Chicago Trial Attorney Blog : Chicago Trial Lawyer & Attorney : Philip J. Berenz Law Firm : Business Litigation, Personal Injury

A colleague of mine, friend and great attorney in Wisconsin, Jonathan Groth, noted the signs of an attorney who listens and cares on his blog here when he said:

I just finished a jury trial in Milwaukee County. During the trial preparation my client and I were talking about how long we’ve known each other. I was the attorney that answered the phone when he called in the very first time soon after the collision. He didn’t talk with a paralegal, 'intake specialist' or secretary. I worked with him since, literally, day one.

Jon went on to note something that is absolutely paramount when choosing a lawyer: 

This kind of service is important to think about when you search/interview for your attorney. Hiring an attorney is a very personal matter. Availability (email, cell phone etc) and personality are extremely important to make sure your attorney will be with you for the long haul. By this I mean potentially to trial. Even though the vast majority of my clients’ cases settle before filing a lawsuit and before trial I think it helps them to know that their attorney will be willing and has the experience to fight at trial.

Like Jon Groth does in Wisconsin, I do in Illinois: you call, I answer the phone--24/7/365. Send an e-mail--you'll get a response. If I don't answer immediately, I either have 3 other calls coming in or am in front of a Judge or in a deposition and I guarantee you will receive a return call that day or evening. Your issues matter. Make sure your attorney answers his or her phone--and listens.

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After an auto or other accident (auto, malpractice, slip and fall--or any incident such as a breach of contract, sexual harassment incident, assault and battery, nursing home negligence and abuse or any incident you can possibly imagine), insurance companies will most likely be the first to contact you. Next, will be other individuals or entities--all trying to investigate and obtain information to build a defense against any potential claim you may have.

Whether you should talk to the insurance company (or any other person or entity) is basically a judgment call on your part; however, you should simply consult with an attorney first and ask the insurance company or other investigator that your attorney be present on a teleconference call to protect your rights. You generally have a duty to cooperate with your own insurance company under your policy.

And if another party's insurance company contacts you, a witness or other investigator, you are generally not required to talk to at all--and should not without an attorney present. A third party's insurance company or other investigator will most likely take down notes, or worse, record the conversation and then try to build a defense in your case or use every single word you say against you 6 months, 1 year, 2 years later in your case. In addition, defendant's insurance companies will try to "push" low settlement offers--sometimes $500.00 or $1,000.00 when your medical bills could quickly escalate over those amounts after an accident.

As for witnesses or other investigators, you should absolutely consult with an attorney first. The attorney should be involved to take a witness statement if possible for preservation of thoughts and observations while they are fresh in everyone's minds. Again, such statements can greatly impact your case and you should get all contact information from a witness immediately at the scene of an accident--the more telephone numbers, the better!

If you are unsure of who to speak with, simply pick up the phone and call us at 312-375-6524 (24/7/365--and we really mean that!) for two minutes. We can help and those two minutes could impact your case significantly. 

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PASSION - INTEGRITY - TRUST - RESULTS

Taking a personal injury matter where a man, a woman or a child has been injured (slightly or significantly) requires, first and foremost, passion and empathy. If a lawyer cannot truly understand the suffering (again, small or significant) that another human being is enduring, the lawyer cannot demonstrate or exhibit to every person, insurance company and, ultimately, the jury how that suffering has affected a person's life.

The same holds true when a person or company is cheated out of money. When money owed is not paid. When a person or a company is wrongfully sued and must be zealously defended. Money cheated, money owed and wrongful or frivolous lawsuits cause suffering in a person's life as well. People can't sleep at night. People worry. They cannot focus on their jobs, their family, life in general. People lose their homes because bills aren't getting paid. Credit is ruined. Family arguments erupt.

A person's life in personal injury situations is even more dramatically affected when even a hurt back or a hurt neck makes it next to impossible to sit at a desk all day long at work or perform manual labor--whichever life calling a person follows. Sometimes "calling off" from the pain results in a lost job and a downward spiral of a lost home, lost relationships, lost life. The things you used to enjoy you can enjoy no longer. It wasn't your fault.

Your lawyer needs to truly understand all of these aspects of how a personal injury matter or business dispute has affected your life. Aggressive and zealous representation and empathy are an absolute must. An attentive ear--listening to you--is the only way a lawyer can fully comprehend the situation. Phil Berenz listens.

Integrity is doing the "right thing when nobody is looking." Your lawyer must handle every aspect, every conversation of your matter with the utmost integrity-when you are not on the phone and when you are not present. Trust must be unequivocally paramount.

And, finally, while a lawyer can never guarantee a particular outcome in any matter, the passion, integrity and trust will usually (not always) end in positive, productive results.

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If you suspect false billings or fraud against the U.S. or State Government, you may have a "whistleblower" case or "qui tam" lawsuit in which you may be able to share in the recovery of any award private attorneys or the U.S. Department of Justice recover. Take the quiz and contact us for a free, confidential consultation:

1. Do you know whether the knowledge you have involves cheating of the Federal or State Government or tax code?
2. Did you learn of the facts / issues from the news, media or on your own or during the course of your employment?
3. Do you have evidence (for example, financial records, statements, receipts, oral statements noted by witnesses) and do you believe the cheating involved substantial sums of money (over $250,000)?
4. Did the alleged cheating occur within the past 6 years?

Depending on the specific answers to these questions, you may be able to bring a qui tam action and share in any recovery.  

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Pfizer and a subsidiary recently settled a case with the U.S. Government to pay over $2.3 Billion to settle False Claims Act cases against them--the largest settlement in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Six "whistleblowers" or "relators" will be paid more than $102 Million of the recovery for reporting and uncovering the frauds. Contact us if you learn of a false/fraudulent scheme. You may be able to share in a recovery.

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According to the United States Department of Justice, billions are stolen from taxpayers each year due to health care fraud. In fact:

Medicare fraud schemes have grown bolder and more elaborate, resulting in billions of dollars in false billings and fraud schemes which are robbing Medicare and Medicaid blind and leaving our most vulnerable citizens at risk.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) work together to investigate fraud and Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are working to stop perpetrators of fraud.

In particular, a "strike force team" is focusing on Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit and Houston, assisting State Medicaid officials and using modern technology to uncover the fraud.

If you know of a scheme/fraud taking place, contact us as you may be entitled to collect a substantial portion of what the Department of Justice or private attorneys recover through a "qui tam" civil lawsuit under various Federal and/or State laws. The False Claims Act (also known as Lincoln's Law, the Informer's Act, or the Qui Tam Statute) allows a private indivdual to bring a civil lawsuit for false billings to the federal government and also protects such individuals who may work for an employer doing the false billing. 

According to one analysis, qui tam suits have been filed since 1986 and the government has recovered over $20 billion as a result of the suits and a substantial portion of that $20 billion has been paid to what is known as "relators" or "whistleblowers"--you and me. However, to share in the recovery, a whistleblower must follow complex requirements and merely providing information will not entitle a whistleblower to any share in the recovery. Contact us for a confidential and free consultation as to whether you should become a whistleblower--especially to protect your employment.

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