Trial Lawyers

ATRI Laments Both Small and Large Trucking Injury Verdicts; Ken Levinson Weighs in on Fair Trials

January 5, 2022 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Trucking industry complaints against small and large verdicts have been released in a new American Transportation Research Institute report, stating that even verdicts of less than $1 million have a lasting, cumulative effect on the industry, allowing it to experience significant financial strain.

The report also made sure to point out that trials consisting of cases involving deaths or injuries lead to larger awards, although it is unclear why this isn’t a no-brainer.

“The reality is that a jury and a judge hear evidence to value a case, and many times, families are left devastated and people are killed,” explained Ken Levinson of Levinson and Stefani. “Then, the verdict is high because the consequences and damages are so high due to unsafe behavior. I think any complaints against this are all propaganda to make more money for the insurance companies.”

In ATRI’s study, named “The Impact of Small Verdicts and Settlements on the Trucking Industry,” ATRI worked to dive into expensive litigation outcomes and the impacts even smaller awards have on motor carriers.

“While cases of this size are not individually as devastating to motor carriers and thus do not attract the attention of media outlets, in aggregate, they have a significant negative impact on the trucking industry,” the group said in its study.

Levinson noted that pointing to smaller cases that have deeper impact on the industry is tactical, and doesn’t give an accurate outlook of this particular litigation landscape.

“It’s more propaganda for the trucking industry to save money,” he said. “They’re using examples of outliers and distorting the facts to propagate their agenda and scare people.”

ATRI’s study had support from one attorney of Carlisle, Pennsylvania transportation law firm, Marcello & Kivisto LLC.

“This analysis proves a theory that I have always had: there are two markets as to the value of cases–the settlement market and the trial market,” firm attorney Doug Marcello, who worked with ATRI in its report. “There should be one market, and that is what a case is objectively worth.”

Levinson explained that this belief has little basis in the reality of the legal process.

“That’s absolutely absurd,” he said. “There is no objective value of a case—that’s why we have juries. This isn’t like a breach of contract, where the contract was made to provide a good or service for a million dollars and someone made a breach in contract. We’re talking about human lives—there is no objective value. That’s why we have a jury of unbiased citizens in the community hearing the evidence and assessing what they think the value is.”

In its report, ATRI claimed that cases involving severe injury have high average verdicts of around $368,237, and that cases involving deaths have the highest average verdicts of around $607,532. It also lamented findings that settlements typically lead to larger verdicts than jury cases.

“All sides present their case in a fair courtroom, and the jury, based on the evidence and facts, decides what they believe is fair and reasonable,” Levinson explained. “The other premise is that there’s a difference between settlement value and trial value—of course there is. Because there’s no objective value of a case, all sides of the equation evaluate the facts and the evidence and assess what they think a jury would do and they settle a case based on their best estimate and the assessment of risk. That’s why it’s different.”

Of course, cases involving any severe injury or fatality are deserving of large verdicts to mitigate those medical costs as well as the trauma endured.

“That’s why we have a jury of unbiased citizens in the community hearing the evidence and assessing what they think the value is,” said Levinson. “If there was an objective value, we could just plug it into a computer and it would spit out a number. There is no such thing; that’s like saying there is an objective value as to who should have won the last ten presidential elections. That’s why human beings make decisions. When you’re evaluating the death of a spouse or a child or a loved one, there’s no one objective value. That’s not how life works.”

Updates in 2021-2022 Edition of Ken Levinson’s Book Series

November 26, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The 2021 to 2022 Edition of Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases, written by Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson along with Tom D’Amore, has some new updates in its latest version.

The two-volume series, which aims to offer legal and scientific insight regarding how best to prepare auto injury cases for the best possible awards, has some updated materials in Chapter 1, “The Importance of Law Firm Marketing.” This chapter covers how best to build your firm brand using internet marketing, organic and local SEO, and Google search result rankings, as well as how to use social media and email marketing to your advantage.

“This series is designed to provide plaintiff attorneys with clear guidance on representing major automobile injury and death cases, and strategies for winning large damage awards with the least expenditure of effort,” explained Levinson.

Additionally, Chapter 8–Depositions–is revised to look further into how to boost remote deposition success when so many depositions are now held over Zoom following the pandemic. Specifically, this chapter covers how to allow all participants to see exhibits and witnesses as clearly as possible, how to maximize your video and audio quality, and as how to minimize background or technical difficulty disturbances.

“Our objective is to help attorneys achieve maximum damage awards on behalf of their severely injured clients,” said Levinson. “The series features written discovery, depositions, medical, and other expert witness testimony, and aspects of automobile jury trials–as well as the necessary forms needed to handle a case from beginning to end.”

The series, published Thomson Reuters, is available here.

Ken Levinson to Speak at Connectionology Webinar

November 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, November 30th, Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson will be speaking in a free Connectionology webinar named “Over $400M in Verdicts, Thousands of Focus Groups: Lessons Learned.”

Levinson is thrilled to be part of this event as he believes deeply in attorneys sharing their unique methods and insight into helping their clients, because any lawyer should be willing to expand their own perspectives as often as possible.

“These are lessons about what the best lawyers in the country do to win their cases and their mentality in doing so,” explained Levinson. “One takeaway I’ve discovered from all the lawyers I’ve worked with–which includes some of the best in the country–is that they’re always willing to improve and learn. They never feel like they have all the answers, and they’re always looking to better themselves as trial lawyers and learn the best ways to tweak their cases for the better.”

Also speaking at the virtual conference will be Lauren D. Fraser or Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, P.C., and moderating will be Destiny R. Barbosa of Romano Law Group.

“We’ll also discuss some things lawyers make mistakes about,” Levinson continued. “For instance, they might have a great theme, but the wrong case. They’ve got to match, otherwise they’re going to lose. We’re going to talk for an hour or so and try to help lawyers help their clients.”

Any plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys, as well as paralegals, are invited to attend the webinar, which Levinson notes will be beneficial for anyone looking for an outside perspective into the world of focus groups and successful cases.

“We get lost in our own world and our own silos and how we prepare cases,” he said. “We sometimes get lost in the weeds and in the details of our cases. This event is a nice way to step back and see what other lawyers in the country are doing to best help their clients, get more perspective on what some other trial attorneys do to prepare, and how we can use that insight to help our clients.”

The free webinar event will take place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:30 P.M. EST–plaintiff attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, and paralegals can register here.

Ken Levinson Serving as Featured Speaker at Annual IAJ Convention

November 1, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

On Friday, November 5th, Levinson and Stefani Injury Lawyers’ own Ken Levinson will be a featured speaker at the Iowa Association for Justice’s 48th Annual Convention.

This hybrid event allows attendees to join either virtually or in-person, but will be held at the Downtown Des Moines Hilton. Other speakers include the New President of AAJ, Navan Ward of Atlanta, as well as IAJ’s Nick and Courtney Rowley, Lauren Fraser of New Jersey, and Karen Koehler of Seattle.

IAJ prides itself on gathering some of the most prominent speakers from across the state of Iowa and the country itself to discuss innovative litigation solutions and trial advocacy techniques.

Levinson will be sharing his ideas regarding focus group utilization methods and practices for the present day as compared to pre-COVID.

“I love teaching,” Levinson said of his participation in the convention. “I love helping fellow trial lawyers. I’ll be discussing how we’ve pivoted from focus groups and preparing our cases before COVID to how we do so now–by using Zoom more, getting input from other lawyers and participants, and using virtual focus groups along with surveys and other methods.”

Levinson noted that before the coronavirus era, many trial lawyers didn’t think much about other ways to hold focus groups–and they’ve now been forced to think outside the box.

“We used to only do focus groups in person,” he said. “We didn’t really consider any other method to test our cases and help our clients with focus groups. Now, we’ve made changes in the middle of COVID to do focus groups remotely and it’s been interesting; it’s easier, in a lot of ways, to find participants because sometimes they’re more comfortable at home.”

Not only is it easier to find participants, but focus groups can be held with more people than ever before when done virtually.

“We can do some interesting things online and get more people, because by definition, a conference room only holds so many individuals–but you can do a virtual Zoom focus group with around 50 people,” Levinson added. “A conference room size can be limiting. Now, we’ve been able to survey people and have them fill out questionnaires in real time, whereas in person, it’s a lot harder to do that. It’s been really seamless, especially when we need to show exhibits from our computer. We’ve done a lot of focus groups in jurisdictions and states far away, but from the comfort of my office in Chicago.”

For information on attending IAJ’s Annual Convention virtually, click here, or head here for details on joining the in-person event in Des Moines.

Ken Levinson to Speak on Innovative Trial Methods at Belli Society Seminar

October 7, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

This weekend, the Melvin M. Belli Society will be hosting its 73rd annual seminar entitled: In the Spirit of Belli: Cutting-Edge, New and Innovative Ideas for Your Cases and Your Practice, a three-day event in Atlanta for lawyers across the country to meet and immerse themselves in new and innovative methods of effective trial practices. On Sunday, the first full day of the event, Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson will be speaking.

Levinson’s lecture will focus on the top non-law books that trial lawyers should read–a discussion on the best non-law-focused literature for lawyers to up their game in reaching a jury in a particularly powerful way.

“I read a lot of non-law books–books on decision making, psychology, persuasion, storytelling, and other fields that I think help us as trial lawyers that aren’t necessarily in trial lawyer books,” Levinson explained. “I enjoy sharing what I’ve read so that we can use things like what a filmmaker does, for example, to help our clients. I really get a kick out of teaching other lawyers about things I’ve read or learned from other means.”

Understanding the nuances of effective storytelling is key during trial, Levinson noted.

“You could be in an artificial environment, in a movie theater, and within minutes you could be vying for the hero of the story or angry at the villain, and it’s really interesting how that emotion is played out,” he said. “You know consciously and intellectually that this is a story and a fake environment, but it can still get you emotionally invested. That has always fascinated me because in real life, sometimes lawyers don’t tell a proper story of their clients’ cases. They don’t use storytelling methods to get the jury engaged in a case, and that’s, I think, a wasted opportunity.”

In his talk, Levinson will discuss how to implement key takeaways from these kinds of books into the way a lawyer can powerfully affect a jury in any given case.

“Why not tell a compelling–yet truthful–story about our client’s struggles and what they’ve overcome?” he asked. “Storytelling can give us some techniques to make our clients’ true life stories as emotional and engaging as any fake story that we’re watching in a movie theater.”

The seminar takes place this Sunday and Monday at the Capital City Club Brookhaven in Atlanta.

The Truth About Personal Injury Calculators

March 11, 2015 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

An online “Personal Injury Calculator” cannot do all the math for you. It can’t analyze your personal, unique situation – but a lawyer can help. Image from Flickr user stuartpilbrow

Can a “Personal Injury Calculator” tell you how much your case is worth? The short answer is: “No.” But you deserve a more detailed answer to this question, and the related question, “How much is my injury case worth?” Let me tell you how injury cases are evaluated by trial lawyers like myself, by the insurance companies paying settlements and trial verdicts, and by the the juries that may be deciding your case.

There are three main factors to look at: 1) who’s at fault, 2) what’s the harm, and 3) who pays.

Who’s at Fault?
In other words, who is responsible for your injuries? Once we determine who – either a person or a company – is responsible, we next consider whether that person or company can be held accountable for your injuries. People have a general legal responsibility to drive safely – when they don’t, they can be held accountable for the damages they cause. Think about getting rear-ended. Chances are, the driver that read-ended you should have been paying more attention and driving more safely. If we can prove the driver was not driving safely enough, we can say the driver was at fault.

The thing to keep in mind, though, is that things are rarely black and white. When it seems like you have an “easy” case, there might be legal technicalities, state laws, or court rulings that say otherwise – all the more reason to contact an experienced trial lawyer.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, you need to trust your attorney is going to be honest with you. Any lawyer interested in helping you should be able to map out the steps he or she will take to ensure the best result possible. This includes identifying any strengths and weaknesses that arise throughout the case.

What’s the Harm?
The next question is, “What are your injuries?” This gets us back to the original question of how much your case is worth. I’ve had several clients and potential clients reference “Personal Injury Calculators” they find online. The website has you fill in some numbers (medical bills and lost wages, usually), and then it spits out a number that’s supposed to represent a fair settlement amount or range. It’s a nice concept, but it often leads to wildly inaccurate numbers – either too high or too low.

Medical bills (past and future) are a factor, but they’re certainly not the whole picture. In a recent case I handled, for example, my client was in a car stopped in construction traffic. He was killed instantly when a truck driver ignored constructions signs and rear-ended his car. That case had zero medical bills. A personal injury calculator is worthless – and insulting – in that type of situation.

Lost wages are also a factor, but not the whole story. If you miss time from work due to an injury, you can claim that as part of your case. However, using this as a main element in calculating the value of your case causes problems. A well-paid professional who makes a six-figure salary is going to have a larger number involved if she misses six months of work recovering from a knee injury. Focusing on lost wages, though, ignores the impact of a stay-at-home parent spending six months recovering from the same knee injury. A competent injury lawyer should be able to maximize the value of both cases, regardless of whether there are any lost wages. The lesson here is that each case is unique, and a trained trial lawyer will be able to recognize the needs of your particular case.

Ultimately, the question of “what’s the harm?” boils down to the impact of the injuries on your life. If you or a family member has been injured in a car crash, I’m sure you feel that your loss is more than just medical bills and lost wages. And it is! Injury victims lose meaningful time with family and friends. If you’re injured, you lose the ability to enjoy life as you choose, on your terms, whether that’s being active, social, or just pain-free. No online calculator can accurately compute this loss. Be wary of any attorney who suggests an online calculator or similar shortcut to figure out how much your case is worth. Put simply, there is no substitute for investing the time and energy needed to fight for the best result possible in your case.

Who Pays?
This is a tough question to talk about. It shines a light on the inequalities and inefficiencies of our current insurance system, and that is because the answer to this question is generally, insurance companies pay. And which insurance company pays, and how much it pays, largely depends on the applicable insurance policies.

Many people aren’t aware that the at-fault driver in an injury case rarely pays anything in an injury settlement or verdict. In a typical car crash case, that person’s auto insurance company pays for the defense lawyer, any costs associated with the case, and any settlement or verdict amount. That’s what insurance is for.

A good attorney will be able to fully investigate the defendant and find out how much insurance coverage exists and which types of insurance might apply to your case.

What makes this a tough question is this: the harsh and sad reality is two cases with exactly the same injuries could be worth very different amounts depending on the available insurance coverage. In Illinois, the minimum required auto insurance was recently raised to $25,000. This means it’s possible a family might only be able to recover $25,000 when a drunk driver kills their loved one. However, a family whose loved one dies in a crash when a semi-truck driver falls asleep at his wheel because he’s been on the road longer than allowed would likely recover significantly more – because truck companies are required to have more insurance coverage. (Of course, even the minimum for truck drivers’ insurance is sometimes not nearly enough to compensate a victim, or a family for the loss of a loved one). Fair or not, the amount of available insurance coverage may play the largest role in evaluating how much your injury claim is worth – it’s just the way our system works, and we have to work within it.

Conclusion
Going back to the beginning, a personal injury calculator is a misleading – and often wrong – way to evaluate your injury case. I strongly suggest contacting and meeting with an experienced trial lawyer to discuss if you have a case. An initial review, which should be free, should result in a detailed plan of action to best protect you and your family.