Maryland Auto Accident Lawyer Blog tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2009-04-10:/2 2011-12-06T18:33:25Z Maryland Auto Accident Lawyer provided by Miller & Zois, LLC. Movable Type Pro 4.25 Who is Gallagher Bassett? tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.61 2011-12-06T18:27:39Z 2011-12-06T18:33:25Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr
Gallagher Bassett is a outside risk manager.  In other words, they are claims adjusters for companies and smaller insurance companies who do not have their own adjusters.  

Our Maryland auto accident lawyers have settled a number of cases with Gallagher Bassett.  But they are not an easy company to deal with in accident claims.  We take a look at the Gallagher Bassett and dealing with them in Maryland accident cases here.  
]]> Tracking Down Witnesses and Defendants tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.60 2011-11-28T20:26:33Z 2011-11-28T20:30:02Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr jail. ]]> Wrongful Death Award in Cab Case tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.59 2011-10-04T21:00:00Z 2011-10-05T18:07:16Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr A North Carolina jury awarded $1.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a pedestrian hit by a cab.  Before his death, the man suffered brain damage that ultimately killed him eight months after the accident.   The pedestrian victim was blind - thankfully, there were witnesses to the accident which helped avoid a miscarriage of justice. 

One big problem with cab accident lawsuits in Maryland is the taxi cabs are typically insured for only $20,000 in coverage, an amount below the minimum limits.  How do cab companies get away with having less than the minimum insurance?  They use MAIF which is a Maryland state government operated insurance company that slipped by the legislature when they increased the minimum limits.  Hopefully, this gets fixed in the next legislative session.  
]]> Verdicts and Settlements for Rear End Truck Accidents tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.58 2011-10-03T17:50:10Z 2011-10-05T18:09:11Z A Jury Verdict Research study found that the median award in rear-end truck accident cases is $93,909. Remarkably, plaintiffs recover damages in only 63 percent of truck accident cases that go to verdict. That study is based on verdicts rendered... Ronald V. Miller, Jr A Jury Verdict Research study found that the median award in rear-end truck accident cases is $93,909. Remarkably, plaintiffs recover damages in only 63 percent of truck accident cases that go to verdict. That study is based on verdicts rendered throughout the United States from 1997 to 2007.  While these statistics are a little bit dated, I think they fairly reflect the median value.  

This is the median not the average truck accident verdict. Clearly, the average truck accident verdict would be substantially higher because a full twelve percent of the verdicts in rear end truck accident cases are over $1 million. 
]]> Spoliation in Truck Accident: Most Commonly Cited Case tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.57 2011-10-03T15:14:17Z 2011-10-05T18:13:11Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr spoliation in truck accident cases.  A common case cited nationally in truck accident spoliation cases is J.B. Hunt Transp. Inc. v. Bentley, 207 Ga. App. 250, 427 S.E.2d 499 (1992).  In this truck accident case, the defendant trucking company did what many trucking companies do after an accident: destroy the logbook.  There was no conspiracy: this was a destruction in the normal course of business.  Plaintiff's truck accident lawyer filed a lawsuit alleging that the accident was caused because of driver fatigue.    bigtruck.jpg

Plaintiff's lawyers screamed that the defendant should have - given the notice of a potential claim - preserved the trucking logs.  The trial court agreed, telling the jury that they should presume that the trucking logbook would have shown that the driver did not have sufficient rest. 

The court relied I'm sure in no small part on the fact that the trucking company was clearly a bad seed.  It was a "habitual violator" of the hours-in-service requirements of the Georgia Public Service Commission for its vehicles.   One-third of the company's logbook violations which were penalized were because of driver excessive driving.  Incredibly, and this is over-the-top even for poorly run trucking companies, it operated a "forced dispatch" system, under which drivers could be terminated for not driving a load upon demand. 

That said, destruction of trucking logs after an accident is common, even when the company knows that a potential claim may follow.  Good truck accident lawyers use this lack of evidence to their advantage and seek an instruction that the destroyed evidence would have helped plaintiff's case.  
]]> Settlement with State Farm tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.56 2011-07-11T13:57:01Z 2011-07-11T14:46:53Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr
Like the way this blog takes a backseat to the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, we have a website called Maryland Auto Accident that we have tried to put more into but it keeps getting set aside for the Miller & Zois site.   In any event, I have written what I think is a pretty detailed analysis of handling claims with State Farm on that site that you can find here.
]]> GEICO Claims Central tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.55 2011-07-08T18:33:14Z 2011-07-11T14:04:15Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr Here, I've set up a "GEICO Claims Central" with lots of information and analysis for lawyers handling car accident claims with GEICO.]]> Getting 911 Tapes in Baltimore City tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.54 2011-04-20T15:39:20Z 2011-04-20T15:48:30Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr Evidence of a 911 call can be a game changer in a Maryland car accident case.  First, the fact alone that a call was made can be important in some cases.  But, more significantly, the defendant often makes the call and says thing in the heat of the moment that he/she may later recant.   In Baltimore City, you can get a 911 call by sending a fax to 410-984-7024.  Their address is: 

Information Retrieval Unit      
242 West 29th Street                                              
Baltimore, Maryland 21211

In a related/unrelated story, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine published an article on Baltimore City 911 calls, finding that a new strategy helped slow repeated unnecessary 911 calls, which drain manpower and resources of the City's emergency medical services.   A pilot program that identified Baltimore City's top 911 callers and coupled them with a case worker has succeeded in drastically cutting the number of such calls while helping callers get proper care.

Moral of the story: by continuing to try, we can find better solutions to Baltimore's most vexing problems.  
]]> Social Security Liens in Accident Cases tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.53 2011-04-13T19:19:53Z 2011-04-14T16:38:11Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr

Social Security liens seems to be a difficult beast to beast for Maryland car accident lawyers to get their mind around.  They can be tricky and you can't screw it up: the client's rights to benefits are at risk.  


A starting point is the Social Security Release of Information form, which if completed and sent in, SSA will provide the types and amounts of benefits the client receives, which will make identifying potential lien holders easier. Here is a link to the form.

 
This is one Social Security subrogation lien fact that I think a lot of accident lawyers do not fully appreciate in wrongful death cases:  there is no right of subrogation from Social Security for survivor's benefits.

]]> Car Accident Settlement Calculator tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.52 2011-03-14T20:41:49Z 2011-03-14T20:54:26Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr car accident settlement calculator.  Sneak preview: there is a formula but no calculator.  ]]> Property Damage Claims: The Bad News tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.51 2011-03-09T15:57:48Z 2011-03-09T16:18:55Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr
I can't do this on property damage cases.  The reality is the law is such that more often than not, injury victims with significant property damage or a total loss to their vehicle are going to get a raw deal.  Our lawyers can often turn that raw deal into a medium-rare deal (or something like that).  But with respect to the property damage, if justice is getting the car back to where it was before the accident, injustice will outperform justice. 

Our website provides a lot of advice on property damage claims.  But keep in mind: our firm handles only (serious) personal injury claims.  So even if you have the world's best property damage case, our lawyers will not be able to help you if you are not hurt.  But if you have a  question about a property damage claim, you can email me at ronmiller@millerandzois.com.  We often help people that we will never have occasion to represent.
]]> Defense Experts in Accident Cases tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.50 2011-02-22T18:20:04Z 2011-02-22T19:01:30Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr don't match the patient with the medicine.  Maryland car accident lawyers are often reluctant to challenge doctors on the medicine.  The lawyer does not need to know more about being a doctor than the doctor. But good accident lawyers can get a better handle that many IME doctors on the medicine that matters in a specific case.]]> Travelers Accident Claims tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.49 2011-01-26T19:56:52Z 2011-01-26T20:01:43Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr Our car accident lawyers provide on our website an analysis of accident claims against Travelers Insurance.  In a nutshell, Travelers is a good defendant in Maryland accident cases. You would much rather try to reach a settlement in a claim against Travelers than you would with Allstate, State Farm, and the like.  That is not to say that it is easy to reach a settlement with Travelers in Maryland.  Insurance companies are not giving away settlements in accident cases in 2011.  Every case is a fight.  But, still, generally speaking, Travelers Insurance is easier to deal with than most Maryland insurance companies.]]> Seat Belts in Maryland tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2011://2.48 2011-01-11T16:27:06Z 2011-01-11T16:37:59Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr ranks 9th nationally in the use of seat belts.  

Who is stopping Maryland from climbing to #1?  Teenagers, truck drivers, men (particularly in rural parts of Maryland)  pick-up truck drivers, people who are drinking and, inexplicably, people driving at night wear seat belts less often than the rest of us.
]]> Farmers Auto Claims tag:www.marylandautoaccidentlawyer.net,2010://2.1434 2010-09-02T15:20:26Z 2010-09-02T15:21:18Z Ronald V. Miller, Jr Farmers Insurance in car and truck accident claims.  ]]>