CONGRATULATIONS TO MY DAUGHTER KATIE TULLY on recently receiving her Master’s Degree in Psychology! Katie is on her way toward her PhD in Psychology. Way to go Katie! We are so proud of you!
READERS: Thank you all for reading our Newsletter. I especially want to thank the many current and prior clients for their generous case referrals to our law firm. In particular, Jerry Bowser, Bobby Reed, Gregg Patton, Chuck McQuaid and Tim Greer have recently referred us auto accident cases. We cannot always help the person who has been referred to us, but we will always listen to what happened to them and try to help.
STEELERS: Well as we write this Newsletter the Steelers are a long shot for making the playoffs. They just lost to the Jets. Do you have a new-found respect for Ben? I sure do. Anyone win their Fantasy Football league?
PENGUINS: We are driving toward the playoffs. Malkin and others really stepped up while Sid was out with surgery. Sure hope Sid is ready for another Stanley Cup run.
PITT AND DUQUESNE BASKETBALL: I really like the new coach at Pitt. He is perfect for this young team. Also Duquesne basketball is doing great this year.
PIRATES: Do you still have that reasonable doubt (criminal standard) about the Pirate ownership? Me too!
WHAT IS NEW IN 2020 FOR THE TULLY LAW FIRM: Our practice focus has shifted dramatically in the last 15 years. 15 years ago we were doing about a 50/50 split between criminal cases and civil cases. Today, however, 95% of our cases are car, truck, motorcycle and death cases. About 5% is still in workers compensation, slip & falls and criminal law. If you have a legal matter in any of those areas please feel free to call us. We are here to help. We have been doing all these areas for about 40 years.
HOW CAN WE MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF YOUR CAR CASE? That is what our focus is at work. So here is a tip for January 2020. If you are involved in a car accident, please keep a running diary. It does not have to be anything fancy. It can just be a tablet with the date and how you are feeling. When a case goes on for over a year (which is not uncommon) it is a tremendous help to look back on your diary and know how you were really feeling 11 months ago.
WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON AT THE OFFICE TODAY: Michael’s researching the issue of whether an individual who may have been an independent contractor was legally one, or was he an employee of the target company? If the driver was an independent contractor, we would not be able to pursue a claim against the company. However, if he in reality is an employee of the company …. Stay tuned on this one.
LEGAL TERM IN CAR ACCIDENT CASES: The Last Clear Chance Doctrine. What this means is the person who is operating their car and had the last clear chance to avoid the collision but couldn’t, can be legally responsible for the accident. Suppose someone is speeding down the highway and another car comes into their lane. They can’t react in time to slam on the brakes and they rearend the car that went into their lane. Legally they may be responsible for the accident because they had the last clear chance to avoid it by bringing their car under control before rearending the other car. That is how the last chance doctrine works.
CAR ACCIDENTS AND JURY TRIALS: One of the biggest hurdles to getting fair compensation by a jury is the fear that by giving you a lot of money it will make their insurance rates go up. Once they start thinking like that, you as the victim are at a real disadvantage. They then start to find reasons not to give you $$. We have some ways around that. Call us about them.
WORD OF THE MONTH: Flippant (adjective) Showing lack of respect or describing a remark made without care.
JOKE OF THE MONTH: Did you hear about the 2 people who stole a calendar? They each got 6 months!
CONGRATULATIONS TO: Toni G. who won a $50.00 gift prize for correctly answering last month’s question.
Now for your chance to win: What is the National holiday we celebrate in January in the USA?
How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Yeah, me too!
Your friend and attorney,
Bernard M. Tully
HAPPY NEW YEAR!