Arizona Personal Injury Laws

Bad Surgical Outcome Litigation in Orlando

A lot of clients call and ask us if they can bring a case after a bad surgical result. A lot of times early on we don’t know if the bad result was the result of negligence or just a bad outcome. A lot of things can happen; infections, injuries, nerves can get cut even if the doctor doesn’t do anything wrong, but there are cases where the doctors or nurses are negligent and cause harm. So until we get the records and have them reviewed by experts, we really don’t know if you have a case. So if you have a question about whether or not you have a malpractice case, call me, Nathan Carter at Calling, Gilbert, Wright, and Carter at 1-800-49-LEGAL.

By: Nathan Carter

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

My name is Mark Raczkowski and I’m an attorney at Jones Raczkowski PC in Phoenix, Arizona. My recommendation is that you do not speak with an insurance representative before you’ve had an opportunity to speak with an attorney about the personal injury that you suffered. Insurance adjusters have one job, and that is to pay you the smallest amount of money possible on your claim. And the way that they can do that is by getting information from you. Some of that information, they may not even be entitled to, and so it’s important that you speak with an attorney before you start divulging information that may be detrimental to your claim on down the road. Before you speak with an insurance representative contact me at my website www.azpremiseslaw.com.

By: Mark Raczkowski

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

Jones Raczkowski PC has been around for more than (25) years, doing essentially the same work that we’re doing now. Our work is premised and our longevity is built upon client satisfaction. Most of our business has been built on word of mouth from clients, from other lawyers, doctors, and various people in the community. One of the things we pride ourselves on is educating clients as to the process, so that the client understands, through staff or the attorneys, what will happen to them, when it will happen, what the likely result is – the process. You can look at all the paper and all the credentials, but sometimes it just comes down to looking somebody in the eye, speaking with them face to face, and deciding, “Do I trust somebody?” because any attorney-client relationship is built upon trust.

If trust exists, things are going to go fine. If trust does not exist, it’s not going to go fine. One of the things that you get with our firm is, when you come in, and we’re about to retain you, or you’re going to retain us, is you’re always going to meet with an attorney. So you get that eye-to-eye, face-to-face meeting if you’re local, here in Arizona. At the time you retain us as your attorney, not only are you getting an attorney, but you’re going to get a retained paralegal who’s going to be assigned to your case. The paralegal is your direct communication, although you have the direct email of the attorney and the attorney’s direct line. You’re not getting an email that goes to some third party or something like that. When you get my email, you’ve got my email. I also have a telephone number. And I put my direct-dial on my cards, which means it rings at my desk. And if I don’t pick it up, it goes to my voicemail – not some third party’s voicemail. It goes to mine. I try to return calls within (24) hours.

But one of the things that we have is if a client has been unable to speak with their attorney, for whatever reason, they can call the assigned paralegal and say, “I want a telephone appointment with that attorney.” And it gets calendared for a specific time and a specific date, for a discussion, for the attorney to call you, or for you to call the attorney, so that hopefully any problems regarding communication get nipped in the butt. If you think you have a case like that, talk to us at Jones Raczkowski, (602) 840-8787.

By: Mack Jones

My name is Mack Jones and I’m an attorney at Jones Raczkowski PC, a personal injury firm here in Phoenix. What is fault? Fault is how we determine responsibility for a serious personal injury. Many people think that simply because you fall on somebody else’s property that they are responsible because you got hurt. That’s not the case. You have to prove fault. Fault is negligence on the part of the property owner. In Arizona, both parties can be at fault. Meaning that you, the injured person, defendant may assert that you bear some responsibility as well. It’s up to your attorney to try to get as much fault assessed as against the defendant, and as little fault assessed as against you. Which will increase and maximize your monetary recovery for the injuries sustained. If you have questions about a serious personal injury, please contact me at Jones Raczkowski PC, (602) 840-8787.

By: Mack Jones

My name is Mark Raczkowski and I’m an attorney at Jones Raczkowski PC in Phoenix, Arizona. The short answer is, I don’t know if you’re going to need to go to court in regards to your personal injury claim. Some cases are relatively simple and can be settled out of court within a matter of months. Other cases that involve more serious injuries, and cases such as slip and falls or trip and falls where defendants deny that they’re even responsible for your injuries do have to go to courts. That means you need to sue those defendants and move forward in the litigation. As a result it’s important that you hire the top rated New Mexico attorneys Ron Bell, that are experienced in court, and that are willing to work hard and prosecute the case in court in order to achieve the compensation that you deserve. If you have a serious injury, contact me through my website at www.azpremiseslaw.com.

By: Mark Raczkowski

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

Phoenix Car Accident Claim Process

So, you’re involved in an accident, your vehicle has been damaged, is it repairable, is it a total? We’re going to help you out with that. If it’s repairable, you got a diminished value claim. We’ll help you pursue that as well. You need some medical treatment? We’ll make sure you get to the appropriate providers.

Once you’ve got yourself well, then it’s time to try and settle your claim. We’ll present a demand to the insurance company, document all your losses, medical expenses, your out of pocket expenses, your lost wages, value for pain and suffering, and we’ll give them an opportunity to pay you fair value.

And, if they choose to do so, great. If on the other hand, the insurance company wants to be stingy, we’ll litigate and we’ll force them to pay you fair value. Come to us and that’s what you can expect.

By: David Wattel