1200 G Street, Suite B
Modesto, CA 94354
209-548-4000
Fax 209-549-4810
If you’ve been injured, you deserve a fair shake. Under the law, this means reasonable medical expenses, return of lost income, and damages for the pain and suffering you experience.
The person responsible for your injury, or more usually, their insurance company, will fight to pay little or nothing on your claim. They are not your friend nor your good neighbor, and they are not going to take care of you. Their duty is to make money for their stockholders. If you are going to fight back, you’ll need professional help.
We offer you:
Integrity: You will be treated fairly by us and we will represent you honestly in all things. Our advice will be based upon your best interest, not ours, and our fee agreements are not only written to be fair and honest, but are applied that way as well.
Proven Results: We have recovered millions for our clients. We also have court room experience to back up our demands.
Injuries are not just about money. You should be treated with respect and given honest information about your claim. It is you who should decide whether to settle or go to trial based upon good information.
Come see us right away. When you are injured, your opponent begins to collect information and make judgments about your case immediately. Waiting to get advice and counsel is playing into their hands.
What about Contingency Fees?
What if the other guy is not insured?
What is Medical Payment Coverage?
Do we have to file a law suit?
My claims adjuster says I don’t need a lawyer.
How do I pick a good lawyer?
Simply put, the contingency fee system allows you to have the services of an experienced attorney without having to put up a hefty deposit or pay hourly fees. The attorney is paid a percentage out of the results of the case. With a true contingency, if nothing is recovered in the case, you pay nothing to the attorney.
The Professional Code of Ethics requires that this agreement be in writing, so read it carefully. Some lawyers have a modified contingency agreement. They may require you to pay costs (expenses incurred, not fees) whether or not any money is actually recovered, or even an hourly fee under certain circumstances. Some will apply the fee to medical payment benefits or try to charge you extra to negotiate payment of liens. We do not follow these types of practices in our office.
It is the person who caused your injury, not their insurance company, who is responsible to you for any damages you suffer. So, if they are not insured, you can bring a claim or file a lawsuit against them and recover money from them for your damages.
If you were hurt in an automobile accident, you may have “Uninsured Motorist” (UM) coverage. This allows you to make a claim to your own company for your damages. The law requires every company to offer this coverage to you, but you can decline it (it does cost extra, although it is relatively inexpensive).
You have to fight to get a fair deal in this kind of claim just as you do with the other guy’s insurance. See “My claim adjuster says I don’t need a lawyer”.
In an automobile collision (or if you are a pedestrian hit by a car), this kind of insurance coverage may provide payment for medical expenses. It is an extra coverage you can select and for which you ay an additional premium. If you have this on your policy, it covers you and your passengers regardless of who is at fault. You pick the amount of coverage you want. It is usually cheap, and we recommend everyone have it. Most policies have a “pay back” provision: If you collect money for your medical bills from the other side, you have to pay back your company for what they paid out. Usually, a good attorney can negotiate a reduction for you.
Do we have to file a law suit?
In California, most personal injury claimants have two years to file a law suit for injury claims*. However, effective settlement planning begins the day of the injury, so don’t wait to come see us. In many cases, it is wise to wait until we have made at least one serious attempt to settle a claim before filing a lawsuit. Informal settlement saves money (no filing fees or court costs to pay back), brings quicker results, and minimizes the client’s inconvenience. It can often result in a better outcome for the client. We usually wait to attempt settlement once all treatment is complete. In some cases, for example when there is a permanent injury, we act sooner. When to settle or file a lawsuit is a decision made by our clients, with, of course, our advice and counsel.
* A claim against a state government or public entity must be filed within 180 days.
My claims adjuster says I don’t need a lawyer.
The first thing you should ask yourself is why is he saying that? All claims adjusters work for insurance companies. Their duty is to the company and its shareholders, not to you. Their job is to control how much money is paid out in claims. The less they have to pay, the more money the company makes. What do you think gets a claims adjuster a promotion or raise faster; saving the company money, or making you happy?
Recently another state’s appellate court fined a major insurance company for giving similar advice to claimants. There even was a “hidden camera” news report. In it, the adjuster made several statements that were patently false in order to get the claimant not to hire a lawyer.
Not all adjusters will employ these tactics, but there is an easy way to tell who you are dealing with. Just ask the adjuster to put any promise he makes to you in writing. If you get it, then you can rely on it. If you don’t get it, please come see me.
As in most professions, reputation is everything. The best way to find a lawyer is by referral from a friend or someone you trust, like a doctor or other professional.
With or without a referral, you should meet with any potential lawyer. If they send a non-lawyer out to you, or if you can’t meet with the actual attorney, find someone else who thinks you are important enough to spend time with.
In the meeting, ask lots of questions about your claim, fees and the attorney’s experience. If you are treated with respect and get straight-forward, clear answers you will probably be treated that way through out the case. Good attorneys do not guarantee specific results, but will tell you the strong and weak points of your case. The staff in a law office are often involved and handle many tasks in a case, so meet them too.
With injury cases, I try to give people an honest assessment of their claim. If a potential client and I don’t agree about the value of their case, its better we find out right away.
F.A.Q
We provide a wide range of estate planning services. We design documents such as wills and trusts to meet the needs of each client. We offer a free, one-half hour consultation on estate planning. This answers most questions and gives clients enough information to decide what services they want. Longer consultations are available by arrangement.
Why do I need an Estate Plan?
A written plan can prevent many problems and inconveniences upon your incapacity or death. Without one, your family may face expensive court procedures to get even simple things done or even court room battles over custody of minor children and relationship ending feuds between family members over the distribution of assets. There are also problems that arise if a person becomes incapacitated. If you become incapacitated, you need someone to have the legal authority to make decisions for you. In these situations, it is important to have properly delegated powers as well as written instructions to handle your personal and medical affairs. The key is planning ahead. By establishing a written plan, your wishes and needs will be carried out exactly as you desire; without it anything could happen.
Estate Planning usually includes one or more of the following devices:
Will (Last Will and Testament)
Trust (Living or Revocable Trust)
Power of Attorney
Living Will (Power of Attorney for Health Care)
Joint Tenancy
In addition, there is a legal process called Probate, which can come into play
A simple will or "last will and testament" is a legal document which declares your desires for you, your assets, and your family upon your death. A will makes sure your property is given to the people you want, and allows you to nominate who you want to become guardians of your minor children. It has no affect during your life, but only comes into play at your death. Even with a will, your estate is likely to go through Probate.
What is Probate?
Simply put, Probate is the court-supervised process of taking property owned by a person who has died (the “decedent”) and granting ownership to another. For example, the transfer of ownership of real property (land) requires that the owner sign a deed granting his title to another. However, as should be obvious a decedent cannot sign a deed. Except in limited circumstances, a court order is required to change title/ownership from the decedent to a living person. Such orders are issued by a court in Probate.
Generally, a will must be filed with the court when the writer dies. Unless the estate is very small, Probate is required to give effect to the will. Probate can be expensive and time consuming, with attorney fees and court costs running as high as 4% to 6% of the gross value of the estate, more in complicated estates. An executor can also claim a similar fee. The executor of the will gathers all the assets of the decedent and, usually with a lawyer’s help, files an accounting with the court, telling the court what the assets are, and where they should go. Probate can be avoided by planing your estate using a Trust.
A Trust is an entity created on paper, which can act like a person under the law, owning, managing and disposing of property. For estate planning, we usually create “Revocable Trusts” (or “Living Trusts” which usually means the same thing). Revocable Trusts can be easily amended or changed or even abolished by the creator (who we call the “Trustor”), but there are many other types of trusts, including “irrevocable” trusts which you cannot change, but which may have some tax saving benefits.
The primary purpose for a revocable trust is that you transfer your property to a trust during your life so that you legally no longer own anything. When you die, there is nothing to Probate, so you avoid all of those expenses. The Trust survives your death, and a new “Trustee”, a manager whom you appointed when you created the trust, takes over and transfers the property to people as you have instructed (the “beneficiaries”). The Trustee would, for example, be able to sign a deed transferring your house to whomever you designated when you created the Trust.
During your life, you are the “Trustor” and “Trustee” and “Beneficiary” so you still get to live in your house, spend your money and pretty much live just like before you created the Trust.
If trusts interest you, read my discussion on Trust Packages, Trust Kits and Trust Salesmen.
“Power of attorney”, is the power and authority to act in your place. The two main kinds of powers of attorney are 1) Power of Attorney for Financial Matters, and 2) Power of Attorney for Health Care.
Power of Attorney for Financial Matters: You, the “Principal”, can sign a document giving your “Agent” authority to sign your name to all kinds of things that affect your material goods (real and personal property) such as deeds and checks. The document spells out what the Agent can and can’t do. If written correctly, it can still work even if you become incapacitated. However, it ceases upon the death of the Principal, so you can’t use this in lieu of a will or trust
Power of Attorney for Health Care: California lets you designate an agent to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to speak for yourself. You can do many more things, like allow an autopsy, donate organs and the like, but the main part is telling your agent what you want done if you face serious health issues. This does not have anything to do with your material goods.
Joint Tenancy (or Why don’t I just put everything in my kid’s name and avoid all of this?)
Joint Tenancy is sharing ownership of property, such as a house or a bank account. Usually, two people who each contribute half the money buy property in joint tenancy.
However, as an estate planning tool, We believe it is generally a terrible idea. Its cheap and easy, but can cause a lot of trouble. Anytime you “put your kid’s name on” something, you are making a gift of it, or at least half of it, to your kid. They can lawfully take it, sell it, borrow against it, and if they owe anyone money, that creditor can come get it (think auto accident, credit card company, bankruptcy etc.) In addition, there can be terrible tax consequences which would take too long to explain here. Let’s just say if there is real property involved, the kid’s may well pay so much more in taxes you’ll think Probate was a bargain by comparison.
I have handled many lawsuits between friends and family over title to property because of the “name only” transfer. Usually the first thing they tell me is “I never thought my own (son, daughter, nephew, friend) would have done that to me.” Like everything, there are times this may make sense, but we suggest you get legal advice from your own, independent lawyer first.
Trust Kits, Trust Salesmen, and Funding.
Living Trusts have become very popular, primarily because of the cost savings in avoiding probate. Because of this, there are a lot of people trying to make money off the trend.
Trust Kits: There are a variety of “kits” on the market wherein you write your own trust by connecting the dots in a step by step process outlined in a manual. They usually provide generic forms which you modify by following instructions. The main attraction is that it is cheaper than hiring a lawyer to meet with you, determine your particular needs and paying him to write documents for you. How good the kit is will depend upon who wrote it. For me, it seems like one of those guides on how to paint your own car in a weekend. You can do it, but unless you have some experience or training to guide you it’s going to be an adventure. With the paint job, you’ll know how bad it is on Monday. With the trust kit, you won’t find out until it’s time to use it; when you are gone.
Trust Salesmen: There are a number of companies, using very promising names with words like “American; Tradition; Family; Surety; Liberty” and the like, selling trusts. They hold free seminars and a presenter, sometimes a lawyer, explains trusts and offers you a special deal if you sign up at the seminar. You sign up, and a salesman, usually not a lawyer, comes to your home and helps you fill in the blanks on forms they have prepared in advance. They are sometimes cheaper than seeing a personal attorney.
Funding: The problem with both of these methods for obtaining a trust is they usually leave the funding process to you. “Funding” is the process by which your assets are transferred from your name into the name of the trust. Recall that the trust “owns” your property for you. Property owned by the trust is not in your estate, and so avoids probate. If the trust is not properly funded, the property you still own it at your death ends up in, you guessed it, Probate. Since the whole point of buying a trust was to avoid probate, you have paid for a fancy document but missed the point.
My Experience.
I have prepared Trusts and Wills for many years. Early in my career, I wrote hundreds of trusts for a Trust Company, always insisting that I speak with the people myself and create the documents myself. I have created my own forms and researched all aspects of the law myself. I continue to keep myself current in the law, and incorporate changes and as well as feedback from tax and other professionals to keep my trust packages in top shape.
I also manage trust estates, handle probate matters, and litigate contests over estates and claims against estates. This practical experience with disputes over estate plans really helps my preparation. I get to see the practical effect of the documents I and other lawyers prepare, noting what “holds up in court” and what does not.
What makes a good attorney?
Above all else, I think a good attorney puts his clients’ interests first. It’s a dedication to doing what is right and best for your client, putting that ahead of ego or money. You agree to represent someone, and they put their trust in you. In turn you have to use all your skill and talent to help them. You ‘burn the midnight oil’ if necessary to find a way to meet their goals, to win. Sometimes it just means hard work. Other times it means telling them they are wasting their time and their money; that based upon the facts and the law you can’t get them what they want. Justice Brandeis once said “Half a good Lawyer’s job is telling his client’s to just stop”. In short, its doing the right thing, and doing it well. It may sound corny or even a bit unreal, but as much as I like to win, my real pride comes in doing just that.
