TrustCast Show

What happens when a lawyer who has always had a heart for the little guy and no love for corporations comes out of law school, works first at a plaintiff's personal injury firm, then at a firm representing transit police officers and Metro North railroad police when they got into disciplinary trouble, forms a partnership in 1992, In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Jay, a New York City personal injury attorney with over three and a half decades of experience handling automobile negligence, pedestrian knockdowns, Jay explains the triangle he uses to evaluate every case before he takes it: level one is liability, because without clear fault you have nothing to build on; level two is damages, whether injuries, lost wages, or both; and level three is coverage, because you can win completely and still recover nothing if the at-fault party has no insurance worth going after. He also explains the thirty-day deadline for filing a no-fault application in New York They also discuss the May 2006 change to New York personal injury law that eliminated the ninety-of-one-eighty provision — the rule that used to let people with a disability lasting at least ninety out of one hundred eighty days recover damages in automobile cases — and replaced the entire liability framework with a requirement that you be over fifty-one percent not at fault just to recover anything, a change Jay attributes directly to Uber spending ten million dollars in lobbying to get the governor to force through the modification. He explains why you should never give a recorded statement to any insurance company, including your own — because the no-fault file is discoverable by the other side and any admission you make in it can be used against you later Jay is a New York City personal injury attorney in private practice since 1999, with an office at 260 Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan near Grand Central Terminal. He is a former counsel to the Hispanic Society of the New York City Transit Police and the New York Shields, and has been featured in Newsday and the New York Law Journal. He handles automobile negligence, pedestrian knockdowns, motorcycle accidents, and slip, trip, and fall cases throughout New York. Connect with Jay: Phone (office): 212-972-0000 Phone (cell / direct): 917-620-4802 Email: [email protected] 260 Madison Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City (Between 38th and 39th Street, a few blocks from Grand Central Terminal) Chapters 00:00 Introduction — Thirty-five years settling New York personal injury cases from three thousand dollars to four point six million 00:12 The New York Law Journal and Newsday case — transit police officers denied promotion after the NYPD merger, a class action that was not the norm 01:51 What first pulled him toward representing injured people instead of corporations — always a heart for the little guy 02:29 Straight out of law school? Not quite — plaintiff's firm, transit police firm, a partner from 1992 to 1999, and solo ever since 03:33 The legal assistant who is a former NYPD police officer — and why the combination of investigative instinct and medical interest made her a perfect fit 04:27 Office at 260 Madison Avenue, Midtown Manhattan — and why pedestrian knockdowns are something you associate specifically with New York City 05:07 The most interesting pedestrian knockdown case — a delivery company on a motorized bike, street cameras, and a sizable settlement 05:42 The four point six million dollar case — a drunk driver, a catering hall in Great Neck, a woman in a coma for thirty days, and a structured settlement she still receives today 07:06 What injuries did she have — collapsed lung, removed spleen, TBI, laminectomy, multiple fractures, and the long road back 08:06 What to do in the first hour after being hit by a car in New York 09:17 Do not decline the ambulance, go to the hospital, and complain about everything that hurts from head to toe 09:33 Do not give any statement to either insurance company — let your attorney handle all of that 09:55 The thirty-day no-fault application — fifty thousand dollars in medical coverage and the certified mail plus email system to prove you sent it 12:00 Why social media — not just posts about your case but posts about your life — can be discovered and used against you 12:27 Does the other driver say everything is fine and suggest you skip the police — should you call anyway 13:40 Uninsured motorist claims, underinsured motorist claims, and why a police or ambulance report within twenty-four to forty-eight hours is required to use them in New York 15:16 Why you should never talk to your own insurance company's adjuster without a lawyer 15:35 The friend's client who told his insurance company he actually lived in New Jersey — and lost coverage entirely #TrustcastShow #NewYorkPersonalInjury #PedestrianKnockdown #NewYorkAccidentLawyer #NoFaultApplication #NYPersonalInjuryLaw #InsuranceAdjusterTips #NewYork2006LiabilityLaw

What happens when a young woman goes to law school intending to work on the plaintiff's side, clerks and works for plaintiff's firms all the way through her training, graduates, and then ends up taking a job as a railroad defense lawyer fighting off injury claims from the exact people she always meant to help In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Feliz Rael of The Law Office of Feliz A. Rael in Albuquerque, New Mexico — a Super Lawyers selectee, AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, a member of the American Association for Justice's Nursing Home Litigation Group, a podcast host Feliz walks through the case that launched the rest of her career: Gene Marie Gann, an 86-year-old woman at a senior living facility in Albuquerque who walked up four stairs every week to get her hair done, reached the top of the staircase one day, and grabbed for a railing that simply was not there — because the twelve inches of ADA-required railing at the top of the stairs had never been installed because a closet door was nearby She explains what a bed sore actually means and why it is almost always a sign of inadequate staffing rather than individual negligence, why complaining about a family member's care does not have to trigger retaliation if handled with documentation and a non-hostile tone that reaches the right people rather than the frontline workers who did not make the staffing decision, how to check nursing home staffing ratios at Medicare.gov while recognizing that assisted living facility numbers are not publicly available They also discuss the financial exploitation case Feliz has been working for over five years: a doctor with a traumatic brain injury who hired a housekeeper at fifteen dollars an hour, within three months watched her become power of attorney over himself and his wife, become CEO of his company, drain his bank accounts, sell his house, buy luxury cars, purchase a two million dollar home in Albuquerque, and then drop him at the hospital and tell the staff he had dementia and could not be believed Feliz Rael is the founder of The Law Office of Feliz A. Rael in Albuquerque, a Super Lawyers selectee, AV Preeminent rated, a member of the AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group, and an attorney who has devoted two decades to protecting nursing home residents, group home residents, assisted living facility residents, and victims of financial exploitation across New Mexico. Connect with Feliz Rael: raelfirm.com Contact via the website contact form — email response is preferred Albuquerque, New Mexico — practicing only in New Mexico Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Feliz Rael 00:13 Railroad defense lawyer who always meant to be on the other side — and why it just weighed on her 00:32 Her heart was not in it, she got married, had a baby, and found her way back through a colleague's call 01:54 A woman who started her own nursing home firm needed an associate and the role fit immediately 03:00 The case that launched the rest of her career 03:11 Gene Marie Gann — four stairs, a missing railing, a fractured skull, and a $1.86 million verdict 05:30 The CEO who could not name a single safety repair his sixty-five-building company had ever made 06:10 A contractor who said installing the missing railing would have cost twenty-six dollars 07:23 The message the jury sent: elderly lives get more valuable, not less 07:57 My mom has a bed sore that was not there last month — is that neglect or does that just happen 08:48 I am scared to complain because I think they will treat my dad worse — how do you handle that 09:15 Documentation, a non-hostile tone, date-stamped photos, and who is actually making the staffing decision 10:39 Are nicer more expensive nursing homes actually safer — not necessarily, and here is why 11:20 The state-run New Mexico nursing home with the highest staffing ratio and the best outcomes in the state 12:10 Genesis, private equity, a third of New Mexico's nursing facilities, and what the bankruptcy left behind 13:29 Visits are critical — even video visits, even when it is hard to get there 14:07 How to check nursing home staffing ratios at Medicare.gov — and why assisted living statistics are not public 14:35 Ask about nights, weekends, and holidays — when the most harmful things happen and the fewest staff are on site 15:30 What are the cooking and laundry staff counted in the care ratio — and the question to ask 16:11 Warning signs to watch for on every visit: smell, urine stains, unexplained bruises and scratches #FelizRael #RaelFirm #TrustcastShow #NewMexicoNursingHomeLawyer #NursingHomeAbuse #ElderLaw #FinancialExploitationElders #NursingHomeNeglect #AlbuquerqueAttorney #VulnerableAdults

What happens when a Penn State Law graduate who sees himself as a trial attorney starts prosecuting drug and racketeering cases for the State of Arizona because that is where the courtroom work is, which is precisely what UIM coverage exists for, helps his friend gather medical records and draft the demand on a pro bono basis, and recovers in the UIM claim alone more than what the previous attorney had recovered in the entire liability proceeding — and then looks at what he just saw and decides to open his own shop? In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Ed Parra of The Scottsdale Personal Injury Law Firm — a former Arizona criminal prosecutor, former state civil defense attorney on matters over a hundred million dollars, Super Lawyers selectee, and plaintiff's personal injury attorney who opened his own firm in April — about what the personal injury system in Arizona actually does for injured people, where it fails them when the numbers do not line up, and why the people who feel the most guilty about calling a personal injury attorney are often the ones who need one the most. Ed explains what to do in the first minutes after being hit in Scottsdale — exchange information, photograph the license plate, get police to the scene for documentation — and the two things most people do that cost them the case: saying sorry when they did absolutely nothing wrong, and giving a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster when they do not yet know what their injuries are, what treatment they will need, or what their case is actually worth. He also explains why Arizona's constitution prohibits damage caps in standard negligence cases They also discuss the hardest conversation in personal injury law — looking a catastrophically injured client in the eye after a full investigation and explaining that twenty-five thousand dollars is all there is, the at-fault driver has nothing to go after, and there is no more coverage to find — the $450,000 medical malpractice settlement from his prior firm at Berg Simpson that resolved only months after filing the complaint Ed Parra is the founder of The Scottsdale Personal Injury Law Firm, a Super Lawyers selectee, a former drug and racketeering prosecutor for the State of Arizona, a former state civil defense attorney, a Penn State Law graduate, and a plaintiff's personal injury attorney representing injury victims across Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, and Tempe. Connect with Ed Parra: scottsdaleinjured.com / thescottsdalepersonalinjurylawfirm.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 480-378-3178 7525 E. Camelback Rd., Suite 208, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Ed Parra 00:21 Drug and racketeering prosecution for Arizona, then defending the state against eight-figure civil lawsuits 00:40 Something was missing — the path from criminal prosecution to civil defense to criminal defense to plaintiff's work 01:45 The moment he switched to the plaintiff's side and never looked back 03:05 A friend's attorney told him his UIM claim was not worth pursuing — Ed had never heard that 03:20 Two cars fled the scene, a clear underinsured motorist case, and the pro bono demand that changed the outcome 05:01 Recovering more in the UIM claim than the previous attorney had recovered in the entire liability proceeding 05:53 Opening his own firm in April and starting from zero 06:00 How he built his client pipeline: SEO, Google pay-per-click, referrals, networking, and reputation on prior pleadings 07:20 Google's Gemini AI recommending him as the number one attorney to a new client 08:05 What to do in the first minutes after being hit by a driver in Scottsdale 10:37 Document everything: insurance, ID, license plate photos, and get police on scene 11:10 Do not apologize, do not give a recorded statement, and do not accept the early low-ball settlement offer 12:40 Even if you decide to handle your own claim — consult first 13:34 Consultations are free, clients never pay upfront, the attorney fronts all expenses and takes a percentage on the back end 16:03 How long does a personal injury case take in Arizona — from five months to three-plus years depending on severity 18:31 Arizona's constitution prohibits damage caps in standard negligence cases — what that means for a jury 18:51 How to evaluate case value: medical specials, life care planners, pain and suffering, and anchoring at trial 21:12 What happened to the friend — and the pro bono UIM recovery that planted the seed for the firm 22:14 The $450,000 medical malpractice settlement that closed months after filing — and why that almost never happens 23:33 The toughest cases since opening the firm: catastrophic injuries against $25,000 minimum liability limits #EdParra #ScottsdaleInjured #TrustcastShow #ScottsdalePersonalInjuryLawyer #ArizonaPersonalInjury #FormerProsecutorPlaintiffLawyer #UIMClaim #ArizonaNoDamageCaps #PersonalInjuryMyths #ScottsdaleAttorney

What happens when a Toronto personal injury lawyer whose South Asian parents emigrated from Nairobi to Canada in 1974 and sent her to private schools on high expectations grows up getting into trouble as a teenager so the expectations shift to her brother, watches law shows on television and decides she can see herself in a courtroom, And then a second nightclub. And then a third. In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Jasmine Daya — founding principal of Jasmine Daya & Company in Toronto, co-founder and COO of Geraci LLP in Irvine, California, author of Law Girl's Bump in the Road and the JD in the Kitchen cookbook series, serial entrepreneur, real estate investor, Jasmine explains how buying Pravda Vodka Bar — an iconic Toronto establishment known for its walk-in vodka freezer with over eighty varieties from around the world, aerialists flying from the ceiling, and drummers standing on bars — led to nightclub number two, then a conversation where her agent said there is a third one coming up for sale, and then a text to her mother with the monkey-covering-eyes emoji. She walks through how she got Smart Serve certified over a weekend and hopped behind the bar on a Friday night because she had only two bartenders when the venue needed three and could not stand watching people with money and no one to pour drinks, why her son started calling it the Adam Sandler look every Sunday in sweats and Uggs when she had been in heels at the bar all night and heels at the firm all day, and why flipping the second and third was always the plan even if the exhaustion was not. She also explains how meeting Anthony Geraci — the founder of Geraci LLP and the American Association of Private Lenders — brought her to Orange County, what stunned her most about American real estate closings (no lawyer, just escrow) They also discuss the Mitigate platform that builds insurance review directly into private loan documents so that a lender is not left foreclosing on a pile of ash after a property burns, the Regulate platform designed to untangle the patchwork of state-by-state licensing requirements that means a California private lending license does nothing for you in the next state, why she still takes children's personal injury files even though the contingency math does not reward it because it makes her feel good and she does not have to answer to a partnership anymore, the cross-border private lenders association bringing Canadian and American lenders together Jasmine Daya is the founding principal of Jasmine Daya & Company in Toronto, the co-founder and COO of Geraci LLP in Irvine, California, a graduate of Queen's University Faculty of Law and Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, a holder of a negotiation certificate from Harvard Law School, a digital marketing and analytics certificate from MIT Sloan, and the author of Law Girl's Bump in the Road, the JD in the Kitchen cookbook series, and the forthcoming Private Lender's Legal Handbook. Connect with Jasmine Daya: Toronto / Personal Injury / Private Lending Canada: jdlawyers.ca Geraci LLP — California / US Private Lending: geracillp.com Email (Toronto): [email protected] / [email protected] Email (Geraci): [email protected] Phone (Toronto): 416-967-9100 Jasmine Daya & Company — 2 St. Clair Ave. W., Toronto, Ontario M4V 1L5 00:00 Introduction to Jasmine Daya 00:14 Building one of Toronto's top personal injury firms and running three downtown nightclubs simultaneously 00:26 What lawyer buys a nightclub during a pandemic? This one. And here is exactly why. 01:03 Six months of court closures, clean closets, caught-up taxes, and then the real estate market did not crash 01:40 Pravda Vodka Bar — a walk-in freezer, 80-plus vodkas, aerialists from the ceiling, and drummers on the bars 03:03 Nightclub two, and then the agent lists the better one second on purpose so she buys both 04:12 What happened to the clubs — and the Adam Sandler Sunday morning sweatpants problem 06:28 Three clubs, a 60-person firm, three kids, and a full real estate portfolio — simultaneously 07:01 Switching from days to nights and back, and why Sunday was the one sacred day 08:05 Moving to California was not about the fires — she met Anthony Geraci 08:34 Learning private lending law in the US and immediately finding a gap nobody was covering 09:30 Wait — real estate closings in California do not require a lawyer? What? 10:22 Who is reviewing the insurance policy when a wildfire burns the collateral down? 11:00 Standing in front of 500 private lenders in Las Vegas asking why nobody is talking about this #JasmineDaya #GeraciLLP #JasmineDayaAndCompany #TrustcastShow #PrivateLendingLaw #TorontoPersonalInjuryLawyer #PravdaVodkaBar #PrivateLenderCanada #CrossBorderPrivateLending #LawGirlsGuide

What happens when a boy who spent his first ten years in Soviet Moscow — learning from a very early age which thoughts he could not say out loud, watching his parents stand in winter lines without knowing what was being sold because if there was a long line something worth having must be there, absorbing survival as the organizing principle of daily life — watches his parents risk everything to emigrate, arrives in the United States, discovers speed, becomes a competitive race car driver, goes to Amherst College magna cum laude, then to the University of Virginia School of Law, practices in California In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Roman Lifson, a partner at Christian & Barton in Richmond, Virginia, a thirty-four-year trial lawyer, championship race car driver, and co-founder of Mythic Adventure Travel, about why lawyers have the highest rate of depression and suicidal ideation of any profession, Roman explains the two causes he believes are driving lawyer depression: excessive adversariness that makes litigation more combative than clients need it to be, and a loneliness epidemic where lawyers are surrounded by people they cannot actually confide in — the difference between sharing the Facebook and Instagram version of your life where everything is brilliant and your dogs are beautiful and sharing what actually troubles you, what you are ashamed of, what you are afraid of. They also discuss the day-long program Roman and his wife Hallie developed for lawyers and their romantic partners — the morning ritual that takes five to ten minutes and asks what are the three things that matter to you today and how can I support you in them, the gratitude ritual where you speak what you want to accomplish as if it has already happened, and the ten guiding principles of couple relating built on the premise that there is me, there is you, and there is a third entity which is the relationship itself and it deserves its own consideration in every decision. Roman also tells the story of the man in his mid-forties who came to him having internalized a full year of childhood sexual abuse by a middle school teacher, used alcohol to numb himself for decades, finally disclosed to a criminal defense attorney after a third DUI, and arrived in Roman's office extremely fragile with a history of recent suicide attempts — and what happened when the judge who dismissed the case on statute of limitations grounds was humble enough to reverse himself on the only motion for reconsideration Roman has had granted in thirty-four years. Roman Lifson is a partner at Christian & Barton, LLP in Richmond, Virginia, a firm celebrating its hundredth anniversary, practicing products liability, commercial litigation, First Amendment and defamation, medical malpractice, motorsports law, and international law. He is a graduate of Amherst College and the University of Virginia School of Law, a Super Lawyer selected continuously since 2013, AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, a former Chair of the Virginia Bar Association Civil Litigation Section, a championship race car driver, outside general counsel to Virginia International Raceway, and the co-founder of Mythic Adventure Travel with his wife Hallie. Connect with Roman Lifson: cblaw.com/roman-lifson Mythic Adventure Travel: mythicadventuretravel.com Phone: 843-377-4747 Christian & Barton, LLP — 901 E. Cary St., Suite 1800, Richmond, VA 23219 Chapters 00:00 Growing up in Soviet Moscow — knowing from early childhood which thoughts could not be said out loud 00:39 Long lines in the winter, the focus on survival, and parents who risked everything to leave 01:40 Arriving in America, a decade at the racing track, and the arc of a thirty-four-year trial career 00:01 (Part 1) What the guest calls his linear first career — wife Hallie as the catalyst for everything that changed 00:12 Sixteen years married, eighteen together — and why she became his entry into personal development 01:52 Mythic Adventure Travel — layering couples work onto trips to Santorini, Croatia, Italy, France 03:22 Thirty-four years of trial work — product liability, commercial litigation, First Amendment, medical malpractice, both sides 04:45 The advantage of variety — why doing both plaintiff and defense work makes him better at both 05:17 Being at a mid-sized firm for a century — how Christian & Barton approaches the generalist trial practice 06:29 My spouse says I bring cases home every night — how do I actually stop doing that 07:00 Rather than avoiding it, find balance — the cases that kept him up at night and what that actually looks like 07:40 Lawyers as problem solvers who too often become problem escalators — and what clients actually need 08:30 The loneliness epidemic and what the Surgeon General said about the lack of authentic human connection #RomanLifson #ChristianBarton #TrustcastShow #LawyerWellness #TrialLawyer #RichmondVirginia #MythicAdventureTravel #MotorsportsLaw