MOVIE REVIEW: ‘THE RAINMAKER’ JUSTICE FOR THE INJURED
Stuck inside, roaming the United States of Netflix, I just watched “The Rainmaker,” a movie based on a novel by John Grisham about a lawsuit against an insurance company. It did a pretty good job portraying the insurance industry the way we often find them — using bad-faith denials and institutionalized delays and protecting their shareholders rather than the people who faithfully pay their policy premiums. The story is set in Tennessee. A young lawyer (Rudy Baylor played by Matt Damon), fresh out of law school, signs on with a firm that requires him to bring in his own business. He gets paid only when he makes money on his own cases. Law firms call this practice “eat what you kill.” Rudy signs one of his first clients: a family whose son is dying of cancer and was denied necessary treatment under his insurance policy. He fights for their rights to get the insurance company to honor the terms of their policy for their sick son. The insurance company behaves in a way we have come to expect, especially with our clients’ workers’ compensation and ERISA long-term disability claims. The insurance company will often deny claims just to see if the person on the other side of that denial will fight them to force them to do right. Let’s face it, many times you just don’t know the terms of the insurance policy, the law, or what your rights are. How could you? So, the insurance companies take advantage of a lot of people. We see this with ERISA long-term disability claims as well, but truthfully, most lawyers don’t understand the nature of the denial or how complex it is to appeal. So, they run the clock on their 180 days to appeal and put together an appeal that is denied simply because the claimant doesn’t know what the governing law says or what the judge will be looking for in the administrative record. That’s why we review denial letters for free and give people our advice on the next steps in the process — whether they hire us or not. Spoiler alert: Young Rudy, though he was inexperienced (and I hope you never have an inexperienced attorney handling your litigation), managed to uncover the smoking gun from the insurance company in the discovery process and ultimately wins millions for his client.
If you have had a claim denied in an insurance case, give us a call and we can help you take the next right steps. Frank and Keith are way better looking than Matt Damon (or at least a lot more experienced than the movie character he plays) and will take care of you and your family!
administrators are at risk of serious injury because of violence in the school. Without adequate security, it’s teachers like Clayton who have to break up fights, often to protect a student from serious injury. We’ve seen a number of these cases, and they’re disturbing. Clayton’s obviously in good shape. He did what he had to do and paid the price. After surgery and a long and intense rehab, we’re glad to report he’s feeling better. -Brooke Birkey
Clayton, a public charter school teacher, had a serious shoulder injury when he stepped in to break up a fight at the charter school he taught at. A lot of charter schools in the city serve at-risk kids — really doing the Lord’s work with many of them — but this comes with a price. Many times, the teachers and CONGRATULATIONS CORNER: CLAYTON DUCKETT
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