• The KillerFrogs

Listenbee Lawsuit Update 3/19/2018

netty2424

Full Member
Maybe Oil & Gas litigation is different, but I was quoted $500,000 in estimated lawyer fees for a lawsuit that we wound up settling. The amount was much higher than $1 million though.

edit: found this article regarding employment lawsuits suggesting that taking it to trial would be $250,000 in 2012. Costs have definitely gone up in the past 7 years. 500k may be high, but it's far from absurd. It's definitely over $300k to litigate a case like this.

https://www.cersnow.com/blog/the-average-employee-lawsuit-costs-250000how-safe-is-your-company/

$500k, $300k, $100k

It’s all absurd.
 

Hoosierfrog

Tier 1
AND insurance adjusters, appraisers and other con men who work in the insurance industry acting like they are clean as a new snowfall

Insurance adjusters and appraisers don’t get a percentage of anything and they are regulated pretty harshly. If you see any adjusters or appraisers driving BMWs, I’m sure questions would be asked or they have rich families. They all get meager paycheck. I agree with you. Insurance is a dodge. But it is required by law to have it. I’m all for getting rid of insurance companies. It’d be fun to see the lawyer ranks thin as they tried to force the uninsured to fund their life styles...
 

Hoosierfrog

Tier 1
Just like it's good to know plumbers, electricians, football players, doctors, salespeople, oil&gas producers, all are only in it for the good of their clients? Thank goodness we live in a completely altruistic world where nobody is in it to get paid.

Of course anyone that works for a living does it for a paycheck. But most of them don’t make their jobs the very worst case scenario every time so they make more money and stay in business very long. It is the process of lawyers taking 25% or more that makes it their job to get the biggest judgement or settlement they can get. All you have to do is watch their advertising to hear them talk about how much they care about their clients. Then they talk about the big bad insurance companies because they don’t roll over and pay their obnoxious demands. Here’s an idea. Let’s codify all injuries, fatalities and circumstances, surely there is plenty of data, put a range of dollars for each scenario, severity, etc and have an arbitration panel decide what they should get. You think the Bar would all for the fairness in that?
 

Billy Clyde

Active Member
Here’s an idea. Let’s codify all injuries, fatalities and circumstances, surely there is plenty of data, put a range of dollars for each scenario, severity, etc and have an arbitration panel decide what they should get. You think the Bar would all for the fairness in that?[/QUOTE]

We already did that in Texas, when GWB was Gov, on the promise of lower insurance premiums(How'd THAT work out?). So with the rules now in place, we already have the parameters to make your bargain: I'll lop off your arm with a chainsaw, and give you $250k. Deal?
 

Hoosierfrog

Tier 1
I call B.S.

Bachelor of Science has nothing to do with it.

But, I get the gist. Attorneys love to whine about big bad insurance companies not paying claims for their true value. So who sets the true value? Insurance only does the same things lawyers do just in reverse. But somehow it is ok for lawyers to make huge demands, but not okay for insurance companies to the opposite? The only true way, as it is set up now, to get to the true value is to have a third party arbitrate it or have that third party be a jury. Lawyers talk about the insurance companies as if they were the defendant that caused the offense. That’s why I suggested above we codify dollar amounts, severity and aggravating circumstances so that settling grievances isn’t like buying a car and haggling over the money.

I did work for both plaintiff and defense, as well as insurance companies. My experience showed that adjuster were just the little guys who have nothing to gain by doing anything shady as they get the same crappy salary regardless (now the same can’t always be said for some of the big execs that don’t have to get their hands dirty, but call the shots), defense attorneys seem to be pretty straight shooters since they are doing hourly billing and get the same hourly rate regardless in most cases (but some aren’t opposed to dragging things out to make more $). Now, many trial lawyers will say and do almost anything to get the biggest judgement they can because they profit the most from it.

Call BS all you want. Just my experience after 40 years working all sides.
 

mc1502

Full Member
I had absolutely nothing against attorneys, until I recently had to hire one. After paying him a little over $53K to do little more than file paperwork, which generated zero return for me, I now feel differently. He kept telling me that a positive resolution was a slam dunk, and right around the corner. But it never happened. If I were go into the details of the case, not one person on this board would think it would be anything but a sure win for me. I honestly feel like I was raped twice, once by the defendant, and once by my attorney. At this juncture I have more ill will toward my attorney than the defendant.
 
I had absolutely nothing against attorneys, until I recently had to hire one. After paying him a little over $53K to do little more than file paperwork, which generated zero return for me, I now feel differently. He kept telling me that a positive resolution was a slam dunk, and right around the corner. But it never happened. If I were go into the details of the case, not one person on this board would think it would be anything but a sure win for me. I honestly feel like I was raped twice, once by the defendant, and once by my attorney. At this juncture I have more ill will toward my attorney than the defendant.

Had a similar deal. Had a bad tenant one time. Had to sic the lawyers on this worthless [ Finebaum ]. Said [ Finebaum ] was very well versed in the law(and it was also a commie state who stacked the laws in favor of tenants which made matter worse) and knew how to play things ala Pacific Heights. My foot dragging somewhat-of-a-shyster lawyer almost cost me as much as the property in legal fees.
 

Frog-in-law1995

Active Member
Had a similar deal. Had a bad tenant one time. Had to sic the lawyers on this worthless [ Orgeron ]. Said [ Orgeron ] was very well versed in the law(and it was also a commie state who stacked the laws in favor of tenants which made matter worse) and knew how to play things ala Pacific Heights. My foot dragging somewhat-of-a-shyster lawyer almost cost me as much as the property in legal fees.

Wow...Flashback to freshman year of college. Pacific Heights was on HBO every other day that fall. Hadn’t thought of that movie in nearly 30 years.
 

Billy Clyde

Active Member
Wow...Flashback to freshman year of college. Pacific Heights was on HBO every other day that fall. Hadn’t thought of that movie in nearly 30 years.

I used to have a girlfriend who lived in Pacific Heights, when I lived in Dallas and travelled alla time for work... She was mean, but I saw her nekkid. I mean, like, supermean... I'd do it again.
 

froginaustin

Active Member
Insurance adjusters and appraisers don’t get a percentage of anything . . ..

I'm by no means an insurance expert, and maybe in the last 10 years or so (that's how old my information is) all this has changed.

Adjusters are given settlement ranges for the sorts of claims that they handle routinely. Records are kept of average settlements paid, and median settlement amounts.

Promotions, bonuses, and job retention are based to a large and in some situations exclusive extent, on where those average payments are in relation to the appropriate ranges and to a lesser extent in relation to median settlements paid.

In other words, an adjuster may be working in a job where, if he settles for an average of 50% of his range (just a hypo), all is sweet with his employer. If, on the other hand, the settlement average is higher, there may be no promotions or bonuses. To close to the top of the settlement range, and the adjuster is looking for work.

So don't tell me that adjusters aren't rewarded for favorable settlements. They are.
 
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