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November 14, 2008 3:57 PM
Heads up, Marylanders! We’re surrounded by states that have steer clear laws, with stiff penalties for violation. Ignorance of these laws is no excuse.
“What’s a steer clear law?” you may say.
Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia all have laws requiring drivers to slow down and move over a lane, if possible, when passing a stopped police or other emergency vehicle. Break these laws and you can even go to jail! The precise language and penalty varies from state to state, so check out the hyperlinks for the specifics.
Marylanders may not know these laws exist, because Maryland and the District of Columbia are among the dwindling number of holdouts. To date, 43 states have passed them. (See this helpful chart, but some of the links are dead.) States enacting these laws have publicized them widely, but there has been little or no fanfare about them here in Maryland. A version of the law was introduced in Maryland earlier this year, but unfortunately, 2008's House Bill 131 failed to move forward in time and died. The measure, sponsored by Delegate Frank Conaway, Jr. (D., Balto.), requires drivers to maintain a safe distance and to reduce speed before passing emergency vehicles parked by the road with their lights flashing. It also requires drivers to move a lane away from the emergency vehicle, if practical, assuming there is another same-direction lane to shift into. Otherwise, drivers must slow to a speed “that is sufficient to ensure the safety” of police and other nearby first responders. Failure to obey the statute would have resulted in a $75 fine, which is quite mild, compared to the versions of this law that have passed in other states. Look for the proposal to be re-introduced in the 2009 legislative session.
If you do some interstate driving, especially over the holidays, you must inform yourself about these statutes, which are also known as slow down, move over laws. Sometimes you must slow down and move over for tow trucks as well as for police and other first responders.
But even without such a law in Maryland (or for that matter, the District of Columbia), and even without specific advice to this effect in the Maryland Driver’s Handbook, it’s a good practice to slow down and steer clear of stopped, standing or parked police and emergency vehicles. No matter what state you’re driving in, why risk lives when it’s so easy to be safe?
November 11, 2008 12:53 AM
No, we’re not in court yet. It's your deposition, but it’s every bit as important.
We’ve answered the interrogatories. (See Ugh. Interrogatories.) Now they want to take ask you questions live, under oath. That's what a deposition is. How does it work?
First of all, relax! Your personal injury lawyer will sit next to you to make sure things proceed as they should. Is there a document you should be looking at, in order to answer a question? Your personal injury lawyer will make sure you have a copy in front of you. Are they being overly repetitive or asking questions they shouldn’t? Your personal injury lawyer will stop them.
A deposition is not a trial, but you still need to tell the truth. It seems like court because the lawyers for both sides are there and you are sworn in by a court reporter first. Like court, there may be objections and legal discussions between the lawyers--while you’re patiently wondering what the fuss is about--but you’re sitting in a law office, not a court room. There’s no judge up front saying “sustained” or “overruled.” Meanwhile, like court, you’re not supposed to talk until it’s your turn to answer a question under oath. Also as in court, virtually everything is recorded by the court reporter.
If, during the deposition, there is a dispute, listen carefully to what your personal injury lawyer says. Most likely, you will still be required to answer the question. If you’re not supposed to answer, your personal injury lawyer will say so straight out.
A deposition is a bit like a job interview, with your interrogatories serving as your resume. If anything has changed since you sent in your interrogatory answers, or it seems something you said earlier is now a bit wrong, you should ask us to fix it in writing before the deposition starts, or at least ask us to tell the other side about it on the record before the questioning begins. Meanwhile, you should remain as calm as possible, and stay polite.
If all goes well the questioning lawyer will conclude you’re a strong, credible witness, and will likely be a stellar witnes again, at trial. His or her conclusion: this is a case the insurance company needs to settle. Whether we hope to go to trial or not, we like it when they feel that way.
At Ingerman & Horwitz, we’ll prepare you for deposition, just like we’ll prepare you at every other stage of your case. For more pointers about depositions, see this article on our resources page.
November 9, 2008 1:29 PM
Dear Personal Injury Client: There’s a fat envelope in your mail. The other side has sent us written questions for you to answer. They’re called interrogatories.
Please pay attention! How you respond to these questions is extremely important. You’ll sign your own name to the answers, verifying the accuracy of what’s been said. The other side can read them out loud in court. If you later testify to something different, it could sound like you are lying.
The answers to these questions require joint effort. Ultimately we’ll type up the answers in the proper format, but having your best information first is crucial.
Interrogatories cover many of the things that are important to proving (and eventually resolving) your case. We’ll be providing not just your personal data, such as your date of birth, past addresses, education and employment history, but also the who-where-when-what-and-how's that support your complaint. Your medical history, including the treatment you’ve received for your injuries. The precise nature of the harm you’ve suffered and the monetary damages we’re claiming. The facts to support each and every legal claim we’ve made. Who our expert witnesses are and the opinions they have. Whether and how your injuries prevent you from working. What we know about the other side’s evidence.
A number of these questions are for us, your personal injury lawyers, to answer. There may even be some we don’t want to answer, and we’ll be in charge of getting any disagreements resolved. But we must act promptly.
So don’t just shove that fat envelope aside. Open it. Work hard to give us all of the information that’s requested. And call us if you need help. The sooner we send out the answers, the sooner we can get your case resolved. We both want that, right?
November 1, 2008 2:47 AM
 Tonight it's Halloween. The kids are outside and the moms and dads are out, too. The grownups are drinking wine, talking, and playing music. We are standing on the sidewalk telling jokes, catching up with the neighborhood news. The lawyer, the doctor, and the nurse are out there with the real estate agent, the postal worker, and the school teacher. Many of us have kids or grandkids rushing about in costume. A lot of the adults are wearing costumes, too.
Now it's a bit later, but we're feeling too good to want to go inside. After all, it's Friday. Someone has opened another bottle of wine. The kids have made their rounds and have gone off to sort out their loot. Meanwhile, we're catching up on some juicy gossip.
Some of the neighbors have had more than a glass or two, like the dad up the street, the one everyone knows is an alcoholic, and he has gone in to put his toddlers to bed. Now, he wants cigarettes. His spouse, still outside with the neighbors, is with him on her cell phone:
“Yes, dear, I’ll go out to get them for you.”
By reputation, she’s the sensible one, the one who holds the family together despite her husband's worsening problem. But tonight she's is no condition to drive either. She doesn't realize it. Tonight, she will be the one who makes a big mistake. No one will think to talk her out of driving because, as everyone knows, she's not the one with the alcohol problem. It’s his problem.
We all know know couples who fit this example. Some of them become our clients. They are in many respects, playing-by-the-rules people. Everyone loves them. They are anxious to please others and to be good neighbors. All seems under control, but it is not.
Perhaps there is a family history, and perhaps they have married someone with the same family history. One partner drinks, and other one doesn't, or doesn't appear to drink much. It's the past repeating itself, as the younger couple falls into a pattern learned from their parents.
We see many clients as a result of an-alcohol related arrest, good, upstanding people with families. They come to us all the time.
Ingerman & Horwitz can help. We live in neighborhoods, too. We know alcohol is a complicated problem. If you are arrested for an alcohol-related offense, we can help you through it. You can tell us just about anything, confidentially. I’m pretty sure you can’t shock us, and we’re not judgmental. We will help you with your legal troubles, but of course, you need to do the real work to get your life on track. The arrest was just a symptom, and now you'll also need to treat the disease. We'll make sure you have a referral.
October 27, 2008 2:56 AM
You’ve suffered personal injuries and have hired a qualified personal injury lawyer. Is your job done? No. It’s just beginning. Here are some rules to help you protect your own interests as we work together to pursue your claim for personal injury compensation.
One. Tell the truth. This should need no elaboration. Whether you are talking to us, making a report, filling out a form, or testifying in deposition or at trial, the truth is required.
Two. Don’t talk about your case with anyone. Yes, do tell your doctors and other health care providers about where it hurts, but don't talk about whose car hit whose, or who was at fault. It’s not germane to your care and perhaps the doctor is not going to take accurate notes about it. Although we should be able to keep these kinds of statements out of court, the other side will see them, and if they conflict with your assertions in the case, watch out! It could undercut a potential settlement.
Generally, anything you say to someone else about your case can be repeated back to you -- on the record, in court. Perhaps they don't get it quite right. So please let us do the talking.
If someone says they need to talk about the accident, tell them you are represented by Ingerman & Horwitz. Give them our phone number, and don’t say anything until you call us! Your own insurance company may need you to make a statement in order to process your claim. Or they may need you to talk about the damage to your car. That's fair. Just call us first.
Three. Get receipts whenever you spend money related to your case. Record what you’ve spent in a little notebook that always goes with you. Are you taking a taxi because your injury prevents you from driving? Is the kid up the street mowing your lawn? Hiring a babysitter to stay with the kids while you go to the doctor? Always get a receipt. If the person you are hiring does not have his own receipts, hand him one of yours to sign when you pay him for his services. You can buy a book of receipts in any office supply store.
By the way, keep track of your mileage when you drive anywhere that’s related to the medical care you need or other treatment. Again, use your little notebook to record the date, place and reason for the trip. Deduct mileage for side trips.
Four. Let us look over any claim forms you fill out that relate to your medical condition or disability. These, too are statements of yours that the defendant can review. If you are saying things about your condition in a disability claim or in some other forum that are inconsistent with what is going on in your case, it could hurt you.
We want your claim to be a success. You can find some more pointers here:
October 22, 2008 9:30 AM
Do our clients ask their doctors legal questions? Because they sure ask us a lot of medical ones. I wonder why that is.
Meeting a personal injury lawyer is a bit like going to the doctor. You report what’s bothering you, how it happened, and where it hurts. You explain what you used to do that you can’t do now. You may even feel a bit nervous. Your story is very personal; you sit across a desk and ask for help from a stranger who has expert knowledge and skill. Secretly you may wonder if they really care, or if they are too busy to help you.
Developing a relationship of trust is just as important in the law office as it is in the doctor’s office. It’s important to us, too. If we have a good rapport, we are better able to work with you and make good decisions together.
But we’re personal injury lawyers, not doctors. While you are telling your story, we’re listening for a whole other set of reasons. You need to know what we’re listening for, and come to see us with that in mind. Here’s what to do:
- --Give us as accurate a chronology as possible. Bring your journal or calendar with you if it helps.
- --Bring relevant documents, but don’t worry if you don’t have everything. Things to bring include bills, receipts, police reports (or other data from the police), auto insurance information, doctors’ appointment cards (or doctors’ addresses and your treatment dates), a list of the medicines you take, a recent pay stub (for wage loss), insurance forms, any disability claims forms, and anything other papers you have that relate to your claim.
- --Be ready to explain how your life and abilities have changed. Think of someone who could talk about this subject credibly as a witness on your behalf.
- --Make a list of financial losses.
- --Think about the reasons you believe someone else is at fault. How would things have turned out differently, but for the defendant’s conduct? Is there something you could have done differently to prevent your injury?
- --If your claim involves bad medical care or a defective product, explain carefully why you think that is, and how you came to discover it.
Remember, we can’t give medical advice. But if you come to us prepared to discuss your legal claim, it might just put you on the road to recovery.
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