Russell & Lazarus - October/November 2020

Russell & Lazarus - October/November 2020

Exclusively handling serious and catastrophic personal injury claims as well as wrongful death claims due to the negligence of individuals or business entities.

• • • •

CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS

• • • •

AUTO COLLISIONS

The Right Help When You Need It Most!

ELDER ABUSE CLAIMS BRAIN TRAUMA CLAIMS WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS

MOTORCYCLE COLLISIONS

BICYCLE ACCIDENTS

Oct/Nov 2020

TRIP/SLIP-AND-FALL ACCIDENTS

TEXTING: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY… AND A SIMPLER TIME

champions for the first time since 1988! If not, John may have already jumped off the roof of his house (not to fear, it is only one story).

Texting has its good side when it comes to communicating quickly and effectively within our firm and with our clients. It is particularly important for representing our clients well, whether we are in court and need immediate information or at a deposition and need assistance from the team back at the office. However, the Department of Transportation now indicates that almost 25% of all accidents are texting-related. We see this all the time in the claims that we handle, as 80% of our work involves auto accidents. Texting has become to us what drunk driving used to be 50 years ago. DUI-related accidents have fortunately decreased significantly since 1970 when 52,000-plus lives were lost on U.S. roads (DUI and non-DUI), with last year’s number being approximately 38,000. This good decrease is despite an increase in the U.S. population from 205 million people to our current 330 million people. Texting is also a great way to stay connected to family and friends, as I have been doing recently with my Dodger-crazy younger brother, John, while watching the games during the Dodgers current playoff run. John lives in the Sacramento area and is also an attorney with his specialty being trademark law, but his real specialty … is loving the Dodgers. I’m hoping that by the time this newsletter hits your mailbox, the Dodgers will have already been crowned world

Thinking of the Dodgers always gives me a good feeling because it brings back fond memories of a simpler time when I would watch the team on television back in the '60s and '70s, with Vin Scully at the mic or even just listening to him on the radio at my grandfather’s house, as not all games were televised. When I would watch a game, I would do so intently without being distracted by the internet, someone texting me, someone emailing me, or someone calling me on my smartphone. With landlines only, it was very easy to ignore phone calls and anything else going on in life. The picture that I have attached to this article is a picture of me and Tommy Lasorda, taken last year, which now seems like ancient history with the pandemic taking up all the 2020 oxygen. I was at Dodger Stadium with my friends George, Hal, and Jim, and we saw Tommy shuffling down the way with his entourage. Jim, knowing that Tommy had a sore spot for one of his players, Jay Johnstone, who was a thorn in Tommy’s side because of his practical jokes, asked the former Dodgers skipper how Jay was doing. At 91 years of age, Lasorda, right on cue and consistent with his colorful language history, started swearing up a blue streak at the mention of Jay’s name, along the lines of “That f@#*ing Jay Johnstone should be in the f@#*ing nut house because he is f@#*ing nuts!” Unfortunately, Jay Johnstone died just a few months ago, but I saw that Tommy L. had sent his very heartfelt wishes to Johnstone’s family. It appears that the thorn in Tommy’s side, if there was a thorn at all, may not have been very big. Seeing Tommy last year brought the memories of simpler times flooding back as well. It was good to step back and also remember the '80s Dodgers of Garvey/Cey/Russell/Lopes fame, who also

played the game in a slower era, and an era where you could really enjoy a baseball game with very few technological distractions. Although if I am being really, really honest, texting back and forth with my brother —who lives 500 miles away — during a playoff game is not a bad thing either. GO DODGERS!

–Chris Russell

RUSSELL & LAZARUS APC 1401 Dove Street | Suite 310 | Newport Beach, CA 92660 Direct: 949-851-0222 Toll Free: 800-268-9228 www.russellandlazarus.com

1

A FOND FAREWELL ...

But Not Goodbye

working in doctors’ offices earlier in her career and always liked the concept of providing “concierge” service for the doctors’ patients. She thought bringing that same attitude into our firm (which is an unusual concept for law firms) would bring significant benefit to our clients and, in turn, allow the firm to have even more success. It really is the trustworthy “reap what you sow” philosophy, which is as old and as solid as the bible. Lynne, being a little bit of a legal industry outsider, really directed my focus as to what type of experience we wanted to give our clients. That concierge treatment/reap what you sow philosophy is really how we run our firm now. We have Lynne to thank for bringing that different perspective and just as importantly help us implement the processes and procedures supporting that philosophy. I say farewell but not goodbye to Lynne, because I have a sneaking suspicion we are going to be seeing her again as she loops back around with L2L to assist us with our HR and team communication needs going forward. I do want to thank Lynne from the bottom of my heart for all her time and tremendous efforts that she has given to me, to the firm, and to the team during her time with us. I wish her nothing but good luck with L2L, and I have no doubt that both she and her new company will be a smashing success! –Chris Russell

Nov. 1 marked the occasion that Lynne Powers, our fantastic marketing director, left the firm after eight-plus years of wonderful service. That is Lynne on the left, with her husband, Greg (the “Admiral,” as he served six years in the Navy), and my wife, Helene.

Lynne is amazing because she is a jack-of-all-trades. She is not only a marketing master (undergraduate degree) but also has studied and helped us apply principles in effective communication to allow the firm to work better as a team. Much to my moaning and groaning, Lynne has only been able to give us part-time hours over the last few years because she is actually a partner with a leadership development startup company by the name of L2L. Lynne has been with that company for that same last few years but has decided to join it full time now both as a leadership/ communication facilitator and its director of marketing. Over the last almost decade, Lynne has played a pivotal role in the success of our firm. She always pushed aggressively the idea of giving our clients the best experience possible in a world of stingy and slow-moving insurance companies. Lynne had experience

Alisha Contreras: Pre-Litigation Clerk

TEAM MEMBER FEATURE

she enjoys relaxing at home with her almost brand-new husband Roger (married in 2019). Before the pandemic, Disneyland was where she really loved to also spend her time, in addition to watching movies of all genres at the theatre. There may be no more enthusiastic supporter of a COVID-19 vaccine than Alisha! At Russell & Lazarus, we’re proud to have someone so drawn to the legal field who truly cares about helping people. Thank you for everything you have done for the firm and our clients, Alisha. We look forward to you helping the firm and our clients for years to come!

her on right away. However, we made sure to keep her resume on file, as she made a definite impression. Alisha had the qualities we look for in team members, and we knew that if we had the opportunity, we would love for her to join us at Russell & Lazarus. Then, we had that chance! A month after she first reached out to us, we brought her on as one of our hard working and critically important pre-litigation clerks. “I really love what I do,” Alisha says, “and the work environment here is really great. Everyone is encouraging, and that helps me every day to do what I need to do for our clients. It is very rewarding to be here, knowing that I play an important role in the outcome of our clients’ cases. Our ultimate goal is to help our clients in a time of need and ensure that they have the best outcome.”

Even before Alisha started working for our firm, she had an interest in the law. When she was younger, she wanted to become a lawyer. While her path took a slightly different route, Alisha was determined to have some type of career in law. After her schooling and studying, she received her paralegal certificate, which is the golden ticket that will allow her to continue with her legal career path.

Out of the office when Alisha isn’t working hard for our clients and with our attorneys,

When Alisha first submitted her resume over a year ago, we were not able to take

RUSSELL & LAZARUS APC 1401 Dove Street | Suite 310 | Newport Beach, CA 92660 Direct: 949-851-0222 Toll Free: 800-268-9228 www.russellandlazarus.com 2

CASE STUDY How to Destroy a Good Personal Injury Claim

up quickly, as he was not eligible for state disability as an independent contractor, and he had no private disability insurance. Within six months or so, his wife left him due to the financial pressure. Being unable to work and understandably very lonely, he struck up a conversation with a former girlfriend who lived in Minnesota via Facebook. He wanted to appear better off than he was (pretty typical male trying to impress a female), so he told her he was going to the beach, hiking, going to Disneyland, etc., all of which he was financially and physically unable to do. The Outcome: In every case, we warn our clients repeatedly that maintaining their credibility is the key to the claim and is where the insurance carriers’ first line of attack is on any given claim. When a personal injury claimant cracks open that non-credibility door, the insurance company and their attorneys will attack with no mercy. Unfortunately, the insurance company got a hold of his Facebook posts (as they legally can do), and they put that information in front of the jury. Our client’s credibility was

Normally in this "Case Study" section, we write about one of the successful cases we have been able to resolve on behalf of one of our clients. The following, though, is a sad tale of how a client of ours destroyed a very good personal injury claim by falling into an insurance company’s social media trap. Case Facts: Our client, a 45-year-old self- employed painter, was painting the outside of a rural home. At the time of the incident, he was working on a bridge that spanned a small dried-up creek. As he leaned against one of the bridge’s handrail posts, it collapsed and caused him to fall 4 feet down onto his dominant, right, shoulder. As a result, he dislocated and fractured his shoulder, as he found out after driving himself to the emergency room. After three unsuccessful surgeries, our client was left with about 25% usage of his shoulder and he could no longer work as a painter. In fact, the only thing he could do was immobilize his arm by binding it to his stomach with a brace. His finances dried

put into doubt because he had testified he was physically unable to do any of the things he stated he was doing in the Facebook posts. As a result, the jury did not believe our client’s story about his inability to use his arm/shoulder. The claim should have settled in the low seven figures, but the best the carrier offered was $250,000, which would not have covered his medical bills and court costs if we accepted it. After a 10-day trial, the jury came back with a verdict a little under $200,000, plus we had to pay the defendant’s court costs, since we did not beat their offer. The takeaway from this sad tale is that the No.1 goal of all defense attorneys is to make our clients look like liars, even if they are not. If you or a loved one are currently pursuing a personal injury claim, keep in mind that it is not necessarily what the truth is about your claim but what the defense can make their “truth” look like in front of a jury of your peers. WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST TEAM MEMBERS! TARA CARBAUGH Case Manager

FOOTBALL IS BACK! With the help of C.J. Taylor (Explosion of Flavors Dip)

This tasty appetizer arrives just in time as Pac 12 football fires up again. It is kindly provided by C.J. Taylor, a good friend of the firm. Not only is it simple to make, but the different flavors are also such a delight that you will find it hard to let anyone else dig in. Remember, though, it is good to share — at least that is what our moms told us. (I bet they never tasted this!)

Tara is a graduate of NAU and received her paralegal certificate from UC Irvine. GILLIAN BOYLAN Pre-Lit Clerk Gillian is a fourth-year student at UCSD with aspirations of going to law school in the coming years. MILEENA SAHAGUN Receptionist Mileena is a part-time student at Fullerton College with aspirations to someday own her own business.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of salted peanuts • 2 oz of cilantro • 1 large bag of Frito Scoops corn chips

• 1 approximate 10-oz log of goat cheese • 1 approximate 10-oz jar of hot & sweet pepper jelly

DIRECTIONS

the sink to get the peanut dust out. Spread the crushed peanuts in a single layer over the jelly. 4. Top with cilantro to taste. 5. Grab a Frito Scoop chip (regular Frito chips will break) and literally scoop up a big chunk of everything, and then taste the magic of all of the different flavors exploding in your mouth!

1. Start by spreading the goat cheese in an 8x4-inch (or thereabouts) low-profile serving dish, about 1/4-inch thick. 2. Spread a thin layer of the jelly on top of the goat cheese. 3. Pound the peanuts in a plastic bag with a mallet until they are approximately in quarter pieces. You can shake them in a colander over

RUSSELL & LAZARUS APC 1401 Dove Street | Suite 310 | Newport Beach, CA 92660 Direct: 949-851-0222 Toll Free: 800-268-9228 www.russellandlazarus.com 3

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

1401 Dove St., Ste. 310 Newport Beach, CA 92660

800-268-9228 www.russellandlazarus.com

INSIDE

this issue

PG 1 PG 2

GO DODGERS!

A Fond Farewell Team Member Spotlight

PG 3

Credibility Is Key in All Cases Explosion of Flavors Dip! Welcome Our New Team Members!

PG 4

Testimonials Case Results

TESTIMONIALS

CASE RESULTS

$500,000 FOR A BROTHER AND SISTER INJURED IN A HEAD-ON COLLISION Our 20-something brother and sister, Northern Californian clients sustained multiple surgical leg fractures and surgical arm and pelvic fractures, respectively, in a head-on collision when the other driver drifted into their lane on a two-lane mountain road due to the sun being in his eyes. It was a tragic crash, where the passenger who wasn't wearing a seat belt in the other vehicle died. Their father had smartly purchased $500,000 in underinsured motorist coverage, which came in handy, as the other driver only had $100,000 in liability insurance. Russell & Lazarus waived any attorney's fees due to the serious nature of the injuries and minimal work needed to obtain the $500,000 policy limits. We are happy to report that both of our clients are recovering as well as can be expected and are back to work, although residual effects of the injuries will be with both of them for the rest of their lives. $15,000 FOR A CLIENT WHO HAD MINIMAL UNDERINSURED MOTORIST COVERAGE A tale of two claims describes this potential $250,000 claim of our client, a 32-year-old father of two who sustained a surgical back injury in a rear-end auto collision caused when the other party was texting. The case was settled for the other driver’s minimal insurance. The other party had no assets, and in situations like this, even if we went to trial and returned a $250,000 verdict, the defendant would file bankruptcy. Protect yourself and buy underinsured motorist coverage! $97,800 FOR TOO MUCH ARMOR ALL Our 68-year-old client took his SUV to the car wash. The attendant put a heavy dose of Armor All on the running boards, which disappeared when the doors were shut. When the client opened his door to step into the vehicle, he slipped and fell, hitting his head on the asphalt. He was taken to the ER, where he was diagnosed with a slight brain bleed. Fortunately, within six months, he reached 100% recovery and was happy to resolve the claim early in the litigation.

This heartwarming thank-you card from our client included over a dozen heart-shaped, handwritten “thank-you” notes.

“Dear Rosie, Would you please share my appreciation to all the personnel who had such an important part in dealing with my situation? Thank you, all, for your availability for Christ to love through you to accomplish the necessary. Much love to all!” –Marlene “Joseph, thank you for all the time you invested in my case. I admire the way you handled the entire process. All the best!” –Rob

RUSSELL & LAZARUS APC 1401 Dove Street | Suite 310 | Newport Beach, CA 92660 Direct: 949-851-0222 Toll Free: 800-268-9228 www.russellandlazarus.com

4