by Ellsworth T. Rundlett III

How to Maximize Efficiency and Settlements in Small Cases

While the costs of processing small cases continue to rise, insurers and jurors are constantly reducing settlements and awards. This puts intense pressure directly on the shoulders of personal injury attorneys. This book helps to relieve some of that pressure. It delivers guidelines, techniques, checklists, and forms to help you screen, document, negotiate, and settle or litigate your smaller cases. It also includes more than 100 custom-drafted checklists and forms to help reduce your time and costs. Maximizing Damages in Small Personal Injury Cases will teach you dozens of proven techniques for obtaining top dollar in small cases. For example:

Settlement

14 negotiating techniques that really work. §445
Insurance carrier negotiating tactics and how to deal with them. §450
How to minimize the impact of independent medical examinations. §458.4
18 steps to evaluation of a small personal injury case. §466
16 mediation preparation tips guaranteed to lead to settlement. §474.1
How to deal with unreasonable insurance adjusters and carriers. §490.2

Commencing suit

9 major case weaknesses to consider before filing suit. §512
14 defense tactics you need to know about before filing. §513
How to deal with nominal property damage impacts. §512.7
23 tips on how to deal with large chain store cases. §131.3
Strategies for maximum discovery at minimal cost. §522

Trial

The 30 most common objections in small-case trials. §664.1
Techniques to avoid in openings and closings. §643, 684
Topics that are prohibited in closing argument and how to get around them. §682
37 trial tips from jurors. §685

In addition to the practical advice and tactics, over a hundred forms and checklists will help save you time on your small cases. Most published forms are overkill for small cases, but these short and simple forms will save time and dollars, both of which are limited in smaller matters. The custom-drafted pattern-specific forms are specifically tailored for small cases: liability checklists, interrogatories, deposition checklists, adjuster letters, motions, trial preparation checklists, and even public relations letters. Some of the forms and checklists include:

Screening

11 liability checklists for common small non-auto cases: falls, falling objects, animal attacks, dram shop, inadequate security, intentional torts, medical negligence, pharmacy negligence, and school negligence. §131
Minimize the time-consuming task of dealing with clients’ questions and concerns by distributing the author’s original 20-page information booklet for small-case clients. §251

Investigation

Checklist of 13 items to tell the new small-case client before he or she comes to the first meeting. §202
A handy three-page list of abbreviations and symbols commonly found in medical records. §344.1
Simple, direct letters to doctors that request only the essential information. §340
A letter to the employer requesting lost wage data that avoids many of the common information shortfalls. §352

Negotiation

Small-case negotiation checklist. §410
Model paragraphs for demand letters. §421
Pattern written responses to unsatisfactory settlement offers for specific types of small cases. §463

Discovery

Pattern responses for abusive deposition tactics. §521
Litigation cost-containment checklist. §511.3
Motion for protective order from extensive interrogatories. §521.1
Pattern language for handling abusive deposition tactics. §521.4
Checklist of maximum discovery techniques for minimal cost and time. §522
Model interrogatories, deposition checklists, and requests for admissions for the key types of small cases. §§523-26
Timetable and accompanying task checklist for avoiding stale files. §372

Litigation

Checklist for building small-case trial notebooks. §621
Sample direct examinations of plaintiff’s physician, occurrence witness, before-and-after witness, and employer or co-worker. §§653-56
Foundation checklists for medical charts and models, medical and business records, and maps and charts. §674

The book comes with a free CD-ROM containing searchable full-text of the book as well as all the forms from the book, which can be accessed and modified with your preferred word processing program.

Updated annually. ISBN 0-938065-55-6 Book price: $99.00

Reviews

"This book is almost a Do-It-Yourself Kit for personal injury cases, and is the latest example of the superb job that James Publishing is doing in providing lawyers with one-stop practice aids. It may just influence lawyers who usually farm out their P.I. work to consider keeping them doggies on the ranch."
—Excerpted from Lawyers Weekly USA

"Maximizing Damages in Small Personal Injury Cases is easily the most useful book I have in my law library. It is worth many times more than the price your charged."
—R. Niesen, Waunakee, WI

"If I was told I could keep only one legal publication, this would be it."
—D. Polow, Hyde Park, VT

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