When to file your Missouri Workers’ Compensation Claim
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.
INJURIES AND RECORDED STATEMENTS
If you are injured in an accident, on the road or at work an insurance company will probably call you and ask for a recorded statement. Do not give a recorded statement without legal representation.
An insurance company’s job is to minimize or defeat your claim from the moment they become aware of the claim. For instance, they want your recorded statement in a work injury to defeat your claim before you even started it and trough a technicality in the law, reporting requirements, and so forth. The insurer knows that it is no longer a compensable work comp claim if you are injured after parking on the employer’s lot and walking into work. If you have not thought about the claim, for instance, that you stopped off some place earlier for your boss and then parked your car, the claim will be not be compensable. Similarly, in a car accident case the adjuster is immediately trying to get details of what occurred. They may have the police report and the police officer’s view which may be different than your immediate recollection or may be wrong. In most of our car accident cases we do not allow a recorded statement for that reason. We would prefer to file a lawsuit and do depositions rather than risk an innocent error early in the case.
I am disappointed when I see attorney’s on television advertising that I have never seen in Court in over 17 years of practice. Some of the advertisements contain great advice, but as a practical matter you need a lawyer that is actually in Court fighting these cases on a daily basis. At Cantor & Burger, Mark Cantor and Gary Burger will personally represent you. If we decide to give a statement, we will be there with you. We will assist you every step of the way.
If you have a serious personal injury case, workers’ compensation matter or car accident or medical malpractice case, call us at 314-542-9999 so we can help.
Defamation
Mark Cantor successfully represented his client in a defamation case and secured a Judgment in the amount of $50,150.00 from a Court in Farmington, Missouri. The firm’s client is a medical provider in the St. Louis area. The Defendant, a detestable woman, sent text messages stating some patently false statements about our client intending to harm his good name and reputation. These statements were patently false and were designed to harm our physician’s good name, reputation and professional practice.
As a result, we filed a lawsuit and had the Defendant served. We then secured a Default Judgment which we will act upon to collect against her personal assets. Generally, Cantor & Burger seeks to collect money from insurance companies, but this is the rare exception where someone has acted so badly against a client that we will seek to collect her assets personally to punish her for knowingly spreading lies and attempting to harm our client’s good name.
Slander is when someone speaks untrue statements about you to a third party. If they write untrue statements, that is called liable. Defamation is the general idea about communicating false things about someone that damaged their reputation. Although traditionally we do not handle defamation cases, Cantor & Burger will make a case by case decision about these types of matters.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CIVIL LAWSUITS
Sometimes a lawsuit is not enough and the defendant must be criminally prosecuted.
At Cantor & Burger we believe strongly in justice. Frequently, justice comes in the form of a financial resolution. However, in some instances, a lawsuit or financial penalty is simply insufficient. As a society, we use laws to correct behavior. In civil cases negligent behavior is corrected through a financial penalty, but in criminal cases, criminal behavior needs to be corrected through prison.
Cantor & Burger has represented many clients, two recently, where a client’s loved one was killed because of the negligence of another automobile driver. In those cases the families were rightfully very sad and very, very angry. We assisted the prosecution in the criminal matters by making witness impact statements, availing ourselves and our clients to the prosecutors as needed to build the criminal case, and appearing at hearings and trial of the criminal matter. Our clients in those last cases were very satisfied both with our representation in the civil case, and with our assistance in prosecuting the criminal matter.
The law should not be exclusively about money and at Cantor & Burger we understand that. We can help in every aspect of your litigation and provide confident legal counsel. Call us, we can help.
Mark Cantor’s Oral Argument Before the Labor & Industrial Relations Commission
Mark Cantor argued a case today before the Labor & Industrial Relations Commission in Jefferson City, Missouri. Our client was raped at work. The Employer/Insurer denied that our client was raped even though the offender had pled guilty to five counts of child molestation, sodomy and other heinous sexually deviant crimes. Despite the workers’ compensation insurer denial of benefits, while that case proceeded, Gary Burger secured a separate policy limits recovery for our client because of the rape. Mark Cantor then tried the case before the Division of Workers’ Compensation and won and the Employer appealed to the Labor & Industrial Relations Commission.
The oral arguments went well today for our firm. If we win, we will set a legal presadent on whether a pled rate of compensation is an issue of fact or of law. It is our position that if a Claimant pleads maximum rate for compensation, that is an issue of fact and not one of law. In this case that is important because the Employer failed file an answer to our claim for compensation. This failure was particularly tragic for them as they knew the case was pending, the paid us in the civil case, and they failed to act in the workers’ compensation case in a manner that would prevent the claim from being deemed admitted. Therefore, as a sanction the claim should be admitted and there is no legal issue for the Court to determine. Despite, our legal arguments, it is our genuine beliefs that our Claimant suffered very serious harm at work and needs to be compensated for her injuries and permanent partial disability.
We are hopeful that the Industrial Commission (which is comprised of three commissioners) will agree and will agree this should be the law in the state of Missouri.
Mark Cantor Secures Policy Limits And Is Now Pursuing Underinsured Coverage
Today at Cantor & Burger, Mark Cantor successfully resolved an automobile collision for the $50,000.00 policy limits. His client was rear ended and suffered a rotator cuff tear. We will now be pursuing underinsured motorist coverage.
At Cantor & Burger, we are experienced in maximizing our client’s recovery. This means not only collecting all the money from the insurance companies that are available, but also reducing the amounts of medical bills that must be paid to unpaid medical providers. To do so, we use the Missouri lien statute that says if a medical provider asserts a lien for medical care provided, the most their entitled to recover is ½ of the total amount after attorney’s fees and costs.
If there are many lien holders, for instance, and there is $200.00 after attorney’s fees and costs, but $1,000.00 worth of medical bills, each of the ten providers would only receive $10.00 to satisfy their total $1,000.00 bill. (Each provider receives their pro rata share of half the remaining balance.)
This is complicated, but our clients win more money by receiving the most money possible from the liable defendant and then paying out the least amount of money possible, which puts more money in their pocket. If we can help you, please call us today at 314-542-9999.
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.
