David Holub

http://www.davidholublaw.com #IndianaLawyer

Hi. I'm Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub. Every so often, a good settlement offer is presented to a client and the client says, "No way." What happens in such a situation? When an offer is presented by an attorney, the attorney is expected to give their opinion as to whether the value of the offer is acceptable or not. Sometimes a person who is injured is blind to how an objective observer might view and evaluate their injury. This can cause a person who has been injured to see that an offer that is otherwise a solid, good offer is considered insufficient due to the fact that they have suffered for a long period of time. When a defendant's best offer is rejected the next step we have to go through is to do the final trial preparation for our client. That includes having the client go through what would be a draft run of direct examination, teaches them or advises them how to dress for trial, and gives them some idea of what to expect from cross examination. This sometimes is the most difficult for clients because we have to pretend that we are the defense attorney and we ask them pointed questions that would be designed to attack their credibility and attack the validity of their case. So when we do this mock cross examination, we point out every inconsistency that our client has made and whatever inconsistency the defense team might otherwise pick up on, such as giving inconsistent statements to a medical doctor. Plus, we have to tell our client that if a defendant presents evidence to a court that a witness has lied, they will have the right to ask the court to instruct the jury on what it means to violate an oath to tell the truth. Going through this kind of simulation is not enjoyable, at least from the report of most clients. But it does show them what will be coming when they go to trial because that will be the next step if a fair settlement offer is rejected. I hope this bit of information has been helpful to you. If you have questions about an injury claim, please feel free to give us a call.

http://www.davidholublaw.com #IndianaLawyer

Hi, I'm Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub. Does suing a friend necessarily mean the end of a friendship? One of our most watched videos is entitled "Is It Ever Proper To Sue a Friend?" In that video, we explain that in especially property injury cases, it's of course anticipated that the person you might be needing to sue would be a friend or an acquaintance. Frequently, people who are hurt are hurt on the property of those they know. Rarely do people trespass onto other people's property. And people who have insurance buy that insurance not only to protect themselves against a judgment that would be excessive if someone were injured, but to protect the friends and relatives that come on to their property because those people are the ones who are likely to be injured coming onto the property because 90% of the time people coming onto property are those that you know. But does suing a friend necessarily mean the end of a friendship? The answer is no. It's normal to be apprehensive about making a claim against someone that you know--whether they're a friend or simply an acquaintance. Say you're a passenger in your brother-in-law's car and he drives like a maniac and flips the car and you're seriously injured. What if you hire an attorney and the attorney gives notice to your brother-in-law's insurance company and the insurance company contacts the brother-in-law. Now all of a sudden, you've got an irate family member wondering if you're suing them, and will it jeopardize their finances beyond the insurance. If this is a concern of yours, are there things that you can do to avoid this type of rift in a relationship? Sure. There are lots of things. One, you can ask your attorney to head off the potential for hard feelings by writing to the friend or relative that you may need to sue and tell them that you will only be going after their insurance or that you will not in any way attempt to take their car, their home, or other assets. Two, you can ask your attorney to call and explain the same thing to your friend or relative. Attorneys are prohibited from contacting and speaking with someone who is already represented by an attorney, but if your friend or relative is not represented by an attorney, there is no reason why your attorney can't call and explain what your view is and how you anticipate only going after insurance. Do these things always work to smooth over hard feelings and prevent damage to a relationship? Yeah, most of the time they do. Now sometimes I would say it's more difficult in some situations to get through to a friend or relative what you're only interested in doing is obtaining insurance to cover medical bills and lost time from work. But in most cases, people are understanding if it's explained to them and they're approached in the right way. If you're looking for a firm that puts your legal interests first, but also will work with you to preserve important relationships with friends and family, please give us a call at (219) 736-9700.