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Ambulance Chasers

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GoPens's avatar

GoPens

Senior Member

2,339 posts
Aug 14, 2010 2:41 PM
Was involved in a minor fendor bender at 2pm on Thursday. Was rear ended at a traffic light by a kid who wasn't paying attention, but changing music on his Ipod. No injuries.

When the mail came this morning at 9:30am (Saturday--less than 48 hours from the accident) I had a package in the mail from a greasy law firm, that had a DVD and 5 pages of crap on why I should hire him and see his doctors. I had no idea the US Mail moved so quickly.

One of his items was a warning of unscrupulous chiropractors who might be contacting me for thier services. I emailed the law firm back and noted the irony that I might be contacted by chiropractors just looking for a buck while he and his greasy profession was doing the same thing.

Is it any wonder that insurance premiums are sky-high? Because of these parasites...
Aug 14, 2010 2:41pm
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Aug 14, 2010 2:43 PM
An ex gf of mine was in the car with me when I rear ended a car. 2 days later she got a package from an ambulance chaser telling her that she needs to sue me... lol
Aug 14, 2010 2:43pm
darbypitcher22's avatar

darbypitcher22

Senior Member

8,000 posts
Aug 14, 2010 2:56 PM
^^^^

I've been in one or two wrecks but never got anything like that... hopefully I never do. Those people are trying to process claims so fast
Aug 14, 2010 2:56pm
grodt's avatar

grodt

Senior Member

1,588 posts
Aug 14, 2010 5:59 PM
My brother was rear-ended once at a red light. Again no injuries, but for days we got calls and mail from law firms wanting him to press charges. The whole thing was kind of ridiculous.
Aug 14, 2010 5:59pm
jordo212000's avatar

jordo212000

Senior Member

10,664 posts
Aug 14, 2010 6:22 PM
Yeah my sister was in an accident and she got one of those letters in the mail too. Wonder where they get their info?
Aug 14, 2010 6:22pm
Mr. 300's avatar

Mr. 300

Senior Member

3,090 posts
Aug 14, 2010 6:47 PM
Count me in too. Rear-ended hard by a strip mine pit truck with a steel reinforced front bumper...totaled my car. My lower back was toast for a few days, but came through pretty good. Had three letters from different firms wanting to represent me.
Aug 14, 2010 6:47pm
GoChiefs's avatar

GoChiefs

Resident Maniac

16,754 posts
Aug 14, 2010 6:50 PM
jordo212000;451176 wrote:Wonder where they get their info?

I'm guessing they might send someone down to the local police station. It's all public record about who was in an accident and what not.
Aug 14, 2010 6:50pm
Mr. 300's avatar

Mr. 300

Senior Member

3,090 posts
Aug 14, 2010 7:08 PM
Newspapers!!
Aug 14, 2010 7:08pm
Little Danny's avatar

Little Danny

Senior Member

4,288 posts
Aug 14, 2010 7:21 PM
As an insider, let me fill you in: these guys send gophers down to the police station with donuts, pizzas, etc. so they can obtain this information. The Gophers scower binders of new reports and read off names and addresses into a dictophone. The lawfirm have a marketing department who sent out mailers to your house and cold-call. Believe it or not, these guys gain a lot of business this way. Most people are stupid and think the guy they see on TV acting tough is some great trial lawyer. Odds are the local tough guy in your town has never seen the inside of a court room.

As far as the chiros go, the reason the attorney in the above scenerio talked garbage about another chiro is because he has a deal with his own guy. He sends them so much business and the chiro greatly reduces his bill. Of Course XYZ State Insurance Company does not know the $5,000 chiro bill was reduced to $2,000.
Aug 14, 2010 7:21pm
Tigerfan00's avatar

Tigerfan00

Senior Member

3,427 posts
Aug 14, 2010 8:19 PM
Aug 14, 2010 8:19pm
C

cbus4life

Ignorant

2,849 posts
Aug 14, 2010 10:10 PM
Gotta love it.
Aug 14, 2010 10:10pm
GoPens's avatar

GoPens

Senior Member

2,339 posts
Aug 15, 2010 2:09 AM
jordo212000;451176 wrote:Yeah my sister was in an accident and she got one of those letters in the mail too. Wonder where they get their info?

One of the pages they sent me was a copy of the police accident report, so as mentioned above, yea, they've got someone there going through the police reports as they come rolling in. Weasels.
Aug 15, 2010 2:09am
GoPens's avatar

GoPens

Senior Member

2,339 posts
Aug 16, 2010 10:16 AM
Package #2 from another greasy lawyer today.
Aug 16, 2010 10:16am
se-alum's avatar

se-alum

The Biggest Boss

13,948 posts
Aug 16, 2010 10:54 AM
When I was 19 my buddy and I got in a wreck, and he was charged w/ a DUI because we were underage(he wasn't drunk), they actually let me go with his parents back to their house so I could get my truck and go home. I told my parents I was in a wreck, but conveniently left out the part about the DUI. About 2 weeks later, I came home, and my dad says, "Hey, do you want to sue (my buddy) or his parents for wrecking the truck while drinking?". I told him I would let it slide, and asked him how he knew. He had gotten a letter from a lawyer wanting me to sue my buddies parents.
Aug 16, 2010 10:54am
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar

Scarlet_Buckeye

Senior Member

5,264 posts
Aug 16, 2010 11:15 AM
FYI, police reports are now online -- public record. Anyone can get a copy of anyone's police report. It use to be that your Social Security number was listed on police reports. However, they have done away with that, but your address, Date of Birth, phone number, etc. is all listed. No one has to go anywhere to look it up, it's all at your fingertips.
Aug 16, 2010 11:15am
gerb131's avatar

gerb131

Senior Member

9,932 posts
Aug 16, 2010 11:20 AM
Had an accident a few months ago and was bombarded with those packets. I wasn't hurt but my gf was and she followed up on it with one of the greasy lawyers and they did her right. The person who hit us insurance company tried to fight it until the very end even though he was ticketed and had 10pts. All she wanted was someone to pay the medical bills, pt bills, and time missed at work. She got that and a cherry on top.
Aug 16, 2010 11:20am
sej's avatar

sej

Senior Member

540 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:10 PM
Scarlet_Buckeye;452941 wrote:FYI, police reports are now online -- public record. Anyone can get a copy of anyone's police report. It use to be that your Social Security number was listed on police reports. However, they have done away with that, but your address, Date of Birth, phone number, etc. is all listed. No one has to go anywhere to look it up, it's all at your fingertips.
I'm not sure about where you live/PDs you may contact, but not all of them are online. I don't know of any in my local area that have that information available online, and many of them require you to go in person to get it. I'm not just saying that to be contrary, either. I have to request police reports fairly frequently for work, so I'm pretty aware of the policies of a lot of local departments.






My experience is much like LJ's. I rear ended someone last year, and a few days later the BF got a package in the mail from a lawyer suggesting he sue me. He didn't take the lawyer's advice, thankfully!
Aug 16, 2010 12:10pm
mucalum49's avatar

mucalum49

Senior Member

1,639 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:18 PM
When I worked insurance claims I would have to deal with these law firms a hand full of times a month. Biggest pain in the rear. The company I worked for was very generous for insurance and didn't look to screw people out of claims they really deserved. I remember we were still paying medical bills for someone from an accident that happened in the 70's. Yet once these sleezy lawyers got involved the company would tie up the case to the point the people dropped it or just took the initial amount of money we offered for property damage and told us they were never hurt.

Tim Misny is as big a douche in real life as he is on TV by the way...
Aug 16, 2010 12:18pm
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar

Scarlet_Buckeye

Senior Member

5,264 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:39 PM
SEJ - likewise, I have no idea where you live either but I have to regularly get accident reports online and the vast majority of police departments are all online now. Much like almost every Clerk of Courts for any County is online. All docket sheets for all civil and criminal cases are all public record and, thus, online.
Aug 16, 2010 12:39pm
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:49 PM
Scarlet_Buckeye;453047 wrote:SEJ - likewise, I have no idea where you live either but I have to regularly get accident reports online and the vast majority of police departments are all online now. Much like almost every Clerk of Courts for any County is online. All docket sheets for all civil and criminal cases are all public record and, thus, online.

well that's a bit different. Like the city of columbus has it where you can get an accident or police report 24 hours after it happened on their website, but the court websites usually take a few weeks and often don't include everything, at least not for Franklin and Delaware counties
Aug 16, 2010 12:49pm
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar

Scarlet_Buckeye

Senior Member

5,264 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:53 PM
Any court pleading that is "filed" by either side (Plaintiff or Defendant) must and will be included on a Court's docket sheet.
Aug 16, 2010 12:53pm
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:55 PM
Scarlet_Buckeye;453086 wrote:Any court pleading that is "filed" by either side (Plaintiff or Defendant) must and will be included on a Court's docket sheet.

mhmmm, and a lot of times on the clerk's website in franklin and delaware county, the police report cannot be found in the documents.
Aug 16, 2010 12:55pm
LJ's avatar

LJ

Senior Member

16,351 posts
Aug 16, 2010 12:59 PM
my car accident is on the court website, as is my dad's, but the police report is nowhere to be found.
Aug 16, 2010 12:59pm
B

BoatShoes

Senior Member

5,703 posts
Aug 16, 2010 1:35 PM
I don't do PI work but I think they get a bad rap. For every minor injury not worthy of litigation there's somebody injured seriously who's only method of recourse is to have an advocate on their behalf in our civil courts. It's fun to think of them as weasels but every now and again these "scumbags" make a difference for somebody. Think of Paul Newman's character in The Verdict. I'm biased I suppose.
Aug 16, 2010 1:35pm
Q

queencitybuckeye

Senior Member

7,117 posts
Aug 16, 2010 2:04 PM
BoatShoes;453160 wrote:I don't do PI work but I think they get a bad rap. For every minor injury not worthy of litigation there's somebody injured seriously who's only method of recourse is to have an advocate on their behalf in our civil courts. It's fun to think of them as weasels but every now and again these "scumbags" make a difference for somebody. Think of Paul Newman's character in The Verdict. I'm biased I suppose.

I don't disagree with your premise, but would doubt the one to one ratio.
Aug 16, 2010 2:04pm