Queens Personal Injury Attorney - GOOD LAWYERS DON T ......Good Lawyers Don’t Call You First Gary E. Rosenberg 109-05 72nd Road Forest Hills, NY 11375 Telephone: (718) 520-8787 I

GOOD LAWYERS

DON’T CALL YOU FIRST

Good Lawyers Don’t Call You First

Gary E. Rosenberg

109-05 72nd RoadForest Hills, NY 11375

Telephone: (718) 520-8787www.InjuryAtty.net

www.RealEstateAtty.net

Copyright © 2006 by Gary E. Rosenberg

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced

in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN 10: 1-59571-172-4

ISBN 13: 978-1-59571-172-4

Library of Congress Control Number: applied for

Word Association Publishers

205 5th Avenue

Tarentum, PA 15084

www.wordassociation.com

I wrote this book to help people make what could

be the most important decision of their lives. Who

you hire to represent you after an accident can have

long-term effects. The stakes are high; especially

if you can no longer work. As an injured accident

victim, you are facing the might and wealth of the

insurance industry, whose goal is to limit the

amount of money you recover. There are too many

lawyers fighting to represent you. How do you

pick the right one?

I have been practicing law since 1983. My firm, the

Law Offices of Gary E. Rosenberg, P.C., mostly

represents people injured in accidents. I have

offices in Queens (Forest Hills) and Brooklyn,

New York, and represent injured people throughout

the Greater New York metropolitan area, including

the five boroughs of the City of New York, Long

Island (Nassau and Suffolk), Westchester, Rock-

land, and Duchess counties. I am devoted to getting

justice for injured persons from insurance

companies.

Gary E. Rosenberg

5

Now what do I mean by that last sentence? It is my

belief, and philosophy, that insurance companies

exist to collect peoples’ premium dollars, but that

they hate to pay claims. Every year insurance

companies get stingier and stingier. They’re always

going to try to save money, or cut down on what

they consider fraud, and so forth. There is never a

year where insurance company claims departments

are told to make generous payments to legitimately

injured persons. Insurance company investigators

are out there hiding behind rocks and bushes and

conducting surveillance to try to catch injured

claimants engaged in activities that they claim to be

unable to do. There is no “justice” from insurance

companies; they do not care about playing fair.

Insurance companies increase profits by decreasing

the amount of money they pay out in claims.

Good Lawyers Don’t Call First

6

Here are 8 things you should knowabout pursuing an injury claim

1. Never, ever lie –– not to your lawyer, your

doctor, or the other side –– about your ability or

inability to do physical activity after an accident,

be it sports or work activities or whatever. The

truth will come out.

2. Don’t accept a check or sign a release from an

insurance company unless you know exactly

what it covers. Sometimes insurance companies

will attempt to get you to release “any and all

claims” – including your injury claim – and lead

you to believe that you are only settling your

claim for property damage. Check with an

attorney if you’re not certain.

3. Don’t try to hide past accidents or injuries from

your lawyer. It is almost certain that the other

insurance company will find out about this,

because all accident information is shared by

insurance companies in a central computer

Gary E. Rosenberg

7

database. The only person who may be surprised

is your attorney, and this is never a good thing.

4. Keep a daily “pain diary” detailing how you feel,

doctors and therapy appointments, medications

taken and your inability to work. You can’t count

on remembering everything later, and a lawsuit

can take years.

5. Don’t try to “tough it out.” See a doctor

immediately after your accident. Be 100% open

with your doctor: about how the accident

occurred, and reveal any past accidents or

medical conditions that may affect your

condition or healing.

6. In real life there are few “can’ts” after an

accident. In other words, most people recover

the ability to perform most activities, unless they

are bedridden. But generally, if they have

limitations, it’s because they can’t do the activity

as long, as hard, as strongly as they used to. And

your limitations, presented correctly, may give

you a valid injury claim.


8

7. Video cameras are teeny-tiny and you could be

videotaped at anytime, in any place. I’ve seen

this many times. So know that you’ll have a

problem if you say that it hurts for you to walk

or stand, but then get videotaped playing tennis.

I had a client that claimed a serious back injury

from a car accident but got videotaped at his

vacation home in Florida, spending six hours

resurfacing the asphalt on his driveway.

Needless to say, this devastated his case.

8. Remember, never has an insurance company

adopted a policy of paying fair, speedy and just

compensation to persons injured through the

fault of another (the insurance company’s

policyholder). The money is in the insurance

company’s pocket, earning interest in the bank,

or profits from its investments. (Did you know

that insurance companies generally make more

money per year on invested insurance premiums

– in real estate and such – than on new premium

dollars received? )

Gary E. Rosenberg

9

A philosophical note: I try to be selective in the

cases that my firm accepts, because I want to give

personal attention to my clients’ cases to the

greatest extent possible. Every year I decline

hundreds of cases. I concentrate my efforts on

increasing the value of good cases, not finding and

filing frivolous ones. I believe that good lawyers

think this way.

Another note: This book is not legal advice. I’m

trying to give you information to help you make

informed decisions. But please do not consider the

observations in this short, very subjective book, as

legal advice. Be skeptical always. Investigate and

check things out for yourself. Get legal advice in

person; face-to-face.

Another thought: If you want to check me out,

take a look at my web sites. I have two, one for

each of my practice specialties. By far the more

interesting website is my personal injury site,

www.InjuryAtty.net. This website is loaded with

interesting material, including biographical


10

material about me, some of my past accident cases

and results – complete with medical/legal exhibits

in PDF format so that you can view medical

drawings, accident investigation photographs, x-

rays and other cool things. Also on the InjuryAtty

site are all the back issues of my law firm

newsletter, downloadable in PDF format, as well as

my 30-second television commercials. You can

click on the commercial and see and hear . . . me.

Finally, I have a newsfeed accessed by clicking on

the button for “Latest Legal News,” which contains

interesting and topical articles that are constantly

updated, to inform you and for your reading

pleasure. I believe that you will find a lot of useful

information on this web site.

My other website is www.RealEstateAtty.net.

Gary E. Rosenberg

11

What to do when disaster strikes

So you’re in an accident; you’re hurt. You’re

unprepared, you’re frightened. Maybe you were in

a car accident: the other car ran a stop sign; ran a

red light; rear-ended your vehicle; made a left turn

in front of you. Maybe you tripped on a broken

sidewalk or staircase; slipped on snow and ice; or

tripped on an object on the ground. Maybe you

were hurt at work. There are an infinite number of

ways to be hurt at work. Suddenly your world

changes.

You have been injured and suffered trauma of one

sort or another. You may go into shock. You feel

fear. You experience pain. Your first concern is

getting medical care. Sometimes you go to a

doctor, in a serious case you go to the hospital,

maybe in an ambulance. Maybe you talk to the

police.

The shock starts to wear off. The fear starts to go

away. Your pain begins to ease. You start to receive


12

some kind of medical treatment, or surgery, or a

program of physical therapy. Then you start to

think.

• How do I pay the medical bills?

• Who will fix my car?

• Will I be able to return to work? To do the

same job?

• Will I be able to sit or stand for a long time?

• Will I be able to walk or run, to carry, or

climb stairs?

• What if I’m disabled? What if I don’t get

better and can’t work?

• How will I support my family?

• What do I do first? Second? Third?

Gary E. Rosenberg

13

You need help. You have legal rights that need

protecting. Particularly if someone else caused

your injury. There are many variations on this

theme. You instinctively know that you cannot trust

an insurance company – yours or someone else’s –

even if an insurance claims representative shows

up at your door with a checkbook. Put simply,

hiring the right attorney to represent you may be

the most important decision of your life. You

shouldn’t expect to get a fair settlement for your

injuries on your own.

My twenty-three years of practicing law have

taught me that no one is ever prepared for an

accident. No one anticipates being unable to work.

Having their car smashed. Suffering pain that

doesn’t go away. Sometimes the pain eases.

Sometimes it gets worse.

I’ve had clients come into my office after an

accident and they seemed pain-free, able to twist

and bend, and converse with me easily. Then they

get worse and worse and may need surgery. I’ve


14

also had clients come in after an accident in great

discomfort. Wearing one of those padded collars

around their necks; having trouble sitting down in

the chair in my office. Having trouble standing up.

I’ve accepted cases like that and seen people get all

better. The point is that you never know if you’re

going to heal. I don’t know if you’re going to heal.

Even the doctors don’t really know if you’re going

to heal. Usually, only “time will tell.”

What should you do?

Unfortunately, in many cases, and particularly in

the five boroughs of the City of New York, you

don’t have to do a thing. Lawyers’ business cards,

and business cards for paralegals/legal assistants,

intermediaries, legal or medical coordinators, self-

styled insurance managers and representatives of

doctors’ offices and medical facilities will fly into

your hands. Your telephone might ring. Someone

may tell you that the hospital assigned you a doctor

or lawyer. (This is never true.) You may find a

business card in your door or mailbox. A tow truck

Gary E. Rosenberg

15

driver or ambulance attendant may hand you a

business card.

There are other variations of this scam, and it isa

scam. “Runners” sometimes drive around with

police scanners in their car. You may have an

accident, look up, and there they are. Maybe they

offer to drive you to a doctor or lawyer. I have heard

of unscrupulous tow truck drivers or body shops

that also do this. There are reports of runners

walking hospital hallways and entering rooms, or

striking up conversations in hospital waiting rooms,

all the while passing out business cards. Runners

may call themselves a “Legal Referral Service” or

“Medical Referral Service” or something similar.

Please, please, please don’t be fooled.

I know a person who broke a leg in an accident and

had an ambulance attendant pass her a cell phone in

the back of an ambulance, to speak to a lawyer. I

know another person who got a ride to a lawyer’s

office from a tow truck driver, after dropping off

his damaged car at a garage.


16

YOU SHOULD KNOW: Hospitals don’t give

anyone an accident or injury lawyer and, as a

patient, your hospital records and address and

telephone number are supposed to be kept

confidential and should never be given out without

your permission. And if a hospital refers you to a

doctor at all – rather than tell you to see your

family doctor – it will usually give you a list of

doctors, with several names to choose from. This,

of course, is permissible.

Wow! You say. This takes the work out of

searching for a lawyer. Especially if you’ve been

admitted into the hospital and spent more than a

day there. You’re likely to leave with a fistful of

business cards.

YOU NEED TO ASK: Is this proper? Is this

allowed, or is there something dirty going on? Are

these people I want to trust with my case? Are these

people I want to trust with my future? With my

family’s financial well-being if I can’t work again?

Gary E. Rosenberg

17

THERE ARE MORE THINGS YOU MUSTKNOW: The people running around with business

cards or calling you or trying to drive you to the

doctor or lawyer (called “runners”) are not doing so

out of the goodness of their hearts. They are getting

paid. Money is changing hands. And this is always

improper. In the most outrageous cases, lawyers

may offer money directly to you, the injured person.

A TRUE STORY (reported in Newsday):

On November 23, 2004 the Nassau County District

Attorney reported the arrests of runners, attorneys

and medical providers targeting patients in the

Nassau University Medical Center, in New York.

Employees of the hospital would sell the patients’

personal information to the runners, who in turn

would contact the patients and steer the patients to

medical providers and attorneys associated with

the group of runners. The attorneys would pay the

runners a fee for each patient referred to them that

“successfully” underwent treatment and filed an


18

insurance claim. The fees paid to the runners by

attorneys reportedly varied, according to the length

of time the patient underwent treatment, the

strength of the patient’s case, and the potential for

a lucrative settlement. This was mostly done by

Spanish-speaking employees of the hospital and,

needless to say, most of the patients contacted had

Spanish sur-names. But don’t think for one second

that these shenanigans are confined to any one

ethnic group or the speakers of foreign languages.

DEAR READER: This is illegal. You do not need

or want an attorney or doctor that gets work this

way. You want a team of professionals with a

proven track record. Not a team whose members

pay for cases.

This is a terrible development; it is illegal. Any

lawyer that would break the law and pay cash for a

case can’t be any good. The best lawyers act

properly, legally and ethically. They do not have to

break the law to get you to hire them. They do not

call you first.

Gary E. Rosenberg

19

Sometimes attorneys pay medical facilities for

cases by overpaying for doctors’ reports. This is

then added to your case expenses and taken out of

your pocket at the end of your case. Many of the

facilities my office works with provide reports free

of charge. You may want to call anonymously and

ask the place treating you what it charges lawyers

for medical reports. Better yet, ask your attorney if

he or she will be paying for medical reports, and

how much they will cost.

Working with a lawyer that pays you first will cost

you money when your case comes to its

conclusion. That lawyer only cares about a quick

settlement, to earn back the money paid out with a

quick fee. Remember there is no cash in accident

cases. Settlements are paid by insurance company

check. And, lawyers do not “lend” clients money.

This is against the law because it gives the lawyer

a personal interest in the case. If the dirty lawyers

are willing to break that rule, what else might they

do? How can you trust them?


20

When you hire a dirty lawyer, you have a lawyer

that’s eager to get repaid. Whom will that lawyer

be looking out for? Whose interest will that lawyer

put first? Not yours, the client’s. And that lawyer

can’t be any good. You will lose out in the long run,

when your case settles too cheaply or too quickly

or both. Or maybe that dishonest lawyer has bought

too many cases and can’t handle them all

competently. I’ve heard of young lawyers that

bought so many cases they started missing case

deadlines. Their clients’ lawsuits were thrown out

of court and dismissed.

PUT SIMPLY: You are trusting your financial

future to a crook. Is this a good idea?

YET ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD

CONSIDER: Insurance companies know who the

dishonest lawyers are. They have departments

staffed by retired law enforcement agents whose

only job is to root out fraud. Even if your case is

legitimate and your injuries are real, if your lawyer

is known to be dirty, or got your case improperly,

Gary E. Rosenberg

21

or both, you may be investigated and checked out

and videotaped and watched. And this will hurt

your dealings with those insurance companies and

hurt the dirty lawyer’s ability to negotiate a

settlement. Make no mistake, the insurance

companies know who the dirty lawyers are, and

those lawyers have a stain on their reputations that

stays with them.

And what happens to your case if your lawyer is

arrested in the middle of it?

Another thing to consider: Sometimes accidents

are “staged.” There are several ways that this is

done. Sometimes two or more cars plan the

“accident” ahead of time, with or without the

connivance of dirty lawyers and/or doctors.

Sometimes a car hits yours on purpose. In either

case, the vehicle(s) intentionally causing the event

may be full of people who claim injuries.

Sometimes, people have appeared at the crash

scene right after the collision, and piled into the

cars involved and claimed to have been injured.


22

Unfortunately, if you are the innocent victim of a

staged accident, you may be denied insurance

coverage because, under New York law, a staged

accident does not count as an “accident” under

most automobile insurance policies. So you could

be hurt and end up with zero. This is very tricky

stuff, so don’t even try to help yourself under these

circumstances without competent legal

representation.

• • • • •

ANOTHER TRUE STORY: The case of Manhattan

attorney Fredric Zarkin, a partner in a well known

personal injury law firm. Admitted to the practice

of law in 1979, in 2003 Zarkin was charged with

bribery, corruption and several related charges for

paying hospital workers or “runners” to obtain the

medical records of potential clients for personal

injury lawsuits.

Gary E. Rosenberg

23

As reported in the New York Post:

“At its height, the scheme involved a half-dozen

personal-injury lawyers and a network of

crooked emergency-room workers at Elmhurst,

New York Presbyterian and Lincoln hospitals.

The workers collected $200 each time they

found an accident victim with good lawsuit

potential. They would turn the victim’s

confidential records over to one of six ‘runners,’

who would then deliver them to the lawyers.

The lawyers could then phone the victims and

sell them on the idea of suing – with the runners

sharing a cut in any settlement or jury award.”

On November 22, 2005 Fredric Zarkin and his law

firm were convicted by a Manhattan jury of some

of the charges against them. As a result, Zarkin

automatically lost his law license and his more-

than-twenty-five-year legal career came screeching

to a halt. Now Zarkin’s firm was well known, and


24

it’s fair to assume that he made a good living and

could have made a good living without utilizing the

services of runners. So did greed get the better of

him? Stupidity? Your guess is as good as mine,

dear reader. More importantly: What happened to

his clients when he was arrested, and forced out of

the legal profession by his conviction? Could his

legitimate clients have any credibility? Could their

cases survive? Likely not.

• What do you know about the attorney

you’ve hired?

• What do you need to know?

• Whom are you hiring?

Gary E. Rosenberg

25

Here’s a terrific dishonest attorney story.

Attorney Mason Pimsler graduated law school in

1997. He got a job as a first year associate at a high-

pressure plaintiff’s personal injury firm in Flushing

(Queens County), New York. Fearing he might be

fired if he did not bring in accident cases for his firm

to work on (also, he received 50% of the attorney’s

fee for every case that he brought in), he hit on a

novel and creative approach to gathering clients. On

almost every weekend between March 1998 and

May 1999, he called the answering service of

another plaintiff’s personal injury law firm, and

pretended to be a partner from that firm. Stealing

the messages of that firm’s potential clients, Pimsler

would send a car service to pick them up and bring

them to the firm where he was employed.

This scheme was foiled when one of the stolen

clients called the firm he had been intending to hire

to complain that a car service vehicle had stood

him up. Of course, this car service had really been

dispatched by Pimsler. The firm that was being


26

victimized contacted the District Attorney’s office

and nabbed Pimsler through a sting operation. A

detective left messages with the answering service

and heard back from – have you guessed yet? –

Pimsler. Pimsler and his employer were sued and a

jury delivered a verdict against both of them. The

jury thought it odd that Pimsler’s employer was not

suspicious when its brand new associate attorney

brought in over 100 cases to the firm in his first year

of employment. Needless to say, Pimsler lost his

law license (was disbarred), on October 1, 2001. A

promising legal career stopped in its tracks.

What’s the moral of this story? Make sure the

attorney you hire is the attorney you telephoned.

Another of my favorite naughty lawyer stories is

the case of Seth Bykofsky. Bykofsky was an

associate attorney at the law firm of famous

plaintiff’s personal injury attorney Harry Lipsig

(now deceased). Apparently, Harry Lipsig would

rotate the firm’s younger attorneys as telephone

answerers at night and on weekends. Bykofsky

Gary E. Rosenberg

27

began rejecting these cases, telling callers that their

cases were too small for the great Harry Lipsig, and

referring the callers, instead, to his friends’

personal injury law firm. Harry Lipsig was not

amused. Seth Bykofsky automatically lost his law

license (was disbarred) on February 22, 1999,

when he plead guilty in criminal court to a felony:

grand larceny in the third degree.

So How Might You Find a Lawyer?

This may seem obvious, but first you should make

sure the person you’ve hired or that you’re thinking

of hiring is, in fact, an attorney. In New York this

is easy. You can check on-line at the official

website of The New York State Unified Court

System, www.courts.state.ny.us. Click on

“Attorneys” in the right-hand column. Then click

on “Attorney Directory” in the left-hand column.

Then click on “Attorney Search” in the middle of

your screen. Then enter the attorney’s name. If the

attorney is not confirmed by the website, alarm

bells should start ringing in your head.


28

Now there is nothing wrong with a helpful friend or

relative trying to refer you to an attorney or

physician that he or she trusts. The

recommendation of family or friends – maybe of a

lawyer dealt with in the past – is okay. But please

remember what your mother taught you, “Don’t

talk to strangers.”

You can also visit lawyer web sites and compare.

Gary E. Rosenberg

29

10 Questions you need to ask alawyer you are considering hiringfor your personal injury case

Or pick several lawyers, interview them, and ask

questions. Such as:

1. Who will actually work on my case? You?

Someone in your office? Or someone I’ve never

met?

2. How will I be kept informed about the progress

of my case?

3. Can I call you? When?

4. Can I meet with you?

5. Are you a full-time practicing attorney?

6. Have you handled other cases like mine? With

what results?


30

7. Are you trial-ready?

8. What happens if you can’t settle my case? Does

it go to trial?

9. Will you handle the trial?

10. Do you carry legal malpractice insurance?

(There is no requirement that attorneys have

this insurance, but it’s nice to have this

protection and the knowledge that your

attorney is accountable.)

DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS A CLIENT“BILL OF RIGHTS”? Every New York attorney

is required to hang this list of rights in his or her

office – where clients can read it:

Gary E. Rosenberg

31

STATEMENT OF CLIENT'S RIGHTS

1. You are entitled to be treated with courtesy and

consideration at all times by your lawyer and the

other lawyers and personnel in your lawyers

office.

2. You are entitled to an attorney capable of

handling your legal matter competently and

diligently, in accordance with the highest

standards of the profession. If you are not

satisfied with how your matter is being handled,

you have the right to withdraw from the

attorney-client relationship at any time (court

approval may be required in some matters and

your attorney may have a claim against you for

the value of services rendered to you up to the

point of discharge).

3. You are entitled to your lawyer's independent

professional judgment and undivided loyalty

uncompromised by conflicts of interest.


32

4. You are entitled to be charged a reasonable fee

and to have your lawyer explain at the outset

how the fee will be computed and the manner

and frequency of billing. You are entitled to

request and receive a written itemized bill from

your attorney at reasonable intervals. You may

refuse to enter into any fee arrangement that you

find unsatisfactory. In the event of a fee dispute,

you may have the right to seek arbitration: your

attorney will provide you with the necessary

information regarding arbitration in the event of

a fee dispute, or upon your request.

5. You are entitled to have your questions and

concerns addressed in a prompt manner and to

have your telephone calls returned promptly.

6. You are entitled to be kept informed as to the

status of your matter and to request and receive

copies of papers. You are entitled to sufficient

information to allow you to participate

meaningfully in the development of your matter.

Gary E. Rosenberg

33

7. You are entitled to have your legitimate

objectives respected by your attorney, including

whether or not to settle your matter (court

approval of a settlement is required in some

matters).

8. You have the right to privacy in your dealings

with your lawyer and to have your secrets and

confidences preserved to the extent permitted

by law.

9. You are entitled to have your attorney conduct

himself or herself ethically in accordance with

the Code of Professional Responsibility.

10. You may not be refused representation on the

basis of race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual

orientation, age, national origin or disability.


34

Things that lawyers may advertisethat don’t make a ding dong bit ofdifference

I. We get quick settlements.

Now any lawyer might make a telephone call to

try to negotiate a settlement. And settlements

are usually good things: a compromise between

opposing parties to the mutual benefit of each.

But it is a mistake to hire a law firm that

advertises that its goal is to settle cases. You see,

there are few secrets in this business. Many

lawyers know each other or each other’s firms

or each other’s reputations. And this “quick

settlement” advertisement is out there just to

attract new clients. It says nothing good about

the quality of that law firm’s services. In reality,

a firm known for settling cases is a firm that

won’t fight.

Gary E. Rosenberg

35

I would rather hire the lawyer who has a

reputation for being tough on defendants and

their insurance carriers – who strikes fear in

their hearts – than hire a lawyer who is known

as a quick or easy settler. Because the insurance

companies know who these lawyers and law

firms are. And there is no way “quick settlers”

can get top dollar for your case, because the bad

guys know that these law firms want to settle

and are afraid to go to court. Such firms need to

settle, to live up to their advertising. Is that who

you really want to handle your accident case?

Remember, you don’t get a second chance to get

top dollar.

II. [Fill in the number] years combined experience.

Now I have 23 years of experience practicing

law. Would that really be equal to four attorneys

with five years experience and one with three

years experience? No.


36

III. Free consultation.

All personal injury attorneys give one.

IV. No fee unless successful.

Most personal injury attorneys utilize this type

of fee called a “contingent” or “contingency”

fee and based on a percentage of the money

recovered, typically, one-third. YOU NEED TO

KNOW that you, the client, remains responsible

for case expenses and disbursements, such as:

court filing fees, fees for medical and hospital

records, expenses of investigation, court

reporter fees, and the like. And your lawyer is

supposed to tell you this, that costs and

disbursements remain the client’s responsibility.

Advancing case expenses is like an interest-free

loan that the attorney makes on every accident

case. This is a loan that the client must repay

when his or her case settles. This is not the same

as a lawyer lending cash directly to the client,

Gary E. Rosenberg

37

which is not permitted. Now advancing case

expenses is not a terrible problem because

attorneys generally won’t advance a lot of

money on questionable cases that they feel

might not win. But that accident attorneys

advance case expenses that are repayable by the

client is something you should know.

V. Home/hospital visits available: we come to you.

Most personal injury attorneys do this. And it’s

not a big deal, as long as you’ve called that

attorney and asked for the visit.

VI. Telephone #’s that spell things, like 1-800-

HurtInAnAccident.

A very strong, memorable marketing tool.

Usually used by services that refer cases to

member law firms. So the question becomes:

whom is your attorney going to be? Does the

referral service tell you? Does it even know

whom it is sending your telephone call to? And


38

this again raises all of the previously discussed

questions about your attorney’s qualifications

and ability.

VII. Call 24 hours/7 days a week.

What, you hired an attorney that doesn’t sleep?

VIII. Slogans like: We fight hard for you; we care

for you; we kick insurance company butt; we

provide aggressive representation. (This is a

partial list.)

This is meaningless drivel.

If you think about it carefully, the things that

most attorneys advertise, such as the numbered

items above, are the same as every other

attorney advertises. Worse yet, they do not

address the important questions, such as the ten

items listed above, at pages 30 and 31. So read

what I’ve written carefully, then read it again.

Otherwise, you may not even know the

questions to ask, let alone what the answers

Gary E. Rosenberg

39

should be.

Your remedy for having hired a dishonest attorney

is simple. If possible, get a new attorney. That’s

right, fire your attorney. In New York State you can

change attorneys for any reason at all, or for no

reason. Just get a copy of as much of your

paperwork as you can before you speak to a new

attorney. Police reports, photographs, insurance

policies, medical records, legal or court papers and

the like. The more you have, the better a new

attorney can gauge the status of your case, and

decide if it has been handled properly or not, and

decide if it’s a case that he or she is interested in

taking over.

What puts a target on my back is the following

information:

Illegal payments made by attorneys or runnersdo not have to be repaid, even if you changeattorneys.

There is no end of ways for clever lawyers to


40

illegally pass money to a client. I’ve heard of an

accident victim that switched attorneys, after the

first attorney paid $2,000 for his client to have knee

surgery. When that client’s case settled, in addition

to repayment of legitimate expenses to which he

was entitled, the old attorney sought repayment of

the $2,000. The new attorney was able to make the

old attorney understand that the $2,000 out-of-

pocket payment to the surgeon was improper and

the old attorney could not get back that money.

It seems that the former attorney slithered back

under the rock from which he had crawled. No

more was heard about his seeking reimbursement

of the improper payment of $2,000 for the client’s

surgery. He learned a $2,000 lesson, which he

probably won’t forget.

If you can, drop the lawbreaking attorney that pays

runners or offers you money directly. Let the

dishonest members of the legal profession eat that

money and learn an expensive lesson on ethics.

Gary E. Rosenberg

41

If this advice seems harsh or unfair, remember,

we’re talking about dishonest attorneys that are

acting unethically and illegally.

Give that attorney what he or she deserves. But try

not to tell the attorney that you heard it here. I

prefer not to have to look over my shoulder, if

possible.

As I pointed out previously, no one is truly ready

for an accident. So if you’re hurt and can’t work

and running out of money, is there anything that

you can do that’s legal? Ethical? Legally ethical?

Permitted? The answer is YES.

You can borrow money from any of several

FUNDING COMPANIES that lend money against

your case. This is sometimes an expensive way to

go because interest rates tend to be high, and you or

your attorney must compare the interest rates

charged by these companies. (Generally, the longer

you have the money, the higher the finance

charges.) But there is no fee if you don’t recover.

That’s right.


42

If your case loses, you do not have to repay the

money and the funding company eats the loss.

Needless to say, the funding companies screen

cases carefully, so as not to lend money on a loser.

But if you’re desperate and in need, they are a

viable alternative, and one that my clients have

used from time-to-time. Without making any

recommendation, some of the companies that lend

in New York are:

Peachtree Pre-Settlement Funding

6501 Park of Commerce Boulevard, Ste. 140

Boca Raton, FL 33487

(866) 581-6225

(212) 370-1359

LawCash (Pre-Settlement Funding)

26 Court Street - Suite 1104

Brooklyn, NY 11242

1-800-LAW-CASH

(718) 875-0605

www.lawcash.net

Gary E. Rosenberg

43

American Legal Funding

2334 E Osborn Rd

Phoenix, AZ 85016

(480) 444-2334

Rapid Funds

44 South Broadway, 5th Floor

White Plains, NY 10601-4437

Tel: (888) 927-9500

www.rapidfunds.com

If you’ve been approached or hurt by an unethical

attorney––I want your story. Please, please, please,

send me business cards with a note describing the

circumstances (including time and place) under

which each business card was given to you. Maybe

I’ll put them in my next book, or my newsletter.

Another important thing you should know:

Doctors/clinics. There are crooked doctors and

clinics that pay money to automobile accident

victims to be their patients. You know that they


44

have to recover this money somehow, don’t you?

They recoup the money with unnecessary testing or

by billing for extra, phantom visits. The insurance

companies monitor treatment bills carefully; they

know who the dirty doctors are. Readers, we are

talking about insurance fraud.

If you have a case with one of these medical mills,

an insurance company will never give you a fair

settlement offer. It will discount and disbelieve

whatever the dirty doctors say is wrong with you.

And that’s if you’re lucky and no one is arrested

and the clinic is not closed down.

When the doctors get arrested and their clinics

close, what happens to the patient that genuinely

needs treatment? Or if that patient has a lawsuit,

his records end up lost, or in the possession of

criminal prosecutors, and are unavailable for that

patient’s accident case? I know of one case where a

dishonest neurologist was sent to jail. His patient’s

case came up for trial and there was no physician

available to testify. And the patient’s case was

severely damaged.

Gary E. Rosenberg

45

Walk away from dirty doctors and medical clinics

that offer money. Deal with ethical facilities that

act within the law. That is good medicine, and good

for your personal injury claim.

Please don't forget that there is no such thing as a

free lunch. If you deal with crooked professionals,

your case will be damaged. You will not get true

justice, or fair money for your injuries.


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Documents

Queens Personal Injury Attorney - GOOD LAWYERS DON T ......Good Lawyers Don’t Call You First Gary E. Rosenberg 109-05 72nd Road Forest Hills, NY 11375 Telephone: (718) 520-8787 I