- posted: Dec. 26, 2023
Who do you love more than your dog? Probably your immediate family, and that’s it. Who else shows they’re happy when they see you, or waits at the front door for you to get home? Unlike a spouse, you only have 10 to 15 years of this love and devotion.
If left alone, your dog will not have food or water, and possibly be chained. Your dog needs you!...so DON’T DRINK, DRIVE OR TEXT AND GET A PI OR DUI. YES, INTEXTICATED, IS AS SERIOUS AS BEING INTOXICATED! CALL A TAXI OR UBER…THEY ARE CHEAPER THAN CALLING ME.
Today we visit Drunk Driving and Accidents, and being taken to jail or the hospital. Both will cause you money and heartache…not to mention embarrassment. You want the lights following you home to be street lights, and not Red and Blue flashing lights. Remember, for both, Silence is Golden and Handcuffs are Silver.
You can only hurt your case talking to the police or the insurance company. It is not what you say, but what they “thought you said”… so keep your mouth shut! Many lawyers don’t understand, that it is not just what you say, but rather what the adjuster, investigator, officer THOUGHT you said. If I tell them the same thing, and I am wrong, I can say I must have misunderstood my client, and I will check and get back to you. If you say the same thing, you are locked into that testimony.
Remember the 3 S’s……SILENCE, SILENCE, SILENCE. DO NOT TALK, SIGN, SETTLE OR DEAL WITH ANYONE FROM THE INSURANCE COMPANY OR POLICE, WITHOUT THE YOUR LAWYERS OK. Please understand, the insurance company on a PI, and the police on a DUI, are “not on your side” and you are not in “good hands” because your “friendly neighbor” will not give you “ a piece of the rock.”
When stopped for a DUI and requested to take the VOLUNTARY Breath or Field Sobriety Agility Test, set me up as the strawman, and let me be the bad guy. EXPLAIN, YOU WOULD BE HAPPY TO TALK TO THEM. HOWEVER, YOUR LAWYER ASKED YOU TO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING, WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. Ask the police to call me,and then you will do whatever they want.
They won’t call me, but you can honestly testify that you were willing to do, and answer anything if they just got the ok from your lawyer. With an accident case, get the name and number of the adjuster, and explain you want to get permission to talk to them from your lawyer. After you call me, I will call to explain to them, it is not the policy of our office to allow a client to talk. Thus, you remain the good guy and the lawyer is the bad guy.
The truth is that you may not need a PI/DUI lawyer. However, you do need a lawyer who focuses on these areas of the law. After a free strategy analysis consultation to determine your needs, I may advise clients they can proceed without me.
Followers of my legal columns and “Accidentally Yours” talk shows, know: “ONLY hire a local award-winning PI Lawyer, and NOT some no- name, nonlocal 1-800 lawyer. As an accident victim, I have “walked in your shoes and understand what you are, and will be, going through. “Don’t let a lawyer, who has not walked in your shoes, tell you how to tie your laces, and don’t let the insurance company run you over again.” Demand sound advice, not soundbites, from an experienced award-winning lawyer!
Only retain a lawyer who has also been in an accident and understands: your not being able to lift/bend; trouble sleeping; fear of driving; temperamental; confused; what to do first; how to find a doctor and then which doctor. After all, you want a doctor who is competent in providing medical care… and knows How To Write A Med/Legal Report which is not taught in most medical school. For a decade, I taught the a the Prestigious International College of Orthopedic Surgeons, on this subject. This is a major factor in getting more money on a case.
The insurance company is motivated by “Perception of Risk”. Thus, you would prefer a doc saying there is a 50% chance you will not recover, rather than there is a 50% you will recover. Keep them scared of your hitting it “big”.
If you are like me, you may have had trouble sleeping and reliving the accident when sleeping and driving. I would constantly look in the rear and side view mirrors to be sure the cars behind me were stopping. When I heard brakes screech, I would tighten my neck and shoulder muscles, preparing to be hit.
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Dale Gribow, Attorney at Law, is a “Boutique Concierge” PI/DUI multi TOP LAWYER award winning firm with numerous “Days in his honor.”
Future article ideas? Contact Gribow-760 837-7500; [email protected]
