101:
I like to think that preparing my client for defense cross examination at a deposition is important. I have sort of a standard set of instructions I give my clients about depositions and then work on the key facts of the case. I like to think in terms of themes to the case that can be regurgitated in a sentence …