20 ways to be a good lawyer

I am blessed to serve as the chairman of the Missouri Bar’s Lawyers Assistance Committee.  I have written ads for MOLAP over the last two years.  Here is the latest (which I borrowed and did not author):

             20 ways to be a good lawyer

1)     Behave yourself.

2)     Answer the phone.

3)     Return your phone calls.

4)     Pay your bills.

5)     Keep your hands off your clients’ money.

6)     Tell the truth.

7)     Admit ignorance.

8)     Be honorable.

9)     Defend the honor of your fellow attorneys.

10)   Be gracious and thoughtful.

11)    Value the time of your fellow attorneys.

12)    Give straight answers.

13)   Avoid the need to go to court.

14)   Think first.

15)   Remember: You are first a professional and then a businessman.  If you seek riches, become a businessman and hire an attorney.

16)   Remember: There is no such thing as billing 3,000 hours a year.

17)   Tell your clients how to behave.  If they can’t, they don’t deserve you as their attorney.

18)   Solve problems – don’t become one.

19)   Have ideals you believe in.

20)   Don’t do anything you wouldn’t be proud to tell your mother about.

Cantor & Burger Fights for those Injured by Summertime Recreational Activities

For many of us, summer is the season for outdoor fun.  Unfortunately for some, that fun can lead to serious injuries.  Whether you are boating, swimming in a pool, riding an ATV or motorcycle, or jetting around the lake on a waverunner or jet ski, remember that Cantor and Burger can help if you suffer an injury.

Property owners have a duty to warn guests about any unreasonably dangerous conditions that might harm an unsuspecting victim.   Mark Cantor and Gary Burger have years of experience fighting to compensate victims of such dangerous conditions and will pursue your claim vigorously.

In addition to any claim against an individual, you may also have a product liability claim.   In Missouri, Illinois, and most other states, a product’s manufacturer is liable when its product injures someone in a foreseeable way while that person is using the product reasonably.  Even if you cannot locate a product’s manufacturer, distributors and other companies that handle products as they travel through the “stream of commerce” can be liable for injuries that result from defective products.

In short, you should be aware that there are many possible ways for Cantor and Burger to recover the compensation you deserve for any injuries you suffer while performing any of these activities or any other type of summer recreation.

Remember, Cantor and Burger does not charge you a dime unless we win your case.  Give us a call at (314) 542 – 9999 for more information about how we can help you recover more for your summertime injury.

TOP TEN REASONS TO LIKE TRIAL LAWYERS

1.         We fight for the individual rights of the little guy/gal in Courts.

2.         If we don’t fight for peoples’ rights who will?

3.         We are not greedy and are not trying to get any excess recovery for our clients or   ourselves.  Lawyers are highly regulated with strict ethics rules through the Office of the  Chief Disciplinary Counsel http://www.mochiefcounsel.org/

4.         We tell juries why another party owes our client money, the reasonable amount for those   injuries and losses, and present the evidence to support those damages.

5.         We are usually the Davids who fight the Goliaths around the country.  Sometimes it’s for  civil rights, American individual rights, constitutional rights, or other noble issues.        Sometimes it’s for money.  Often, getting money for clients in civil disputes enforces    important legal rights.

6.         When did the 7th Amendment (guaranteeing Americans have a right to a jury trial) become a bad thing?  Why isn’t that amendment as importantized as the first (free  speech) or the second (guns) ?

7.         The  insurance industry and some big corporations have spent millions of dollars    marketing the ideas that Plaintiffs are greedy, lawyers lie and are greedy, lawsuits  are frivolous, people get money for unsupported reasons, etc.  to change how we think  of injured people and their lawyers.  We regularly hear about lawsuit abuse on news outlets, social media, internet and newspapers.  This effort thus has been very  successful.  And there’s no one to fight this          marketing.

8.         Good trial lawyers abound who try to clearly present simple accurate and honest evidence  about their clients claims and damages.

9.         Who else is going to check the abuses of people (individuals and companies) who violate basic safety rules in our society causing people injury?  Our system is set up so that each person or company has the liberty and First Amendment right to look out for their own  economic interests and seek redress and compensation (not over compensation) for their monetary and physical injuries, losses and harms.

10.       Like democracy to government, our civil justice system is the best worst method of  resolving disputes between citizens.

Gary Burger Gets Verdict for $142,000 for Client

Judgment on Jury Verdict I was proud to represent Randy Overy in front of Judge Gary Kramer in Hillsboro, Missouri on Monday and Tuesday this week.  We presented a pretty clear cut case and showed the jury why Randy should get a fair recovery for his injuries and in a motorcycle vehicle collision on Old Lemay Ferry in Imperial, Missouri.  Jury returned a verdict at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 for $142,000 for Randy.  Although we can’t go back in time and prevent the accident from happening, this will go a good way towards fairly compensating Randy for his injuries and surgery he had as a result of this accident.  Thank you Randy and friends and family for their  hard work and testimony!  See Verdict here.

GARY TEACHES MEDICAL RESIDENTS

On Tuesday, March 12, 2012 I presented to the emergency room medicine grand rounds at Saint Louis University School of Medicine for Emergency Medicine residents.  I spoke on medical legal issues, defensive medicine, how to handle litigation, deposition techniques and physician liability issues.  I was thrilled to be invited and enjoyed the presentation and feel there was a great give and take between physicians and I about the different matters and I hope to have made them more comfortable with litigation and providing testimony.  I look forward to volunteering any future time to discuss these issues with physicians.

Bad Insurance Co.

Once again, an insurance company is wasting money that should go to claimants. Worse-it’s a Missouri government sponsored insurer that pays benefits to injured workers. A state audit found it overpays its employee to deny valid claims, pays huge severance checks to its former executives and pays for lavish jaunts to Hawaii and Mexico. Write you state representative, senator or the governor about this please. Let’s clean up Missouri Employees Mutual. This is bad for Missouri employers and employees see full article at Missouri audit blasts state-sponsored insurer

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE SETTLES FOR OVER $1 MILLION

     Gary finished the settlement of a medical malpractice case for over $1 million last week. Our client, Kelly Sinn was diagnosed with, but not properly treated for, a brain aneurysm.  Kelly went to a Southern Illinois emergency room and was treated by a physician there who diagnosed a recent brain aneurysm but did not monitor her or refer her to neurosurgeon for immediate “coil” surgery.  Kelly had a “thunderclap” headache or the worst headache of your life and had problems for a few days before she was brought into the emergency room.  The doctor there did a CT scan of her brain and found an aneurysm, but did not do a spinal tap to assess whether it was still bleeding or keep her for observation or refer her immediately to a neurosurgeon.    Instead he said call a neurologist the following week for follow-up visit and did not imply any urgency in that.  Two days later the aneurysm ruptured again causing brain damage.  This is completely contrary to the standard of care.  When an aneurysm happens, immediate treatment is needed to prevent further bleeding and brain damage.  Fortunately, Kelly has made a good recovery and lives at home with her father.  We were able to file suit and aggressively pursue this case and obtain the full insurance policy limits for Kelly.  In addition, we worked with the family to put the money in a trust so that Kelly can continue to get benefits to help her for medical care for the rest of her life.  This is called a Supplemental Needs Trust and puts the money in a trust for needs that are supplemental, or in addition to, the needs provided by Medicaid.

     Gary could not be more proud and has a lot of gratitude for being able to help Kelly and her family-they’re very good, honest and kind people who deserved good aggressive and honest representation.  Thank you to the Sinn family.

Previous Entries