Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

Over the last three decades as an aggressive Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer, I hear one common complaint from clients who have had a bad experience with an attorney or are looking to switch law firms, namely that they do not receive any communications from the lawyers representing them and that they have spent a scant amount of time with the client during the initial intake or interview.

When a new client comes into our law firm, I make it point to meet with each and every client and have a rule that all inquiries or concerns must be addressed within 24 hours. The purpose is twofold, one is because I recognize that I must be accountable to my clients added to the fact that in the initial interview it must be clear to me which cases are worth pursuing and which ones are not.

While the skilled Philadelphia car accident and catastrophic injury lawyers of Reiff and Bily only accept approximately 5-10% of the cases that we review, we understand that the first meeting with our client is an important meeting in order to make a proper assessment so that the client has realistic expectations. Many times we find that our firm receives clients or business several years later after a client may have had another accident or incident that occurred after we did not accept a previous case. Those clients remember how thorough our lawyers were and how regularly we communicated with them in an honest fashion.

Our experienced Philadelphia trial lawyers and staff understand that without integrity nothing stands and being thorough and honest with our clients will win our firm more cases and insure client satisfaction as well. Like any other profession, law is an older man’s game, and I note that many lawyers like to talk but very rarely listen. Listening to our clients and their complaints can make all the difference in the world and reveals to the client we care about and understand their issues. Listening also allows us to make more informed decisions and analysis about the case. We understand that lawyers and staff members who do small things correctly will lead to a more successful operation. We understand that referrals are the highest compliments that our law firm can receive and are the life blood of our law firm.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a catastrophic accident or the victim of medical malpractice or a defective product, the experienced lawyers of Reiff and Bily always offer a free, no obligation consultation. Contact us toll free at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an experienced Pennsylvania trial attorney who has successfully handled thousands of complex injury cases since 1979 with a successful track record, I am incredibly amazed that many lawyers still have not abandoned what I consider to be dinosaur billing methods of hourly rates. As a consumer, I recently had the opportunity to consult with a lawyer on a real estate matter that was well out of my area of expertise. I was shocked to learn that many of the attorneys that I contacted were charging fees ranging anywhere from $500 to $1,000 per hour, and, in fact, when I went to one meeting, I was told that I would be billed per hour for each attorney working on the case which meant that if I went to a conference with 5 attorneys, I could conceivably end up paying up to $5,000 an hour. I had to kick myself and laugh when I recently read that billings at many of the large law firms are down and that clients were seeking alternatives in fee arrangements. In my opinion, I think the day of excessive hourly legal billings in going out of style faster than the Nehru jacket and if those lawyers don’t get it, then shame on them.

For over 30 years, I have believed that an attorney should be rewarded if he is successful in obtaining a good result for his client, meaning if there is no recovery, there should be no fee and if there is a recovery, the lawyer should be entitled to a small percentage. I believe that attorneys who work on a contingent fee basis perform a valuable service to the public because they take cases that poor and middle class clients could not otherwise afford to bring. I find that most clients dislike paying high hourly fees and desire to tie their lawyer’s compensation to performance and give him an incentive to produce great results. Obviously, a contingent fee lawyer has an incentive to work harder on a case where he has a percentage of the profits.

The Pennsylvania catastrophic injury law firm of Reiff & Bily focus on catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We thoroughly screen and investigate each of our potential cases to evaluate its merits, and if we decide to accept your case, we will fully dedicate our resources and if we don’t win, you don’t have to pay us a fee. We have received the distinction of being named Pennsylvania Super Lawyers by Philadelphia Magazine and Law and Politics Magazine due to our outstanding achievements in handling catastrophic injury, medical malpractice, and product liability cases both in Philadelphia, as well as throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a prestigious organization that recognize exceptional trial lawyers who possess the excellence and experience to handle large and complex cases and have achieved million dollar verdict awards or settlements. We have received the highest rating by Martindale Hubbell and have been recognized by our peers with an AV rating. We have achieved a superb 10 out of 10 rating by avvo.com.

If you would like to have a free no obligation consultation to learn more about our no recovery no fee guarantee, please contact us online at www.reiffandbily.com or toll free at 1-800-421-9595.

You would be amazed how many times I have had this conversation with potential clients in the last 31 years. Many times when I first meet a client, I am surprised to learn that much time has gone by since the accident, medical bills have been piling up in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a person has lost their job, and income stream, household bills are long overdue and the victim is now facing a financial crisis, and yet I am told that because of their faith or upbringing, they are not the type of people who like to sue. Many ask me “What should I do?"

Since 1979, I have always tried to be the hardest working, most honest and forthright lawyer fighting for my clients’ rights. I am proud of the fact that some may call me a greedy trial lawyer. In fact, yes I am greedy, I am greedy for justice. As a sensitive and religious person, I believe that God watches everything and believe that defendants must be held accountable for their actions and that God looks to test and provide for those who seek out his guidance. Many people are afraid that if they hire a lawyer to represent their legal interests, they will be judged unfairly by God, their minister, priest, rabbi, or fellow man. I am a firm believer in telling the truth and the laws of the United States exist to protect one’s individual rights. My goal as a lawyer is to present the whole truth of the scenario and let a jury decide, considering the “good, bad and uglies" of the case, and I have faith in our fellow man sitting as jurors to do the right thing. Without integrity, nothing stands!

If you or a loved one has been catastrophically injured or sustained a fatality due to a truck accident or car accident, you must march forward with your head held high and not only protect your own interests but make sure that this event never occurs again, causing injury or death to others. If you or a loved one has sustained a catastrophic injury or wrongful death as the result of medical malpractice, product defect, amusement park accident, water park accident, or truck accident and would like a free no obligation consultation concerning your rights, please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Recently I was visited by a relative of a long-term client of ours who was steered to another law firm who “specialized in significant malpractice cases" for an alleged malpractice case involving her husband. Since we have represented the client’s family members for multiple generations, she came to me to review the file after the medical malpractice attorney that she retained never responded to her phone calls or requests to discuss the file. In fact, she claimed, the lawyer’s office had “fallen off the face of the earth." Unfortunately when we carefully reviewed the file, we determined that not only did the other lawyer fail to obtain an appropriate expert or obtain a certificate of merit, they also blew the statute of limitations whereupon the client’s claim against the negligent health provider and institution would be forever barred leaving the only course of action to be a legal malpractice claim against the attorney.

Unfortunately, there are many lawyers who claim to be specialists in an area requiring experience and complex legal technical skills when in fact they get involved in legal areas of litigation in which they have limited experience. Worse yet, they are obviously ignorant of this fact and fail to consult with or refer the case to a properly qualified attorney.

Continue reading "Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyer Commits Legal Malpractice" »

As an experienced catastrophic and personal injury lawyer since 1979, often handling many cases against major corporations, trucking companies, and commercial carriers, whenever we commence a trucking accident or commercial carrier case, or for that matter a product liability case against a major automobile manufacturer, we know and understand the roadblocks that will be thrown in our way. Obviously, corporations put profits ahead of consumer safety. Corporate obstruction tactics can rise to the level of dishonesty and deceit often requiring an aggressive motion practice and sharpened litigation skills to reach the truth. Normally after a major accident involving a defective automobile such as an SUV rollover or crash worthiness case or even a truck accident case, corporate representatives will have investigative teams on the site immediately. These are known as “go teams" and their responsibility is mostly, in this experienced lawyer’s opinion, to clean up the site and make a job prosecuting the claim as difficult as possible. The corporate motto seems to be deny, delay, and defend.

It is incredible how many times one gets involved in litigation only to discover the realities of the situation are vastly different than those presented by the corporate defendant or trucking company. Handling such cases requires an extraordinary degree of specialization and experience.

At the experienced Pennsylvania product liability and truck accident law firm of Reiff & Bily, we have been handling such cases with a successful track record since 1979. If you or a loved one has been involved in a catastrophic accident involving a defective product or a truck, please feel free to contact one of our experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyers for a free no obligation consultation and of course, we offer a no win, no fee guarantee. Please contact us at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

At the Philadelphia personal injury law firm of Reiff & Bily, we receive phone calls regularly from people who are involved in a crisis where their lives are changed forever as a result of the negligence of another, a product liability defect, or a slip and fall or premise liability claim. A serious injury or tragic wrongful death can greatly impact a client and their family and our experienced lawyers are ready to step in with a total and intensified personalized effort to make sure that you are not alone and are receiving the guidance you need when a crisis occurs. We are intensely committed and driven by genuine empathy for the physical and financial challenges that injury victims and their families face as a result of the negligence of others and operate on a no recovery/no fee representation guarantee. Regardless of your wealth, position, or power, there is no need to be alone in a legal crisis.

Put over 31 years experience on your side. All great successes are dependent on the efforts of committed individuals. Never, never, never give up.

As an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have become valuable mining grounds for information on individuals and parties involved in lawsuits. Whatever you post on the Internet can be pulled up later in life and used in discovery and court proceedings.

Almost always in the preparation of one of our cases, we do a complete Internet search background on witnesses, parties and even lawyers involved in the case to determine more about their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Many of the web-based information sites set forth their terms indicating that they have the right to do whatever they want with your content. Therefore, it is important to check the terms of service with the social networking site of your choice to determine what rights you have. Some of the sites state that once a person closed his or her account, the site no longer had a right to that content. However, it may no longer be the case.

In many cases, Facebook or other social networking sites may not be your friend in the personal injury case. Not only are the plaintiff’s attorneys viewing what you set forth on your page, but just consider this – all the defense companies, insurance companies and their legal team and experts have a right to your Facebook page as well, noting vacations, activities and any other information that may affect your claim. Many people who claim to have problems with limited activity reveal evidence of themselves dancing, participating in sports or traveling. Defense companies and lawyers will use any resource that they have available to discredit you. So, be careful what you post on Facebook.

Jeffrey Reiff is the founding partner of Reiff & Bily, an experienced personal injury litigation firm based in Philadelphia, and concentrates his practice in product liability, car accidents and medical malpractice.

The dictionary defines “hope" as the belief in a positive outcome relating to the events and circumstances in one’s life. Hope implies a certain amount of despair; wanting, wishing, suffering or perseverance, believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence leading to the contrary.

The term “false hope" refers to hope highly based on fantasy or an extremely unlikely outcome.

At the Philadelphia catastrophic injury law firm of Reiff & Bily, our lawyers understand and respect the value of hope and the loss of someone’s dreams. It is our job to communicate the plaintiffs’ dreams and hopes to the insurance companies and ultimately to the juries who hear our cases. It is our job to prove what the plaintiff is capable of doing or was capable of doing prior to an incident and identify the compensation necessary for the plaintiff to recognize the fulfillment of his dreams and goals. The lawyers of Reiff & Bily are not afraid to ask the insurance companies or juries to fully compensate plaintiffs for the loss of their dreams and hopes.

Continue reading "My Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Reinforced the Value of Hope" »

Both Raymond M. Bily, Jr. and Jeffrey M. Reiff of the Philadelphia law firm of Reiff & Bily have had extensive experience handling thousands of serious personal injury cases in Philadelphia for almost 30 years. We both volunteer as Judge Pro Tempore for the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia evaluating cases on a pro bono basis.

Both attorneys travel and handle cases throughout the United States involving complex personal injury and serious car accident cases. When we determine to accept a case, the case must make economic sense. We must balance the potential for loss against the potential for recovery and consider both the time and money needed to fully prosecute the case.

This is a non-exacting process based upon our years of experience handling thousands of cases. Unfortunately our careful screening process only enables us to represent a small portion of clients who initially consult with us on a free, no obligation-basis.

Continue reading "Experienced Philadelphia Catastrophic Injury Lawyers Jeffrey Reiff and Raymond Bily: Educated Gamblers - How We Are Able to Represent the Client's Story to a Jury" »