HOW DO PEOPLE GENERALLY DISCOVER IF THEY ARE BEING CHARGED WITH A CRIMINAL OFFENSE? Well, frankly, most people know they’re being charged with a criminal offense when they directly receive a “Summons” from the police in their motor vehicle or otherwise, or receive a “Warrant of Arrest” from the police or a Magistrate at the […]
03
Jan
Jan
CAN PEOPLE DEPEND ON THE “MERCY OF THE COURT” IN A CRIMINAL CASE? The idea of throwing oneself on the “Mercy of the Court” is just a cliché; there is no substance to it whatsoever! People who say, “I’m going to throw myself on the mercy of the court”, don’t even know what it means. […]
02
Jan
Jan
THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS YES! POLICE OR PROSECUTORS DO “OVERCHARGE” PEOPLE It depends on the jurisdiction, the person’s actions, and their prior criminal record, if any; but yes, sometimes. In fact, in some jurisdictions, they do the opposite. They “Undercharge” a person. If somebody is caught with marijuana, of course they’ll be charged with possession of marijuana; […]
30
Dec
Dec
HOW IS SOMEONE COMPENSATED IF THE OTHER PARTY HAS NO INSURANCE? Fortunately, it does not happen often, but it does happen. The reason why it does not happen often is because most states, including Virginia, require drivers to carry uninsured motorist coverage, in addition to both bodily injury and property damage liability insurance. That means, if you’re […]
28
Dec
Dec
HOW DOES AN ATTORNEY GET PAID FOR A PERSONAL INJURY CASE? A personal injury attorney is different from other type of attorneys, such as tax, criminal, maritime and estates and trusts attorneys, who get paid either a flat fee or on an hourly basis, because we are compensated on a contingency fee basis, which means that the […]
27
Dec
Dec
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF THE INSURANCE COMPANY CONTACTS ME AFTER AN ACCIDENT? There are usually two insurance companies involved in an auto accident case; yours and the opposing party’s, and since you were injured and they are the bad guys, their insurance company wants to pay you as little as possible. The other insurance company is the […]
20
Dec
Dec
HOW MUCH WEIGHT DO PHOTOGRAPHS CARRY IN A PERSONAL INJURY CASE? There is an old Confucian or Chinese proverb that says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Unfortunately, most attorneys are too wordy. We probably talk too much, when we probably should allow pictures, photographs, drawings, blueprints, demonstrative evidence like that do our speaking for […]
20
Dec
Dec
WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT ASPECT OF A PERSONAL INJURY CASE FOR AN ATTORNEY TO DEAL WITH? The single most difficult thing we have to deal with is the insurance company; that’s where the rubber meets the road; the only thing a personal injury attorney can do is to be direct about it and get […]
18
Dec
Dec
WHAT FACTORS MAKE A PERSONAL INJURY CASE DIFFICULT TO WIN? There is rarely a perfect personal injury case scenario; every one of them has problems, deficits, holes and issues. The major issue is the question of liability, which means proving that the other person who caused your client’s injury truly at fault, and were they negligent in […]
15
Dec
Dec
CAN A GOOD ATTORNEY ESTIMATE MY CHANCES OF WINNING A PERSONAL INJURY CASE? Yes, they would be able to because that is different from predicting how much they might recover. When you first talk to an attorney on the phone and have a consultation with them, then the number and types of questions they will ask will be […]