More about your case


Expect a serious and realistic evaluation
We have access to law firms nationally
No recovery = no fee to you
Call us (407) 333-4444 or email

(A) INTRODUCTION: THANK YOU for considering my efforts to evaluate your case and maybe to represent you. I and my associates will do all within our power to justify your faith in us. You have suffered an injury or other loss, and you have placed your claim in the hands of an attorney. We now begin our efforts to bring that claim to a just and successful conclusion. This is probably the first such experience that you have had. There are, no doubt, a lot of questions in your mind about the procedures that will be followed, the nature of the law that is involved, the likelihood of recovery, the term that will elapse before a final disposition, and many other questions. We hope to answer some of these questions and to acquaint you with our system of justice and the role that you are to play in it.

(B) WHAT IS AN ATTORNEY?
The french word for attorney is "avocat" meaning advocate. Your trial attorney is your advocate and champion. The word "attorney" itself is derived from another old french word meaning "to recognize one as the person in whose behalf one holds something". You turn your case over to us. We will prosecute that case on your behalf. We are your proxy, your alter ego in the presentation of this claim. This relationship which has been created is a most intimate one and it demands the strictest loyalty from both the attorney and the client. As your advocate, we will advance your case as vigorously as our talents permit. The greater duty lies in our obligation to you and to the fulfillment of our professional ethics and our obligations as officers of the court. In turn, you as a client owe us your trust and confidence. In order that we might represent you most effectively, we must know not only the facts surrounding the particular incident giving rise to this litigation, but also many personal facts about you which might have a bearing on the case. We need to know those things which you consider to be "good facts" and those things which you consider "bad facts". Once we know all of the facts, we can determine how they are to be represented during the course of the prosecution of your claim. These facts must be freely given with the complete assurance that they will be held by us in the strictest confidence and with the realization that your communication of these facts is held to be privileged under the law in the same sense as something told to a clergyman or to a doctor. Further, you should be assured that the law firm you have hired, and each of my associates, who will work on your matter are specialists in the area of personal injury litigation, and that each has appeared in open court and in trial on behalf of persons in your situation on many prior occasions.

(C) WHY MAKE A CLAIM?
Although you have engaged an attorney, there might still be some reservations in your mind as to whether or not this step should have been taken. You might feel that your act will be misinterpreted by your friends or neighbors and you will be considered as being "claim-minded", "greedy" or "wanting to get something for nothing". You need have no feeling of guilt in the presentation of a legitimate claim. You are seeking a just settlement of a dispute. Our courthouses were built and our laws were written for this very reason. Our society does not allow its members to settle their differences in a shoot-out at the OK Corral. No one needs to be apologetic about making a claim. In all probability this dispute will be settled by mutual agreement and without the necessity of a trial. However, if your case is one of those that has to be presented to a jury, you must remember that there is nothing dishonorable about telling your story to twelve citizens who have been chosen at random from your community and allowing them, under the law, to reach a verdict. The United States is one the few countries in the world that has such a system of settling disputes between her citizens. It is a cherished right that each of us possess and we should not deprive ourselves of this right merely because of the possibility of criticism from some shallow thinking person. In all likelihood, your claim will be presented in a formal way to the insurance adjuster for the insurance company providing insurance coverage for the opposing party. Sometimes in the case of large corporation without insurance, your claim will be presented to a specialized claim representative who is trained to deal in situations Re yours. Some people have the mistaken idea that attorneys can make one phone call to the insurance company and achieve a settlement. Attorneys would probably like to operate in a system like this, since their jobs would be so easy. However, one must understand that the insurance companies, even if they are willing to pay the claim, must have complete and accurate documentation of the reasons why they are paying the claim before they can do so. If they were to pay a claim without this documentation, the auditors of the company would want to know why the insurance adjusters were making so many "brother-in-law" deals. On top of the simple fact that the insurance companies will not pay a claim without appropriate documentation, the insurance adjusters are trained to pay as little as possible in the claims and your attorney is experienced in dealing with them on this point. In most instances, it takes time to organize the documentation necessary to support the payment of a settlement. This documentation may include police reports and witness statements. It will certainly include a statement from you and a legal analysis of the claim by your attorney, as well as extensive research on problem legal areas and the amounts of damages awarded to other victim-plaintiffs in similar cases.

(D) WHY FILE A LAWSUIT?
Statistics show that about 90% of all claims that are made are settled without going to a trial. The question that might be asked is "Why is there the necessity of filing a lawsuit?". The way in which most settlements are made is that the parties involved recognize that if they do not work out their differences, a solution will be thrust upon them by some other party (the judge or jury). There is only one way in which a dispute can be settled in the event that the parties cannot voluntarily work it out. That is to go before the court and have that court render a verdict. Before there can be a court verdict, the suit must be filed and the case processed. Under our laws, generally a lawsuit which arises out of a personal injury must be filed within a one year period after the personal injury (there are certain exceptions, but the general rule applies in the overwhelming majority of cases). Your attorney may file a lawsuit in your case because he is unable to deal with the insurance adjusters for one reason or another. He may file a lawsuit in order to apply the final pressure to the opposing party to settle. Rest assured, however, that whatever the particular reason or reasons may be for the filing of a lawsuit in your case, it has been undertaken only after exhaustive analysis and research, and with a definite goal of enhancing your position in the case.

(E) FILING THE LAWSUIT:
Filing the lawsuit is nothing more than filing a "Petition" in state court or a "Complaint" in federal court which sets out the reasons why you should be entitled to a money award against another person for the damages that person has caused you through his fault. Under present law, your attorney is not required to include an "ad damnum" clause. In the past, this clause sets out a figure which your attorney felt was probably the most that you might be entitled to under the law, should your case develop into what attorneys call a 11worse case scenario". Many clients have inquired as to why we sued for $100,000.00 in their lawsuit, but were willing to settle for $50,000.00. Our explanation to them was that the filing of an amended or supplemental lawsuit raising a claim from $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 is much more difficult and requires much more legal maneuvering than simply dropping an originally high demand to a figure less than that demand. In other words, your attorney wanted to prepare his legal paperwork for a "worse case scenario", but if that 11worse case scenario" did not come about, your case could settle for much less than the sum sued for. Under new law, however, your attorney is no longer required to sue for a specific sum of money. Today, we simply file a suit and it is up to the court to decide what your case is worth. This has simplified the system in many ways. After the filing of the suit, the Sheriff serves the suit by actually delivering it to the other party or his special agent for service of process. Thereafter the other party has between 15 and 45 days to file responses. These responses can be in the form of motions which challenge the procedural aspects of the lawsuit which you have filed, or in the form of an answer. If motions are filed by the defendant (the party you have sued), these will have to be handled by your attorney and may require testimony. Once these procedural matters have been resolved, the other party is required to file an answer and this legal document will simply admit those facts which are not in dispute and deny any facts which are in dispute.

(F) PROSECUTING THE SUIT:
From the moment that your attorney begins the handling of your claim, an investigation of the facts of that claim takes place. This investigation is necessary to provide the documentation for settlement. This investigation will also be used by your attorney to prepare you and him for the trial of your case, should that be necessary. A good bit of the investigation that is done is done informally with statements taken by investigators, statements taken by your attorney, and even tape recorded statements taken over the phone. Sometimes the investigation of your case involves going out to the accident scene and taking photographs or videotape movies. Depending on the complexity of your case, it may involve the employment of expert witnesses to analyze the events and provide testimony at your trial. Also, a formal method of investigating the case is "discovery". Discovery can be in a number of forms, but the one most preferred by attorneys is depositions. A deposition is an oral statement taken in a formal setting. The attorneys for all the parties involved in the case will agree that the deposition will be held at one of their offices or at the office of the witness. A court reporter will be present and will take down every word spoken at the deposition by any of the attorneys, and by the deponent, the person giving the statement. Since all par-ties are represented at the deposition, and since the court report accurately takes down the testimony of the deponent, depositions can sometimes be used at trial. Because of this, attorneys favor the use of depositions if formal discovery is instituted.

(D) WHY FILE A LAWSUIT?
Statistics show that about 90% of all claims that are made are settled without going to a trial. The question that might be asked is "Why is there the necessity of filing a lawsuit?". The way in which most settlements are made is that the parties involved recognize that if they do not work out their differences, a solution will be thrust upon them by some other party (the judge or jury). There is only one way in which a dispute can be settled in the event that the parties cannot voluntarily work it out. That is to go before the court and have that court render a verdict. Before there can be a court verdict, the suit must be filed and the case processed. Under our laws, generally a lawsuit which arises out of a personal injury must be filed within a one year period after the personal injury (there are certain exceptions, but the general rule applies in the overwhelming majority of cases). Your attorney may file a lawsuit in your case because he is unable to deal with the insurance adjusters for one reason or another. He may file a lawsuit in order to apply the final pressure to the opposing party to settle. Rest assured, however, that whatever the particular reason or reasons may be for the filing of a lawsuit in your case, it has been undertaken only after exhaustive analysis and research, and with a definite goal of enhancing your position in the case.

(E) FILING THE LAWSUIT:
Filing the lawsuit is nothing more than filing a "Petition" in state court or a "Complaint" in federal court which sets out the reasons why you should be entitled to a money award against another person for the damages that person has caused you through his fault. Under present law, your attorney is not required to include an "ad damnum" clause. In the past, this clause sets out a figure which your attorney felt was probably the most that you might be entitled to under the law, should your case develop into what attorneys call a 11worse case scenario". Many clients have inquired as to why we sued for $100,000.00 in their lawsuit, but were willing to settle for $50,000.00. Our explanation to them was that the filing of an amended or supplemental lawsuit raising a claim from $50,000.00 to $100,000.00 is much more difficult and requires much more legal maneuvering than simply dropping an originally high demand to a figure less than that demand. In other words, your attorney wanted to prepare his legal paperwork for a "worse case scenario", but if that 11worse case scenario" did not come about, your case could settle for much less than the sum sued for. Under new law, however, your attorney is no longer required to sue for a specific sum of money. Today, we simply file a suit and it is up to the court to decide what your case is worth. This has simplified the system in many ways.
After the filing of the suit, the Sheriff serves the suit by actually delivering it to the other party or his special agent for service of process. Thereafter the other party has between 15 and 45 days to file responses. These responses can be in the form of motions which challenge the procedural aspects of the lawsuit which you have filed, or in the form of an answer. If motions are filed by the defendant (the party you have sued), these will have to be handled by your attorney and may require testimony. Once these procedural matters have been resolved, the other party is required to file an answer and this legal document will simply admit those facts which are not in dispute and deny any facts which are in dispute.

F) PROSECUTING THE SUIT:
From the moment that your attorney begins the handling of your claim, an investigation of the facts of that claim takes place. This investigation is necessary to provide the documentation for settlement. This investigation will also be used by your attorney to prepare you and him for the trial of your case, should that be necessary. A good bit of the investigation that is done is done informally with statements taken by investigators, statements taken by your attorney, and even tape recorded statements taken over the phone. Sometimes the investigation of your case involves going out to the accident scene and taking photographs or videotape movies. Depending on the complexity of your case, it may involve the employment of expert witnesses to analyze the events and provide testimony at your trial. Also, a formal method of investigating the case is "discovery". Discovery can be in a number of forms, but the one most preferred by attorneys is depositions. A deposition is an oral statement taken in a formal setting. The attorneys for all the parties involved in the case will agree that the deposition will be held at one of their offices or at the office of the witness. A court reporter will be present and will take down every word spoken at the deposition by any of the attorneys, and by the deponent, the person giving the statement. Since all par-ties are represented at the deposition, and since the court report accurately takes down the testimony of the deponent, depositions can sometimes be used at trial. Because of this, attorneys favor the use of depositions if formal discovery is instituted.

(G) WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THE CLIENT:
During the course of the claim, the first thing that is expected of the client is that he remain ever vigilant and silent about the case at hand. In other words, the client should not discuss his case except with his attorney and specifically with those persons of whom his attorney approves. For example, the client may discuss his case with his doctor. However, the attorney may advise the client not to speak to the doctor about anything but the medical aspects of the case. The attorney may allow you to speak to his secretary, other members of his office staff, his law partners, or his investigators about the case. But be advised to speak only about those points which you and your attorney have discussed and the attorney has advised you is permissible to discuss with parties other than himself. During the course of the prosecution of the case, and even during the investigative phase, the opposing party may send interrogatories to your attorney. These interrogatories are formal legal questions which are required to be answered under oath and which can be used against you at your trial. It is a good idea to review the interrogatories, make preliminary answers to them, and then sit down with the attorney to give the final formal answers to the opposing party. In most cases, the opposing attorney will want to take your deposition. In our firm, we want to have our clients review a videotape on how to give a deposition. In addition to this, we want our clients to sit down with us and allow us to prepare them for their deposition. This preparation may take only a few minutes. Other times, it may take several hours, and we can only judge this once we have had an opportunity to sit down with you. Please be aware that this is one aspect of the case which is very important since, as we mentioned above, depositions can frequently be used at trial and you can imagine that the opposing party will only use the deposition at the trial if he has forced you to say something which is favorable to his side. You will always tell the truth, but proper preparation will allow you to present your testimony in the most effective manner, and to anticipate what the other side will try to accomplish at the deposition. On occasion, the opposing parties will seek to have you examined by a physician. The opposing insurance companies employ what we call "insurance doctors" and their names are well known to us. Again, we want you to come into our office and sit down with us before your examination by the insurance doctor so that we can prepare you to undergo that examination. Quite frequently, the opposing side will begin a surveillance of your activities. Because of the widespread availability of video cameras and vans, it is now quite easy to conduct a sophisticated surveillance of someone. Quite frequently the opposing attorney will combine the use of the surveillance with the taking of your deposition. He will have had you videotaped mowing the grass in your yard, and then ask you whether you have been able to do that. You may have forgotten the one occasion when you attempted to cut your grass even though your injuries had been preventing that activity on other occasions. You will certainly not have forgotten the fact that when you cut your grass it caused you to have a number of recurring problems. The opposing attorney is not concerned with the recurring problems. He is not concerned with your forgetfulness. It is his job to convince the jury that you are lying and if he has videotape of you cutting your grass, and you tell him that you have been unable to do that, you will look like a liar, regardless of whether the truth is more complicated. That is the reason why we want you to review our videotape on how to give a deposition and sit down with us in preparation of your deposition.

(H) SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS:
In a personal injury case, a settlement of all claims takes place in about 90% of all situations. In settlement negotiations your attorney will determine what he thinks he can get a jury to award you should your case go to court. He will then begin settlement negotiations at a figure substantially higher than that sum with the idea of forcing the other party to agree to a lesser sum which he has determined is the value of your case. There is a good reason for this. The attorney for the other side wants to feel like he has done something for his client and has utilized his negotiating skills. If your case is worth $10,000.00 and your attorney asks for $20,000.00, the other attorney can then negotiate your attorney down to $10,000.00, look very good to his own client, and yet still pay what everyone agrees is the "value" of your case.

(I) TRIAL PREPARATION:
If your case should be one of that percentage that does go to trial, your attorney will want to meet with you prior to trial to discuss your testimony with you and give you tips which will be helpful in presenting your case to the judge and jury. These will include things like how to dress, how to act, and how to respond to questioning of the other attorneys or the judge. Remember to be polite at all times. Be assured that, prior to trial, your attorney will have spent many hours with you and that you will be totally prepared to handle whatever questions are asked of you at the trial. We will not allow you to be embarrassed or taken advantage of in any way. We will be at your side at all times to guide you and protect your rights.

(J) THE TRIAL:
If you have a jury trial, your attorney and you will go to the courthouse and the first order of business will be to select a jury. Thirty or forty members of the jury pool will be brought down to the courtroom and they will be questioned in groups of twelve, until a twelve person jury is selected. Your attorney will give his opening statement first, and then the defense attorney will give an opening statement. Your attorney will then begin presenting evidence to the jury and this will continue until all of your witnesses have testified. Then the defense lawyer will be able to present his witnesses on behalf of the defendant. Generally the defense lawyer has much fewer witnesses and has done most of his work in cross examining your witnesses and you during the course of the trial. During the trial, your attorney may present depositions to the jury rather than have witnesses come to court who may be out of town, out of state or otherwise unavailable. At the conclusion of the defense case, your attorney is entitled to put on any rebuttal evidence, but generally the courts limit this greatly. Finally, your attorney will give his closing statement, the defense attorney will give his closing statement, and your attorney will get to speak last on rebuttal. This rebuttal argument is allowed by the courts. The judge will then give his instructions to the jury, they will deliberate and come back with a verdict. Thereafter the judge will sign a formal judgment making the verdict of the jury the ruling of the court. During the trial you should always sit at the counsel table unless instructed by your attorney to do otherwise. You should be polite but not stare openly at the jurors. You should not chew gum or candy, and if you must go to the rest room, please do so as quietly and with as little fuss as possible. Your attorney will advise you on other points of demeanor during the course of the trial. After the trial, the party that loses can ask for a new trial or ask that the verdict of the jury be overturned by the judge. These two things happen very rarely, but on some occasions, they do take place. Finally, the losing party can take an appeal. To do this, he must post a bond and have the court reporter prepare a transcript. The Court of Appeal sits in groups of three judges, and hear no witnesses. They simply read the written record of the case and listen to the arguments of the attorneys. Appeals can take from 16 to 20 months to process.

(K) COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR ATTORNEY:
In the many years our law firm has tried cases, we have often been asked to represent persons who had been represented by other lawyers, but who felt that these other lawyers were not doing a good job for them. The reason most often cited for this by clients is that they could not communicate with their attorney, either because he would not return their phone calls or because he was usually out of his office. This law firm has lost very few clients over the years. One reason is that we return EVERY SINGLE PHONE CALL! We also see people who come in without appointments, but who need to speak with their attorney immediately. We deem it our absolute duty to communicate with our clients about what is going on in their case. At the same time, however, we want to make it clear that too many phone calls and visits from a client can diminish the amount of time we have to actually work on the case. Often, when we are in trial on someone else's case, we must give that matter all of our attention, and may not be able to return your call immediately. Your attorney will keep you constantly updated on developments in your case, either by calling you or though special speed letters used by our firm. There is no need for you to call us unless you have a problem related to the case, or unless new information has come to you which you feel your attorney should have. Please do not call simply to check on how the case is going.

(L) CONCLUSION:
You have selected a firm of personal injury trial specialists who use the very latest, state-of-the-art techniques to gain for you the greatest and most just compensation for the losses you have suffered. We will use our experience and knowledge to do our best for you. We are on your side and will do what is right and is in your best interest. Many clients have asked us if we can help them in other areas of the law. Usually we can, and in those areas that we cannot, we will help with a referral.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Anything that you tell to your lawyer is confidential. Anything that you tell to your lawyer's secretary is also confidential. We will not discuss your case with anyone else other than is necessary to properly advocate your rights. In order to protect your interests, you should also not discuss your case with anyone else except for your attorney, your doctor and their staff. The reason for this is that what you say may be taken the wrong way by a potential witness and eventually get back to the person whom you filed the lawsuit against. Strangely enough, insurance companies often get this information. You may also accidentally damage your case by giving away strategies or evidence before it is time to do so.

YOUR DOCTOR
The most important thing in your life is regaining your health. To do this, it is necessary that you listen to your doctor or therapist and to regularly see him as he requests. If you do not follow your doctors' orders, not only will you not get well, but it will also appear that you are not interested in getting well. If you have any problems with what your doctor has requested that you do, you should call our office and let us know so that we may discuss these problems with your doctor. When you see your doctor and he asks you how you are doing, he is not just being polite, he is trying to determine your medical condition. You should not tell the doctor, his nurse or his assistants that you are "doing better" or that you are "okay" unless you really are. Your doctor expects you to be completely honest with him and to report all of your misgivings, your symptoms, your pains and your medical problems. Do not hide or minimize any of these out of a sense of modesty or embarrassment. Everything that you tell your doctor concerning your illness will be written down by him and will eventually be sent to the insurance company that is responsible for paying your damages and medical expenses. The insurance company relies on your doctor's records very heavily in handling your case, and if they see that you told your doctor that you are fine or doing much better when in truth you are not, it will not be an accurate representation of your case. By the same token, never exaggerate any of your symptoms. You should also keep copies of all medical receipts, drug bills and other bills related to your case since these must be presented as evidence in your trial or in the settlement of your case. It is important that as soon as you receive these bills, you forward them to our office, cither through the mail or by bringing them in person.

SETTLEMENT AND TRIAL
We want to bring your case to a conclusion as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, you should not be in a hurry to settle your case. It is important that both your doctor and your lawyer be able to fully evaluate your condition in order to make sure that you are adequately represented and adequately compensated for your injuries. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we are unable to settle your case with an insurance company for an amount which is agreeable to you and to us. In that case it will be necessary to try the case before either a Judge or Jury. If you have followed these suggestions which you have just read, it will be easier for us to try the case and be more effective for you.

SPECIAL DAMAGES RECORD
In every legal case, there are two kinds of damages, general damages and special damages. General damages encompass pain and suffering, permanent disability and mental anguish and suffering. General damages are not readily reducible to itemized amounts, and are harder to evaluate than special damages. Special damages are those types of damages which can be itemized as having been suffered by a particular injured victim. For example, the loss of time from work means that one will lose wages from work and this is a form of special damages. The same is true with automobile property damage repairs, transportation expenses and medical bills. Below, we have prepared a "Special Damages Record" to acquaint you with what kind of special damages we will be able to recover for you, and to allow you to begin keeping a list of those special damages which you suffer during your case. You should go back immediately and write down those special damages that you have already sustained in this case to the current time, and you should thereafter keep up with this special damages record each time you have any damages in any of the categories listed below. This should be done on a daily basis, if you are incurring such damages regularly, and can be done at the same time that you do your diary entry in keeping up with what sort of problems you have of a general damages nature. This list is prepared to acquaint you with those kinds of damages which we can recover for you and to allow you to itemize them so that we do not miss any of your damages that you have actually sustained.

E-mail to DrRein@FloridaCourt.com  or write: 1877 Wingfield Dr., Longwood, FL 32779

Return Home