My sister and niece got ran off the road and our car got wrecked

Off-topic Chatter
81

Yeah, I've been doing research on lawyers at different times this week.

I narrowed it down to two different law firms on Thursday, and then we chose to go with a different law firm on Friday because we personally know the people that work there.

Doing the research actually helped even though we aren't using either of the two law firms that I narrowed it down to.

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Thank you, CRC2, and everyone else for your support.

It means a lot to me.

I want this whole experience to be in the past, but right now it's in the present, and it will be for some time.

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:+1: :+1: :beer:

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thanks for posting your good news.
we always appreciate some.

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An extremely honest lawyer firm? They must be the first.

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I know that it's rare, but we know most of people at that law firm personally, and they just happen to be honest.

I'm friends with at least one of the lawyers that used to work at that law firm.

I think he's retired now, but he loves lawyer jokes and knows firsthand how bad some lawyers are.

He used to teach Sunday School and he would compare the bad guys in the scriptures with horrible lawyers of the present day.

He would not use the lawyers' actual names, though, because he has class.

I tell the truth when I'm not kidding around, and I have some class, but the people in this law firm are much better than I am in that regard.

They don't kid around as much as I do, and they have way more class.

87

Glad to hear your sister and niece are recovering and that you found a good lawyer, now take those malicious animals to the cleaners, I still say you should press the DA for criminal charges

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If the Sheriff's Dept. finds that the other party is at fault, they will automatically turn the case over to the D.A.

We will wait until the Sheriff's Dept. makes their determination, which could be a while.

No matter what they find, we might be in contact with the D.A. because of the dashcam evidence that speaks for itself.

...

I wish I could post the video, but for legal reasons, I cannot.

Sorry about that.

89

I have a lawyer friend who went on to be a prosecutor and then a judge. He and some of his lawyer friends have an organization that provides free representation for poor people and they all work together at it. There are a lot of good lawyers around. They just aren’t usually the ones you see.

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Fun trivia: although the words are used interchangeably these days, a “lawyer” is someone who has completed law school but has not yet passed the bar exam to become licensed in the profession. An attorney is all zipped up and in gear. I think as older generations retire or pass away and younger folks fill up, you see lawyer more in advertising/shingles than you used to.

Glad you’ve found someone you feel comfortable with and I hope everything settles out smoothly.

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And for some scary fun, look up the meaning of “attorn”.

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I think attorn muh table muscle again. < burp >

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And this is why Bort said earlier to not post it :wink:

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A lot of people like to dump on lawyers but they are actually pretty awesome.
Now i’m not a fan of ambulance chasers but having had to use and deal with lawyers in many other areas the stereotype is often misplaced.

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You want this documented, you can take pictures yourself but official pictures from a doctor would carry more weight. as would mental health evaluations.

Ask your lawyer about this.

96

Watch your back. These people don’t sound stable and all the lawyers in the world won’t help if they lose it.

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What is the lawyer for? Even if a guy gets charged, what is the purpose for a lawyer? you only really need one if you are suing insurance company due them denying payments. good luck suing the guy directly, unless insurance paid max allowed payment you wont be able to get a penny out of the guy, As far as him allegedly commuting a crime, well we only heard 1 side of the story, which may or may not be actually true in all details. The fact that sheriff is on the fence whether to call it a crime or not, tells me it is not a simple open and shut case. Also if it becomes clear it was no accident but was done on purpose with the intent to cause harm, aka crime, it is no longer an accident, and insurance will not cover it. Only then you may need a lawyer to sue that person. even if you win a case, good luck getting him to pay you, it is far from being that simple.

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Why to hire an attorney?

  • An attorney can help interact with the insurance company. If a settlement is proposed the lawyer can review it to help determine if it is reasonable.
  • Just the fact that the other side sees an attorney has been retained may make any settlement proposal from them larger. The other side’s insurance company knows there is an attorney involved and that drives up the value of the case. Their insurance company will do a cost-benefit analysis to determine how much settling the case is worth. One factor is how much it will cost them to litigate, and this goes up if the plaintiff has an attorney.
  • Also, insurance is only likely to pay for a replacement vehicle plus something for injuries. It won’t pay any damages for other things such as emotional distress. Some tort causes of action also have extra penalties such as giving the plaintiff the right to “triple damages”, which she would not get unless she sues the other driver. His sister is more likely to get a higher dollar amount with an attorney involved.
  • Some injuries may linger. They may have very long recovery or even be permanent. There may be ongoing medical costs for them or for therapy for the crash victims. Having an attorney may help in getting money from the other side to pay for these.
  • Many attorneys in California handle tort cases on a contingent fee basis. The attorney gets a percentage of the recovery if the case is won, but no fees if the case is lost. Result is there should be fairly minimal financial risk for the Plaintiff.
  • The Sheriff possibly declining to prosecute is also not conclusive. Prosecution in a criminal case requires the case to be proven by “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”, the highest standard. Most tort cases require only “clear and convincing evidence”, the next standard down. A case not strong enough for criminal prosecution may still be strong enough for relief in civil court.
  • Finally, an attorney can also help in obtaining a civil harassment restraining order. Such orders typically have a longer duration than emergency protective orders granted by the criminal court, if any.
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Isn’t the Pontiac Vibe a rebadged Corolla? I read that somewhere. Might find a preowned Vibe at a better price than a Corolla. Just an option. A Prius would be cool.

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Only thing that could be a drawback for a used Prius is the battery. Toyota says they last for approximately 10 years or 150k miles & cost about 5K to replace