Hi, my name is Joe Moses, and I am a founding partner in the law firm of Kass and Moses. We’re a personal injury law firm. And for the last 30 years, we have helped injured motorcyclists and bicyclists get their fair and just compensation for their injuries. Today, I’m going to talk about the stages of a case. In our office we use 11 different stages and I’m going to go through them quickly. So number one is opening of the case. The opening process is obvious, but we also need to, after we sign the papers, we need to get my paralegal on the phone so that we can get all the necessary contact information, all the index information. So we can open a file here in the office.
Number two is the investigation phase. In an investigation phase, we have to do important things like get the police report, open a claim with the insurance companies. But we also have to investigate what insurance companies might be available for compensation here. Sometimes we have to dig a little bit deeper. So the investigation phase is that. In addition, any witnesses need to be interviewed any photographs and videos need to be obtained at that time.
The third stage of a case is treating. Obviously when you’re injured in a motorcycle or bicycle accident case, there will be a lot of doctor visits. We are going to monitor that the doctor is going to control the treatment, but we need to make sure that you don’t miss any treatments, that you’re seeing the proper doctor, that you’re telling them the proper things to protect your interest in the case.
Number four is when you’re finished treating. Again, it may seem simple, but it’s something I like to have a very deep and serious conversation about when somebody is finished treating. A lot of times people feel like they’re finished treating, but they still have pain. They still have suffering. They still have complaints. We need to make sure you’re either as good as you’re going to get and that the doctor can’t help you any further. Or if not, you need to go back and tell the doctor about that so that we can preserve those injuries for negotiations in your case.
Number five, we have to gather all the records and bills. This usually takes some time, but we need to make sure and talk to you to see that we have all medical providers, every place you’re treated and every place that is billing you. So we’ll need to order all those bills and records and obtain those.
Number six is the important part of the case where we draft the demand package. This is the major production that our office does to put your case together and present the best possible case to the insurance company. And the way I like to see it is putting on paper, exactly what we would put to a jury if we were forced to go to trial in your case.
Number seven is an outstanding demand. It takes about a month to month and a half for the insurance company to digest our demand package and make decisions on our demand for the dollar amount that we said we’ll accept for settlement.
So number eight is negotiations. Once we get a response to our demand, the insurance company is going to give an offer. Sometimes it’s very low. Sometimes it’s a fair offer. In anyway it’s not going to meet what we want otherwise we wouldn’t have asked for it. So at some level there’s going to be negotiation. Sometimes that can take up to a couple months before we’re able to kind of Whit them to weakness, to get to the position we need them to be at.
Number nine is lien resolution. So even after we have resolved your case and come to an agreement with the insurance company for a fair and proper settlement, we still have to deal with health insurance with the medical providers or anybody else who’s paid out money on your behalf. They may have a lien or a claim on your case. The more we can negotiate those down, the more we can get into your pocket in the end and get you again, the fair and just settlement you deserve.
Number 10 is distribute funds. When it’s all said and done, we need to pay any of the liens and of course pay you what is the appropriate amount that you have agreed to based on resolution of this case. And one of the things you’re going to do is review all that. Everything’s going to be laid out for you and you’ll sign off on that.
And then finally we close the case, that is from A to Z the stages of a case. So if you have any questions, my name again is Joe Moses. I’m one of the founding partners at Kass and Moses, you can call us directly at +1 800-215-6627, and I’d be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.
