001 – Telephone

The first time I spoke with her was by phone, in mid-September.  I remember the Red Sox had just lost a critical game to the Yankees.  Pedro Martinez had thrown eight brilliant innings and the Sox had scored no runs.  They lost one zip.  I got to the office early Monday morning after my run and before I even closed the door, Katrina, the paralegal from hell, yelled out from the library, “Someone looking for a good lawyer, I told her to try another number, pick up on line two.”  A little commentary about my competency made over our technologically sophisticated intercom.

“Todd Benjamin,” I say into the phone.

“Mr. Benjamin, I’m looking for a lawyer.”

“Yes.”

“You’re a lawyer, right?”

It always starts this way, very sharp on the probing repartee.

“Yes I am ma’am, how can I help you?”

“Well where do I start?  It’s such a long story and I’m not sure what to do.”

“Why don’t you just try to tell me what you want to tell me about how you hope a lawyer can help you.”  I yawn, barely containing my impatience.

“Well, I had a little accident the other day and I saw your name in the Yellow Pages and want to know if you can help me.”

“Maybe I can, and maybe I can’t ma’am, but I have to know what it is you’re talking about.  What kind of accident was it?  Where did it happen?  How did it happen?”

“Well, you see, I was waiting for the bus when this guy came up to the bus stop in a big truck and asked if I wanted a ride.  And I sort of knew him, or had seen him around, so I got in.  And then we drive somewhere I didn’t want to go. I know the city, and he is way the hell away from where I was going, and I tell him “stop and let me out.”  But he didn’t.  So I opened the door and he grabbed onto my belt and then he let go of my belt and sort of pushed me and I fell out of the truck and the rear tires ran over my ankle.”

“Tell me your name please.”

“Yvonne.”

“Yvonne what?”

“Smith.”

“And where do you live, Ms. Smith?”

“Well, you see, I’m calling from the hospital, and I had to have two operations, and I don’t think I’m going be able to keep my apartment, and I’m going to have to live up with my mother again, and I don’t want to.”

“And what is your mother’s address?” I ask. She clear has my attention.

“How much is this going to cost me, mister lawyer?”

“Nothing Ms. Smith. The way I work on accident cases like yours is that I don’t charge anything for my time and effort unless I’m successful in recovering money for my client.” Here comes the spiel, it’s rote by now. “… and if I do recover money for you, then I get one third of the money we recover and you get two thirds of the money, but if we get nothing then my time and effort cost you nothing.  Now tell me, did the police investigate the accident?”

“Well, yes and no.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well they came to my hospital room to talk to me.”

“I see.  And did the police also come to the scene of the accident?”

“Well, that I don’t know, you see I was hurt pretty bad and the ambulance came and took me to the City Hospital before they was any police there at all that I know of.”

“And who called the ambulance if you know?”

“Well I don’t, you see.”

“Alright, I understand Ms. Smith, Yvonne.  A case like yours can get complicated fast, even though it’s only an auto accident.  And I think, if I’m hearing you correctly, that you’d like to get some money to pay your medical bills and to compensate you for the pain and the injuries you’ve suffered in this accident.  Am I right?”

“You got that right.”

“Right.  And there are just so many things that can go wrong in a case of this kind that would make it hard for you to collect that money, just so many things, that you really must retain a lawyer.  Whether its me or some one else, its important that you have legal counsel representing you, making sure that you get the money you deserve, that you don’t say anything that hurts your case, that the insurance company, if there is one, treats you fairly.”

“Oh, I understand that.  I’ve been hurt before.  I want the money.  And I’ve decided already, you’re my lawyer, mister.”

“Thank you, Ms. Smith.  Okay, to start working on your case I will need you to sign certain documents.  One is a contingent fee agreement which confirms there will be no fee due me from you if I am unable to successfully recover money for you but that if I do help you recover money I will be paid the one third fee we discussed.”

“That’s fair.”

“And, of course, I also need a medical release, so that I can get your medical records from City Hospital, or from any other place where you may receive treatment.”

“That’s fair too.  So when are you coming out to see me?”

“Well, what I’d actually like to do Ms. Smith, Yvonne, is to send my investigator, James Crawford, out to meet with you.  Mr. Crawford will have the papers for you to sign, he can get some additional information from you, take some photographs, and he will then get us a copy of the police report.”

“That sounds good.”

“Good.  Now promise me that except for me and Mr. Crawford you will not talk to anyone else about this case, this accident, the circumstances that come before your accident. Nothing. To no one. Please. You can’t even talk about how you are feeling in regard to the injuries you suffered in the accident except to tell the doctors and nurses how much it hurts. You get it? Nothing related to you accident. To anyone.”

“Well, of course I did talk to the police.”

“Yes.  Well in the future tell anyone who wants to talk with you about the accident, even the police, that you are represented by counsel and can’t talk to them without talking to me first.  What is it you said to the police?”

“Well, like I told you, I told them I was waiting for the bus and that I went for a ride with this guy, Jeff I think his name was, and that I wanted to get out of the truck, and he didn’t want to let me get out of the truck, and then he sort of pushed me out, and the rear wheels ran over my ankle and busted it badly.”

“Alright Yvonne, please understand something.  If what the man who drove the truck did was an intentional act, that is, if he purposely pushed or shoved you out of this truck, then your chances of recovering against his, or the truck owner’s insurance policy, assuming there is such a policy, are less good than if you just fell out of the truck, and the accident was a result of the truck driver or truck owner’s negligence, their lack of care under the circumstances. That’s what we mean by negligence and then you will be able to recover.  You understand the difference?  Because to my mind it is important for you not to say you got pushed out of the truck.  Do you understand me?”

Oh I could go on.  And I do.  What a life this lawyering is.