Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The case that would not die, but the plaintiff will

UPDATE: THE CASE SETTLED. THERE. IS. A. GOD.

Oh, I am going to hell for that title. But it's true. One of my bosses went to a mediation yesterday in a vain effort to settle this case from hell. Let me give you just a Reader's Digest version of this case. We represent the demon insurance company, defendant. Our client cancelled the policy of this chick because they felt she misrepresented herself knowingly on her insurance application. (PS - I did the bulk of the work on this case and she SO DID DO THIS.) Anyways, the mediation was yesterday and it did not settle. So that cry of sorrow y'all may have heard coming from the general direction of Louisiana? That was me. However, Bossman did manage to get them to come down from their outrageous demand to a more reasonable figure and they are only about $40K apart so this is still doable. I hope he does it today and it settles and I can burn this file. I mean, put the file in storage. Yeah, that's it. I think the plaintiff's counsel finally agreed to mediate because this woman is sick sick sick. She has cancer pretty much everywhere and he has drug this fucking case out for so damn long that now he is realizing that he may want to get his client some fundage and by his client, I mean HIS OWN greedy ass some money. Let me explain my ill feelings. I hate plaintiff's lawyers. Not all of them but a great number. For every good guy or gal out there that is truly look out for the rights of the poor and disenfranchised who got screwed over by the man, there are 20 of them who scope out hospitals and do commercials like "Don't take a quick check - check with me." Their hearts are not pure. They are in it for the almost guaranteed payday at the end to a cool amount of 33% to a staggering 40% of the agreed upon settlement. 40% people. That means if you get a bad wreck and it truly was the fault of some fucktard, before you see a DIME, they take 40% OFF THE TOP. And let me define off the fucking top for you who have not had the thrill of being part of the legal system. That means before even one single medical bill gets paid. The attorney gets their cash. OK, I understand that they have a business to run etc etc blah blah blah. But when they go on tv and claim to get a settlement for Mr. I Got My Ass Rear Ended and not in an Astroglide Kind Of Way of $500,000, they need to be clear that amount is before the chunk of change going into Mr. Lawyer's pocket. Plus you have to pay medical bills and let's face it, God help you if you go in the hospital because that is $10G to $20 for even half adequate medical care. This is not to say that defense lawyers are all sweetness and light. Far from it actually. Some are total slime. Luckily those that I work for I believe can actually look at themselves in the mirror from time to time and not vomit in a projectile manner. Why would I go into this line of work when I clearly have such disdain for many members of the legal community? Well, mainly because I think that more often than not, things go right for the person who is not trying to abuse the system. There are of course example upon example of some shithead faking an accident and getting a settlement or some insurance company screwing over someone who has faithfully paid premiums for decades. Normally though, the badness comes out into the light of day and is seen for what it is. Normally the system works. That is when my job is a cool thing.

Elizabeth at 11:21 AM

2comments

2 Comments

at 11:54 AM Shari said...: I love it when you talk legal!! ;)

Sometimes when cases settle, it really pisses me off. Especially when a client is forced to because there is no more dinero coming in for the firm.
at 11:04 AM Anonymous said...: It sucks when you can clearly see the atty is doing whats in 'his/her' best interest, not the clients. Time the client receives the check, its almost nothing. Atty fees, taxes, indemnification of the insurance companys....oye!