DEMONSTRATING NON-ECONOMIC DAMAGES WITH A SETTLEMENT DOCUMENTARY The damages of your case are economic and non-economic. The economic damages are a relative cake walk. Save the receipts and add them up. But how does one prove non-economic damages? These are the facets of the case defined by the amount of damage to the plaintiff’s human condition. How has the event
APPROACHING THE WRONGFUL DEATH CASE A settlement documentary for a wrongful death case is made up of two parts. What qualities did the person have that made him irreplaceable in the lives of the survivors and what effect has the death had on the survivors. As an example, we’ll discuss a hypothetical case about a husband/father who is killed in
PRESENTING YOUR SETTLEMENT DOCUMENTARY In this article we are going to go over ways for presenting a settlement documentary. Settlement documentaries are created specifically for mediation and are not designed to be admissible in court. The purpose of the settlement documentary is to educate the opposition about the enormity of the harm injury victims and their families suffer as a
MYTH #2 ABOUT CASE VALUE Last week, we discussed how adjusters often use “cookie cutter” formulas to dictate the value of a case despite evidence submitted by the plaintiff’s counsel. Too often, this results in major claims failing to be resolved in mediation. But there’s another issue that comes into play during mediation that can also lead to your client
MYTH #1 ABOUT CASE VALUE Many defendants are unwilling to pay a fair value for claims without the full weight of evidence and testimony supporting a plaintiff’s case. As a result, far too many claims fail to be resolved in settlement or mediation when it would be in the best interests of all parties to reach a fair compromise. It
We have successfully completed our first-ever remote settlement documentary project in New Zealand and Brazil. It was quite a challenge with one plaintiff living in New Zealand and another plaintiff living near Sao Paulo, Brazil. The attorneys were looking for a comprehensive, case presentation settlement documentary for each, including interviews and Day In The Life video but there is no
Not every case is suitable for a settlement documentary, and some care must be taken in thinking through the basic criteria. The best documentaries we have produced have been those with thoughtful and credible witnesses, and with injuries- whether physical, emotional, or cognitive- that are significant. A case involving death or significant injuries usually involves aspects that lends itself well
At risk of sounding simplistic, every case has two components: liability and damages. The damages are economic and non-economic. The economic damages are a relative cake walk. Save the receipts and add’em up. But how does one prove non-economic damages? These are the facets of the case defined by the amount of damage to the plaintiff’s human condition. How has
Day-In-The-Life Video vs. Settlement Documentaries Often times the terms “day-in-the-life” and “settlement documentary” are used interchangeably. Though both types of legal video are related, they should be viewed differently from one another. Day-in-the-life video is used to illustrate the everyday struggles the plaintiff endures. Whether that be in the hospital, at therapy, or at home, we capture what it is