Tough Decisions

[admin]

My husband and I are trying to decide on which attorney to select. One is approx. 2 hours from us. She is a nurse attorney that only handles medical malpractice cases and she was recommended by a well known attorney in Texas that handles BPI cases. But she has only handled 5 BPI cases and they all settled. None of the injuries were as severe as our daughter's. She seems to want to approach the case due to the lack of prenatal care (i.e nothing was done to try to determine the size of the baby before delivery and my first daughter suffered a broken clavicle by the same doctor.) Another attorney from out of state has never handled a case in our state and will have to hire local counsel and split the fee with them. This attorney talked about the use of excessive traction and the severity of our daughter's injury. This attorney currently has cases pending in 5 states and has handled many more BPI cases. We tried to list the prons and cons of choosing between the 2, but we wondered if anyone else had to decide. An in state attorney would know the local judges and defense attorneys. There would be less expenses for travel to depositions, etc. if the case settles. However, it seems like more BPI cases are going to trial so it seems that experience is crucial. Any ideas or advice? (I chose not to post my name/email address for now but I would be willing to email people off line.) Thanks!

[mae2050]

Our attourney was in our own town and I found this very helpful. He was always around when we needed him. He could even stop by our house to drop things off when needed. He also knew the defense attourneys which i think really helped our settlement.

[admin]

I would ask for references and talk to families that dealt with both attorneys.

We fired a local attorney and went with one many states away. The communication we have with our current attorney highly exceeds the relationship we had with our local attorney. We email and phone call all the time and we've never had a delay in communication. When a local attorney is hired by an out of state attorney, usually it is to help file the paperwork, understand the nuances of the locality and do some local footwork. The attorney himself/herself should still be running the show completely.

I wish you luck in figuring this out. One never really knows until the outcome, if they chose correctly or not.

[admin]

Hmmmm...the out of state atty sounds a lot like Ken Levine. Beware: he is extremely difficult to reach, doesn't return phone calls, etc. I've heard he knows his stuff but his lack of communication (and therefore, lack of professionalism) will drive you nuts the whole time you are associated with him (which feels like forever).

[admin]

Hmmmm...the out of state atty sounds a lot like Ken Levine. Beware: he is extremely difficult to reach, doesn't return phone calls, etc. I've heard he knows his stuff but his lack of communication (and therefore, lack of professionalism) will drive you nuts the whole time you are associated with him (which feels like forever).

[Gayle]

Which attorney is it and what is her number.

You may email if you wish -- We need an attorney in TX for our case and have been having trouble finding one.

gayle_ruckman@hotmail.com

Thanks and I appreciate any info you can give me!
We are looking at our deadline in Jan.

Gayle

[admin]

Where is the BPI experienced lawyer from? If he has 5 cases in other states will he have time for you?