"I'm not a lawyer, but - - - -"

When Charles Dickens visited this country many years ago he described it as "The most litigious country in the world". Charlie would have loved it in 2009!

Now, not only do we have attorney commercials seemingly non-stop in Florida, with each firm pleading their case for signing up, but we also have actors encouraging folks to call someone who guarantees to "FIND" you a doctor or an attorney.

While I think it's a brillant premise, I'm puzzled. Did attorneys stop advertising on the back of your phone book?

I'm retired from the insurance claims end of things for about 10 years now, so I admit to some bias - and that's not necessarily bad.

Unfortunately, I continue to be amazed at the gullibility of some people who are willing to listen to the law firms rhetoric only and not think for themselves.

It's not that they can't. I met many good folks with whom I discussed a settlement who were every bit as bright and usually more communicative than a few attorneys with whom I had contact. Ah, but you see, the injured people were usually discussing just one case - their own.

I enjoyed those one on one discussions and I was fair. These were the folks who were "doing the hurting", not the attorney. They were people who deserved my empathy and understanding. Fortunately, I worked for a company that understood this - insisted we pay what we owe - and were consistently ranked as one of the top companies for customer satisfaction.

Yeah, I know - that can't be. Right? We all know insurance companies are evil. Why? Because some attorney ads tell us that they are. When was the last time you saw an insurance company ad that put down attorneys? So, who is it that you want to believe?

Why, when you are the person who was hurt, would you consider sometimes giving away over 1/2 of the money from an insurance settlement? In a recent USA article addressing the cost of litigation the writer spoke of injured claimants who had to pay out 54% of the settlement to their attorneys for fees and administrative costs.

The amount didn't surprise me as much as the fact that a media source would allow that information "to see the light of day". Frankly, in my experience, that's rare to see and I never could figure out why. The news providers always seemed so anxious to tell you about the amount of the settlement. (Ah yeah, there's that bias thing again.)

This is a great country and people should be able to make up their own minds - if given the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, a lot of good information is out there that people never get to see or hear.

Knowing how much time you have to get an attorney, if necessary, is a good first step in using the brain that God gave you. In Pennsylvania you had two years. To me, that seems more than sufficient for the average Joe or Joan to figure out whether or not they believe the insurance company is acting in their best interest.

What's the hurry?

By the way, I get a little uptight when someone in a TV ad is talking to the camera as they are driving. To these old eyes, they don't appear to be looking out to be sure they know where they are going.

But, YOU can be!