Schatten Law Firm

06/26/2024

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

– Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 11. Atticus to Jem after the death of Mrs. Dubose, whom Jem had been reading aloud to for the previous month. Atticus is a good father who wants to teach his children about courage. Mrs. Dubose was addicted to painkillers but was determined to overcome her addiction before dying and Atticus made Jem read to her to distract her from her pain. This also foreshadows that Atticus will take on the Tom Robinson case, knowing he has little chance of winning and angering many townspeople.

● To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To Kill a Mockingbird has become a classic of modern American literature; a year after its release, it won the Pulitzer Prize. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten.
• Book: https://amzn.to/3Xo8e7C

06/21/2024

Colorado personal injury law will have some major changes with a (3X) triple increase in caps in damages starting with lawsuits filed after January 2025.

If you or a friend or family member have been involved in an accident, considering the new environment, it is important to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer to think about best strategy as to when to file a personal injury lawsuit.

Marc Schatten has been practicing law for 25+ years, has over nine years of expertise practicing personal injury law in Colorado and has been rated in Super Lawyers in Personal Injury for the last five years, 2019 to 2024.

Established in 1979, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP is a full-service AmLaw 100 law firm with offices across the U.S.

06/21/2024

You should always try to protect your assets that you have worked hard to accumulate in life. As part and parcel, you need to have sufficient auto insurance to protect yourself, your family and your assets in the event of a serious car accident where you maybe at fault for the accident.

Further, 1 out of every 6 people in Colorado is driving without insurance. And, the state minimum is only $ 25,000 insurance. So, its important to have sufficient Uninsured/Underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) insurance coverage.

In addition to get comprehensive insurance to protect for any damage to your vehicle, I agree with the points from this article. And, depending on your assets and if you can afford it, you may want to consider getting a a $ 1 million to $ 5 million umbrella.

To protect yourself, it can be wise to have auto insurance that is two times greater then all you and your family's assets. And, that includes specifically bodily injury insurance, UM/UIM insurance and an umbrella policy.

These are important points from the article:

You’re better off with $250,000 to $500,000 of personal liability, uninsured, and underinsured motorist coverage and $10,000 of medical payments coverage, plus a $1,000,000 umbrella policy with liability, uninsured, and underinsured coverages.

Believe it or not, the difference in price between these policies is pretty small. Compare these two quotes.

The article goes on to explain:

The cost of your auto insurance depends on accident history, car make and model, age, gender, location, and other factors, so you could end up spending more or less than this. It’s always a good idea to compare various policies to see how much extra protection costs.

Getting hit by an underinsured driver is my worst nightmare. If I’m killed, I want my family to be taken care of. And if I’m living but seriously injured, I don’t want them to be slammed with medical bills. That’s why my wife and I have a robust insurance policy for ourselves and our daughter.

A car accident is bad enough without adding medical and car repair bills to the equation. But many of my clients realize too late that their insurance policies don’t cover enough.

So please, take another look at your insurance policy. Ask questions. Do research. And make sure you have enough.

Getting in a car today? Before you do, consider this: one in seven drivers doesn’t have insurance. Either they can’t afford it, or they neglected to pay their bills. Why …

06/21/2024

In any legal case, including an accident/personal injury case, it is important to preserve the evidence. Photos can be an important part of the evidence in a case.

This is a thoughtful article on how to take good car accident scene photos.

November 17, 2020 Five Tips to Take Better Accident Scene Photos! We all know the saying: a picture is worth a thousand words. But sometimes, and especially after a motor vehicle accident, a picture, or a few pictures could save you thousands of dollars. Nowadays, with the way technology is distribu...

06/08/2024

Independence Pass, Colorado

04/07/2024

Medical bills and health insurance make up an important part of personal injury case. And, often health insurance stems from employer.

Under Colorado law, a personal injury claimant (victim) can demand the medical bills that were billed by the doctor, hospital, chiropractor, treater, etc. At trial, the jury doesn't get to hear what was paid by the health insurance company.

New York Times video on its article (in next post below) on MultiPlan that health insurance companies can use to heavily reduce payments to doctors and hospitals which at times leave the patient with a large balance owed on the bill, called balance billing.

A little-known data firm helps health insurers earn more when less of an out-of-network claim gets paid. Patients can be on the hook for the difference.

04/07/2024

Medical bills and health insurance make up an important part of personal injury case. And, often health insurance stems from employer.

Under Colorado law, a personal injury claimant (victim) can demand the medical bills that were billed by the doctor, hospital, chiropractor, treater, etc. At trial, the jury doesn't get to hear what was paid by the health insurance company.

Here is a New York Time article on Multiplan. From the article:

Weeks after undergoing heart surgery, Gail Lawson found herself back in an operating room. Her incision wasn’t healing, and an infection was spreading.

At a hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., Dr. Sidney Rabinowitz performed a complex, hourslong procedure to repair tissue and close the wound. While recuperating, Ms. Lawson phoned the doctor’s office in a panic. He returned the call himself and squeezed her in for an appointment the next day.

“He was just so good with me, so patient, so kind,” she said.

But the doctor was not in her insurance plan’s network of providers, leaving his bill open to negotiation by her insurer. Once back on her feet, Ms. Lawson received a letter from the insurer, UnitedHealthcare, advising that Dr. Rabinowitz would be paid $5,449.27 — a small fraction of what he had billed the insurance company. That left Ms. Lawson with a bill of more than $100,000.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘But this is why I had insurance,’” said Ms. Lawson, who is fighting UnitedHealthcare over the balance. “They take out, what, $300 or $400 a month? Well, why aren’t you people paying these bills?”

The answer is a little-known data analytics firm called MultiPlan. It works with UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna and other big insurers to decide how much so-called out-of-network medical providers should be paid. It promises to help contain medical costs using fair and independent analysis.

But a New York Times investigation, based on interviews and confidential documents, shows that MultiPlan and the insurance companies have a large and mostly hidden financial incentive to cut those reimbursements as much as possible, even if it means saddling patients with large bills. The formula for MultiPlan and the insurance companies is simple: The smaller the reimbursement, the larger their fee.

A little-known data firm helps health insurers make more when less of an out-of-network claim gets paid. Patients can be on the hook for the difference.

03/16/2024

A thoughtful article and image by the Cleveland Clinic on traumatic brain injury (TBI). See, below.

At the Schatten Law Firm, we have built a track record of delivering strong and successful results for our clients who have sustained minor and major traumatic brain injuries in personal injury cases. We have represented clients in life changing traumatic brain injury cases.

Unlike some other Colorado personal injury firms, we do not take on hundreds to thousands of personal injury cases a year. We are a boutique firm, highly selective and focus on a small number of personal injury cases. The large majority of our cases are referred to the firm by former clients, lawyers, friends and colleagues.

We have the knowledge, experience and work ethic to deliver strong results for our clients that have sustained a traumatic brain injury.

From the Cleveland Clinic article:

TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) are a major cause of death and disability in the U.S. You can get a TBI from a hard bump or jolt to your head or if you’re hit with something that penetrates your skull. TBIs may have short-term or long-term medical issues. There are treatments for TBI. More importantly, there are ways to prevent them from happening.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/.../8874-traumatic-brain...

02/23/2024

In a truck accident, its important to work with a well qualified personal injury lawyer do a good and thorough trucking investigation of the case. It can often be important to move quickly retaining a lawyer so that the trucking accident can be investigated. and valuable evidence preserved.

Trucking experts can provide an important resource in evaluating whether trucking driving and safety rules were violated.

In addition to working with a trucking expert, there are many resources that are available on YouTube and the internet to help with the examination of a trucking accident and determining whether trucking and safety rules were violated by the trucker. For instance, this is a well done video by Schneider explaining how a driver of a semi tractor-trailer should make a right turn.

If you or a friend or family member has been injured in a truck accident, you are welcome as part of a free initial consultation to call Marc Schatten at the Schatten Law Firm at (303) 388-3200. Mr. Schatten is a top-rated personal injury lawyer being selected to Colorado Super Lawyers for five years from 2019 to 2024.

Join Schneider Driver Ambassador Wes Arnott to get a complete breakdown of how you can safely complete right turns in a semi-truck.*This video was filmed wit...

01/23/2024