PERSONAL INJURY CASES-

Sarah Mallas Wayman

KEEP GOOD RECORDS

By Sarah Mallas Wayman

Automobile collisions resulting in injuries and loss seem to occur on the hour. All states have mandatory liability insurance laws requiring every car to be insured. But as too many have discovered, the presence of insurance alone will not always lead to a satisfactory resolution.

The insurance company-whether yours or the one representing the diver who injured you-is not in the business of taking care of you or anyone else. Their claims representatives are usually polite and friendly, but are duty bound to settle all claims for the lowest possible amount.

There are many things an injured person can do to help increase the amount of a settlement by the insurer. Nothing speaks louder on your behalf those good records. A daily dairy of your medical procedures, the medications you are taking, visits to the physician or clinic and the transportation that was needed to make these appointments. Equally important are the memos of your pain, discomfort, diminution of appetite, insomnia, digestive problems and other occurrences that only arose AFTER the injury.

All insurance adjusters and their attorneys are on the lookout for important facts and will be impressed that you have such precise recall.
In personal injury matters, little things mean a lot.

Please contact me if I can help you.

Sincerely,


Sarah Mallas Wayman
(770) 804-8484
smwlaw@bellsouth.net

Wrecked Cars and the Insurance Company

Sarah Mallas Wayman

What You Should Know


By Sarah Mallas Wayman

Automobile collisions are part of the American experience and losses are often just damage to the car that do not include personal injuries. These are some important considerations you will find helpful if your automobile is seriously damaged.
If your car is beyond repair, it is totaled. The insurance carrier will declare this as a total loss if:
-Damage to the car is catastrophic and it can't be repaired safely,
-The cost of repair exceeds the value of the car itself; or
-The amount of damage is severe enough that Georgia insurance regulations require the car to be declared a total loss.

As a rule, the insurance claims adjuster will arrange inspection and inform you if the car is a total loss. Be sure to remove your personal items from the car.

If your policy covers a total loss, the insurance company will pay the actual cash value of your automobile less any deductible, then take ownership and sell the vehicle to a salvage company.

Your car may have already paid it off and be free of monthly car payments. However, you will only get the value of your car based on a comparison of sale prices of similar vehicles in your local area, taking into account the pre-accident condition of the car, including mileage and any damage not caused by the accident. Make sure to negotiate with the insurance for more. Remember, insurance companies are in the business of paying you as little as possible.

Payment for total loss depends on several factors:
If you own the vehicle, you will get paid.
If you lease, the leasing company gets paid.
If the vehicle is financed, the bank or finance company gets paid and if the settlement amount exceeds what you owe, you will receive the balance.
If the settlement amount is less than what you owe, you'll be responsible for paying the remaining loan balance.

If you have rental coverage, then ask your insurance company to pay for a rental vehicle after your accident. Typically, they will offer only 4-7 days.

It helps to have the advice and counsel of a good lawyer. If you need any help, contact me for an appointment.

Sincerely,

Sarah Mallas Wayman
7500 Hunters Woods Drive
Atlanta, GA 30350
(770) 804.8484
smwlaw@bellsouth.net

PEACE TALKS

 MEDIATION INSTEAD OF LITIGATION

By Sarah Mallas Wayman

Jury trials involve a long time and can become quite expensive. Negotiating a settlement of your dispute directly with the other party through mediation may be the most painless and efficient way to solve it. Compared to a lawsuit, mediation is private, quick, fair, and inexpensive and can be scheduled within a few weeks from the time of a request. Mediation sessions usually last only a few hours or a day, while lawsuits often take many months, or even years to reach an ending.

The vast majority of lawsuits settle short of final trial often at the proverbial 11th hour after every possible pretrial expense has drained the bank accounts. With the guidance of an experienced mediator, that same resolution or settlement could have been achieved earlier with significantly less expense. Mediation allows the parties to resolve their dispute and get on with their personal and business lives, saving resources of time, money, stress and frustration. Submitting disputes to mediation is clearly more effective, efficient and economical than waiting to go to a trial at sometime in the distant future.
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When your dispute involves another person with whom you wish to remain on good terms, mediation is valuable:  Family members, co-workers, business partners, landlords, neighbors, or others you have a personal or business relationship with are likely to respect a mediation effort over a prolonged court case and trial. Too often, lawsuits ruin relationships while mediation can get a dispute resolved without destruction of personal or business relationships.

Confidentiality is another advantage of mediation: What you say during mediation cannot legally be revealed outside the mediation proceedings or used later in a court of law. In contrast, by going to court, almost everything becomes available to the public.

Mediation will nearly always save you money. The mediator can identify the strengths and weaknesses of each side and open the door to a mutually acceptable settlement. My experience has shown that clients who have freely arrived at their own solutions through mediation are usually pleased and free of all the pain from prolonged litigation.

Mediation is a preferred way to resolve disputes. I am happy to discuss mediation possibilities with you and there is no cost for the initial conference.

Sincerely,


Sarah Mallas Wayman
7600 Hunters Woods Drive
Atlanta, GA 30350
(770) 804.8484
smwlaw@bellsouth.net

WINNING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS-

IT IS A JOURNEY


By Sarah Mallas Wayman

Are you aware that a person who qualifies for Social Security Disability may be awarded up to $2,642.00 per month in steady income, plus a lump sum payment of benefits owed from back-pay, plus health insurance and annual cost of living increases?

None of these benefits are automatic. You have to file a proper application which on its face may seem easy enough. But, after filing, the real work begins. Each applicant must show an entitlement and that will almost always be conditioned on medical, psychological, vocational and other forms of evidence. For most lay people, this is daunting. For hose impaired with disability or lacking in funds, this can be a nightmare.

For these reasons alone, competent legal assistance is desirable.

The facts I obtain to proceed with a Social Security Disability application includes information about doctors, healthcare professionals, hospitals and clinics who treated you, plus the names, addresses, phone numbers, patient ID numbers, and dates of all examinations and treatments, along with the names and dates of medical tests you have had and who sent you for them.

And there is more: The names of medications (prescriptions and non-prescriptions), reasons for medication and who prescribed them along with information about other medical records that may be available from vocational rehabilitation services, workers compensation, public welfare or other places.

Your job history is important. The date your medical condition began to affect your ability to work The type of jobs that you had in the 15 years before you became unable to work because of your medical condition with the dates you worked at those jobs, if available along with the type of duties you did on the longest job you had

To be fully prepared we need to know all about your education and training with the highest grade in school completed or any special job training, trade school or vocational school you finished.

When all this has been colleted and discussed, then the application process should begin. Obviously, this is complicated but necessary. I can help and will discuss this with you initially at no cost, by telephone or in person.

Sincerely,


Sarah Mallas Wayman
Attorney
7600 Hunters Woods Drive
Atlanta, GA 30350-5632
(770) 804-8484
smw

LOSS OF CONSORTIUM

INJURY TO THE MARRIAGE SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED

By Sarah Mallas Wayman, Attorney

Automobile collisions and the injuries to passengers are the basis for so many claims against insurance companies and their insured drivers who face legal consequences from their carelessness and negligence. Obviously, an injured person is entitled to compensation for injuries ranging from physical trauma like broken bones, concussions and whiplash. Also, pain and suffering-past, present and future-are matters of great importance in the process of fair dealing with claims for an injured person.

Marriage is a sacred institution and the possibility that a marriage relationship has been diminished by an injury to the husband or wife must be considered. I always inquire about this when I interview victims and their spouses. Georgia allows damages for any diminution of the joys and comforts of a marriage relationship that originated with a collision or other personal injury.

The claim arises when a physically injured person cannot as a result provide his or her spouse with the services, companionship, love, affection and sexual relations enjoyed before the accident. The loss of consortium claim becomes significant when the physically injured spouse has suffered a devastating, long-lasting injury such as paralysis, incontinence, and loss of sexual function or inability to walk. However, the claim for damages can be significant for other injuries. Professionally, I examine the situation existing in the marriage prior to the injuries and afterward, looking for impairment or diminution of disposition and temperament, their social life, any alteration of services rendered in supervising the household and the all-important matters involving acts of affection, love and sexual intercourse.

Any reduction of these comforts and joys of daily living within the marriage should be determined and where merited, become part of the determined effort to obtain just and fair compensation.

And it is important to note that there are recent cases in other states where loss of consortium has resulted in awards of up to one million dollars.

All right minded people should work to fairly settle claims. But whether by settlement or though a trial by jury, where there is any damage to the marriage connected to the wrongful acts, compensation for loss of consortium is a valid and necessary consideration.

Please contact me with any questions. There is no charge for an initial consultation.

Sincerely yours,


Sarah Mallas Wayman
7600 Hunters Woods Drive
Atlanta, GA 30350
(770) 804-8484
smwlaw@bellsouth.net

AUTOMOBILE INJURIES

Pain, disability and Financial Loss

By Sarah Mallas Wayman

You’re headed home from the store carrying food for dinner when suddenly, without any warning a car you never saw runs a stop sign and violently crashes into you on the driver’s side. Once healthy, you are now beleaguered with physical injuries and almost unbearable pain. Life has changed and the consequences may be permanent.

Georgia law requires all drivers to have liability insurance. But this doesn’t mean you are going to be made whole by a stranger representing the negligent driver’s insurance company. While in an ideal world that might be desirable, here it just won’t happen.

There are things you, your family or a lawyer should do immediately. First, cooperate with the police but don’t talk to strangers who aren’t with law enforcement. Next, have someone obtain the police report. They are easily obtainable at a modest cost.

You are required to report all accidents to your insurance company and with them, be very candid and thorough. They will answer your questions about medical coverage, car damage repair and more.

Medical attention in many cases is required. As soon as practicable, obtain copies of all emergency room reports, hospital recodes and any thing else regarding your treatment. Have someone take photos of your wrecked car, the accident scene and even the car that crashed into you.

Most of us want to avoid lawsuits and in many cases settlement can be accomplished without court intervention. But that will happen only when everyone acts in good faith with fairness. It is no sin to ask for what the law allows an injured person and that includes actual losses to property, out of pocket expenditures for medications and medical treatment, surgery, physical therapy, lost wages, loss of consortium and pain and suffering.

The question will almost always be what is the dollar value of all your losses? In many cases, you will benefit from having the help of a seasoned personal injury lawyer.

Remember, a case settled honestly and fairly is always possible. Even if a lawsuit is filed. Court supervised mediation can be a time saver and lead to a fair conclusion.

Feel free to call or email me with any questions.

Sincerely,

SARAH MALLAS WAYMAN
Attorney
(770) 804.8484
SMWlaw@bellsouth.net

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS

WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY

Sarah Mallas Wayman, Attorney

If there is one bit of advice I would give to everyone it would be to see a lawyer you like and trust and have your will properly prepared. It is thoughtful on your part because you will not only avoid causing needless hardship after your funeral, you will have the satisfaction of knowing while you are alive that your property including real estate, jewelry, automobiles, money and heirlooms will go only to those you designated.  It will also avoid having your beneficiaries perceive you as callous and inconsiderate.

In some instances, there may be adverse tax consequences for an estate without a will. Planning ahead can lessen burdens and help avoid difficulties and certain expenses.

There is the element of peace of mind as well. Wouldn’t we rather take care of our affairs and show appreciation for our family and friends prior to becoming too ill to do so?

Making a will is a pleasant process. Fell free to call for a discussion. This is a subject dear to my heart and nothing pleases me more that to help a client plan those things that will happen someday.

If you don’t make a Will, the State of Georgia creates a Will for you.  In that process, the whole administration of an Estate can be unnecessarily expensive, laborious, tedious, and indeed, self-deceptive, because you knew better and did not do it.

As a former attorney-assistant to the Superior Court of Fulton County, I was acquainted with cases requiring court time, costs and expenses, and a delayed administration time because of the decedent’s “no-will stance”.

Inquiries are welcome. Contact me by phone or email with your questions.



Sincerely,

Sarah Mallas Wayman
Attorney
(770) 804.8484
SMWlaw@bellsouth.net