Following receipt yesterday of a win our agency took to trial a few purely dangerous religion case with a verdict within the vary of $1.4 million, I thought of an outdated buddy and authorized colleague, Rick Freidman. Rick encourages attorneys to take extra of their shoppers’ civil circumstances to trial. Friedman has authored quite a few books on the subject, as we have now mentioned in Rules Of The Road, by Rick Friedman. He makes the next factors about why it can be crucial for attorneys to commonly take their circumstances involving wrongful claims practices by insurance coverage firms to trial:
Pursuit of Justice: Friedman emphasizes that the first duty of attorneys is to hunt justice for his or her policyholder shoppers. By taking dangerous religion claims follow circumstances to trial, attorneys can maintain wrongful appearing insurers accountable and be certain that policyholders obtain truthful compensation for his or her losses.
Empowering Policyholders: By pursuing litigation, attorneys can empower their shoppers by giving them a voice and a possibility to share their story. This helps policyholders regain management and dignity after experiencing irritating delays and underpayments by insurers who promised to behave in another way.
Deterrence of insurer misconduct: If extra attorneys take their circumstances to trial, it serves as a deterrent to potential wrongful appearing insurers. The prospect of being held publicly accountable in courtroom can encourage people overseeing the claims departments to behave responsibly and ethically.
Strengthening the civil justice system: Friedman argues that taking extra circumstances to trial contributes to a sturdy and efficient civil justice system. When attorneys persistently pursue litigation to uncover and develop the kind of proof wanted for profitable trial presentation, it sends a message that the authorized system can and can maintain insurance coverage firms accountable for his or her wrongful claims practices.
Challenging unfair settlements: Friedman believes that taking circumstances to trial may also help problem unjust settlement practices. By refusing to simply accept insufficient presents, attorneys can ship a transparent message that they’re dedicated to preventing for his or her policyholder shoppers’ greatest pursuits.
Maintaining integrity: Friedman advocates for attorneys to take care of their skilled integrity by taking circumstances to trial when needed. He believes that attorneys shouldn’t shrink back from litigation just because it’s tough or time-consuming; as an alternative, they need to prioritize their consumer’s wants and the pursuit of justice. The jury trial gives a way of the group’s voice when dangerous religion circumstances are taken to trial.
Impacting authorized precedent: By taking circumstances to trial, attorneys can contribute to the event of authorized precedent. Successful litigation can result in new case legislation that advantages not solely their shoppers but additionally future litigants going through comparable points.
Educating the general public: Trials may also help educate the general public about varied points, equivalent to insurer misconduct or systemic issues inside a given insurance coverage firm. Through litigation, we are able to elevate consciousness and doubtlessly affect public opinion, which may result in constructive adjustments in society.
Building legal professional trial expertise: Friedman believes that attorneys ought to develop and hone their trial expertise. Taking extra circumstances to trial gives attorneys with helpful expertise and helps them turn out to be more practical advocates as a result of we develop experience within the points these circumstances pose.
One of my heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr., usually talked about in his speeches that the pilots who fly jets everywhere in the world may by no means attain the skies if it weren’t for a devoted, expert, and passionate floor crew. In this case, our agency had extraordinary efforts from 4 non-attorneys, paralegals Agnieszka Karcz, Sherrol Hall, Christopher McTaggart, and legislation clerk Matthew Stalcup. The trial group was composed of Mike Duffy, Jon Bukowski, and Larry Bache. Â
This Merlin Law Group group’s success serves as a deterrent to potential insurance coverage firm wrongdoers who know we are going to aggressively pursue litigation to trial. Ultimately, a policyholder legislation agency that takes circumstances to trial advances justice and upholds ideas of excellent religion and truthful dealing. These efforts have a constructive change inside the insurance coverage trade as a result of policyholders can maintain their insurers accountable for unreasonable claims practices.Â
What had been the alleged major wrongful claims actions? While there have been many, the 2 major ones, for my part, had been delay and hiding an engineering report.
My impression is that the protection trial legal professional introduced into the case in later phases did a masterful {and professional} job defending his consumer. We actually realized some classes and might be even higher ready for our subsequent trial. You don’t get higher at trial presentation by settling all your circumstances.
Thought For The Day          Â
Winning is nice, positive, however in case you are actually going to do one thing in life, the key is studying learn how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated on a regular basis. If you possibly can choose up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win once more, you will be a champion sometime.
—Wilma Rudolph