November 3, 2011 – Richmond, VA: The Virginia personal injury law firm of Allen & Allen received a Tier 1 Ranking in “Best Law Firm” By U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers. Allen & Allen received the Tier 1 “Best Law Firm” honor in both Charlottesville, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs and Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs.

U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers released the 2011 Best Law Firms rankings released November 1, 2011. The rankings, which incorporated over 3.9 million evaluations of over 41,200 leading lawyers across the country, are posted online at www.usnews.com/bestlawfirms. Because of the rigorous and transparent methodology used by Best Lawyers, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen is also proud to recognize 7 of its attorneys who have been named to the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers in America, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession.

Edward L. Allen – Personal Injury Litigation (Fredericksburg, VA)
George E. Allen, III – Personal Injury Litigation (Richmond, VA)
W. Coleman Allen, Jr. – Personal Injury Litigation (Richmond, VA)
Douglas A. Barry – Personal Injury Litigation (Fredericksburg, VA)
P. Christopher Guedri – Personal Injury Litigation (Richmond, VA)
Jason W. Konvicka - Personal Injury Litigation & Medical Malpractice Law (Richmond, VA)
Malcolm P. McConnell – Medical Malpractice Law (Richmond, VA)

The personal injury law firm of Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen has been representing injured Virginians for over 100 years. Their lawyers are experienced in handling car accident, truck accident, brain injury and wrongful death cases in Virginia and nation wide. They have offices located throughout the state in Richmond, Petersburg, Chesterfield, Mechanicsville, Short Pump, Fredericksburg, Garrisonville and Charlottesville

Attorney Tammy S. Ruble

Author: Attorney Tammy Stafford Ruble

Every year our Firm is invited to participate in a large number of school career days at elementary, middle and high schools, and I have had the pleasure of speaking at many of these events.  I particularly enjoy the opportunity to tallk to the elementary school students.

Usually I start by introducing myself, telling the children where I work and my title, and then asking if any of them know any lawyers.   Older students will often mention President Obama, Governor McDonnell, or former Governor Kaine, and nearly every child is familiar with Judge Judy or one of the other television judges.

I then explain the educational requirements to earn a law degree, a total of 20 years from kindergarten through law school, and then talk briefly about the Bar Examination,[1] usually by comparing it to a two day SOL test.  I find that every child has at least heard of the SOLs, even if they haven’t yet taken them.  I encourage the students to raise their hands with questions as they think of them.  I never mind a question, even when it takes us off on a tangent.  I’m not there to tell them what I know; I’m there to tell them what they’re interested in knowing about laws and being a lawyer.

I have a few props I use to illustrate the importance of laws in their lives.  When I hold up a baby doll and ask if they can think of ways the law might affect a baby, there are always great answers about parental responsibilities, feeding and clothing children, and so forth. I tell them that the law affected them before they were even a week old.  Eyes often open wide in confusion until I prompt them: “Were you born in a hospital?  Did you come home in a car?  What were you riding in the car?”  Hands shoot up: “Car seat!”[2]

Next I bring out a stuffed puppy, which prompts a discussion about their pets and how the laws help to ensure pet safety.  Although this often invites sad stories of a family pet that was struck by a vehicle, it’s also an opportunity to emphasize the importance of obeying leash laws and keeping their pets safety behind a fence or inside the home.  Following these laws ensures the safety of both the pets and people on the street.  We talk about the requirements that pets be cared for properly, vaccinated, provided food and water and never abused by being left in a hot vehicle.[3]

I bring out a Matchbox car to discuss the importance of seat belts and motor vehicle safety.[4] We talk about the need to always wear a seat belt and the importance of being careful and cautious both in and out of a car.  Often the kids will volunteer safety suggestions, such as avoiding rowdiness in a car, looking both ways before crossing the street, not distracting the car driver, or crossing the street at crosswalks.

In concluding my remarks to the children, I discuss how the things they’re learning today will help them throughout their lives.  Skills developed in reading, writing, math, and research will be employed throughout their education and their professional lives, whatever career path they may pursue. Although the expression “all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten” might not be entirely accurate, the lessons learned in elementary school will certainly always be useful.[5]

About the Author: Tammy Ruble is a long time Chesterfield resident and an attorney with personal injury law firm of Allen & Allen. She serves as a resource on issues in her special fields of expertise which include the crafting of Complaints and documents relating to infant settlements, wrongful death settlements, due diligence, and discovery.

[2] For more information about car seat requirements in Virginia, see other bog articles: Child Seat Belt and Safety Seat Laws in Virginia (4/1/2010) and Child Safety Seats Save Lives – Buckle Up Your Children (7/1/2009).

[3] Many of the Virginia laws concerning pets and animals are compiled at http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusvast3_1_796_66_89.htm.

[4] For more information about Virginia law and safe use of seat belts, see  The Importance of Seat Belts (3/25/2010) and ASLEEP BESIDE THE WHEEL”: AUTO SAFETY & THE DANGERS OF INEFFECTIVE SEAT BELTS IN RECLINED SEATS (9/7/2010).

[5] A best-selling book by the same name was published in 1988.  Written by Robert Fulghum, the book is comprised of fifty essays, of which the first has the same title as the book.   For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_I_Really_Need_to_Know_I_Learned_in_Kindergarten.

Attorney Malcolm P. McConnell

On Saturday , June 5th , medical malpractice attorney Mic McConnell of the Allen Law Firm, accompanied by environmental attorney and friend Shannon Varner, participated in the annual Potomac Swim for the Environment.  The swimming route began at Hull Neck in Virginia, continued across the mouth of the Potomac, and ended at Point Lookout State Park in Maryland.

Out of 43 swimmers, McConnell finished 11th with a time of 3 hours and 55 minutes. He raised $950 in pledges. The charitable swim raises money to support the Chesapeake Bay and river organizations.

This is not the first time Mr. McConnell has taken to the water. In 1992, he received a Guinness Book world record for swimming in the longest continuous relay swim – 300 consecutive hours. In addition to being a competitive bodybuilder and tri-athlete, he also swam across the Chesapeake Bay four times and also across the mouth of the Potomac River in 1995. On Sunday June 14th, McConnell will dive in again, this time to swim 4.4 miles across the Chesapeake Bay for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim.

Bill Bootwright, Claims Consultant

Just the other night while having dinner at a friend’s house, the question was asked: “how do you go about finding the right attorney,” whether for a personal injury, worker’s compensation, social security disability, wrongful termination case, or other legal matter. With the media being saturated by “lawyer commercials,” phone book displays with advertising on the front and back pages, and self-promoting billboards, I can see where the “average Joe” could be totally confused, just like my friend was.

I explained to my friend that we all are aware, in today’s society and economic conditions, that it’s important to be well-informed and know your rights and what you might expect to face in dealing with insurance companies. You need to be an informed consumer or you are likely to be taken advantage of in your dealings. Although the internet can be a starting place, it has become difficult to determine if such information is reliable. To make an informed decision, you need to do your own research, and not just “surf the net”. Rather than trying to rely on the subjective information on the web, a better approach is to look at how fellow attorneys rate each other, especially in a particular field of law. At this point, I described our Firm, which specializes in personal injury. When we meet with prospective clients, we explain to them on their initial interview that, in choosing a law firm, you need to know whether or not they have the resources necessary to combat the insurance industry. Not only does a law firm need to have the financial resources to fight for you, the Firm also needs to have trial lawyers who are willing to go to court and try cases, as that is the forum where values are established. You need to have a Firm that has experienced trial lawyers who have the skills and abilities to pursue your rights in the courtroom. Otherwise, when the insurance company doesn’t offer enough, how meaningful is the threat to take your case to court ?

How can you, as a consumer, find out which firms have these resources ? In this context, the website, www.bestlawyersinamerica.com is probably the best and most objective tool in discerning the best firm for their particular case. At our Firm, we have 8 lawyers who were picked by their peers as being the best Plaintiff’s Attorney’s in the state of Virginia. Of course, you should still scrutinize the information provided on a Firm’s website, as well as in TV commercials, phone books advertisements and signage. Lastly, you should talk to friends or co-workers who have had the same type of legal issue, and find out what they say about the attorney they used or the attorney on the other side.

In closing, to illustrate my point about the need to do some research, I told my friend about a case I handled when I was on the other side of the fence working as a claims person at an insurance company. This case involved a horrible accident where an unknown motorist (“John Doe”) ran a motorcyclist off the road. Unfortunately, the motorcyclist struck a guide wire which almost beheaded him. The limits on our policy were 25/50 UM coverage. When I received the demand letter from the attorney for the man’s estate asking for the policy limits, the letter said that the deceased’s head had been “decrepitated”, instead of “decapitated”. There were a number of other errors and misspellings in the letter. I knew at that point that, whether these were oversights resulting from the attorney failing to proofread his letter or whether the attorney simply didn’t know any better, I doubted this attorney would be organized and detailed enough, or bright enough, to be in command of the facts and to be effective with a jury. I felt I was in better control of the case, I wasn’t impressed by the attorney, and I could be bullish on settling the case for less than it otherwise would have. Eventually I settled this claim for a sum substantially less than what I might have offered to another attorney. With a better attorney, this victim and his family would have had a much better outcome.

About the Author: Bill Bootwright is a claims consultant in the Mechanicsville branch of the personal injury law firm of Allen and Allen. A former insurance adjuster, Bill works under the supervision of attorney Christopher A. Meyers to assist clients with their personal injury claims.

Attorney Elizabeth M. Allen

Author: Attorney Elizabeth M. Allen

The odds are against you when you’re involved in a collision with a semi tractor trailer. First, if you’re occupying a car, riding a bike or walking, you’re likely to be seriously injured or killed. Second, if the collision was caused by a truck driver or truck owner’s negligence, you face an uphill battle to ensure that the negligent driver and his employer compensate you fairly for your damages including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Why? The truck driver and his company have an overwhelming advantage. They have decades of experience defending claims just like yours. They have risk management departments dedicated to denying claims and minimizing payouts. They have attorneys ready to respond at a moment’s notice to the company’s request for legal help in challenging your claim. To even the odds, you may need a lawyer.

Time is not on your side. While you’re still in your vehicle awaiting the arrival of medical help and the police, the trucking company is already beginning its own accident investigation. Unless he’s severely injured, one of the first things a driver will do after colliding with another vehicle is call the home office and report the accident. He’ll be instructed not to make any incriminating statements to investigating police officers. Meanwhile, the home office will contact its field investigators and accident reconstruction experts and direct them to the accident scene immediately. They may arrive at the scene while the state troopers dispatched to the location are still at work there. Occasionally they will arrive at the scene before the police. These representatives will photograph the accident scene, photograph the damaged vehicles, and take measurements of skid, scuff, and yaw marks and debris on the roadway while all the evidence is fresh. In the meantime, you may be fighting for your life in a local hospital.

It’s unrealistic to think the average motorist injured in an accident with a truck can get an investigator or other expert to the accident scene as quickly as a trucking company’s representatives. Nevertheless, the quicker you or a family member can engage an attorney to investigate your accident, the more likely you can gather the facts and evidence to prove the collision was the truck driver’s fault, not yours. Why? Skid and scuff marks fade with time. They can disappear altogether after a heavy rain or snowstorm. The tractor trailer may be repaired before you can get a photograph of the damage it sustained in the accident. Your own car may be towed away and sold by your own insurance company before you think to have an investigator examine it, photograph it, and put it in storage if it appears the physical evidence of damage to your car is critical to proving your case. An attorney who specializes in handling tractor trailer accident cases can conduct a complete investigation of your accident and engage expert witnesses to visit the scene, review the evidence, and determine what is necessary to win your case.

Delay and procrastination on your part are the trucking company’s friend. A delay in prosecuting your case can damage or destroy your claim in many ways. Every state has its own different statutes of limitation requiring that you file a personal injury lawsuit within a prescribed period of time. You may not be familiar with these laws. Unfortunately, if you fail to meet the specified deadline, you will be forever barred from making any monetary recovery. Of course, statutes of limitation do not apply solely to persons injured in trucking accidents. Every motor vehicle accident victim must comply with the applicable statute of limitations. In Virginia, the statute of limitations for a personal injury case is generally two years from the date of the accident. However, persons injured in a tractor trailer accident confront a multitude of additional “deadlines” which may affect the successful prosecution of their cases.

What deadlines? There are many of them. Let me review just a few. Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, interstate motor carriers must “systematically inspect, repair, and maintain…all motor vehicles subject to [their] control”. They must maintain a “record of inspection, repairs and maintenance indicating their date and nature.” FMCSR § 396.3. Regrettably, these records must be maintained for only 1 year, or less if the truck leaves the motor carrier’s control. Thereafter, they may be destroyed. If you were injured in an accident caused by the improper inspection, maintenance or repair of a tractor trailer, the trucking company’s own records may provide the most important clues and evidence you need to support your claim. You want to obtain these records before they are discarded. An attorney experienced in handling tractor trailer cases will be familiar with this regulation and know how to secure the maintenance records before they are destroyed.

Every motor carrier driver must prepare a daily, written report on the truck he operated that day. The report must identify any defect or deficiency the driver has discovered or learned about which would affect the safety of the vehicle’s operation or result in its mechanical breakdown. The carrier must maintain the original inspection report and certification of repairs for only 3 months from the date the written report was prepared. FMSCR § 396.11. If you were injured in an accident caused by a trucking company’s failure to correct a defect in one of its tractor trailers, you want to obtain the daily driver reports in order to determine if the trucking company was aware of the defect but made the decision not to repair it, regardless of the risk to the general public. An attorney with a tractor trailer accident practice will know to request these daily reports during the discovery phase of your case.

Motor carriers are required to maintain a driver qualification file for every driver. The file must include, among other things, a driver’s application of employment, information regarding a driver’s driving record, the medical examiner’s certificate of the driver’s physical qualification to drive a commercial motor vehicle, and a list relating to violations of motor vehicle laws. Some of these items may be removed from the file after 3 years from date of execution. FMSCR § 391.51. When your lawyer obtains and reviews these documents, he may find evidence the truck driver involved in your accident had numerous prior traffic violation convictions for reckless driving or driving while intoxicated.

There are additional benefits to hiring an accomplished tractor trailer accident lawyer to represent you. He/she will be acquainted, not just with the regulations referred to above, but the myriad of other federal regulations which govern the loading, maintenance, and operation of tractor trailers. He/she can review the facts of your case to determine if a trucker’s failure to comply with safety regulations regarding brakes, lighting devices, towing methods, and emergency equipment, to name just a few, contributed to cause your accident. Were the tractor trailer’s tail lamps or headlights so obscured by dirt or by a tailboard that other drivers on the road couldn’t see them? A lawyer with years of tractor trailer litigation experience will know which questions to ask the driver and his employer during discovery depositions to elicit proof of this kind of negligence.

When the tractor trailer operator lost control of his 80,000 pound rig and barreled into your vehicle was it because his cargo shifted? Did the trucker and/or his company ensure the tractor trailer’s cargo was properly distributed and adequately secured as specified under the regulations? Through comprehensive discovery, a well trained trucking accident lawyer may develop sufficient facts in your case to answer this question in a way that will help your case.

You may have been told the truck driver wasn’t at fault in your accident because he suddenly lost consciousness or suffered unexpected heart failure. A skilled tractor trailer accident attorney will obtain the truck driver’s medical records and learn whether the driver was an insulin dependent diabetic or whether he had a current clinical diagnosis of myocardial infarction or angina pectoris. One of these medical conditions may explain the abrupt loss of consciousness. Under the federal regulations, persons with these conditions are not qualified to operate interstate tractor trailers. Operating a tractor trailer under such circumstances violates federal regulations and may constitute actionable negligence if the medical condition contributed to cause your accident. A skilled tractor trailer lawyer will know how to develop a powerful closing argument to a jury on these facts.

Handling a personal injury case arising out of a tractor trailer accident is usually more difficult and complicated than dealing with other types of motor vehicle accident cases. Don’t let a trucking company and its insurance carrier get the upper hand. Their best interests are not aligned with yours. The less money they pay out in personal injury and wrongful death claims, the more profit they have at year’s end to distribute to their owners or shareholders. Don’t be lulled into a sense of false security when the insurance company offers to pay your initial medical bills or lost wages if only you won’t hire a lawyer to represent you. Don’t be fooled by their reassurance of help and talk of compassion for your desperate circumstances. The day will come when the money spigot stops, but by then, the critical evidence that existed to prove your personal injury case may have disappeared. Level the playing field. As soon as you or a family member is seriously injured or killed in an accident involving a tractor trailer, contact an tractor trailer accident attorney who specializes in truck accident litigation to investigate your case and give you the advice you need to safeguard you and your family’s best interests.

Attorney P. Christopher Guedri

As a lawyer who specializes in the handling of personal injury claims, I often encounter clients that have been injured in serious motor vehicle accidents. Over the years, I have found that many clients don’t know what types of coverage they have on their vehicles, the amount of the coverage they purchased, or how the answers to these questions may impact their case or our handling of it. In this article, I will attempt to generally outline the types of coverage that are typically available to purchasers of auto insurance and how to best protect yourself and your family in the event of a motor vehicle accident.

Bodily Injury Liability Coverage
Bodily Injury (BI) Liability Coverage protects the owner or driver of a vehicle for all sums which the insured becomes legally obligated to pay because of bodily injury to an injured third party. This coverage also pays defense costs against legal actions. Bodily injury liability limits are often split. The first figure is the limit of payment to a single person per accident and the second figure is the limit of payment in total for all persons injured in a single accident. For example, bodily injury liability limits of $100,000/$300,000 means the maximum amount that an insurance company can be called upon to pay on behalf of its insured is $100,000 to any one person injured in a single accident. This limit also means the insurance company will pay no more than a total of $300,000 to all persons injured in a single accident, regardless of how many persons are injured. This type of coverage will protect you and members of your family from being personally liable up to the limits of the coverage, should you or a family member negligently cause an accident that results in bodily injury to another.

Property Damage Liability Coverage
Insurance policy limits are often cited with three numbers. The third number is the Property Damage (PD) Liability Coverage. This coverage is similar to Bodily Injury Liability Coverage but is limited to damage caused by you to another person’s property, such as an auto, fence, telephone pole, garage or dwelling. As the name indicates, this coverage is limited to damage caused to property, and does not include injury to persons. This coverage will protect you or a family member who negligently causes damage to or destruction of another’s property.

Collision Coverage
Collision Coverage, if purchased, protects your vehicle against direct and accidental loss or damage as a result of a collision with another vehicle or fixed object. This coverage is optional. Collision Coverage obligates your insurance company to repair or replace the insured vehicle if damaged or destroyed by a collision with another vehicle or fixed object.

Comprehensive Coverage
Comprehensive coverage, also known as “other than collision coverage” obligates your insurance company to repair or replace your vehicle for damage or destruction resulting from an event other than a collision with another vehicle or fixed object. For example, damage is covered resulting from vandalism, riot, flood, wind and hail, fire or theft. This coverage is also optional.

Medical Expense/Medical Payments Coverage
Medical Payments (MP) Coverage is insurance coverage that pays up to a specified amount for medical expenses incurred as a result of a motor vehicle accident. This coverage pays regardless of who is at fault. “Med pay” and “med expense” coverage is typically provided in increments of $1,000, $2,000, or $5,000. In Virginia, a statute requires that med pay/med expense coverage is automatically “stacked” to provide the policyholder with the stated benefit multiplied by the number of vehicles insured under the policy up to a maximum of four (4). For example, if you have a limit of $2,000 and three vehicles on the policy, you actually have a limit of $6,000 available to you.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Uninsured Motorist (UM) Bodily Injury Coverage protects you and any occupants of your vehicle for bodily injury up to your policy limits as a result of an accident with a legally liable uninsured motorist or hit-and-run driver. This coverage protects an “insured” under the policy in the event that one of them is injured as a pedestrian. It also covers an “insured” while occupying a motor vehicle who is injured as a result of the negligence of a driver that is uninsured, or a driver who leaves the scene and is never identified. In Virginia, for example, a person who buys automobile insurance receives the same amount of uninsured motorist (UM) coverage as they have purchased bodily injury liability insurance unless they specifically request uninsured motorist coverage that is less than the liability coverage they purchased. The theory for this is that a policyholder should have the same rights to collect from their own insurance company if they are injured as a result of the negligence of an uninsured motorist as they have protected themselves against liability to a third party that may be injured as a result of the policyholder’s negligence.

Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Underinsured Motorist (UIM) Coverage is very similar to uninsured motorist coverage except that it provides coverage to an “insured” under the policy who is injured by someone who does have auto insurance but whose liability insurance limits are less than the uninsured motorist (UM) limits that the policyholder has secured. For example, if you, the policyholder, have purchased uninsured motorist (UM) coverage of $300,000 per person and are seriously injured by a motorist who has only $100,000 per person of available liability insurance, then you can make a claim against your insurance company for the difference between your uninsured motorist limits and the at-fault driver’s liability limits. In this example, you could collect $100,000 from the negligent driver’s liability insurance company and then collect up to $200,000 from your own company under the underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage you have.

Towing and Labor Coverage
If your vehicle is temporarily disabled on the road, this coverage will pay your actual expense up to the amount of coverage you select and pay for to have your vehicle towed or for roadside labor to repair your auto.

A Word To The Wise . . .
With skyrocketing medical expenses, the costs associated with a serious injury can be very high. Medical expenses for a routine hip surgery, for example, can exceed $75,000 when the total costs of a four day hospital stay, the surgical fees, anesthesia costs, post-operative follow up care, and physical therapy are added together. Since an injured person’s medical expenses are a large part of what they are entitled to collect when injured as a result of the negligence of someone else, we often encourage clients to obtain at least $300,000 of liability insurance. This amount of coverage will protect you or a family member from liability to a third party up to a maximum of $300,000.

Unless specifically rejected, with that limit you will automatically receive the same amount of uninsured and underinsured (UM & UIM) protection for injuries and losses that you or a family member may receive as a result of an accident involving an uninsured or underinsured motorist. We also encourage our clients to secure the optional med pay or med expense (MP) coverage as this coverage will reimburse the policyholder and its family members for medical expenses incurred as a result of an accident regardless of who is at fault and, in Virginia, independent of whether the person also has hospitalization insurance which will pay the health care providers directly.

Collision coverage, comprehensive coverage, and towing coverages are optional. We would suggest that you consult with your insurance agent regarding the cost of this coverage to determine if it is protection that you want and are willing to pay the premium for.

I hope this article is helpful to you and your family in making your coverage decisions regarding your auto insurance. Being well insured is your best protection against the consequences of a serious accident – whether you are at fault or you are the victim.

About the Author: Chris Guedri is a personal injury attorney in the Richmond office of Allen & Allen. Since joining the firm in 1991, Chris has focused his practice on car accidents, trucking accidents, products liability, and premises liability litigation.

Attorney Elizabeth M. Allen

Author: Attorney Elizabeth Morrell Allen

You’ve been in an auto accident that wasn’t your fault. Within a few days, an adjuster for the insurance company of the guy who hit you calls on the telephone. The adjuster wants you to give a recorded statement telling her how the accident happened and also asks you to provide some personal information. She says she wants to help you, and you certainly need help. All she needs before she can pay you is a brief statement to “firm up liability”. She’s pleasant and seems so nice. You have nothing to hide, do you? And you want to be helpful. So what could be wrong with answering her questions on tape? Plenty!

As a general rule, you should not give a recorded statement concerning a motor vehicle accident to anyone without the advice of an attorney. You shouldn’t give an oral statement either. To understand why it is not in your best interest to make a statement, put yourself in the insurance company’s shoes. An insurance company is in business to make money for its shareholders. Every dollar it pays out in claims to people like you is a dollar lost to the insurance company’s bottom line. Therefore, job #1 for every insurance company employee is to reduce the amount paid out in claims, and that includes your claim.

To reduce claims paid, the insurance company must deny claims made. To do this, company employees will look for reasons to deny your claim. They may use your recorded statement for this purpose. How?

• Insurance company employees will compare the statement you gave them with other statements you have made, including statements you gave an investigating police officer or statements you made during your deposition in a lawsuit arising from the accident. Where they find inconsistencies in your multiple statements — and this is not unusual when someone tells the story of his accident more than once, sometimes weeks or months apart — the company will claim you lied. The company may deny your claim as a result.

• Insurance company employees will ask questions worded in such a way that they trap or trick you into responses that hurt your case. You may not even realize this is happening at the time. They may try to push or bully you into agreeing to facts you aren’t certain are completely accurate. You respond “I guess so” just to get the questioner off your back. Unfortunately, that “I guess so” can come back to haunt you later.

• Insurance company employees may lead you into making statements that you sound like you remember less than you really do. Before they even begin to record you, they may say things like “I guess it all happened really fast. It probably seemed like a blur. You probably were pretty shaken up afterwards. Makes it difficult to remember exactly what happened, doesn’t it?“ And then you may make statements that sound like you don’t really remember what happened.

• In a lawsuit, defense counsel can use your recorded statement to cross-examine you at trial or during your deposition. You may not remember exactly what you said in your statement. As a result, you may contradict yourself in some way. Although you think the discrepancy is inconsequential, the defendant’s lawyer will stress the importance of your misstatement to a jury and use it to convince the jury that your testimony is not believable.

The bottom line is that you should never give a recorded statement to an insurance company representative without the advice and guidance of an attorney. When you turn down the representative’s request, be courteous but firm. No matter how friendly and personable they may be when they’re talking to you, always keep in mind that they are employees of the insurance company and represent only its interests – not yours.

Editor’s Note: If by mistake you do give a recorded statement to the insurance company, you are entitled to a copy of it if you request it, under Virginia law. (Va. Code sec. 8.01-417).

About the Author: Elizabeth Morrell Allen has been engaged in the practice of personal injury law for over 30 years at the law firm Allen & Allen. From 1988 to 2004, Beth served as a branch manager of the firm’s Petersburg, Virginia office.

Attorney Charles Littlepage Allen

By Attorney Charles L. Allen

“What is my case worth?” I am often asked this question by clients when I am first getting to know them. The simple answer is this; whatever a jury says it is worth.

Some people with personal injury claims are surprised to find out that they are not automatically entitled to a settlement from the insurance company. In fact, their only legal right is a trial to determine the amount of their recovery. The only way one can force an insurance company to pay is to successfully sue the person or company they insure. Cases involving very modest injuries are sometimes resolved by a judge in General District Court. However, more significant cases require Circuit Court trials which, in Virginia, allow for a jury of seven people to decide the case.

During the trial of a personal injury case in Circuit Court, a judge tells the jury what to consider when deciding the amount the injured person receives if the injured person wins. Typically, the jury is instructed to consider not only the injured person’s financial losses, which include medical expenses and lost earnings from time out of work, but also the injuries themselves and any pain and inconvenience they cause. I often explain to juries that inconvenience means how my client’s normal activities of daily living are limited or altered by the injuries. Many clients consider this to be their most significant loss, even greater than their medical expenses and lost wages.

Most personal injury cases I handle settle without a trial because I successfully negotiate with the insurance company to get a reasonable offer. However, the negotiations between the parties which ultimately lead to a settlement agreement are based upon what each side anticipates will happen at trial. Put another way, a settlement is fair if it is the same amount that a jury would award if it decided the case.

It may be no surprise that many people believe that successful trial lawyers who are experienced in the field of personal injury tend to get excellent settlements for their clients. There are three reasons for this. First, an experienced and knowledgeable trial attorney can develop the evidence in the case to make a persuasive presentation to the insurance company and, if necessary, to a jury. Second, an experienced trial attorney can reasonably predict what a jury might award, based on their experience with similar cases. Third, a successful trial lawyer has credibility with the insurance company with whom he or she negotiates because the insurance company probably will be aware of their “track record,” or reputation, for successfully handling personal injury cases in court.

Anyone with a personal injury claim should be aware that the insurance company with whom settlement negotiations will occur is a business. As such, the insurance company is looking out for its own financial best interests. An injured person who is not represented by an experienced trial attorney may be at a significant disadvantage trying to settle directly with the insurance company. The following example illustrates this point.

When I first began practicing personal injury law over 25 years ago, the trial attorney with whom I trained at this firm handled a case where our client hired us after first negotiating by himself with the insurance company in an unsuccessful attempt to settle his case. It was reported by this client that the insurance adjuster with whom he negotiated pronounced the claim was worth $6,000. However, this adjuster was willing to pay only $4,000 to settle, pointing out that if the injured claimant was represented by a lawyer he would have to pay a fee of one-third of the recovery to his attorney. Interestingly, this client never questioned or doubted the assertion by the insurance adjuster that his case was worth $6,000. What motivated the client to retain our firm was his desire to force the insurance company to pay the full $6,000 to settle his claim rather than only $4,000. Essentially, this client was prepared to receive $4,000 from his case and allow our law firm to take a $2,000 fee as long as the insurance company paid the entire $6,000 the adjuster acknowledged it owed. As it turns out, this case, in the hands of an experienced and skilled trial attorney, settled for $18,000 without a trial! Imagine how surprised our client was to receive nearly $12,000 from his case, after he had been led to believe by the insurance adjuster that his case was worth only $6,000. Why did this happen? Because both the insurance company adjuster and our trial lawyer knew and ultimately agreed the case would likely bring around $18,000 from a jury, and the insurance company knew our lawyer would file suit and take the case to trial unless they paid that amount to settle.

The lesson learned from this story is that an injured person’s best interests may not be fully protected unless they are represented by an experienced trial attorney. When an injured person is confronted with the choice of handling their claim themselves or retaining a lawyer to represent them, I suggest considering the example above. They should also ask themselves this question, “How can I possibly determine what my case is worth – and recover that amount – without the benefit of an experienced trial attorney?”

About the Author: Charles L. Allen is among the third generation of Allen family attorneys to have worked with the personal injury law firm Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen. Since joining the firm in 1983, Charles has had extensive experience handling various types of personal injury cases.

Attorney Malcolm P. McConnell

By Malcolm “Mic” McConnell

I am a Richmond, Virginia native. I am a product of Henrico County Public Schools, having attended Skipwith Elementary, Tuckahoe Middle, and graduating from J. R. Tucker High. My father taught handicapped children for Henrico County Schools and supervised the County’s programs for those students.  My mother was a surgical nurse. I grew up attending and serving as a youth leader of Monument Heights Baptist Church (corner of Monument and Libbie Avenues), which my grandfather, a Baptist minister, founded in 1950.

How did the son of a teacher and a nurse and the grandson of a preacher become a medical malpractice trial lawyer?

It all seems quite natural to me, especially when you add the endless superhero comic books and heroic biographies that I read as a youth. The common feature of my father’s, mother’s and grandfather’s professions was helping people; usually helping people who were unable to help themselves. Influences become even clearer when you consider the role of the minister delivering his sermon from the pulpit: speaking to his congregation, he cites scripture and common experience in order to persuade his audience to take action and to do the right thing.

Now consider the role of the trial lawyer. The trial lawyer is there to help his clients. At The Allen Law Firm, we understand that lawyers have a unique ability and responsibility to help people in ways they cannot help themselves. It is a helping profession. The influence becomes even clearer when you consider the role of the lawyer in the courtroom: speaking to the jury, he cites the law and common experience in order to persuade the jury to take action and to do the right thing.

As you can see, the influences of my childhood certainly made me a candidate for a career in the law. But there was more.

I witnessed a great many “bullying” incidents when I was growing up. Some of them were minor, involving name-calling, threats, and the occasional shoving. Some of them were actually quite brutal and cruel, including much older children physically beating and terrorizing elementary school children. As a young boy, such events were “real life” examples of the “strong preying upon the weak” themes I had read so much about. But those same stories which I read also offered the solution: the strong have a duty to protect the weak. In other words, the strong have a duty to help those who are unable to help themselves.

To be a trial lawyer, like being a teacher or a nurse or a preacher, is to possess a kind of “strength.” The strength of the trial lawyer is the knowledge and understanding of the rules which govern our society, and the ability to employ those rules to bring justice to the victims of others. In short, to be a trial lawyer, is to possess the strength – and, therefore, the duty – to help those who are unable to help themselves.

At The Allen Law Firm we take pride in our strength – our education, our firm resources, our experience, our results, our talent and our skill. But more than that, we take pride in how we use our strength: obtaining justice for our clients, who are unable to help themselves.

About the Author: Malcolm “Mic” McConnell heads the medical malpractice team at the personal injury law firm of Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen.