DECEMBER 2015

We hope your enjoyed your Thanksgiving! And now the granddaddy of
them all, the Christmas Season is upon us. Hope you have a great
Holiday Season!

THANKS: I want to thank YOU our readers for your generous referrals
in 2015! We especially thank Den K., Bobby R., Maryeline S., Dr.
P., and Chris C. for their thoughtful referrals this month.

Special Shout Out: Congratulations to Diana I. on winning the
$50.00 November Gift Card!

Now for the December ?? of the month and a chance to win a FREE
Christmas $50.00 gift card. Name just one Christmas song.

New telltully.net Website: A lot of readers have checked out our
new and improved website at telltully.net. I hope you do too,
especially the section called Bernie’s Blogs. Several times a week
we try to post a Blog on issues relating to personal injury and
criminal law that you might find entertaining and even helpful.

Structured Settlements In Personal Injury Cases: In about 90% of
settled personal injury cases the client spends all the money
within two years. It is the same whether the settlement is for a
couple of thousand dollars or $1 million. The result is still the
same. Within two years most people have gone through their money.
Who knows why. I do have a suggestion if you receive a $$
settlement in any injury case.

Consider a structured settlement. A structured settlement lets
money grow tax-free as long as the money is in the account. If you
buy a structured annuity and let it sit for ten years or so, you
may be incredibly amazed with how much your $$ has grown in that
period of time. Then you can enjoy the fruits of that investment
tax free. It is something you should think about, in my opinion.

Duquesne University Law School Forum: I was recently asked to
speak at Duquesne University Law School about running a law
practice. I represented the solo and small law firms. The number
one point I tried to make to the students was this: you can be Law
Review and at the top of your class in law school, but if you
cannot relate to clients and the people who have hired you, your
practice is going to be a giant bust. Caring for your clients and
what their needs are is the number one way to get future cases.
Why? Because the clients will know that you care enough about them
to give it your best shot.

Insurance Company $$$ Offers Around The Holidays: Did you ever
wonder why insurance companies try to settle their cases around
Thanksgiving and Christmas? One reason is to get their cases
closed out by the end of the year. Another reason is they know
that folks are strapped for $$$ around the Christmas season. They
know that it costs money to buy gifts for loved ones. They know
that clients are the most vulnerable at that time of year to want
a settlement of their cases. In some situations that is
advantageous to you. However, if the offer is much lower than what
we think you are entitled to, you can be sure that we will tell
you that in no uncertain terms.

Christmas Help: A lot of you may be in a tough financial bind. We
want to help. If you really do need help during the Christmas
season, please give us a call at 412-281-8700. Incredibly what I
have found over the years is that you the readers do not abuse
this offer. I find that ONLY people that genuinely are in need of
help really do call us. With that guideline, I welcome any calls
for those really in need during the Christmas season.

Shooting of Naked Man Prompts Lawsuit: In Atlanta, the family of
an unarmed naked man, who was fatally shot and killed by police
officers, has filed a federal wrongful death suit. The police
officer on the scene shot and killed Anthony Hill on March 9th of
2015. They were responding to a call about a man behaving
erratically outside a suburban apartment complex. Mr. Hill was
unarmed at the time of the shooting. The mother of the deceased
said that she is filing the lawsuit to force a change in the way
police are trained to handle similar situations.

Court Reinstates Sandusky’s Pension: Convicted serial child
molester Jerry Sandusky will receive a pension despite his
criminal conviction a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has ruled.
What Sandusky was convicted of, namely child molestation charges,
does not disqualify him from collecting a pension. Legally only
certain types of convictions such as those involving fraud, graft
and the like by a public employee void a person’s pension. Since
that did not occur in this case, the Pennsylvania Court ruled in
his favor. What do you think of that decision?

Merry Christmas!

Your attorney/friend,

Bernie Tully
See you next year!

Thank you all once again for all your kind referrals!