We don't advertise million dollar verdicts or treat human pain and suffering like a game show or a lottery ticket. Neither do we advise clients on whether to take a settlement based upon what we will recover as a legal fee. We began our personal injury practice 25 years ago with the goal of helping clients solve the problems that come with being injured by others. We use our legal fees from personal injury settlements and verdicts, primarily, to support our pro bono work and to allow us to help clients who need representation but cannot afford to pay standard rates or fees. In this way, we have integrated our personal injury work into what we believe is important: giving our clients and our community respect, dignity, security, and fairness.
Accidents involving motor vehicles are often as much about managing the insurance claims process as recovering from accident-related injuries. In the best case, no one is injured and only the bumper needs to be painted. In the worst case....
It is in the worst case that attorneys play the most important and vital role. Not only do medical bills need to be covered, but the uninsured need to find treatment and financial protection. If the accident results in the inability to work or causes the loss of a job, those losses need to be accounted for and explained. Policy limits and coverages need to be fully explored. Insurance companies seek to protect the amount they will be required to cover on a claim. In that controversy, the question and the dispute is: "how much is the claim worth?" Patience, time, and persistence are required for both the client and the attorney. Generally, few people are "happy" with the settlement they eventually receive. There is no amount of money that will compensate a person for chronic pain and a permanent physical limitation. And chronic pain and physical limitations can become the beginning of other illnesses and premature age-related conditions.
Our goal is to find the best solution for our clients and to push insurance companies to a fair settlement. We have no fear or hesitation to bring a lawsuit when the offer is not reasonable or is one that the client feels is inadequate. In some circumstances, serious settlement negotiations can only begin when the matter has been filed in court, and the insurance company knows that the attorney is willing to put the decision to the judgment of a judge and jury.
Like the legal profession, the practice of medicine holds an important position in our lives and our community. Corporatization of hospitals and care systems, however, has strained the relationship between doctors and patients. Often times, unseen pressures on doctors leads to oversights and mistakes in their care. Doctors are required to maintain billing levels, and are limited in the time they are allowed to spend with patients. In addition, specialization in medicine causes doctors to narrowly focus only on the problems within their specialty and fail to think broadly about a patient's condition. Mistakes are a natural consequence of this type of medical system.
Holding the medical system accountable for its mistakes is part of making the system better. It is also an important act of citizenship to make sure that doctors and healthcare systems do not repeat their mistakes on other patients. This does not mean that every time a physician makes a mistake they should be sued for malpractice. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit requires consideration of many things, including whether the mistake caused a serious or permanent injury. Where a mistake causes only inconvenience or a temporary condition that later resolves, a patient should consider speaking directly with their doctor or a hospital's management. Just because the mistake did not result in a serious condition or injury in your situation, does not mean it might not result in an injury for someone else. Your situation might be the consequence of a larger problem.
Where the medical mistake leads to a serious injury, permanent condition, or death, we look at the whole situation to determine the best approach to litigation. Sometimes, bringing a lawsuit against the medical facility or hospital is a better approach than naming the doctor individually. This is particularly true where the doctor has little or no history of prior malpractice, or the nature of the mistake is subject to a reasonable dispute of opinion. By not naming the doctor in the lawsuit, we remove the personal penalty for a doctor by having his or her name in the public record. That approach can lead to an early and less emotional resolution of the case. But there are times where directly naming the doctor is important. This is particularly true where the act of negligence was reckless or there is a history of malpractice claims against the doctor. Public notation of the malpractice serves to warn others who might be seeking care. It might also cause the doctor to address larger problems that might be affecting the care given to patients.
It is important to know, that we do not handle direct claims against Yale University or the Yale New Haven Health System. While we do not have a direct conflict of interest, our public advocacy work and our work with low-income Immigrants has for years involved help from both Yale University and the Yale New Haven Health System. We view bringing lawsuits against Yale as a "soft conflict" and a breach of goodwill.
Holding manufacturers accountable for injuries caused by cheap or dangerous products is our "Robinhood" practice. Few things in our modern times are built with care or concern for quality and safety. The over-riding mission of manufacturing is profit and only profit. The downstream consequences of cheap or dangerous manufacturing is a remote concern for too many companies. Product liability actions are a consumer's most direct way to push back on the financial transaction that causes injury and suffering from carelessness or ill-motives.
Connecticut's Workers' Compensation laws are a critical secondary insurance system for its residents. Through Workers' Compensation, an employee is guaranteed paid time for recovery and 100% coverage of injury related medical bills. The claims process, however, is often complicated by coverage issues and medical disputes over whether there is a connection between the injury and the treatment prescribed. Minor injuries likely do not need legal representation. But where the injury is serious or there is likely a lasting disability, legal representation is important and necessary.
Our Workers' Compensation practice is inter-related to both our Immigration and Employment law practices. For Immigrants, Worker's Compensation claims are often discouraged by employers, or important information is withheld. Many of our Employment law clients come to us following a workplace injury, after having been discharged or re-assigned to lower paying or less desirable positions. This type of retaliation for filing a Workers' Compensation claim is against the law and should not be allowed. We believe it is important to speak out against this type of unfairness.