Negotiating Injury Claims: Secrets and Insider Tips

Agenda / Content Covered

1. Claim Evaluation Secrets Adjusters Don't Want You to Know....
   10:00 — 11:00, John Cinti
   1. Accident Investigations - The Adjuster's Playbook
   2. What Insurers Don't Want You to Know About Claim Valuation and Settlement Procedures
   3. Colossus/Personal Injury Valuation Software
2. The Tricks to Finding Policy Limits and Getting Reserves Set as High as Possible
   11:15 — 12:00, John Cinti
   1. How to Uncover Policy Limits
   2. Techniques for Increasing the Reserve
   3. Tactically Disclosing Information
   4. Providing Records Releases to Adjusters - Best Practices
   5. Determining the Adjuster's Settlement Authority (and Going Beyond)
3. Insider Tips for Maximizing the Impact of Your Demands
   12:00 — 12:45, J. Gregory Marks
   1. Effectively Calculating Your Demand Value
   2. Drafting a Winning Demand Letter
   3. Buzzwords and "Magic Language" to Trigger Coverage
   4. Documentation Best Practices and Tips
   5. Timing Strategy
   6. Practical Pointers for Maximizing Settlement Potential
4. Tactics Adjusters Use to Reduce Claim Value - and How to Counter Them
   1:15 — 2:00, Virginia Josey
   1. Neutralizing Common Adjuster Tactics
   2. Strategically Addressing Weak Points in Your Case
   3. Overcoming Pre-Existing or Subsequent Injuries
5. Techniques for Negotiating With Different Insurers and Adjusters
   2:00 — 3:00, Virginia Josey
   1. Propensities of Different Insurers
   2. Negotiating Styles of Adjusters
   3. Understanding Your Adjuster and Establishing a Working Relationship
   4. Techniques for Negotiating with Different Types of Adjusters
   5. Dealing with Difficult Adjusters
      1. Adjusters Who Engage in Hard Bargaining Tactics
      2. Adjusters Who Drag Their Feet or Refuse to Respond
      3. Adjusters Who Discount Bills, Estimates, or Evidence
   6. Spotting Signs of Insurer Misconduct/Bad Faith
   7. Strategies for Getting Past Deadlock
6. Top Mistakes Plaintiffs' Attorneys Don't Realize They're Making
   3:15 — 4:00, Lindsey Soboul
7. Legal Ethics Issues and Best Practices
   4:00 — 5:00, Lindsey Soboul
   1. Truthfulness: Posturing vs. Puffery vs. Misrepresentation in Negotiations
   2. Ethical and Professional Responsibilities to Third Parties
   3. Attorney Fees
   4. Client Trust Accounts - Safekeeping Property
   5. Client Communications and Managing Expectations

Accreditation Details:

John M Cinti is an attorney with the law firm of CKL Law Group, LLP, where he has focused his practice on civil litigation, concentrating on personal injury with an emphasis on matters involving catastrophic injury and wrongful death. Additionally, he has regularly brought his talents to the aid of clients in disputes involving breach of contract and a variety of commercial torts. Mr. Cinti also has significant experience in assisting clients in various aspects of insurance coverage, including bad faith claims, declaratory judgment, and insurance agent/broker malpractice. He was designated a certified civil trial attorney by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2004. Mr. Cinti is a member of the New Jersey State, New York State and Pennsylvania bar associations; and earned his B.S. degree from the University of Scranton and his J.D. degree from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.

 

Virginia Josey is an attorney at Glass & Robson, LLC where she handles a wide variety of cases throughout the state of Georgia, including automobile wrecks, trucking/tractor-trailer wrecks, motorcycle wrecks, bicycle wrecks, premises liability, slip/trip and falls, negligent security, apartment shootings/assaults, defective/dangerous products, wrongful death, spinal cord injuries, and brain injuries. She earned her B.S. degree from Georgia Southern University and her J.D. degree from Mercer University.

J. Gregory Marks is an attorney with Slack Davis Sanger in Dallas. Mr. Marks has dedicated his law practice to helping victims who have been injured as a result of negligence, defective and dangerous products, and by the conscious disregard of safety protocols. He is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board for Legal Specialization and has done extensive legal work in exposing vehicle and product defects and enacting changes that ultimately save lives. He has been recognized by the U.S. World Report as Lawyer of the Year for his work in product liability litigation, a Top 100 Trial lawyer, and has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer every year since 2004. Mr. Marks is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Million Dollar Advocates' Forum, the American Association of Justice, and Texas Trial Lawyers association, as well as the American Bar Association. He has been admitted to practice law before all state and federal courts in Texas, the Northern District of Indiana, the Western District of Louisiana, the Southern District of New York, and the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Mr. Marks earned his B.S. degree from Texas A&M University and his J.D. degree from Dedman University School of Law at Southern Methodist University.

 

Lindsey M Soboul is an attorney in the New Orleans office of Pipes Miles Beckman, LLC, and practices in the firm's Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith and Construction Litigation groups. Her practice is concentrated in the areas of insurance coverage, insurance defense, and general civil litigation. Early in her career, Ms. Soboul gained extensive motion practice experience and obtained favorable rulings in both Louisiana state and federal courts. She represents insurers in first-party coverage litigation and third-party liability disputes, including construction defect, professional liability and property loss. Ms. Soboul received her J.D. degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and her B.A. degree, cum laude, from Mississippi State University.