Friedman & Simon - October 2021

Friedman & Simon - October 2021

LEGAL BRIEF

OCTOBER 2021 FRIEDMANSIMON.COM 516-800-8000

A TRIBUTE TO MY EARLY LEGAL MENTOR THANK YOU, TEACHERS AND PARALEGALS!

October contains both World Teachers’ Day and National Paralegal Day. As a tribute to the two very important professions, I decided to write this month’s article about one of the most important teachers I ever had. She wasn’t a professor or an attorney — she was a paralegal. Often, new attorneys don’t appreciate just how much difficult and time-consuming work their legal assistants and paralegals must perform. Imagine being responsible for preparing legal documents, making urgent phone calls, and tabbing paperwork for a judge’s easy reference all at the same time. While the responsibilities of a paralegal or legal assistant vary greatly from firm to firm, many are required to wear a ton of hats and multitask, with the expectation that quality, efficient, and consistent work will be produced. I’m extremely grateful that during my time in law school, as a part- time intern at a personal injury firm, I was taught about the personal injury field from the point of view and perspective of a paralegal who had been on the job for over 30 years. During my first personal injury internship in 2009, I worked after classes at a firm anywhere between 10–30 hours a week, collaborating directly with a lawyer’s paralegal to complete paralegal assignments. His paralegal was an amazing woman named Nicole, now recently retired, who helped to introduce the world of personal injury law to me. As I was completely new to the industry, she would take the time to explain basic things like how to read codes on a police accident report, how to obtain insurance information, how to set up a claim, how to properly fill out a HIPAA authorization, how to request and obtain medical records, how to draft typical legal pleadings in discovery, how to navigate the process for settling an injury case, and so much more. Nicole helped teach me the anatomy of a personal injury case, through early assignments and forms, all of which I have continued to build on through my experiences. One example that I’ve learned well throughout my career started with that internship. Nicole had a beautiful set of labeled folders with forms for all kinds of letters, pleadings, and types of cases, including form responses to demands from specific defense firms.

What I started to learn back then is that while the forms are a great starting point for attorneys and paralegals, it is important to remember that we are not married to the forms. We can and should always look to edit forms to fit the specific facts of our cases, and to add the individual flavor or notes about our various clients through specific details about injuries personal to them or the negligence that caused their accidents. Even though many cases are similar, every case is unique. Besides my very fond memories of working with Nicole for two years, I also have a tremendous appreciation for all of the amazing paralegals who currently work with me, and who have worked directly with me since 2013. In 2012, in one of my first jobs fresh as a new attorney, I was working for a solo practitioner, who hired me as her associate. It was a three-person operation: the boss, the receptionist, and myself. We had no paralegal or trained legal assistants, so all of the copies, mailing, tabbing, preparation, filing, client updates, etc., were done by the two attorneys, putting my work at the internship to task. After eight months of using that office as a learning tool and stepping stone, I joined a personal injury firm with a support staff in 2013 and was able to finally experience what it was like to have help with documents, pleadings, medical record requests, and client calls, which allowed me more time to focus on legal arguments and settlement negotiations. “It’s amazing how having the right teacher can make life so much easier. I’m still learning new things about our field every day — but as an attorney for about 10 years, I’m so grateful I had my start in the personal injury field under Nicole’s guidance.”

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After a car accident in 2015, our client injured her left arm, requiring a course of treatment that included four surgeries. The other driver had a million dollars’ worth of coverage; you’d think the company would’ve compensated our client for the injuries she suffered as a result of the negligence of the other driver. Unfortunately, the insurance company requested numerous depositions, dragged the case on for years, and attempted to settle her case for $25,000, before eventually offering $100,000 for her claim prior to trial. After discussing the offer with the client, we decided to take her case to a jury trial — which comes with risks — but it paid off, as the jury awarded our client $650,000, and the insurance company is now obligated to pay our client that amount plus interest. But why are jury trials risky? Here’s what a client should consider before taking their case to a jury trial. What are the risks? Let’s say the insurance offer isn’t high enough and you are considering taking the case all the way to a jury trial. One of the biggest concerns is added costs, including the likelihood that you will have to pay experts (such as doctors or engineers) to help prove to the jury the nature of your injuries or the negligence involved in your accident. If a jury ends up awarding the same amount as the insurance offer, or less, the take- home share (post-trial) could be significantly less than what it would have been pretrial due to the added costs of trial. Another consideration when planning to hold out for a jury trial is that it takes an extraordinary amount of time to get to a jury trial. Even prior to COVID-19, courts had extended trial waiting lists that often lasted years. Additionally, a jury trial can be an extremely stressful experience for a client. You are put on a stand in front of a room full of people, who are judging your appearance, along with your every word and look. In addition to the anxiety of being put through a trial to prove that you were hurt, you have the uncertainty of not knowing the jury’s exact award until it is announced post trial. When is it worth it? Most cases happily end up settling; however, a handful of cases will always benefit from going to trial. If an insurance company denies responsibility or makes an offer that is too low to compensate for the injuries suffered by a client, there can often be a significant upside to going through the rigors of trial to seek out an award that is larger than the pretrial settlement offer. If you have any questions about your case and whether it is worth taking to trial, don’t hesitate to give us a call. Our legal team is always looking forward to helping you find the right answers and the best path forward. Risks vs. Rewards of Taking Your Case to a Jury Trial HOW A $100K CASE TURNED INTO A $650K CASE

5 Low-Tech Tips for Lighting Your Jack-o’-Lanterns

Halloween is almost here, and you know what that means: home-carved jack-o’-lanterns! Turning pumpkins into decor is an ancient tradition, but as any experienced carver knows, using real candles inside them can be frustrating. Unstable candles, and accidental burns are just a couple of the issues that often crop up. To avoid them this Halloween, try these five tips. 1. Choose your candle wisely. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, it’s best to choose a candle that is at least an inch shorter than the hollow space inside of your pumpkin. To achieve this, you can buy long candles and trim them to size or learn to make your own from the book “Beeswax Alchemy” by Petra Ahnert. 2. Create built-in stability. There’s nothing less festive than a jack- o’-lantern going dark because its candle has tipped over. To prevent that, carve a depression into the floor of the pumpkin that’s the same shape and size as the base of your candle. Then, drop the candle in! This simple trick will hold it in place. 3. Go bottomless. Another option that will solve the toppling candle problem is hollowing out your pumpkin from the bottom instead of cutting a lid out of the top. If you do that, you can set up and light your candle first, then place the jack-o’-lantern over it. As long as your pumpkin is on a hard, level surface, your candle should be stable. 4. Light up at the right moment. The easiest way to prevent burns is to light your candle at the right time and with the right method. If you like to hollow your pumpkins out from the bottom, light your candle first then place the pumpkin over it to prevent burns. If you hollow your pumpkins from the top, remove the “lid,” place the unlit candle inside, then light it with a long lighter or fireplace match. 5. Don’t forget the chimney hole. To prevent heat and smoke from building up inside of your pumpkin and cooking it slowly, light up your candle and peek inside to see which spot on the top is warming up the fastest. Then, cut out a notch or “chimney hole” in that spot to let the heat escape.

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SELF-HELP BOOKS CAN’T DO IT ALL How Reading Fiction Can Benefit You

Many CEOs and other successful individuals continually espouse the benefits of regular reading. Many times, leaders read self-help books to improve their leadership skills and become more successful. This is all well and good, but even the most successful people in the world could be missing out on the unique benefits that come specifically from reading fiction. But what are those benefits exactly? Greater Empathy When a psychologist analyzed 86 functioning MRI (fMRI) studies, he found that the same parts of the brain that fire up when reading fictional stories also fire up when we’re seeking to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. That’s because when the characters in the book we’re reading are thinking or feeling a certain way, we tend to think or feel that way with them. Less Stress and Better Sleep When we read fiction specifically, we tend to disengage from the world — and that’s a good thing! Our brains can’t always be functioning at their peak capacity. We need breaks, or else we’ll stress ourselves out and negatively affect other areas of our lives. Stress tends to keep

us from sound sleep, but reading fiction before bed engages the imagination, taking us away from the stresses of everyday life before we drift off. More Comfort With Uncertainty Even though many stories (particularly those portrayed in popular movies) have nice happy endings, most people would agree that life sometimes leaves things a little more open-ended. While this fact might stress out some people, researchers have discovered that fiction readers don’t need “cognitive closure” as much as nonfiction readers. Greater Happiness Even if none of the benefits of fiction interest you, everyone wants to find ways

to make themselves happy — and for many, that is reading fiction. According to one survey, 76% of participants said that reading makes them feel good and improves their lives. So, what are you waiting for? Dust off that novel you’ve been meaning to read and crack it open!

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Oktoberfest Soft Pretzels Inspired by Tasty.co

Without having my experiences from Nicole and my first year as an attorney, I might not have the same appreciation that I do today for the amount of work and energy expended by the various paralegals I’ve worked with over the years to support our clients and the cases that I have worked on. It’s amazing how having the right teacher can make life so much easier. I’m still learning new things about our field every day — but as an attorney for about 10 years, I’m so grateful I had my start in the personal injury field under Nicole’s guidance. To this date, I continue to jump in when needed to do some of the work not typically done by attorneys, as that is my personality. I most certainly appreciate all of the wonderful people working at Friedman & Simon who take calls from clients when I am unavailable, and who help me to handle much of the behind-the-scenes work in order to allow me added time to focus on whatever work is required of me to help obtain the best possible result for our clients.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm water • 1 tbsp salt • 1 tbsp sugar • 1 packet active dry yeast

• 4 1/2 cups flour • 3 tbsp oil, divided • 2/3 cup baking soda • 2 eggs, beaten • Coarse salt, for sprinkling

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine water, salt, and sugar. Add yeast and let rest for 5 minutes. Add flour and 2 tbsp oil, then mix thoroughly into a dough. 2. Remove the dough from the

4. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll them into thin ropes, then twist ropes into pretzel shapes. 5. In a large pot, boil water. Add baking soda, then boil each pretzel for 1 minute, flipping halfway through. 6. Transfer pretzels to a baking sheet. Brush them with egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10–15 minutes. Enjoy!

So, in honor of World Teachers’ Day (Oct. 5) and National Paralegal Day (Oct. 23), I want to say a huge thank-you to all

of the incredibly important teachers and paralegals of the world — and a special thank-you to those who are awesome and patient enough to be both. -John G. Papadopoulos

bowl. Coat bowl with remaining oil, then return the dough, cover with plastic wrap, and set it aside in a warm place for 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 450 F.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 2

Thank You, Teachers and Paralegals! 3 Low-Tech Tips for Lighting Your Jack-o’-Lanterns Should You Take Your Case to a Jury Trial? The Unique Benefits of Reading Fiction Oktoberfest Soft Pretzels C-Commerce May Be Online Shopping’s Future

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Could C-Commerce Change the Way You Shop?

Remember in the early days of Microsoft Word, when “Clippy” the paperclip would offer helpful advice and tips on how to use the platform? Today, we could consider Clippy one of the first chatbots to change the way customer service functions in the digital age, and now, Clippy’s descendants could be changing the way we shop. Popular brands like IKEA, Sephora, Lego, and Amazon have created “conversational commerce” (c-commerce) bots designed to help shoppers personalize their shopping experience. In the case of Lego, a chatbot named Ralph lives in Lego’s Facebook Messenger. He’s helped confused and overwhelmed United Kingdom customers shop for the perfect Lego kit for Christmas. Ralph was launched in 2017 and other brands are taking notice. The concept is fairly simple. Users reach out to the chatbot via the retailer’s preferred platform, like Messenger or WhatsApp. (Coincidentally, both are owned by Facebook.)

The bot provides on-screen prompts, which the consumer answers, allowing the bot’s artificial intelligence software to catalog the best products for this particular consumer, cutting the amount of time spent scrolling through endless options. The bot then presents links to these products in the chat, streamlining a user’s shopping experience. C-commerce may still be in its infancy stages, but Business Insider predicts the booming market could reach $142 billion by 2024. That projection is up from $2.8 billion in 2019. They also predict it could be a time- and money- saver for health care, retail, and banking industries, potentially saving $11 billion annually. Right now, many industries are still toying with the idea. While the bots may not be taking over the world (yet), c-commerce bots like Ralph could revolutionize the way we shop, helping consumers narrow down their options to viable products and personalizing the shopping experience the way Clippy and personal shoppers did in the past.

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