Arizona Personal Injury Laws

Medical Malpractice Claims in Phoenix

We handle medical malpractice claims. A lot of lawyers don’t. They’re very time consuming, they’re very expensive often times. We have an obligation to establish that your physician has breached the standard of care, fell below the standard of care, and that that breach has caused you injury. You may have been harmed by your physician, and you may have a viable malpractice claim, but it may not be economically worth pursuing.

Pursuing Malpractice Claims

Often times these days, medical malpractice claims take tens of thousands and we’ve had some, as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars in client costs to pursue them to conclusion. It’s gotta be a good injury, it’s gotta be significant, because otherwise, it may not be cost-effective to pursue it.

Wattel & York

If you’ve been injured, give us a call. We’ll tell you if we think we can help you out. Call is free, consultation is free. We represent you. We work on a contingency basis. That means no money up front. We get paid at the end of the case. And if we don’t collect money for you, there’s no fee.

By: David Wattel

My name is Mark Raczkowski. I’m an attorney at Jones Raczkowski PC in Phoenix, Arizona. If you plan to file a lawsuit I recommend you hire an attorney. But before you speak with any potential defendant or reach out to any potential defendant I recommend you speak with an attorney as well. Most people have never handled a serious personal injury on their own, and therefore have a lot of questions that need to be answered and those questions are best handled by an attorney with experience in serious personal injury matters. If you have additional questions feel free to reach me through my website at www.azpremiseslaw.com.

By: Mark Raczkowski

Bicycle Accidents in Phoenix

I’m a bicycle enthusiast. I know how unsafe the roads are for bicyclers. You’re riding along, the car ahead of you is stopped, looks off one direction, doesn’t look back your way. You got trouble. You’ve now just been run over. Happens all the time. I represented a lady not to long ago with an accident just like that. I got her more than a million dollars. Now she was deserving of every penny, because her injuries were significant and severe.

Insurance Companies

A lot of times insurance companies want to blame you because you’re on the bicycle. Well you know what, a lot of times they’re wrong, and they may just be saying that because they’re hoping you go away.

Wattel & York

Well, you give us a call, and let us evaluate the liability on that claim, and who’s really responsible. Often times, it’s not you, the bicyclist. We’ll help you get your medical care and thereafter, we’ll make sure that insurance company pays you what you’re due. Either voluntarily, or if necessary, to litigate.

By: David Wattel

My name is Mack Jones and I’m a personal injury attorney at Jones Raczkowski PC. People ask, “To settle my case, will I have to go to court?” That’s not the right question to ask. A real question is, “What do I have to do to get fair compensation?”

What we have found – over the 25 years that we’ve existed at Jones Raczkowski – is being prepared to go to court results in fair settlement. If the other side knows that you have a lawyer who will represent you and take your case to trial, in fact that’s one of the ways that you become a certified specialist like me which is you’ve taken (X) number of cases to verdict and your hair’s changed color over the course of time.

Nevertheless, nobody wants to go to trial, that’s understandable but if you’re prepared to go to trial, you’re more likely to get fair compensation which is why you need an attorney who will go with you to trial if that is necessary. If you have a serious personal injury case please contact us at Jones Raczkowski PC (602) 840-8787.

By: Mack Jones

Hi, my name is Nathan Meyer. I’m a partner at Jaburg Wilk. My practice areas include insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, insurance UM and UIM litigation, as well as commercial litigation, professional liability litigation, and general liability litigation. There’s actually been some very favorable rulings for insurance companies regarding punitive damages. It started with a United States Supreme Court case in 2003 in Campbell. There is also recently been some Court of Appeals cases that has significantly reduced punitive damages award amounts to much more reasonable amounts in Arizona.

Reducing Punitive Damage Awards

In the United States Supreme court case “Campbell”, the court actually reduced a $145 million punitive damages award all the way down to a million dollars, or at least they said – they told the Utah Supreme Court, “We’re sending this back to you, and you need to reduce this award to something around a million dollars.”

In a recent Arizona Court of Appeals case, there was a $54 million punitive damages award. And the Court of Appeals initially reduced that from $54 million down to $620,000. Then the Arizona Supreme Court actually reduced it from $620,000 all the way down to $155,000. So it’s a substantial reduction.

Also you have another recent case called “Orellana the Prime Life Insurance Company”, and they reduced a punitive damage award from about $1.3 million all the way down to $320,000. So courts are really reducing some of these egregious punitive damages awards amounts down to something much more reasonable.

3 Factors Courts Consider When Reducing Punitive Damage Awards

In “Campbell V. State Farm”, that 2003 United States Supreme Court case, the court established three guide post a court should look at when they’re reviewing these large punitive damages awards.

One is reprehensibility, the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant’s conduct. Two is the disparity, and that’s where you get the ratio of the punitive damages to the compensatory damages. And the third is comparability to civil authorized fines, and those are usually fines authorized by statutes.

For example, in Arizona there is a maximum $50,000 fine per six month period when you violate the unfair claim settlement practices act. So those are the three things that courts look at when considering whether to reduce punitive damages.

By: Nathan D. Meyer

Do Not Falsify Claims

One of the things that we want to make sure happens is that there are only legitimate claims being brought and pursued through the court system. The court system is overburdened as it is. Only the legitimate cases are the ones that we take. If a case is not legitimate, there’s no room for it at our justice system.

By: Thomas Richardson

My name is Mark Raczkowski. I’m an attorney at Jones, Raczkowski PC in Phoenix, Arizona. One of the most frequent questions I get is, what is the value of my claim?  Honestly, it’s hard to know what the value of a person’s claim is until a lot of information is learned. The value of a claim is based primarily on the medical expenses that a person incurs as a result of treatment for their serious injury. But you can also claim damages for lost wages, lost future earnings, as well as the pain and suffering associated with that serious injury. Until you have all of that information, it’s hard to say what the value of a claim is. But once all that information is learned, you have a better idea based on our experience of these types cases to determine what the appropriate value of a claim is. If you have more questions about the value of your claim reach me at www.azpremiseslaw.com.

By: Mark Raczkowski

About Jess Lorona

My name is Jess Lorona, I practice personal injury and civil litigation at the law firm of Lorona Mead PLC. I’ve been practicing law for 31 years. I am a native Arizonan and because of that, I have a lot of experience with all of Arizona.

Experience

I think that people hire me because of my experience and the training that I’ve had. I believe people hire me because of the fact that I’m a judge pro-tem. I serve as a judge in various courts. Having experience in all of these courts gives you the ability to, in any situation, know how to handle a case and I think that’s very valuable for any lawyer. I think my approach to law is based upon my experience, my experience in the courtroom, my experience outside of the courtroom.

Key Differences

I think that what makes me different from other attorneys is I have compassion, I’m a very caring person and I’m very humble. I believe I’m very concerned with a client’s needs. I always maintain contact with my clients. I make sure that they feel comfortable with me and with their case. You know, clients always have questions and concerns. A lot of times they don’t know the system and have never been involved with the system before and because of that, they’re very scared. They may have a million questions. They really don’t know what’s going on so it’s our job to make sure that they feel good. I think I can help my clients by understanding their needs. They need to feel it’s ok to call you on the phone everyday. They need to feel it’s ok to send you an email to ask you questions. They need to feel like their questions are important. We need to treat all of our clients like they’re important and their questions are important. I make sure that they know that I care about their case and I care about them more particularly. And I think that the client needs to know at that first meeting that hey, Jess is going work really hard for me, no matter what he’s going to work hard for me.

Lorona Mead

In today’s day in age, less and less cases settle, so a lawyer has to be ready to fight a case. I will fight to the end. I will take the case to trial and do whatever is necessary to make sure that my client achieves a result that is beneficial to him or her. If you want an attorney that’s honest and dedicated, then you should call me, Jess Lorona, at (602) 385-6818 or email me.

By: Jess Lorona

My name is Mark Raczkowski, and I’m an attorney at Jones Raczkowski PC in Phoenix, Arizona. Under most circumstances, if you slip and fall on somebody else’s property, they will not cover your medical expenses. Depends on what type of insurance coverage, if any, that they have as well as what assets they might have. But if you slip and fall and been seriously injured on someone’s property, the first thing you need to do is speak with an attorney that is familiar with the types of issues that come up in slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall cases. My office has focused on slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall cases for more than 25 years, and we know what to expect with regards to defendants that own property where people have been hurt. If you have questions about a serious injury that you’ve suffered as a result of a slip-and-fall on someone else’s property contact me through my website at www.azpremiseslaw.com.

By: Mark Raczkowski