Blog

If you’re looking for a vehicle accident lawyer, it’s safe to say that you’re probably not having a very good day. While no one likes to think about the cause of an accident, it can seem like everyone you run into has an opinion to offer about what could have been done differently. As well intentioned as advice like this may seem, it often comes too late to make a difference.

Because of this mixture of overwhelming feelings, many people don’t ask for help–even if they really need it.

Many people are frightened by the prospect of finding a good attorney.

The truth is, lawyers aren’t involved in every car or vehicle accident.

In some cases, some people elect to negotiate directly with the other driver. Others work out an arrangement with an insurance agent.

But an attorney is a special kind of professional. Many lawyers–especially those who work in personal injury–care greatly about helping people in situations where they are outmatched. This is commonly the case if you are up against an insurance company.

Insurance companies often conduct secret investigations and have been known to ask prying questions. The insurance company might introduce you to concepts you don’t know about like subrogation that can make paying your medical bills after an accident seem overwhelming.

According to a recent update of Colorado accident statistics, there were more than 500 traffic fatalities in 2015 alone.

Fatalities aren’t the only kind of car accident injury, either. The severity of these injuries can range from soft tissue injuries to the more extreme spinal and brain injuries.

From making sure you know how your vehicle handles to ensuring you avoid driving in the worst of the rain there’s a lot you can do before your drive to stay safe. It’s important you learn to keep a look out for signs of reckless driving, and common causes of truck accidents. It’s important to be vigilant: even if you’re just biking to work.

But if you or a loved one has been injured, it’s time to consider looking for a professional who can help you shoulder the burden of recovering after an accident. Vehicle accident lawyers are often very experienced at negotiating with other drivers and insurance agents. Should you chose to retain one, you’ll likely find that your lawyer becomes a sort of trusted confidant–a central source of information to help you recover after your trying experience.

That’s why it’s so important (whether you’re looking for a vehicle accident attorney or any other type of lawyer) to spend some time researching your decision. Ask questions. Take a free consultation. There’s all sorts of tricks you can use to help guide your search!

It might seem strange to think of hiring a bicycle accident attorney after you’re involved in a bicycle accident, but the truth is that there are a number of situations where you may benefit from the services an experienced (and well-reviewed) attorney can offer you.

A few days ago, Rand Spear, a Philadelphia based attorney, pointed out some of the unique complexities of bicycle accidents. Mr. Spear put hosted a two part podcast all about some of the unique challenges presented by bicycle accidents.

In one Phoenix case, a woman intentionally struck her boyfriend with her vehicle. Because this was an intentional accident, it was prosecuted in a manner different than many other pedestrian accidents.

We’ve written in the past about startling pedestrian accident facts, and even offered some tips for pedestrian safety. One thing we found as we were preparing these articles is that insurance companies are very well positioned to defend drivers in these situations.

When an accident involves a bicycle and a motor vehicle, the consequences of such a collision can be very serious. These sorts of injuries can require a great deal of medical care–which often comes at a steep cost. You should be able to recover the compensation you need to fully recover from your accidents.

Over the past few years, a number of attorneys have begun to notice these discrepancies–especially in Colorado where many people enjoy outdoor activities like cycling.

The above video (from Denver’s own Foster Graham Milstein & Calisher LLP) underscores just how serious these injuries can be. We weren’t kidding when we said lots of Colorado lawyers care about bicycle accidents.

Because many personal injury attorneys claim to be experienced at negotiating with insurance companies, it can be helpful to use our guide to Denver Attorney Reviews to find a professional you can trust to work with.

That doesn’t mean that you’re totally at the mercy of the road when cycling.

We like this video, because like our article on avoiding motorcycle accidents, this video reminds viewers of just how important proper preparation is to a successful ride.

Proper preparation is crucial for a safe ride. This can mean understanding the unique challenges presented by the terrain you’re biking over. You can find lots of great resources (like the video above) online to help familiarize yourself with these challenges before you get out onto the road.

The video above (from the NHTSA) explains some of the rights and responsibilities that motorists have. That’s because in many states, bikes are actually considered vehicles. That can mean that a bicyclist is responsible for following all of the rules of the roadway like stopping at stop signs and being visible at night. As the video above asserts, nearly every state requires bicyclists to have one white light at the front of the bike and one red light at the back.

In some accidents, insurance companies will use a legal doctrine known as “contributory negligence” to argue that a bicyclist who isn’t following these rules of the road deserves some share of the blame for causing an accident. Insurance companies make this argument because doing so can lessen the amount that the insurance company of the driver who hit you will be compelled to offer you in a settlement. One thing that many cyclists do not know is that you can be protected for an accident caused by an action taken to avoid an accident. More often than not, making such a complex argument is beyond the ability of even the savviest of accident victims.

That’s one of the reasons you may want to consider taking a free consultation with a personal injury attorney. The driver who struck your bicycle will be represented by a powerful insurance company–don’t you want someone just as strong in your corner?

There’s one thing many people only realize once they’ve been involved in an accident with a commercial vehicle. The finance and funding mechanisms related to commercial drivers have changed dramatically over the years. That’s why finding a commercial vehicle accident lawyer is so important.

In the past, we’ve written a little about why finding good commercial accident lawyers is so difficult. The truth is that in the time since, these systems have only become more complicated.

Even more frustrating is that many of these accidents could be avoided if drivers were better about paying attention to the roadway. Watch what happens in this video below.

There’s no doubt that distracted drivers can cause serious accidents.

As the video above from the Tefteller Law Firm suggests, many times insurance companies can afford to hire experts to speak to the defense of the person whom you feel caused an accident.

Commercial vehicles undergo a wide array of evaluation and testing. You can see some of this crash testing in the video above. Clearly, companies that can afford this level of testing can also afford a host of experts to represent their positions.

But insurance offerings for truck operators are complicated as well. Check out this lengthy ad for commercial insurance:

Many commercial vehicles are driven by independent owner operators. These arrangements can be equally complex. The video below from Swift Trans explains one such arrangement at length.

These complexity of these sorts of arrangements can be a lot to navigate on your own. That’s why you need to find an attorney who understands these systems. Prepare a list of questions and use our guide to Denver attorney reviews to find the right lawyer today.

A few months ago, we wrote an article about common car accident injuries. In it, we explained that Soft Tissue Injury is one of the most common categories of injury people experience after an auto accident. We mentioned that many people experience soft tissue injury after an accident that damages the spine and pointed out that many people visit a chiropractor for soft tissue injury treatment. But soft tissue injuries aren’t just caused by car accidents, and so we wanted to take a closer look at the topic.

We like the video above because explains just how common these injuries are. Sprains, strains and carpal tunnel are all examples of soft tissue injuries. Like the video above says, direct or indirect injuries can cause soft tissue injuries. Muscle strain is one of the largest causes of neck and lower back pain.

The video above explains that a great deal of injuries occur during the beginning of the gardening season. The professional in this video suggests that icing may actually cause more strain to your muscles. Dr. George R. Cybulski of Northwestern University explains that in these situations you should actually consider beginning your treatment with a heat pack and if you’re experiencing sudden pain, you should make sure that you schedule an appointment with your physician.

In the video above, Dr. Wayne Guerra of Denver-based iTriage shares a very valuable tip for athletes preparing to exercise. He suggests that one of the best ways to avoid a muscle strain while exercising is to stretch before hand.

So why are soft tissue injuries so common in auto accidents? To find out, check out this video below from Atlanta’s own Schenk and Smith.

As the video above explains, car accidents involve a great deal of trauma. The impact of these sorts of accidents can produce the same sort of damage a high-endurance athlete can encounter.

If you or someone you love has experienced the symptoms of a soft tissue injury, it’s a good idea to meet with a physician to explore your options. But that isn’t your only option.

We like this video from the Denver Chiropractic Center because it does a good job of exploring some of the ways that chiropractors can help after an injury like this.

The truth is that far too many people let their fears keep them from seeking the medical attention they need. We hope this guide can help you to decide to find the treatment you need for your soft tissue injury–even if it wasn’t caused by an auto accident.

If there is one thing that many people don’t realize, it’s that lawyers who run their own practice spend a great of time researching ways to stand out. Even the best Denver accident lawyer has to work very hard to make sure that they’re the first name you think of when you’re in a car accident.

As more and more students have graduated law school in recent years they’ve entered into a job market that is described by some professionals as an increasingly competitive landscape. To make matters worse, according to some sources the number of personal injury cases that are filed each year continues to decline as the public becomes increasingly concerned with our “overly litigious” society. Unfortunately, many of the voices who are the loudest about this problem, are also the people who have the most to gain from decreasing their risk of exposure.

The best Denver accident lawyers keep up to date by following industry thought leaders and doing research. One industry thought leader recently suggested that the best way to address this increase in competition is for lawyers to get better at business fundamentals like responsiveness. One article even suggests texting with clients.

While these strategies may work for some law firms, we actually think that they miss the forest for the trees.

Lawyers devote their lives to obsessing over the details of specific rules and the way those rules change our society. If you’ve ever met with a doctor who is well respected in their field, you’ve likely found yourself at a loss to explain what it is they actually do.

When it comes to Denver accident lawyers, this problem is even more dramatic. Unless you understand the nuances of the supply chain of the company who produced your car, you’re not very likely to know if your accident was actually the fault of a defective part that the company who manufactured your car procured from a third party vendor. Just because the company who assembled your car didn’t make the part in question, doesn’t mean that they have no responsibility to sell you a car that works the way they described.

Unless you’ve read the details of every page of not only your own insurance policy but the insurance policy that covers the driver of the car that struck you, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to identify which portion of the policy documents apply to the situation you find yourself in. Similarly, unless you’ve scoured every court case in the state of Colorado involving the insurance companies that are party to your claim, you’re likely to miss important details.

That’s why nearly every lawyer recommends that you don’t take on these sorts of challenges yourself–even if it seems like it might be “just a few sentences on a piece of paper.”

Communications professionals sometimes refer to these situations as “knowledge gaps.” While you might expect your attorney to be more knowledgeable about the law than you are, this divide makes it very difficult to identify which professionals are savvy and which ones are scammy.

That’s probably why so many lawyers find they get better results when they prioritize their relationships with prospective clients.We believe that the best way to build good relationships isn’t through tactics, it’s by being real. It’s by being honest about what we do, and why we make the decisions that we make.

If you’re wondering what this article has to do with finding a Denver accident lawyer–listen up. The best way to find the best Denver accident lawyer, it’s by searching through pages and pages of practically identical websites. The way to find the best Denver accident lawyer, is to trust the way you feel and to gather as much information as you can to make the right decision. When you decide to work with a professional that you trust, you’ll be more than just another account. You’ll have found a valued advocate that you can turn to in your time of need.

One of the best ways to start a smarter search for a lawyer is by spending your time reading Denver attorney reviews. While you’re doing that, you should schedule as many free attorney consultations as possible. Spend some time before your meetings considering the qualities of a good attorney, and prepare ten questions you can ask each professional you meet with.

When you compare the answers you get to those questions, you won’t have to worry about finding the best Denver accident lawyer, you’ll know exactly who you need to work with.

Finding good accident lawyers is a lot more work than it should be.

In the past we’ve put together a number of guides to help you figure out if you need an attorney after a spinal injury, and finding an attorney after a brain injury.  But what many people don’t understand about finding good accident lawyers, is that most attorneys don’t think of themselves as “accident lawyers.” Because of this, a google search for “good accident lawyers,”isn’t very likely to turn up the kind of results that you might need.

A good accident lawyer is more likely to refer to themselves as a personal injury attorney. That’s one of the many reasons why you’ll have a much easier time conducting a search for a personal injury attorney.

Before you get too far into your search, we’ve got a technique we’d like to recommend.

Start your search by familiarizing yourself with the way a good lawyer will work your case. In the past, we’ve written about some of the different stages of a lawsuit or case and situations where you may want to consider a personal injury attorney. While it may seem excessive, spending a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the basics of how the system works, will make it much easier to select the professional who can give you the help you need.

After you’ve familiarized yourself with the basics, you’ll want to begin reaching out to attorneys in your area. We’ve put together a guide to Denver Attorney Reviews, but many of those tips and suggestions are useful for finding good accident lawyers anywhere in the world.

It’s unlikely you’ll speak with an attorney during your initial call. You should make sure that you schedule a free consultation. Most law firms offer this as a service, and will be happy to discuss some details as to how they feel they can be of assistance to you. If a lawyer you meet with can’t help you, be sure to ask for a referral to someone they know who specializes in cases like yours. Lawyers work much more closely with one another than professionals in other fields do. That’s why if your lawyer can’t help you, there’s a good chance they’ll know someone who can.

As you prepare for your free consultation, make sure that you check out our guide to getting the most from a free consultation. By following these steps, you’ll find a good accident lawyer in no time at all!

If you or someone you love has been injured in an auto accident, there’s a good chance you’ve heard a phrase you may not be familiar with: health insurance subrogation. While the doctrine of subrogation is more complex than we can cover on our blog, we want to make sure to hit some the basics and give you some links to learn more if you’re curious. Because health insurance subrogation tends to be one of the last steps of insurance claims process, it’s likely that by the time you first encounter the phrase, there’s not a lot that can be done to change the outcome of the process. It’s much easier to deal with these complexities from the outset, and a good lawyer can help you do that. We’ve written extensively about how you can take advantage of a free consultation to get the answers you need in a crisis, and this is one of those situations where it’s pretty important.

Here’s why.

Many insurance agreements include what’s called a subrogation clause. While there are many different types of subrogation, in this context it generally means that you give your insurance company the ability to stand in your shoes and defend your rights as though they were their own.

One example of a situation where this may happen is if your car was damaged in a hit and run. Say you paid your deductible, and the insurance company began to authorize bills for your vehicle’s repair.  In situations like this, police officers are often able to track down the responsible party, but by the time they do, your insurance company has already paid for someone else’s responsibility.

While the rules for doing this vary from state to state, in some jurisdictions this protection even applies to partial-fault accidents. Most insurance companies follow the rules very closely and will also attempt to recover your deductible.

That’s a fairly common occurrence, and you might think that your insurance company should be able to be reimbursed by the person who actually caused the accident. Many insurance companies agree and include subrogation clauses in their contracts.

“Subrogation is a very important last step in our claims resolution process — and an important aspect of our business. The successful recovery of money we’ve paid on claims allows us to pass the savings to you, in turn helping to keep your insurance rates down.” What Is Subrogation? Allison Ruuska

The quotation above from the Progressive Insurance Company’s blog, reflects a sentiment we often hear from insurers. Very few people would disagree with this sentiment, but there’s an important twist that quotations like this one ignore.

While your insurance company will work to recover the amount of money they lost, often times the other driver’s insurance company will entice you with an offer of some payment if you sign some documents. In these situations, many drivers don’t know that they should examine the documents they are presented with very closely. That means that sometimes, well meaning drivers sign subrogation waivers without even realizing it. If you’ve done this, it’s very likely that your insurance company will reject your claim without even considering it. That’s why it’s so very important to read everything you sign and to make sure you bring any questions you may have to a qualified attorney.

A few days ago, we were asked a question that made us stop and think. We were asked, what is an adjuster? While we’ve written in the past about problems with Allstate insurance adjusters and even taking a look at how an attorney can negotiate with an insurance adjuster on your behalf, and even what a typical day for an insurance adjuster is like, we’ve never really explained what an insurance adjuster really is.

Before we can explain that, we have to take a step back and look at how insurance companies make money. One of the most popular misconceptions out there is that insurance companies make money off of the premiums you pay–that isn’t actually how it works.

Because many customers demand the cheapest possible rate, insurance companies have to price their premiums very competitively. In some cases, insurance companies even lose money on premiums–which they view as a marketing expense.

One very popular business model in the insurance industry is to invest the money the insurer takes in as a premium. When you pay your bill, the insurance company decides how likely it is that they will need to use that money to pay out a claim–and over what period of time they would have to pay the expense. Based on those calculations, the insurance company is able to invest or loan that money to someone else. When the insurance company does this, it often keeps the profits it makes.

That’s why it’s ok for an insurance company to lose money on premiums. They don’t actually need the premiums to make a profit. As long as enough money comes in each month to keep their investment fund funded, and they are smart about their investments, the insurance companies stand to make a very handsome profit.

Because of this, insurance companies have a vested interest in making sure that the amount they take in in premiums is as close to the amount they pay out on policies they’ve underwritten.

The person on the front lines responsible for making sure this happens is the insurance adjuster.

While each company utilizes insurance adjusters in their own way, the job is generally the same from company to company. An insurance adjuster often serves as the go between for the customer and the insurance company. That can mean that the insurance adjuster is responsible for collecting information from the customer and preparing that information for executives at the company to review.

As far as most customers are concerned, the payment they receive for their injury has come directly from the claims adjuster. While it’s true that insurance adjusters have a tremendous amount of discretion when it comes to doing their jobs, they are also bound by very stringent policies.

That’s one of the reasons why we recommend that you don’t attempt to negotiate with your insurance adjuster on your own. As we explained earlier, the modern insurance company is too complex for one individual to take on alone. While each insurance company operates differently, you’ll likely have an easier time negotiating with an experienced litigator at your side.

Looking for a workplace exposure claim lawyer in Denver can be exhausting, but it doesn’t have to be. By taking some time to read up on how workplace exposure lawyers work, you’ll be able to navigate finding a workplace exposure claim lawyer in Denver like a pro!

A few weeks ago, we wrote an article explaining why a good workplace injury lawyer is so hard to find. So what is workplace exposure, and how can you go about finding a competent workplace exposure claim lawyer in Denver?

“While it’s an overly simple definition, it can be helpful to think of “exposure,” like an afternoon in the sun. You probably aren’t rubbing the sun all over you, but on the right kind of afternoon, you can feel the light come into contact with your skin. Exposure is like that. Breathing fumes or inhaling dust  are very common causes of workplace exposure incidents. Not all workspaces are properly ventilated or up to code. Some jobs are more dangerous than others–and that’s why exposure can include injection into the skin, a common occurrence in some kinds of industrial accidents.” (from our article A Word About Workplace Exposure)

While that’s an overly simplistic definition, it might give you some idea as to why finding a lawyer is so important after a workplace exposure incident.

Here’s why:

Workplace exposure isn’t the only risk to your health you might encounter in the office place.  Stressful jobs and overexertion at work can really take a toll on your health. That’s likely why many states put together occupational health and safety guidelines for employers. The exercises and guidelines put together by together by states like Ohio are designed to help employers develop strategies that make their workplaces more safe.

But today, the average company has a lot more complexity than it did when these regulations were written. Advances in technology mean that the workplace of tomorrow is going to look very different from the workplace of today or even yesterday. That’s one of the reasons why it can be so hard to find commercial accident lawyer or a workplace exposure lawyer in Denver.

Traditionally, injuries that happened on the job were covered under Workman’s Compensation policies. The problem is that over the last few years, companies have increasingly begun to do business in a different way. Five or ten years ago it was very common for a company to have employees. Nowadays it has become more common for a company to have only contractors and subcontractors. In the extraction industry, for example, many sites are owned by one company, operated by another and staffed by a third or even fourth. This can make filing for a worker’s compensation claim nigh unto impossible.

That’s why if you suspect you’ve been involved in a workplace incident, you need to start your search for a workplace exposure claim lawyer in Denver right away. The longer you wait, the more difficult investigating and putting together the required evidence to support your claim will be.

Most lawyers in the Denver area offer free consultations, and are actually happy to offer some limited legal advice during these sessions. You can take advantage of this to find out exactly how the attorney you’re speaking with plans to represent your case. This information can be very helpful in your search for a workplace exposure claim lawyer in Denver.

You should also know that Colorado is in OSHA Region 8. Here in Denver, we’re very fortunate to have the regional office very close by. OSHA offers a ton of great resources that are worth checking out.

A few weeks ago, we noticed an interesting article about why more people aren’t sure about finding a chiropractor after an auto accident on Denver Chiropractic LLC’s blog.

“Unfortunately, most people’s vitriolic feelings stem from the long war on the chiropractic profession by the AMA. Fortunately, the profession has worked very hard in validating the beneficial effects of spinal manipulation and other related manual therapies for neck pain, back pain, headaches, car accident injuries, sports injuries, and other related musculoskeletal conditions.” Dr. Trent Artichoker, “Why People Hate Chiropractors“

After an auto accident, many patients find that chiropractic treatment offers them relief in ways that conventional medicine is unable to. Lawyers who care more about doing right by their clients than making money are always willing to help fight for a patient’s right to the treatment that works. In the past, we’ve written about how working with a chiropractor after an auto accident can help you recover, taken a closer look at what a visit to a chiropractor is like and even shared a few chiropractic infographics we thought were worth looking at.

That’s why we found it interesting that Dr. Artichoker mentions a court case that, were it more widely known about may change some people’s attitudes towards chiropractors.

“Some physicians believed chiropractic to be effective and that chiropractors were better trained to deal with muscular-skeletal problems than medical physicians,” she said. The medical association contends the anti-chiropractic effort ended in 1980.” Associated Press, “US Judge Finds Medical Group Conspired Against Contractors“

Wilk vs AMA was filed in 1976, and took nearly 14 years to litigate. To this day, people still have very divided feelings about this case.

“Evidence at the trial showed that the defendants took active steps, often covert, to undermine chiropractic educational institutions, conceal evidence of the usefulness of chiropractic care, undercut insurance programs for patients of chiropractors, subvert government inquiries into the efficacy of chiropractic, engage in a massive disinformation campaign to discredit and destabilize the chiropractic profession, and engaged in numerous other activities to maintain a medical physician monopoly over health care in this country.” Louis Sportelli “An Old War In A Modern Era“

On the other side:

“The AMA did some very regrettable things. They used inappropriate language, referring to chiropractors as rabid dogs. They attacked chiropractors as killers without any supporting evidence. Their intent was to destroy chiropractic. They tried to conceal what they were doing. Their biggest mistake was to prohibit MDs from associating with chiropractors….He thinks the AMA controls the entire healthcare system, but today less than 30% of American physicians belong to it.  It is a professional association that promotes the art and science of medicine, lobbies on issues that affect its members, and publishes several highly respected medical journals. The AMA never had any power to accredit or regulate physicians or punish them; the most it could do was deny membership.” Dr. Harriet Hall “The War Against Chiropractors“

Dr. Hall’s article is written in response to a self-published book, and the tone of some of her comments may reflect that. However, the text of one book written to denounce chiropractors is particularly vicious. It clearly attempts to cast the characters in the story unfairly, and you can get a feel for that in quotes like this one.

“At first Palmer did not want to let the world in on his awe-inspiring secret. He even took down a mirror on his office wall when it occurred to him that his patients might be using it to watch what he was doing. But before the end of 1895 his attitude had changed, and instead of concealing his discovery, he had set up the Palmer School of Chiropractic to teach it. The course ran for three months; the student learned how to adjust spines, and got a quick medical education from Dr. Pierce’s Family Medical Adviser. The Palmer School began with a tuition of $500, dropped it to $300, then raised it to $450 with a $50 discount for cash. The only admission requirement was the ability to pay the fee.” Ralph Lee Smith “The Case Against Chiropractic“

You can tell that’s a loaded statement because if you think about the changes in price the author mentions, 500 to 300 to 450 with a discount for paying cash, it’s hard to think of those changes as being very significant. Yet the way the author wrote them, they sure sound sinister! While this calculator doesn’t reach back to 1895, it can calculate the value of money as far back as 1914. In 1914 dollars, 500$ would be about 11,000 today. $300 would be about $7,000. That number is fairly similar to the cost of a semester of tuition at a medical school today. It hardly seems worth sensationalizing.

But distorting the truth and sensationalizing were exactly what the AMA was accused of doing in the Wilk case. To many, the AMA is an anticompetitive body that has an unfair amount of control over the licensure of health care and what we consider medicine in the country today. Dr. Hall mentioned that fewer than 30% of American phyisicians are dues paying members of the AMA, but that doesn’t mean that the AMA doesn’t have a tremendous amount of influence over the way medicine works in the United States today. They’ve built that prestige over decades of concerted efforts, but behavior like that brought to light by the Wilk case ought to make anyone think twice about what’s going on.

Today, many doctors embrace chiropractic technique as a valued part of a treatment regime. Many chiropractors have years of experience providing relief to scores of satisfied patients who will happily vouch for the efficacy of their work. In the same way that there are many below average doctors, there are many below average chiropractors, too. But because chiropractors didn’t have the institutional muscle to respond to the AMA’s historic aggression, many people who could be helped by the work chiropractors do don’t get the chance to give it the opportunity it deserves.

We think that’s wrong.