Your Guide to Writing a Thank-You Note Bringing Back a Lost Art
Sometimes, “experts” will recreate accidents with misleading results. That happened in a recent case. AND WON A $2.7M CASE We Fought MIT Expert’s ‘Evidence’ Our 56-year-old client had rented an apartment in a building for many years. One summer morning in 2017, she was cooking food in her kitchen for her church group. There was food cooking in the oven and three large pots boiling on the stovetop. While leaning over to check the food in the oven, she fell onto the open oven door. The stove then tipped onto our client, and the hot pans in the oven and the scalding hot pots of water on the stovetop spilled onto her. The stove tipped because the landlord had not installed the anti- tip device that the manufacturer provided with the oven. Our client suffered burns to her abdomen and chest, through no fault of the landlord, because she fell onto the hot oven door. She suffered
A 2019 survey by Ask Your Target Market showed 80% of respondents appreciate receiving thank-you notes — but only 22% of respondents report regularly sending them. That’s a pretty big discrepancy.
additional severe burns when the oven tipped over and all the hot pots and pans and their contents fell onto her. The defendant landlord contended that due to the force of our client’s body striking the open oven door,
During the holiday season, you probably
received several gifts and may have been hosted at a family member’s house, so now is the perfect time to revive the dying art of the thank-you note. If it’s been a while since you last wrote one, fear not. Here’s everything you need to know to get started. Know When a Note Is Needed. You should strongly consider sending a thank-you note any time you receive a gift, but they are particularly expected after big events like weddings or showers. It’s also good form to send a note whenever someone has done you a big favor or hosted you at their house. Professionally, thank-you notes should always be sent after job interviews. Notes should be sent as soon as possible, ideally within one month of the gift or event. Use Paper. It may seem old-fashioned, but that’s exactly what makes it special. In fact, the Ask Your Target Market survey found that 72% of respondents thought handwritten notes were more meaningful than electronic ones. Even if your handwriting is messy, your recipients will appreciate the personal touch. Exceptions apply for thank-you notes sent after job interviews — due to time sensitivity, these are best sent via email. Be Specific. Especially when you’ve got a large stack to get through, it’s pretty tempting to write the same note over and over again, changing only the salutation. Don’t give in! While it’s fine to have a template, recipients will recognize when the note you sent them is generic. Be sure to mention exactly what you’re thankful for (not just “the gift”) or how you plan to use the gift. Now, you’re ready to let people know how much you appreciate them in a way that’s both simple and classic. Even though, as the saying goes, a good deed is its own reward, don’t be too surprised if the positive energy you are sending out comes back to you in unexpected ways.
the pans still would have fallen from the stovetop even with an anti-tip device installed. In support of that argument, the defendant hired an expert with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT. That expert recreated the conditions of the accident, complete with an oven and pots of boiling water on the stovetop, then reenacted the accident. However, his reenactments were performed with an anti-tip device installed. In each of the reenactments, the hot cookware came flying off the stovetop. Essentially, the defendant argued that his failure to install the anti-tip device made no difference, that even if the anti-tip device had been installed, our client still would have suffered the very same level of injuries, all due to her initial fall. After a careful analysis of the defendant’s reenactments, we detailed the numerous ways that their expert’s simulations were not performed under conditions substantially similar to the subject accident, as per the controlling law. The law also requires that an expert’s assumptions and opinions be based on principles that are generally accepted in the scientific community. We were able to point to several ways in which the landlord’s expert failed to meet this legal requirement. Based upon the strength of our arguments, especially our showing the problems with their expert’s methods and conclusions, we were able to successfully achieve a settlement for our client. The defendant had hoped his expert’s testimony would result in a dismissal of the case. But our counterarguments resulted in the defendant’s insurance carrier offering $2,750,000 to settle the matter and avoid a trial. It just goes to show you that just because somebody says they are an expert, that doesn’t always give them the final say.
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