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Lawyers in the House with Montlick - Your Legal Podcast
046 Veronica’s Top 5 Episodes

046 Veronica’s Top 5 Episodes

Lawyers in the House with Montlick

Happy birthday to Lawyers in the House! We officially have a YEAR’S WORTH of episodes giving you all the law you need to know from the lawyers you trust. As a special birthday gift to you, Veronica is taking us on a trip down memory lane, and talking about her top 5 favorite legal tips that she’s learned along the way.

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The purpose of this show is to provide general information about the law. Our guests will not provide any individualized legal advice. If you have a personal situation and need legal advice, contact us for your free legal consultation with a Montlick attorney.

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00:05	ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Lawyers in the House. With Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host. Veronica Waters. VERONICA: Hey Friends, welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. I’m Veronica Waters, your host here on WSB and we are so happy to have you here with us for another fantastic episode.
00:30	VERONICA: You know what? Listen to me. I sound like I am pumping my own self up talking about another fantastic episode. I hope you think that they’re fantastic because today I’m going to take us sort of on a little walk down memory lane to some of my five fave shows that we’ve had. We’re going into season two here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick and it’s been an opportunity for me to learn so much about the law and to get to know some really incredible folks. But in that time, there are some moments that sort of stand out and some common themes that we encounter.
01:01	VERONICA: And so, kind of like Dave Letterman’s Top Ten List, I’m giving you a top five… Although, honestly – is it too much to say these are like my kids and I couldn’t pick a favorite? But we are going to have five favorites coming your way that will touch on so many areas of the law and so many things that affect so many of us day to day. VERONICA: Some advice for what to do when you or someone you love gets hurt and you need to know where to turn. One of my favorite episodes has to do with two of my favorite attorneys at Montlick, Ellen Forrester and Jennifer Fleming. We talked about liability waivers and… what are those, you might ask? Well, if you walked into a restaurant or a doctor’s office, you went to a haunted house, you bought an amusement park ticket.
01:31	VERONICA: You hopped on a zipline. You rented a tourist boat, and then you got hurt. Did you unknowingly sign away your rights? If something happened to you… Sometimes you know that you’re signing a waiver, but there are other times when they are practically invisible. And our liability waivers episode was so chock full of information. It’s one I recommend that everybody listen to, at least once. Just to make sure that you get it all.
02:01	VERONICA: Attorneys Jennifer Fleming and Ellen Forrester apply this knowledge in their own lives and you’re going to hear how. It’s eye opening stuff. VERONICA: Alright, let’s talk about- oh my God, death and dismemberment. Yeesh. Death and dismemberment? That’s a lot. JENNIFER: I’ve seen that for a flu vaccine in a waiver. I had a friend who went to get a flu shot and they gave him a waiver and it said, I’m waiving my right to sue the doctors, even in the case of death and dismemberment.
02:29	JENNIFER: And you’re going… for a flu shot and you think, oh, that’s so innocuous. VERONICA: Who does that? JENNIFER: Right. VERONICA: I got a flu shot and I didn’t have to sign anything. ELLEN: Or did you? JENNIFER: Yeah, exactly. ELLEN: But seriously, did you check on a little screen? VERONICA: I was at my doctor’s office. Would that maybe be different? JENNIFER: It could be. Like, at a pharmacy, you know, you sign on that electronic pad. And you might be signing something you’re not… you’re not aware of. But he told the doctor he didn’t feel comfortable signing it, but here’s the option – the doctor then made him leave.
02:59	JENNIFER: So sometimes you’re not really given much of a choice and it’s either you sign it, or you don’t participate, or you don’t get the flu shot. VERONICA: So, it’s just what you were saying earlier. You run the risk of not being able to do whatever it is you came to do. ELLEN: That’s right. But you have to weigh the greater risk. JENNIFER: Right. ELLEN: I hate to be a curmudgeon. There are a lot of things I do not let my kids do. And we get invitations to birthday parties at different adventure places and I look at the invitation and I say to my husband, we’re not going because I think that’s too dangerous.
03:29	ELLEN: Oh, well, what do you mean? I mean, of course, it can’t be that dangerous. And I’m like, some activities are inherently dangerous. And so, we just opt out of those. It’s not about even the waiver. I make a decision before we even get that far, right? And so, it’s an interesting question about a flu shot, death and dismemberment… eh, maybe not. But like horseback riding, you know, ziplining. VERONICA: What about a petting zoo or a hay ride? ELLEN: Right. VERONICA: How dangerous is that? ELLEN: I mean, I think it depends.
03:57	JENNIFER: And sometimes those have silent waivers like the agritourism statute in Georgia, where if they posted… if there’s something like a horse riding – horseback riding activity – if they have a sign posted at their main points of entry, you are deemed to have signed their waiver, acknowledging that if something happens to you, you cannot go after them. So… VERONICA: Just by walking in, because they had a sign posted? Like when we go out to dinner? JENNIFER: Kind of, but it has to be a specific activity in the agritourism. VERONICA: Yeah, dinner is not agritourism.
04:27	JENNIFER: True. But you’re basically acknowledging that the activity is inherently dangerous, meaning horseback riding can be dangerous, right? You could fall off the horse and get a concussion or something could happen to you. So yes, you need to be aware that those things have silent waivers and you might walk right past that sign and not even see it. VERONICA: Not even think. So, climbing on a horse then is considered me… like the equivalent of a silent waiver?
04:54	ELLEN: So, I think that… maybe not a silent waiver, but you’ve certainly assumed the risk. I took a call from a potential client who had gotten hurt on a horse – horseback riding. And this person said to me, well, you know, I signed this waiver, or I didn’t. It’s not really… the waiver is not the issue here, but I said to them, I said, well, you… horseback riding is dangerous. And so, there’s this assumption that when you get on a horse, you could get hurt. It’s the same thing for things like trampoline parks.
05:24	ELLEN: You go to a trampoline park, that’s fun. Horseback riding is fun. It’s supposed to be fun. There is a danger. Everybody knows… or not everybody, but you should know, or you should at least stop and think, could I get hurt doing this? Yes, horses buck people off. Horses kick people. People break their ankles on trampolines. Kids bump into each other. Very, very common for kids to bump into each other while jumping in bounce houses or trampolines and knock their heads together, stitches. I mean, head injuries, all of that sort of thing is dangerous.
05:53	JENNIFER: And we’re not saying, don’t do any of this. You yourself have to determine for you whether it’s worth the risk. And for someone it might be worth the risk to go skydiving, but it’s really dependent on each person. VERONICA: I really think it’s important to bring up something that you said earlier in the show. We need to think about going ahead. I need to personally think about… if I’m taking my grandnephew somewhere, is it okay for me to sign a waiver for him going somewhere? That is… I think that’s one of the things that’s going to stick with me after this show is over.
06:24	VERONICA: Just because somebody’s in my custody, can I sign a waiver for them? It’s something that we need to think about. You can take on your own risk, but can you do it on behalf of somebody else? VERONICA: Such a fun show with Ellen and Jennifer. Thanks, ladies, for being in the House with me, your girl, Veronica Waters here on Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. Mouse traps, booby traps, tourist traps, those we know, right? But insurance company traps? Yeah, it’s a real thing.
06:51	VERONICA: They actually exist and thanks to Montlick injury attorneys, Jennifer Fleming and Nathan Kratzert, we got to examine some of them up close and personal. Like, did you know how a phone call could doom your case? Well, listen to this with Jennifer and Nathan talking about exactly that. VERONICA: Who wants to start us off? Tell me, like, what’s one of the most common insurance company traps. You got the floor.
07:22	JENNIFER: I’ll start with one. A recorded statement. VERONICA: Everybody is… wait a minute. I’m on the… every time I call my cable company…. JENNIFER: That’s right. VERONICA: It says, you know, this call may be recorded. Okay, so what’s the big deal? JENNIFER: So, it sounds so innocuous. So anytime you call an insurance company pretty much, it says, this call will be recorded for quality assurance, just like you said. So that in and of itself is not an actual recorded statement. That’s just, you know, your conversation being recorded.
07:50	JENNIFER: A recorded statement is a formal statement that an insurance adjuster will say, do I have your permission to take a recorded statement? They ask that question. That way you know it’s coming. During that recorded statement, they can ask you all sorts of questions. And you may think to yourself, okay, of course, they need the information so that we can get this settled or this claim moving or get my car repaired or a host of things that you would need done.
08:19	JENNIFER: The problem is that when you do that, and you don’t have representation, they are going to ask you all sorts of questions, and that recorded statement can be used against you later on in a deposition, at trial, any other time. They can use that statement. And it is a recording. So, it’s documented. VERONICA: So, what are they asking me? JENNIFER: They may ask you how the accident happened. What the impact was like? Are you injured? Which is kind of a trap question also.
08:48	JENNIFER: So, if you call the insurance company and they want to take a recorded statement of you the day that you have an accident, you may not think you’re injured at that point. You may still be in shock. Sometimes injuries aren’t felt for a day or two. Doctors say that all the time. I’m not a doctor, obviously, but just dealing with clients. You know, the next day you wake up and you feel worse than you do the first day because it’s set in. So, you might say, no, I’m not injured. And then later on, your case goes to trial.
09:19	JENNIFER: And the attorney says to you, well, didn’t you tell the insurance company the day of the accident that you weren’t injured? And wouldn’t it be in your memory best then? It’s fresh. It’s new. You would know. So, are you lying today, or were you lying then? And obviously, you’re not lying. It’s how you felt at the time, but then later on, you were injured, or you felt injured or you sustained injuries. So that… those kind of questions are very tricky. You want to make sure you have representation if you’re going to give a recorded statement.
09:49	NATHAN: Every single case is different. There are certain times where taking a check early on is the right move. It’s not usually, but sometimes it is. Other times you know, it’s… very often I’ll get phone calls and from potential clients and they’ll say, I’ve got an offer, they sent me a check, I have this document to sign, what should I do? And then when I talk to them more in depth, I find out that they have a much more serious injury.
10:16	NATHAN: Somebody might, I’ve had several times where people had to have neck surgery, shoulder surgery, back surgery. And they, two months into the accident, were ready to take a check for 5, $10,000. And later that that result was much different. The outcome was much different and, you know, those are the cases where, you know, you get a hug from that client at the end, they’re so thankful. They say, thank you for not letting me do that.
10:44	NATHAN: They don’t realize at the outset, like what the outcome is really going to be. We don’t know. VERONICA: You don’t know. I’m thinking that you’ve got this situation… Again, I just keep thinking about how scared I would probably be. And let’s be honest, I think we were talking, too, these insurance companies make me believe that they’re on my side, ‘cause we’re talking… Maybe I need to ask you this. Are we talking about the other guy’s insurance company or my insurance company? ‘Cause it’s like, I’m told that I’ve got a good neighbor or, you know, it’s a cute little gecko or… I’m in good hands, right? NATHAN: The commercials make, you know, they make us feel warm and fuzzy when they watch the commercials on TV. They’ve got a lot of money. They spend a lot of money on advertising. They spend a lot of money on celebrities to advertise for them.
11:08	NATHAN: And usually we’re talking about both carriers, actually, because sometimes you have a situation where the other person’s insurance company’s limits of their coverage, which is like the maximum amount that they will pay, is not enough. And it doesn’t really cover what your injury is actually worth, or what your medical bills are actually going to be worth. VERONICA: So, then my insurance company is going to step in and help. JENNIFER: Potentially. NATHAN: Potentially, yes. When clients call me and they say, Nathan, I’ve been with this company, you know… they’ve been with me for, you know, for my lifetime.
11:40	NATHAN: Now, my former agent’s son is now my agent, and I tell them all the time. And I say, what do you mean by that? What is loyal? They’ve just done what… they’ve done right by me. I was like, what have they done for you? And they just… there’s a long pause. And I say, I mean, did they buy you a… do they buy you a birthday cake? Did they send you on a trip to Cabo? I mean, or did they just take your money every month on the same day every month?
12:08	NATHAN: If so, I will be very loyal to you and I will take your money every single month at the same time. Just give me your bank account number. But you know, and then they start to see, oh, they’re really just making money. Yes, exactly. And that’s your money. VERONICA: But then they’re like, oh, they got me a new roof. NATHAN: That’s what they’re supposed to do. That’s the job. You paid for that coverage. You paid for them to make sure that if there’s… something happened, that you were taken care of. VERONICA: Thanks to Nathan and Jen, whom I call the pitch perfect guy and the wannabe Broadway star.
12:36	VERONICA: We have such a good time when we’re in the House with those two. Great information. Now sometimes, I’ve learned, the law can be very, very complex. And coming up on Lawyers in the House, we’re going to talk about exactly one of those fields, and two guys who have so much knowledge in it, that’s what they work on a 100% of the time. Don’t miss it. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick.
13:07	Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday if you want to listen live on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Hey Friends, welcome back to the House, Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB. I’m Veronica Waters and you are here with me as we do some of Veronica’s faves. Five faves we’re delving into on this episode. VERONICA: And thanks for hanging in here with me in our second season introduction to Lawyers in the House. Haven’t you learned a lot over the past year? You know, the next show that we’re going to talk about is one that honestly… you know, we’ve had some occasional laughs on Lawyers in the House, even though we’re talking about very serious subjects, but this was an episode that made me laugh out loud.
13:42	VERONICA: And it had nothing to do with the actual topic, but because there’s a segment in the show with me telling a story about a McDonald’s roof, caving in on me as a little girl. VERONICA: This was our workers comp episode with Alex Tertichny and David Rubin, and we were talking about what actually happens if a roof caves in on you because it could happen. Or one of the myriad ways you actually could get hurt on the job that’s a lot more likely. What I did learn here is that workers comp is such a complex area of personal injury law.
14:13	VERONICA: And this episode really sort of peeled back the onion on just how much detail goes into that. And it lets me realize why having an attorney who really concentrates in this area, has expertise in this field is so crucial when you want to get well and navigate the workers comp system. Check this out. ALEX: I think if there’s one thing you could take away from this conversation is that -taking it back to workers comp -is that it’s kind of a complex system.
14:40	ALEX: And for any given client of ours, it’s probably their first workers compensation case. And they don’t know the system. And we always recommend to call an attorney and speak to get a consultation. It’s a free consultation. Actually, when you call us, typically, you’re on the phone with an attorney within ten minutes. We’re not going to call you later. We’re not going to call you back tomorrow. We’re going to talk that day and give you answers. And we can point you in the right direction. Should you… what should you do? Should you get an attorney right away?
15:09	ALEX: Is it okay to wait? Is the employer doing the right thing? And there’s nothing for an attorney to do, but I’d much rather you call us too early and decide you don’t need us than wait till it’s too late. VERONICA: What’s the… do the employers need to call you too? The employers are typically going to go through their own insurer. And their insurer probably has an obligation to provide them with counsel if it’s necessary. VERONICA: Have you had a case, David, that sticks out in your mind when you think about all of the workers comp cases that you’ve had? One that sticks with you.
15:39	DAVID: A lot of cases boil down to, is this injury… employers may acknowledge that an accident happened on a job? But are the injuries related to this accident or were they preexisting? And so, a lot of times like Alex and I will take on cases where we have to show that our client has a new definitive injury, different from what may have been preexisting before because you can have a preexisting injury and qualify for workers compensation. The question would become, do you have a new injury or an aggravation of an old injury?
16:04	DAVID: And so, a lot of the cases that I think that satisfy me is finding someone who may have had a prior problem, but clearly has had an aggravation or even a new injury and help them fight to get the benefits that they are entitled to. VERONICA: Thank you so much to David Rubin and Alex Tertichny for that spotlight on workers comp. So many people have to encounter that in the course of their everyday lives. Don’t you want lawyers who know what they’re doing when they’re helping you through that tough time?
16:32	VERONICA: Coming up on Lawyers in the House, more of Veronica’s Five Faves, including what happens when lawyers keep telling you, nope, can’t help you. Stay with us. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Hey, hey, you’re in the House with me, Veronica Waters on Lawyers in the House with Montlick here on WSB. Thanks so much for hanging in here with me. I’m so glad to have you as we go over some of my favorite episodes from season one of Lawyers in the House. Did you have a favorite? Let me know. Send me an email at [email protected]. Or, tag me on social media in one of your favorite clips. I’d love to hear some of your favorite episodes. Always, feel free to like and subscribe to us on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.
17:03	VERONICA: I’m always open to hearing from you. You know, one of the episodes that impacted me so much is an episode that we touched on in insurance company traps, which was in our first half of the show. Bad faith insurance is what we were talking about. Whether you shake on it, pinky promise or sign a contract, it’s expected that your word is your bond. But what happens when you go back on your word?
17:32	VERONICA: And you break that contract or, worse, when somebody does it to you. This episode of Lawyers in the House: bad faith, illustrated exactly how when a family is suffering, vulnerable in an insurance company, in essence, doesn’t come through as that good neighbor or somebody who’s got you in good hands as promised and expected. Having a lawyer on your side from the start to set things up just the right way can make all the difference. And we’re talking about big bucks.
18:01	VERONICA: The stories from Nate Kratzert and Bill Parker might make you drop your jaw at just how much. What is bad faith? BILL: Sure. I mean, in the when you hear the word bad faith in the context of insurance, the concept generally is that an insurance company has the obligation to investigate evaluate and timely pay valid claims.
18:27	BILL: And when you give when an insured or a third party gives that insurance company the opportunity to do that, and they don’t do the right thing. By timely, paying the claim or unreasonably denying it or delaying the claim, then that is bad faith. VERONICA: It’s basically when insurance companies misbehave, right? But it’s not just a slap on the wrist that’s at stake. It’s like a lot of money at stake.
18:54	NATHAN: The example I could think of just off the top of my head is I had a family of five and the mother ended up passing away in the car accident. She left behind four children and her husband. And an insurance carrier could have settled that case for, I think, roughly $100,000 because that was what the limit of coverage was. But because they failed to take the reasonable opportunity that we gave to them, to settle that case, they ended up having to pay in the 7 figures.
19:26	NATHAN: And the important thing. And the important thing to note is that that didn’t bring back these children’s mother. This didn’t bring back this man’s wife, you know, the son’s never going to get to dance with his mother at his wedding. The daughters are never going to get to, you know, do things with their mom that, you know, such as going dress shopping or anything like that. It’s over. And that money doesn’t make up for it.
19:53	NATHAN: But what it does do is that it does give people an opportunity to have something that’s more in line with what the actual loss is. BILL: Every day, it just amazes me how insurance companies can mess this up when they help create the rules, right? And so, I just had a case a couple of weeks ago that I settled that Nathan actually had worked on and we worked on it together. A lady up in Gainesville who was T boned by 17-year-old girl and had a torn rotator cuff.
20:23	BILL: And the girl’s family only had $25,000 worth of coverage on the vehicle. She had to have surgery on her shoulder. She had about $120,000 in bills. We sent a demand letter to pay the $25,000 policy limits in the insurance company missed the deadline. And we ended up settling that case a couple of weeks ago for $350,000. So, they had to pay what’s called extra contractual money.
20:52	BILL: More money than that person paid for those low coverage. They paid 350 on a case that only had 25,000. VERONICA: So, they could have stroked a check for 25K and been done with it? BILL: Yeah. But they missed that deadline. And another case that’s… another tragic case that is just mind-blowing to me that why the insurance company would have done this… I represent a man who lost his mother and his 6-year-old son in a car wreck. There were a total of four people who died in the wreck.
21:21	BILL: There were three people injured in the other vehicle. The lady who was driving had $25,000 per person, $50,000 worth of insurance coverage. We sent a demand almost immediately to pay for the two wrongful deaths for the 6-year-old kid and the mother. And the insurance company missed the deadline. They ended up… we ended up settling the mother’s case for a substantial amount of money. And the case with the 6-year-old child is still pending.
21:53	BILL: And it’s likely to settle for millions of dollars when they could have settled those two cases for $50,000 total. VERONICA: It’s amazing. It’s amazing. And I just wonder what is behind that. I know, like, we’ve talked about the insurance carriers before, and it’s a business, right? They’re investing the money. They’re making the money. Their job is to make money. But on some things, it seems like that would be insurance carrier adjuster class 101. Don’t miss a deadline. Don’t nickel and dime. You know, I mean, to a point.
22:23	NATHAN: To a point, yeah, but ultimately, I think that a lot of insurance carriers, they work on what the, it’s a very hot buzzword in the sports community. They work on these analytics. And they know that so many people are not going to hire lawyers. So many people are not going to really investigate what the insurance carrier tells them. And they’re going to accept, and they listen to that phone call and they go through that script with that person that has made that claim.
22:52	NATHAN: And they’re just going to accept that. I mean, that happens every single day and we’ll get phone calls and say, well, the insurance carrier said that I’ll get this amount of money and I said, okay, and I cash that check. I signed something. But I have to have surgery now. And it’s a heartbreaking phone call because this is someone that you know you could have legitimately helped. VERONICA: Honestly, there were times in the studio you could hear a pin drop when Nate and Bill were talking about just how those cases affected so many families.
23:25	VERONICA: Thanks so much to Nate and Bill for being in the House with us to talk about bad faith. Now imagine being hurt in an accident or crash. No fault of your own. Imagine if it’s an injury so bad that you can’t work. You may not have a way to get around. Your medical bills keep piling up. And they’re just beginning. The physical and the mental anguish you’re probably experiencing through all that, no income, no clue when you’re going to be able to work again, if ever.
23:54	VERONICA: And then imagine that through all of that. An insurance company or even a law firm tells you, sorry, can’t help you. This was one of the most emotional episodes of Lawyers in the House with Montlick. It starred Nives Juric and Mike Moran, and it was story after story of how not just a lawyer, but the right lawyer can help change your life for the better. Time after time, Nives and Mike are the attorneys who, when somebody made even sometimes more than one call to an insurance company or a law firm, somebody told them, no, no, we can’t help you.
24:26	VERONICA: And Montlick listened to their stories and said, yes, we can help you. And these clients got not only a yes, but they got huge results, huge results to help ease their transitions back into being whole. Talk about going the extra mile. Listen in. VERONICA: That’s got to be, like, an extra challenge. MIKE: Yeah, I had a client who called me, and it was the perfect storm. It was… he was hit on the back of his vehicle by a girl who left a big box store and she failed to yield and there was very, very minor property damage.
24:59	MIKE: So much so that they decided that they wouldn’t even call the police. So, there wasn’t even a police report. They just exchanged information. Now, he had back surgery about four months prior to this wreck. They exchanged information and didn’t think anything of it. He went home, sat in a chair and almost immediately realized something was wrong. And so, it was a perfect storm because it was very little property damage. There was no police report that recreated how it happened.
25:29	MIKE: And so, I took his case. I believed them. I knew he was hurt. I talked with him. He was credible to the bone. I met him at the scene. We had to take photographs. We had to recreate how it happened. And we still got nos. No, no, no, from the insurance company. This could not have caused the injury. Ultimately, his surgery failed. And because of this, he had to have a revision done. So, he suffered for a long time. And we, after repeated no’s, had to put this into a lawsuit and the biggest thing was, I knew he was credible.
26:00	MIKE: We had to get him in front of people. And he had to tell a story and he gave his deposition and he did, and he was believable, and the defense council believed them. And after a long fight, we resolved that case for $350,000. And so, it went from a zero and a fat no entirely from the beginning to a recovery for him. And it was because his condition worsened, even though there was no police report, there was very little property damage. I knew it happened. He knew what happened. And at the end of the day, we were able to prove that.
26:32	VERONICA: How must that feel not just for you the attorney who helps guide this victory, but for the person who has already been told, no, no, no? No. No. I said no. MIKE: They don’t understand. They don’t understand that. I’m sure Nives has had clients like that as well. It’s hard. It’s hard for them to understand that.
26:58	NIVES: Once we win for these clients, it is so gratifying to know that people who felt helpless and hopeless, whose families sometimes met with us and told us how their life has been turned upside down, people are losing jobs. They have to have surgeries. They have families to support the pain in their voices, sometimes it’s just too much to bear.
27:22	NIVES: So, waiting for these people whose pleas for help were ignored by either insurance companies who deny their claims or attorneys who had spoken with them before, but didn’t believe in the merits of the case, it is an unbelievable feeling of vindication and those are the most rewarding moments for me personally. I’m sure Mike can attest to that, to know that we’ve overcome a challenge that some people just thought was too much to tackle.
27:54	NIVES: There was a case that I handled for a young man who was a father of three, very hardworking man, was walking to his employer’s… to his employer in the morning time. It was nighttime. He was wearing dark clothing, the street that he was crossing did not have a walkway. And a big commercial tractor trailer made a wide turn and did not notice that he was there and struck him.
28:23	NIVES: The officer who came to the scene put my client at fault. They made every excuse under the sun for why the tractor trailer driver could not see him. They blamed it on the lighting. They blamed it on the pedestrian – lack of pedestrian walkway. They blamed it on the shrubbery that was allegedly overgrown that would not give a clear view of where he was driving. My client was hurt, understandably.
28:52	VERONICA: Yeah, to get hit by a big rig? NIVES: Yeah. And he called me. He was desperate. He needed help. I met with his family. He had small children. He couldn’t go to work. And after going to the scene, taking pictures of the alleged overgrown shrubbery, examining the lighting, getting open records request, hearing other statements, and then boom, the smoking gun, a video from a nearby business that captured the collision.
29:24	NIVES: We would have never gotten to that point had we not done our research and investigated and pushed hard. And it is the video from a nearby business that captured the crash essentially of this tractor trailer hitting my client is what helped overturn the liability. VERONICA: But what was it about the video? Because there was no argument that your client got hit by the truck.
29:47	NIVES: Sure. Yeah. The footage revealed that the tractor trailer was driving pretty fast, took a very wide turn, was in the lane of passage that he wasn’t supposed to be in. And that at the time of striking my client, his vehicle was straight. He had a clear, unobstructed view that his headlights would have captured. And it took a lot of hard work, a lot of fighting with the firm that was hired by the trucking company, but they came to their senses
30:20	NIVES: And had it not been for the tape and the images that we took of the scene, a day after it happened, I don’t know that we would have been able to win for this man and helped him get his life back on track. VERONICA: Nives Juric and Mike Moran really making a difference for folks who thought they had nowhere else to turn. Thanks so much for sharing those stories, Nives and Mike. Coming up on Lawyers in the House with Montlick… Normally around this time, I would say the MCA is on the way – the Montlick closing argument, but am I going to be the one making a closing argument this time? Stay with us and find out.
30:49	You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with mount lick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB. VERONICA: Welcome back to Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB I’m Veronica Waters and you are listening in with me to Veronica’s five faves, some of the highlights from season one of Lawyers in the House. And like every good clips show, who would we be if we didn’t give you at least a couple of bloopers to show what it’s like behind the scenes along the way?
31:16	VERONICA: Check these out. VERONICA: I’m your host Veronica Waters with two incredible Montlick injury attorneys Lynn Walker and Doug Glassman, two competitive… DOUG: Glosser. VERONICA: What’d I say, Glossman? What the frick is wrong with me today? Glassman, Lynn Glassman. Glasser, Glossman, whatever.
31:42	VERONICA: Welcome back to the House, Lawyers in the House with Doug (beep). Here with Doug Glossman and Lynn Walker talking about… DOUG: You did it again. VERONICA: What? Oops. Glosser. His first name is Doug. I know that much. Okay. VERONICA: Veronica. Mic checkin’. Yeah, yeah. Longoria. ELLEN: Has it got to always be Mike? What about Steve or David? Why don’t we… give me a Michael check check.
32:12	VERONICA: Those always give me the giggles. I love doing this show. It has really opened up my eyes to so many aspects of the law. And so many… even aspects of radio, I’m doing things that I’ve never done before, thanks to Lawyers in the House with Montlick. You know, I have covered courts for a very long time and one of the things that is very typical, as you know from watching TV and the movies – this is actually accurate – people put their hand on something and they swear an oath, that they’re going to tell the truth. Well I have a confession to make here. When I was asked to come up with my top five Lawyers in the House episodes, I couldn’t do it. VERONICA: I had so many moments that I loved about this show. I’ve learned so much. I’ve had such incredible guests. And not just the attorneys whom you didn’t get to hear or see on this show, you know?
32:39	VERONICA: What about Mark Molina? How about Alyssa White, Jason Saltzman, Alan Salzman? Sarah Root, Michelle Mumpower, Richard Warner, Lynn Walker. I’ve learned so much and gotten to know the hearts and minds of the folks at Montlick and learned that these are real crusaders who never, ever will turn their backs on you if there is any hope of helping you. Not all superheroes wear capes. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve seen a lot. It’s really been eye opening and I hope that you’ve enjoyed this journey with us on Lawyers in the House with Montlick on WSB.
33:12	VERONICA: I am Veronica Waters, see you in season two. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Catch us live every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.

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