As my friend and fellow personal injury lawyer Clayton Hasbrook from Oklahoma City posted on his site, many accident and injury victims don’t realize that the personal injury defense attorneys are actually hired and paid for by the insurance companies.

The defendant’s in a personal injury lawsuit here in Memphis rarely, if ever, actually hire there own attorney. What actually happens is that there insurance company hires the attorney. And as you can tell from the video above, the insurance companies usually don’t want to pay anyone – including their own lawyers!

We’ve been warning our clients for quite a while about the dangers of Facebook and how defense attorneys can use it to twist the facts against you. Here’s an example

Mr. Defense Attorney questioning you at trial

“So you’re injuries have kept you from being able to enjoy normal daily activities?”

Injury Victim on the witness stand

“Yes, I haven’t been able to do anything that I used to do.”

Mr. Defense Attorney

“Can you tell me who this is rollerskating in this photo (dated one month after the injury happened)?”

Injury Victim

“That’s me. But I only stood up on them for 10 seconds because my daughter begged…..(interrupted)”

Mr. Defense Attorney

“I understand. Rollerskating is not a ‘normal daily activity’ is it. I have no further questions your honor.”

And that’s exactly how your Facebook photos just torpedoed your personal injury case.

Now it seems that the Wall Street Journal has picked up on the problems that Facebook poses to those going through the court system. Read there information article here.

Lucky for you that you were driving your 1984 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, made of nothing but Detroit’s finest steel. Although you’ve got plenty of bumps and bruises, the Jeep looks great except for a dent in the fender, broken tail lights, and some paint damage caused from being rear ended. You take it to the mechanic only to find out that the insurance company wants to “total” it out. Why? It looks like it’s just a little bit of damage.

The reason the insurance company wants to total your car out after this wreck is because they’ve taken a look at the value of your vehicle, most likely according to “CCC” appraised value (an evaluation program used by insurance companies), and have decided that to repair the vehicle would cost at least 75% of the cars appraised value. So, instead of repairing the vehicle they will now declare it “totaled” or a “total loss”, and will only pay you the appraised value of the car.

But, for example, if the cost to repair the car comes out to be only 50-60% of the appraised value then the insurance company will pay for all repairs and give your vehicle back to you.

What do you do if the insurance company does “total” out your car if you been in a wreck? Do you have to accept what they offer you as settlement for the vehicle? That’s what we will look at tomorrow in our next post.

As a Mississippi State Alumnus (and also Ole Miss, albeit only their law school), and an individual who was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta and loves all things “Mississippi”, I found it extremely interesting this morning when I read that Ole Miss has decided to go with the Rebel Black Bear as their official mascot.

I know what you are thinking. Mississippi and black bears go together like peas and carrots, right?

But after some careful consideration, I began to realize that this choice is perfect for Ole Miss. Here’s why:

Top 5 Reasons the Black Bear is the perfect mascot for Ole Miss:

1. “Black bears are not true hibernators, but go through a period of winter dormancy called carnivorean lethargy.” – This is strikingly similar to the annual ritual of the Ole Miss basketball program.  Since the 2001-02 season the Rebel Black Bears have been 29 games under .500 in SEC play during the winter months.
2. “Black bears prefer relatively large areas of forested habitat that provide escape cover…” – Hello, the grove after a loss to Vanderbilt.
3. “Older male bears may force younger males out of their territory and cause them to disperse.” - Have any of you seen how much it costs to buy or rent a house next to the square in Oxford these days?
4. “Although the black bear is classified as a carnivore, they are not active predators” – I think I remember talk of a national championship for the 2009 football team. The Rebel Black Bears were ranked #4 early in the season before everyone realized that they were actually only herbivores who just so happened to play in a carnivorous league. (Quick fact: The Ole Miss Rebel Black Bears lost their final regular season game of the 2009 to Mississippi State 41-27.)
5. “All the black bears waste products are recycled through unique metabolic and physiological processes.” – Here again is a striking similarity to the Ole Miss faithful who,  as many opposing fans can tell you, always seem to be full of !@#$%.

*Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of the similarities between the black bear and Ole Miss. Rather it is just for general guidance in order that you may better understand, and fully appreciate, the selection of the black bear as Ole Miss’ new mascot.

On a more serious note, I hope no one is truly offended by this post. I absolutely love the State of Mississippi and I have many great memories of my times spent attending Ole Miss and living in Oxford. But as a Mississippi State fan this was just too good to pass up.

And on an even more serious note, if you, or anyone you know has been injured, maimed,  or savagely beaten (is that possible?) by a Rebel Black Bear through no fault of your own. Call me at 1-800-BLACK-BEAR (not real), the only Mississippi and Tennessee personal injury lawyer (that I know of) accepting Rebel Black Bear cases.  Don’t delay – Call Today!

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Wanting to find out more about Mississippi Black Bears and see a map with where they’ve been sighted in the state? Click here to open the pdf file.

Have you ever wondered how much it costs for personal injury lawyers to advertise on TV?

Here is a list of the top 10 TV advertising law firms in the country for 2009, along with how much they spent.

Maybe you’ve seen some of my television ads on here in Memphis and wonder how much I spend each year. Well, I can tell you that I don’t spend even a fraction of the amount that the number 10 firm on this list spends!

Case in Point: Here in Memphis the personal injury, accident and worker’s comp lawyers who used to be with the Cochran Firm seem to now be part of Morgan and Morgan.

Morgan and Morgan is a large national personal injury law firm “mill” with offices primarily located not in the Memphis, Tennessee area but in Florida.

So when you’re out looking to find the best personal injury lawyer or law firm for your case here in Memphis be careful. It seems that these days you never know when the law firm or lawyers you were using will suddenly change names or jump ship to another firm. You should think long and hard about this before you decide to become  a client.

2005-2010 Avalon
2007-2010 Camry
2009-2010 Corolla
2008-2010 Highlander
2007-2010 Lexus ES350
2006-2010 Lexus IS250
2006-2010 Lexus IS350
2009-2010 Matrix
2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe
2004-2010 Prius
2009-2010 RAV4
2008-2010 Sequoia
2010 Tacoma
2007-2010 Tundra
2009-2010 Venza

Toyota has informed its car owners that this is a gradually developing issue for these cars, so that by and large the cars are still safe to drive.  If you feel, for any reason, that your gas pedal is becoming sticky, stop driving immediately and call a dealer for assistance.  When the company has arrived at a solution for the gas pedal issue, it will inform all owners for replacement.  If you are concerned with your vehicle, take it to a Toyota dealer to get a status check on your gas pedal.  Read this helpful article from CNN Money for more advice on how to handle issues with your recalled Toyota vehicle, and drive safe!

The plaintiff in this case sued Hanes for what he said was a defective pair of underwear. This underwear caused “sand belt” like abrasions to his penis. I’m not making this up folks.

Here is an excerpt from the final judgement.

I’m happy to report that Mr. Freed did not win his case. And I’m just as happy to report that he represented himself without the assistance of a lawyer.

The entire final judgement can be found Here.

Thanks to Above the Law for letting us know about this.

Did you Know?

That in both Mississippi and Tennessee there are laws that provide for insurance premium discounts for drivers age 55 and older if they simply complete an approved motor vehicle accident prevention course?

In Mississippi you just need to contact the Department of Public Safety to find a list of approved courses, and in Tennessee you need to find a course approved by the Commissioner of Safety. Once you complete the course and present a certificate of completion to your insurance company you can receive a discount of up to 10% on your monthly premium.

This discount lasts for up to three years. And in this day and age, any little savings helps – the average insurance premium in Mississippi right now is $1408, and in Tennessee it’s $1554. This discount opportunity could save our senior (Note: Mom & Dad the world “seniors” does not apply to you:) drivers up to $155 a year, on average!

Take advantage, and increase everyone’s safety on the roads.