When clients want to avoid spending a lot of time and money in litigation, Early Neutral Evaluation provides a good option to resolve the case, fairly. In Early Neutral Evaluation, a neutral specially trained attorney evaluates the factual and legal issues in the civil case to arrive at a valuation. Early Neutral Evaluation may be employed in any civil case, including personal injury and small business matters.

What should you do after a car accident? Are you looking for an accident lawyer near you? Do you have questions about car accident injury settlement amounts? Are you worried because the insurance company refuses to pay your auto claim? Do you wonder, "should I get an attorney after a car accident?" These are complicated questions that can be difficult to answer.

After you've injured your back or neck in a car wreck, you may be wondering what's wrong with me? Can you feel better? How long will it take? First of all, let me remind you: I am not a physician, and this is a blog post that does not include legal or medical advice. You should always talk to your doctor and design a treatment plan that is best for you. In this post, I’m going to list some of the kinds of treatment that clients in my legal practice have told me that they find helpful for their back and neck injuries.  

Yesterday, The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill that could make it much more difficult for many victims to recover medical expenses or other damages after an accident or a crime.  West Virginia H.B. 2002 abolishes “joint liability.”  Reading the bill may be pretty confusing, full of legal terms such as “comparative fault” and “joint liability.”  In this post, I’ll try to explain what it means and how this change in the law could impact you.  If you have been injured in an accident or if you are a victim of crime, this may make it more difficult for you to fully recover.

Recently I volunteered with the West Virginia State Bar to answer phones on Tuesday night when we offer free information by calling a toll free state-wide hotline.  I had a number of calls, but one of them was very disturbing. This caller lost her in-home services provided by Medicaid when her attorney settled her case without addressing this issue.  For a very small settlement, the caller lost her in-home service provider and risked being placed in a nursing home.  With proper planning, this did not have to happen!

Moving on after you have suffered an injury or loss can be difficult.  Mediation is often the best way to to resolve a civil case and be able to move on.  If selected early, mediation saves time and money for both parties in legal expenses.  Our office encourages clients to participate in mediation at the earliest possible date, often BEFORE filing suit, to be sure to gain the most benefit possible from early resolution.  In many states mediation is required in all civil cases before a trial is scheduled.  Even when you don’t reach an agreement during the first session mediation can be helpful.  About 98% of all civil cases settle before trial so it is likely that your case won’t go to trial.  Sometimes the progress made in mediation sets the matter up so that it will be more likely to settle quickly and fairly following the mediation.  Sometimes a further session is helpful.  If your case is resolved in mediation, you can expect a few steps to finalize the resolution.

After an accident, most of us just want to put the whole thing behind us! But how do we move on with so many bills?  A simple trip to the emergency room may result in five or six medical bills:  the ambulance, the hospital, the emergency room doctor, the radiologist and the prescriptions.  What can you do?  How can these bills be paid?