Speakers – Gregory Spektor & Michael Levitis
Michael Levitis 00:00
Okay, good day, everybody. This is Michael Levitis. From Jurisq.com, a Legal Network. And I bring you one of our participating attorneys, Gregory Spektor, a founder and partner in Gregory Spektor and Associates, a personal injury law firm. And we bring you a Gregory and his partners to talk about interesting topics and personal injury law to answer your questions. And today, I want to go back and start with the basics. Gregory, first of all, thank you for joining us. Thank you for your time, again. Yep. And I want to ask you, when you sue somebody for a damages you have received in a car accident, what exactly are you suing for? Explain for what are you trying to get compensation?
Gregory Spektor 00:54
Up to two ends answer your direct question. When we get to the point of the claim where a lawsuit is filed, you have to name all potential defendants and We’re suing for past pain and suffering, okay, future pain, suffering, lost wages, potential diminution of your future earnings,
Michael Levitis 01:24
meaning as a result of your injuries, potentially can work less. Right.
Gregory Spektor 01:30
Yep, compensation for lower pay. I’ll give you a specific example. Yesterday, I had a pre trial conference. Very good case, very big case. Fortunately, a lady got hurt pretty badly, she has suffered an injury to her lower back, she had a couple of surgeries. And she is a result of that she can no longer lift objects more than 15 pounds. And it’s well documented by her doctors, that’s a specific limitation. And she used to work for a United States Postal Service. And one of her job responsibilities was being able to lift those, you know, those big packages with mail. USPS was not able to honor those limitations. So she lost that job, she found another job. But that job does not have the same income. So it does not have the same job security interest, it’s not the same does not have the same benefits, you know how well federal employees are protected with all the benefits with all you know, other things that they have access to? So what do we do? We hire a we have a what vocational rehab person? Okay. A and client meets that person answers a lot of questions as far as her career as far as her plans as far as what she was able to do as far as what she’s not able to. And that person that locally habits, it’s a it’s usually occupational therapist, it’s that person examines the claimant, and will still get a report. And in that report, it will have, you know, specific limitations that those injuries have created for this person. How these limitations did affect or might affect the job that she did have, or the job that she has now. All right, then that data is taken. And that is given to an economist, an economist, that’s another potential expert witness that we use, okay, we’ll take those numbers and that person will project what that claimant would have been earning and would have earned. If that accident did not happen.
Michael Levitis 04:09
At the clarify all these experts, they’re pretty expensive. Who pays for that?
Gregory Spektor 04:17
We pay for that. We pay for that nothing comes out of our clients pocket until the case is successfully resolved. And when I say successful, that means that the client is happy with the number that it’s being settled for, or the verdict that we’re getting a chocolate
Michael Levitis 04:34
very good. And I’m asking what about if a car was damaged in a car accident?
Gregory Spektor 04:44
That’s okay. That’s a whole different issue because that’s not really most of the times it’s not part of a lawsuit. Because these are usually provisions within your policy. You have a property damage most code now now These most policies have property damage, collision portion where you can just call up your adjuster, they’ll come out and they’ll fix it. They do them there. Later on, they do what’s called subrogation between the insurance companies, you know, if they feel that the other car, the other cars really responsible for this damage, they’ll go ahead and work it out between themselves.
Michael Levitis 05:22
Okay, but if for some reason a client has is having a hard time with insurance company, we happen, you can help out Correct? Absolutely.
Gregory Spektor 05:31
That’s what we would like to do. Because the less there is communication between the client
Michael Levitis 05:38
That’s smart
Gregory Spektor 05:40
Because, you know, despite what they make you believe in those commercials, how they are on your side. And so, of course, they’re only there. For the bottom line. They’re probably big financial companies, and they’re there in this business to me,
Michael Levitis 05:58
attorneys say that insurance companies are there not to pay, so it is your job to make them pay?
Gregory Spektor 06:05
Well, if you think about that, who do you get from the insurance company, when you start your claim, you get an adjuster? In that name, it’s kind of embedded that that person is going to try and adjust what you’re asking for what they’re willing to pay? Got it? No, of course that that their their responsibility is to collect your monthly premium payments. And then what’s going on when it’s time to pay try to adjust it to the absolute minimum, if possible, to nothing but
Michael Levitis 06:36
Your job is try to adjust that upwards to the client get as much as possible.
Gregory Spektor 06:42
Yeah, so yeah, but property damage, it’s usually something that’s embedded within your policy, as well as treatment or no fault part. If we’re talking about New York insurance policy, there is portion of the insurance policies for no fault. Why is it called no-fault?Because when you’re hurt, and you need help, recovering, you need medical attention, you don’t have time to decide who’s fooled this was, so that portion will pay for your damages without looking into whose fault it is. That’s why they called no fault. Right away, you’re entitled to, to make a claim. You know, in a lot of times, when you let’s say you get into a hospital, or you go to see a doctor, they understand that they know what happens, especially in hospitals, we’re sure all their emergency staff is trained, that if they’re treating a victim over over car accident, they’re going to ask you for your insurance, they’re going to make a claim, they can open whatever, you know, they’re going to file that they’re going to file the documents that need to be filed, because there’s a specific amount of time that is required for you to file certain papers.
Michael Levitis 07:58
So Gregory, to translate, in layman’s terms, basically, if you get injured, no matter how if you are at fault, or you’re not at fault in a car accident, no matter whose fault it is, you’re going to get covered for your doctor visits for your treatments. Right?
Gregory Spektor 08:21
You said it right. But I guess, as I was talking about that, and then I remembered those time limitations is just one other reason why it’s important to get an attorney and important to try and get an attorney as soon as possible. So that you do not miss out on those deadlines, then, you know, half of that of the claim was not submitted on time. And if you know, if an awful claim was not opened on time, then you may have a problem opening it later on. And, you know, if you get an attorney who knows what they’re doing, if you get an attorney with experience, knowledge what they’re doing, that will not happen. Yeah,
Michael Levitis 08:59
you can miss a deadline by one day. And let’s say your case is out the window. You get not a penny, it is probably I think, I believe it’s important about an attorney earlier, rather than later so that you preserve all your rights. An attorney can walk in to summarize what you were saying before, the one on one of personal injury of car accidents is that there are so many different ways you can get compensated an attorney like yourself will analyze the case, how you suffered pain, emotional pain, car loss, job loss, for some kind of treatment for your medical treatment, all that analyzed by your office, correct?
Gregory Spektor 09:47
Absolutely. And one other important reason to get an attorney as soon as possible is like I said, so that the communication between you and insurance company is basically done at a minimum, if at all, because once you hire an attorney, then any call from an investigator or any pool from an adjuster that you get from an insurance company, you tell him, I hired an attorney. And he instructed me not to discuss this with anybody. And by law, they will not be able to continue that conversation with you, once they know that you are represented by an attorney,
Michael Levitis 10:25
because they can trick you into saying something that goes against your interest. It’s like, you know, we hear in when we watch Law and Order or you get arrested. Anything you say can be used against in the court of law. Same in personal injury in the car accident. Anything you say to the insurance company or their representatives can be used against you in the court.
Gregory Spektor 10:45
Yeah, it’s a little different standard there. But yeah, they’re looking, they’re looking for inconsistencies, because right away, they see you as potentially made if not the only witness to this occurrence. And any inconsistency that you give them, they will use to basically disqualify you.
Michael Levitis 11:05
And you could be a little bit nervous, you don’t mean you don’t mean to lie or say something. You can make a mistake, be confused. You could still be injured after your car accident had a head concussion and just said something. That’s not exactly the way it’s supposed to be. Okay, Gregory, this was great, because I like sometimes going back to the basics and breaking it down. Because people hear no fault. They hear car accident, but they don’t understand what exactly it means what it entails. So we appreciate your time. And if anybody has specific questions on their case, call the law firm of Gregory Spektor & Associates as soon as possible. So the attorneys at the law firm can analyze your case for free and give you an advice, what to do next, and to see whether you have a case and to get compensated. We’re gonna put the phone number on the bottom of the screen. If you can call Gregory Spektor and Associates and follow us for further more interesting videos with Gregory Spektor, other attorneys in all types of law. You can follow us on Facebook, on Instagram and YouTube, JurisQ.com. Thank you for your time. Until next time, take care.
Gregory Spektor 12:21
Take care Michael
