In personal injury work, not every case fits a neat pattern. We kind of live and die by the facts, and sometimes those facts force you to think differently. One of my current cases is a good example. My client was a passenger on the back of her partner’s motorcycle. They turned onto a block in New York City, hit a defect in the roadway, and she was thrown off the bike and injured. She first came to us thinking it was a case against the city. For her, the problem was the road's condition. I understood that, but I also had to look at the bigger picture. Yes, that defect shouldn’t have been there. But I had to ask whether the person operating the motorcycle could have avoided it. That’s where things get complicated. You suddenly have competing theories of negligence and more than one party who may share responsibility for the same crash. Once you see there are two issues, the work behind the scenes changes. In a case like this, I have to sit down and decide how to draft the bill of particulars and the allegations for each party. Do I split everything into separate sections, one for the city and one for the motorcycle operator, or do I frame it as what we call concurrent negligence, where both of them helped cause the same accident? That’s where you have to reinvent the wheel and get creative. These cases are very fact-heavy, and you have to walk that line so everybody who may be responsible stays in the case. You don’t want one side pointing the finger at the other and slipping away. It also means having an honest conversation with the client. In this case, I had to explain that yes, we are absolutely going after the city for that roadway defect, but just to protect you, we also have to explore this other avenue. Situations like this aren’t rare. Any time the facts point in more than one direction, we have to be ready to rethink our first idea and build a strategy that fits the case, not the other way around. FACTS FIRST IN A TRICKY CASE Reinventing the Wheel for Clients
Do you ever wish you could accomplish more in a day? Whether you’re trying to squeeze out as many tasks as possible at work or take care of all of your chores before Sunday, it can feel like you’re always trying to maximize your productivity. But many of us feel like we fall short each day. You may think you just need to regularly refresh your coffee or eliminate every distraction from your mind to improve your productivity, but this only gets you so far. Instead, focus on incorporating strong, simple strategies into your routine. Here are three ideas to help you be as productive as possible, no matter the situation. Put a plan in place. When do you start thinking about what you need to accomplish on any given day? Too often, people wait until they face their work computer or stare at a sink full of dishes to strategize their day. Instead, take some time before you wrap up work to establish your priorities for the following day. Before the weekend starts, figure out which chores you need to do and the best time to tackle them. Having a plan will increase your likelihood of sticking to it. Stop saying yes. How often do you say “no” to others? Many of us are people pleasers who often agree to requests, even if they exceed our capacity. Saying “yes” all the time will lead to burnout, regardless of whether it’s your boss asking you to complete a project before noon or your friends wanting to go out for the fourth night in a row. Say no, and keep your main priorities at the forefront of your mind. Take regular breaks. You may want to push through all your tasks so you can finally unwind and relax, but this could lengthen the process. Sticking to your responsibilities like glue prevents your body and brain from taking necessary breaks to recalibrate and reset so you can operate at peak performance. Stop Trying to Hustle Harder Plan Smarter Instead
My job, and our firm’s job, is to use our knowledge, experience, and creativity to keep every realistic path to recovery open for our clients.
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