CAR WRECKS
"Painters paint, it's what they do"
My grandfather served in World War II. I was fortunate to spend a week with just the two of us when I was a teenager. In between the night fishin' and the biscuits and oatmeal every morning, he taught me a few things. He would talk about the war, his late wife, Helen, and his construction business. Between the stories, he would give me advice. Two things he would say over and over: "Remember, son, painters paint, it's what they do" and "always be smart enough to know when you're stupid." At the time, I didn't fully grasp what he meant.
Little did I know, just how right he was.
The simple truth: personal injury law is not for everyone. Many attorneys think they know how to get the most out of a car wreck case. For the most part, they're wrong. Unfortunately, though, it's their client that suffers.
First, the insurance company knows a lot more about your attorney than you can imagine. If your attorney doesn't know what they're doing, the insurance company will immediately start lowering the amount they will pay on your case.
Second, like any profession, some of us dedicate our careers to only a certain type of law so we can stay on top of what it takes to be successful, build a reputation of success and get more out of each case than other attorneys. At Bates & Associates, we don't handle divorces, criminal cases, or even bad products. We stick with those areas of practice where we've had success and we know.
And we're really good at it.
TESTIMONIAL
"After my wife was taken from me after the wreck, I talked to a couple of attorneys ... who basically told me that the insurance company’s offer was satisfactory.
They actually said it was maybe a little above and beyond what I deserved, but I felt in my heart that it was not. I felt like it was a slap in the face ... Robert Bates took my case and settled it for more then triple what the insurance company initially offered.
I’m very thankful ...They get the job done."
-Mark, client 2018
Truck WRECKS
"Killing Machines"
A Juror once told me that 18-Wheelers are "killing machines." She explained that because of the size and power of those trucks, it is terrifying to think about them being driven by someone who isn't well trained, supervised, rested or alert.
These cases are extremely difficult if you don't know what you're doing.
Most of the time when a semi-truck gets in a wreck, the insurance company and the company that owned the truck will have an "accident response team" or an "accident response protocol." This means that they will likely have lawyers working to beat you before you ever leave the hospital. Some companies even have their defense lawyers arrive at the scene of the wreck before the cars are removed.
Pictured: Our client was in the white car when the semi on the left ran the red light on North State of Franklin in Johnson City and hit our folks on the driver's side. Before our client left the hospital, the company that owned the truck hired one of the best defense lawyers in the area, hired an expert to reconstruct the wreck, taken witness statements, hired an investigator, and gathered data on the red lights at the intersection. In other words, they were building their defense while our client was undergoing surgery.
It didn't help them in the end. We used our skills and training to expose the truth of the case, and the truth was that the driver was distracted at the time of the impact. The electronic data from the truck showed that he was driving far over the speed limit and never applied the brakes before impact. Sworn testimony of the owners of the large truck company revealed that they had a history of drivers going too fast without any discipline. So, our goal was to change the way this company did business.
Our client suffered a fractured skull and brain swelling. She underwent surgery on her skull to relieve some of the stress and swelling on her brain.
Months after the wreck, she had returned to school and started working. We encouraged her to do these things. The defense tried to show that she was back to normal after the wreck by looking at her school transcripts and hiring their own doctors. Instead, this merely showed a driven young lady with a strong Faith and supportive family who was doing everything she could to recover.
Robert hired one of the leading brain doctors in the country to evaluate his client and explain her injuries. He flew to Texas to take the testimony of the doctor that performed the brain surgery. He spent days with the brain doctors learning how these injuries would affect his client.
But, this wasn't enough. We had to show the injury. So Robert worked with the doctors to create an animation of our client's injuries and the surgery.
The result: $4.5 Million
MOTORCYCLE WRECKS
There are no minor injuries when a car collides with a motorcycle.
Insurance companies generally have the attitude that if someone is on a motorcycle, then they are more dangerous. In other words, if you are riding on a motorcycle and get hit by someone else, then you start off with a strike against you. Fortunately, we have a way to present our case so that the truth wins out and you get what you deserve.
Pictured: Our client was a 63 year old from Elizabethton. He was enjoying a beautiful day riding in the right lane of Hwy 91 when another driver pulled out in front of him. The insurance company blamed our client, saying he was going too fast and that the other driver couldn't see him prior to the impact. So, he called us.
Our client's main request: "I want an attorney who is going to fight for me."
After filing the lawsuit, Robert took the sworn testimony of the other driver. An attorney who knows what they're doing, knows what questions to ask and how to ask them. When performed correctly, an attorney can confront a witness with the truth in a way that they can't possibly wiggle out. So, in this case when confronted with the truth and Robert's questioning the other driver tried to run from the questions and even complained that he felt like he was being interrogated.
It didn't take long until the other driver admitted that he saw our client coming down the four lane highway, pulled out and thought he could get through the intersection in time. Our client swerved to miss him and laid his bike down, suffering a broken wrist, broken ribs and a bad case of road rash. It wasn't long after the sworn testimony that the insurance company that didn't offer a dime previously paid $500,000 to settle the case.
Slip & fall
We know how to win slip and fall cases.
Slip and fall cases are very difficult. First, there are very difficult legal hurdles to get over just to get into a courtroom and then winning at trial takes a certain skill and approach. Simply put, we know what it takes to win these cases.
In the last 12 months, we have won a $2.6 million jury verdict on a slip and fall case that led to a knee injury and a $550,000 jury verdict on a slip and fall that led to a torn shoulder.