Author: jeffreyhoward

What Is Arbitration? A Guide to This Alternative Dispute Resolution Method

Arbitration comes up in my practice mostly in the context of claims against your OWN insurance carrier, and most commonly in the Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist claims context. This article provides a straightforward explanation of what arbitration is, how it works, and its pros and cons.

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What Is Arbitration?

Arbitration with your insurance carrier is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) where THREE third-parties, known as an arbitrators, hear and decide a dispute. Unlike court trials, which are public and governed by rigid rules of evidence and procedure, arbitration offers a more private and flexible approach.

Arbitration can be binding or non-binding:

• Binding arbitration means the arbitrator’s decision is final and enforceable, similar to a court judgment.
• Non-binding arbitration allows parties to seek other remedies if they are dissatisfied with the arbitrator’s decision.

Arbitration in the context of UM and UIM claims is generally binding.

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How Does Arbitration Work?

The arbitration process typically follows these steps:

1. Agreement to Arbitrate: By having auto insurance in North Carolina, you’ve already agreed to resolve your dispute with your carrier through arbitration due to an arbitration clause in the standard insurance agreement.
2. Selection of an Arbitrator: We, as the plaintiffs, select an arbitrator and the carrier, as the defendant, selects an arbitratoras well. Those two arbitrators jointly agree upon a third arbitrator who is referred to as the “neutral.”This panel of arbitrators often has a lot of expertise relevant to the dispute. We each pay the hourly rate of our own arbitrator and we split the neutral’s fee with the defendants.
3. Arbitration Hearing: The arbitrators conduct a hearing where both sides present evidence, witnesses, and arguments. While less formal than a courtroom trial, arbitration still allows for structured presentations.
4. Decision: After reviewing the evidence, the arbitrators issue a written decision, known as an award. In binding arbitration, this decision is final and enforceable.

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What Are the Benefits of Arbitration?

Arbitration offers several advantages, including:

• Efficiency: Arbitration can resolve disputes more quickly than traditional litigation, which often takes years.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Without the prolonged procedures of court trials, arbitration tends to be less expensive, but in some cases can be more expensive. It depends!
• Privacy: Arbitration proceedings are private, which can be crucial for businesses and individuals seeking to keep sensitive matters confidential.
• Flexibility: Parties have more control over scheduling and procedural rules.
• Expertise: Arbitrators with specialized knowledge can better understand complex technical or industry-specific issues. This is really nice compared to a random jury panel that may not understand anything of what’s going on in your case.

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What Are the Drawbacks of Arbitration?

While arbitration has many benefits, it’s not without drawbacks:

• Limited Appeal Rights: In binding arbitration, decisions are final, with very limited opportunities for appeal.
• Costs in Some Cases: Arbitrator fees can be significant, especially for complex disputes requiring multiple sessions. And you still have to have a medical expert, which can really drive up costs.
• Unequal Bargaining Power: In some cases, one party may feel pressured to agree to arbitration clauses that favor the other party.
• Lack of Transparency: While privacy can be an advantage, it also means arbitration awards do not create public precedents, which may leave broader legal questions unresolved.

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Is Arbitration Right for You?

Arbitration can be an effective tool for resolving disputes, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. If you’ve got a UM or UIM claim, it’s crucial to understand the terms of your arbitration agreement and the potential implications for your case. Consulting with an experienced attorney can help you navigate this process and make informed decisions.

If you have questions about arbitration or need legal assistance, contact me at 919-929-2992.

When you’re handed a traffic ticket, your first instinct might be to pay the fine and move on. However, if you’re considering contesting it or mitigating its impact, hiring an attorney can make all the difference. Specifically, working with a small, local law office offers several unique advantages over larger firms or handling it alone. Here’s why:

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1. Local Expertise

Small, local law offices are deeply familiar with the courts, judges, and prosecutors in their area. This local knowledge can be invaluable. For example:

• They understand the tendencies and preferences of local judges, which can help in crafting a persuasive argument.
• Local attorneys often have relationships with prosecutors, enabling more effective negotiation for reduced penalties or dismissed charges.

Having someone who knows the nuances of the local traffic court system increases your chances of a favorable outcome.

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2. Personalized Attention

Unlike large law firms, small offices tend to handle fewer cases at a time. This means:

• More time for your case: Your lawyer will dedicate the necessary attention to understand your situation and craft a tailored defense.
• Direct communication: You’re more likely to work directly with the attorney, not paralegals or junior staff.
• Responsive service: With a smaller caseload, local lawyers are often quicker to return calls and provide updates.

This personalized approach ensures you don’t feel like just another case number.

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3. Cost-Effectiveness

Small, local law offices often have lower overhead costs than big firms, translating to more affordable fees. For traffic tickets, where stakes may not justify high legal expenses, this is a critical benefit. Additionally, their efficiency in handling local cases can mean better results for less money.

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4. Tailored Defense Strategies

Local attorneys are more attuned to area-specific issues, such as:

• Speed traps or notoriously unclear signage.
• Patterns in enforcement by local police departments.
• Knowledge of diversion programs or alternative sentencing options offered in your area.

They can leverage this understanding to build stronger, more relevant defenses.

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5. Support for Community Businesses

By choosing a small, local law office, you’re also supporting your community. Local attorneys are invested in maintaining a good reputation in their home area, often going the extra mile to ensure client satisfaction. Your support helps sustain a vital part of the local economy.

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6. Easier Accessibility

Local offices are conveniently located and easy to reach if you need to drop off documents or meet in person. They are also more likely to be flexible with scheduling, which is helpful when navigating the demands of daily life.

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7. Peace of Mind

Dealing with a traffic ticket can be stressful, especially if you’re worried about points on your license or increased insurance premiums. A local attorney can:

• Reduce your stress by handling court appearances on your behalf.
• Explain the process clearly and alleviate uncertainties.
• Increase the likelihood of avoiding severe consequences like license suspension.

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Hiring a small, local law office for your traffic ticket case is a smart investment. Their knowledge of the local legal landscape, personalized service, and cost-effectiveness set them apart from larger firms or attempting to handle the matter alone. By working with a dedicated professional, you can protect your driving record, save time, and reduce stress—all while supporting your community.

If you’re facing a traffic ticket, don’t hesitate to reach out to a local attorney. Their expertise could make a world of difference.

I know, I know, EVERYONE loves texting. It’s convenient, it’s only as intrusive as the recipient allows it to be, it’s quiet. There are several good things about texting. And yes, I text friends and family. It’s hard to beat it for immediate but subtle contact.

Having said that, I cannot practice law through texting. I just can’t. I understand you want to ask a quick question, I understand you want a quick response, but I’m going to explain to you why it’s just not appropriate in the attorney/client context:

• When you text your doctor, what do they say? They don’t say anything because you don’t text your doctor. I’m your lawyer. Same thing.
• To explore the above point, why do you think that is the case? Both doctors and lawyers are HEAVILY regulated professions. We have watchdog groups and governmental organizations waiting to pounce on us when/if we make a mistake. People hate us (which is a whole separate blog post) so we have to try to be perfect. The problem with giving professional advice via text is that it’s too gosh darn small. The screen is small, the keys are small, and it’s a format that is made for convenience, NOT complexity. What we have to explain to our clients can be subtle, and it’s simply too tempting to cut corners on texts because they’re supposed to be short and fast. Believe me, the best lawyer answers are NEVER short NOR fast.
• Let’s get back to the size thing…it’s progressively a pain (literally) for me to see texts and type with tiny keys as we get older. Please just let me use my big computer screen and keyboard!
• Email is SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY. First, you can see it on your phone just as well, if not better than texts. Second, emails are trackable and searchable in a way that texts simply aren’t. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go back through a thread to see what a client wrote (or to show that I wrote something) and doing that through text is just really not possible. Third, texts get lost in the morass of memes and grocery lists and honey-do stuff that come through my phone constantly. If your “urgent” text (that could have been a phone call if it were so urgent…) might get buried below that stuff and I’ll never see it (because I’m not looking for it, because I asked you not to text me in the first place). That’s not my fault. Emails, on the other hand, show up highlighted in my inbox and are gloriously obvious. I can see them, so I’ll respond to them!

If you’re running late to a meeting and choose to text me that you’re late instead of calling, fine. But otherwise, just call me! Or email! If you REALLY just love sending messages with your phone, then use your email app on your phone. It’s really not that bad. You may not be an “email person” and you may see email as 20th century, but I’m here to tell you, I just can’t practice law via text, so please understand why I simply can’t rely on that medium as a method of communication.

When you’re in an automobile accident in North Carolina AND you happen to be working, you might have TWO claims, not just one. What you might have is a plain old liability claim against the at-fault driver (their insurance company anyway) AND a potential worker’s compensation claim with your employer. So what does that mean?

Think of it this way: You’ve got the obvious liability claim. That’s the normal thing where you try to get reimbursed for your losses that the other party’s negligence caused. We would normally go after what I call the “holy trinity of personal injury damages” which includes medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost income (there can be other stuff, but these sum up damages pretty nicely in most situations). I am happy to help you with these claims, so please call me to discuss any auto accident injury situation you have!

But you have a less obvious thing that might help you out: You have a potential worker’s compensation claim. Check out that link for basic info on comp claims, but essentially, what this means is IN ADDITION to the liability claim against the driver, you might have access to benefits through worker’s comp. What does comp get you? Generally…

• Payment for time out of work (but only 2/3 of your average weekly wage);
• Payment of your medical expenses (but they get to control what care you get);
• And to the extent you have any permanent impairment, payment for that.

So the next question is should you file a worker’s compensation claim in this situation? The answer is one of my favorites: It depends!

Let’s look at why you might want to file for comp benefits

• If you’re going to have a lot of expensive medical care, it’s nice to have someone else bear the brunt of that care.
• If you’re going to be out of work for an extended period of time (several weeks? months?) and you really can’t get along without some income, then comp is in a good position to help.

But sometimes it’s hard to answer those questions early in your claim. What’s more frustrating is that technically you should notify your employer within 30 days of the accident, so you kind of have to make this decision early, maybe before you have enough facts to know if it’s the right decision for you. Why might it not be the right decision?

Sometimes having worker’s comp on top of a liability claim is a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” situation. You see, worker’s comp has what’s called a lien against the “third party” (liability) claim. That means if you get something from the auto insurance folks and worker’s comp has paid you benefits, you have to pay worker’s comp back for what they paid out. Now, there are some protections afforded you in this situation, but they are somewhat flimsy.

How do you make this decision? It’s definitely a case by case, personal sort of decision that only you can make, and you should try to have as much info as possible before making it. As a general rule, in a normal situation where you’re just going to get chiropractic care after your accident and that’s it, then you probably don’t need to get comp involved as they’ll harass you about the care you prefer and then rob your liability claim later, so maybe more trouble than it’s worth. But on the other end of the spectrum, if the accident resulted in a need for surgery AND you’re going to be out of work for awhile, it makes a lot more sense in that situation to get comp on board. But there’s no hard and fast rules in this situation.

It’s complicated. If you have questions, call me at 919-929-2992.

Here’s the full article: https://www.reuters.com/legal/blue-cross-blue-shield-agrees-pay-28-bln-settle-us-health-provider-class-action-2024-10-14/?utm_campaign=north-carolina-advocates-for-justice-eclips&utm_source=membercentralpublications&utm_medium=email&utm_content=october-15-2024

But in summary, Blue Cross Blue Shield has agreed to pay $2.8 billion to settle antitrust class action claims brought by hospital administrators, doctors, and other healthcare providers who claim they were not paid properly for reimbursements. What? An insurance company didn’t pay what they should have?!? Gasp! This settlement, announced in a federal court filing in Alabama, is the largest healthcare antitrust settlement to this date. Of course, BCBS denied the allegations and stated that the settlement is just an effort to resolve years of litigation and includes operational changes. Reading between the lines, you don’t doll out nearly $3 billion just for the sake of moving on; obviously, there’s some truth to the allegations as it would have cost much less to prove otherwise if that wasn’t the case. The proposed agreement will purportedly transform the BlueCard program for claims submission and enhance transparency and efficiency within what many may argue is a system. It also promises more contracting opportunities for providers and requires Blue Cross to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in implementing non-monetary aspects of the settlement. The settlement covers healthcare providers serving Blue plan patients from July 2008 to October 2024 and is subject to approval by U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor.

Knowing how to handle yourself if you’re pulled over by law enforcement can help you manage the situation and potentially reduce the consequences. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Stay calm and composed. If you’re pulled over, remain calm and take several slow, deep breaths. Safely pull over to the side of the road, turn off your engine, and keep your hands visible on the steering wheel. Wait patiently for the officer to approach your vehicle.
2. Be polite and respectful. Your attitude can really impact the outcome of the stop. Greet the officer respectfully, answer questions honestly and succinctly, and avoid making excuses BUT DO NOT ADMIT GUILT.
3. Know your rights. You have the right to remain silent beyond providing necessary information like your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. If you feel uncomfortable, you can politely ask if you are free to leave.
4. Don’t argue with anyone with a gun. If you disagree with the reason for the stop or the ticket, let’s fight it in court, not on the street. You won’t win that one. Arguing can escalate the situation and won’t change the officer’s mind. Save your fighting spirit for court.
5. Consider legal representation. Talk to an attorney. It’s almost NEVER a good idea to pay a ticket. The best of us will tell you exactly what to do and what to expect.

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions or need assistance with a traffic-related matter or other legal issues, please don’t hesitate to call me at 919-929-2992.

Senate Bill 452, which was passed in NC in October 2023, made several changes to insurance laws in North Carolina that were already in N.C.G.S. 20-279.1(11) and N.C.G.S. 20-309(a2). The biggest changes for people injured in car collisions pertain to the minimum coverage requirements for auto liability insurance. The increases take effect in January 2025.

Previously, the minimum limit of liability insurance you had to have in NC was $30,000 per person. The new law raises the minimum coverage limits to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury claims. It also raises the coverage requirements for property damage from $25,000 to $50,000 to repair or replace damaged vehicles and other property. This was a change that was a long time coming.

I can’t tell you how often I had clients whose cases could have been 6 figures but they were stuck with only getting $30,000. That’s immensely unfair and frustrating.

Of note, this new bill changes the law so that those who have Underinsured Motorist coverage can now collect the full face value of their underinsured motorist policy. An insurance company will no longer be able to reduce the amount of UIM coverage available by subtracting the liability payment. The victims who could previously only collect a total of $50,000 in benefits can now collect $100,000 if the numbers are right.

If you’ve been injured in an accident, call me at 919-929-2992.

Insurance adjusters have about 4 arguments other than the plain old, “Nu uh!” that they’ll use to try to devalue your claim. One of them is the old chestnut, “gap in treatment.”

What they’re referring to is a perceived delay between the accident and seeking treatment, or a period during your recovery where you aren’t treating for some reason. The long and short of it is that they believe that if you were hurt, you’d be in treatment. The problem with this is that potential jurors who might have to decide the value of your claim might buy this! This sort of folksy “logic” is just the sort of non-scientific but reasonable-sounding drivel that gets Republicans elected to this day, so we have to take it seriously. So how do we combat it?

The best way to combat it is NOT have a gap in treatment. As soon as you’re hurt, seek treatment. Don’t stop your treatment until you’re all better. Boom! No gap in treatment, no BS argument to deal with.

But that’s best case scenario, I get it. Here are some other suggestions to help you mitigate your problems with a gap in treatment:

• If you don’t get treatment immediately following your accident, hurry up and do it now. If “now” is more than a month after the accident, do what you want for your healthcare, but talk to an attorney about how this is going to impact the claim.
• If you can’t get treatment immediately, document what you’re suffering from in a pain journal. That way you’re at least documenting that you were suffering, and you can explain the need for the delay (travel, family obligations, work, etc.). THEN get to treatment as soon as you can.
• If you’re going to have to interrupt treatment for some reason, same thing, use your pain journal to kind of bridge the gap. Ideally, maybe you could seek treatment elsewhere if the delay is caused by travel.

This stuff is hard, which is why people get attorneys. If you have an injury claim and want help, call me at 919-929-2992.

With summer here a lot of us may be spending time on watercraft. It’s a good time to think about the importance of boating safety and the possibility if Boating Under the Influence.

Much as operating a car while intoxicated, operating a boat while intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or drugs poses serious risks to anyone on the water. Compromised coordination, impaired judgment, and slowed reaction times significantly increase the likelihood of accidents and injuries.

• Impairment by Drugs: Boating under the influence isn’t just limited to alcohol. Operating a boat while under the influence of drugs, whether prescription, over-the-counter, or illegal substances, is also considered BUI.
• Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Limits: In most states, operating a boat with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above 0.08% is considered BUI.
• Penalties and Consequences: Just like DUIs, BUIs can lead to severe penalties. These might include fines, license suspension, and even jail time. Moreover, if a BUI accident results in injuries or fatalities, the legal consequences can be catastrophic, not to mention the personal devastation associated with harm to others.

Remember, safety first!

• Designate a sober operator before setting out on the water.
• Never consume alcohol or drugs while operating a boat.
• Wear a life jacket, follow navigation rules, and be mindful of weather conditions to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone aboard.

If you have any questions or concerns about boating under the influence, especially if you were injured by someone operating a boat under the influence, or any other legal matters, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  Call me at 919-929-2992.

First, you need to know what Med Pay (maybe). So read this.

Now that you know that med pay if first party coverage that you have on your auto policy, you’re wanting to know why you can’t/shouldn’t use it right now to pay your bills.

Here’s the trick answer to the trick question: You can. But it might come back to haunt you.

There’s the age-old adage: Do you want it done fast or do you want it done right? That sort of applies here. You can do whatever it is you want with your med pay. You can process it now and pay bills. You can process it now and bet on sportsball or make a Tik Tok or whatever people do with money these days. The problem is that this may have consequences down the road.

In the context of an automobile injury claim, you have your liability claim – the claim against the bad guys who hit you – and you have (potentially, if you bought it) first party coverage in the form of med pay. You may have a few bills, you may have a ton of bills. Some of those bills might be protected by a lien. You may have health insurance, or you may not. You may have a health plan that expects to get paid back from some or all of those settlement proceeds, or you may not. The problem is YOU probably don’t know enough to avoid shooting yourself in the foot by using that med pay early on in the process. I might not even know, but that’s why I don’t process that med pay until I DO know what all you have and what I need to protect.

In other words, you might have a contractual and/or legal duty to preserve that med pay to pay some other medical bills, so if you process it too soon, you may create more problems for yourself than you are solving.

This is yet another example of how these complicated issues should be addressed by a seasoned, experienced personal injury attorney. If you have such issues, call me at 919-929-2992 and I’ll see if I can help.