When tragedy strikes and you're injured in an accident, the attorney you choose can dramatically impact your compensation and future. Senior Trial Attorney Shawn Alfano, with 25 years of courtroom experience, reveals a critical insight many accident victims overlook: most personal injury lawyers never actually try cases in court.
Drawing on his extensive experience across numerous New York counties, Alfano compares trial attorneys to surgeons - specialized professionals with skills that general practitioners don't possess. This distinction matters enormously when facing insurance companies that meticulously track which law firms consistently go to trial versus those that always settle. The revelation that insurance companies send representatives to observe trials and adjust their offers accordingly demonstrates why having a proven trial attorney transforms your case's value from the moment it begins.
The podcast delves into the complex process of building a successful case, from preserving critical evidence before it disappears to managing the substantial expenses of litigation through a contingency fee arrangement. Alfano shares powerful insights about negotiation leverage, explaining how his ability to reference his own successful verdicts fundamentally changes conversations with insurance adjusters. Beyond the technical aspects, he speaks movingly about what motivates him - helping families rebuild after life-altering accidents when no amount of money can truly make them whole. If you're dealing with a serious injury case, this episode provides essential guidance on finding representation that will fight relentlessly for the full justice you deserve rather than settling for convenience.
Learn more about the Personal Injury Lawyers at Buttafuoco & Associates: www.1800NowHurt.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The advantage of having an experienced trial
attorney for your car accident,why you need a trial attorney
for your car accident case andthe key to maximizing your
compensation.
Welcome to Ask your InjuryLawyers.
Featuring ButterfuglianAssociates and hosted by Rob
Taramina.
Today we have a special episodeand we're going to be
introducing our guest to coverthis very important topic.
(00:22):
To give peace of mind andunderstanding to all the clients
out there who are asking thequestion does it matter what
type of attorney you have and doyou want a trial attorney?
To help us out with that?
We have our friend, sean Alfano.
Sean, how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Very good, rob, how you doing today.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I am doing well.
Listen, thank you so much.
I know you're an incrediblybusy person, but this is an
important topic.
A lot of people have thesequestions and I will also say
enough people are not actuallyasking this right question.
Is it important to have a trialattorney?
And I thought what betterperson to address this than the
senior trial attorney forButterfield Associates?
(01:01):
And so I don't want to give thebio for you.
So if you could just leteveryone know who you are, how
long you've been with the firmum, and then we can sort of uh,
get right into our questionshere well, I've been with the
but if you go firm for 25 yearsnow.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I came on when I was young.
I already had some trialexperience, but I wanted to be
with a firm that had a goodopportunity for me to really
expand and try a lot of cases,and that was the reputation of
the Buttafuoco firm 25 years ago.
(01:40):
And so I started here and I wasimmediately thrown into the
trial courts, mainly in Brooklynstarting out, and I've, over 25
years, have tried cases in mostevery county in downstate New
(02:00):
York, new York, nassau, suffolk,all the boroughs, westchester,
rockland, orange, albany County.
So yeah, I've gotten aroundquite a bit, got a lot of
experience here.
It's been wonderful.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
So you're clearly the perfect person for this subject
.
Let's just get to the easiestand the obvious one, if you
could.
What is a trial attorney andwhat is the difference, let's
say, between, like, a generalpersonal injury lawyer and a
trial attorney?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, isn't every lawyer a trial attorney?
The answer is no.
I didn't know that when I wasyoung because, you know, my
introduction to lawyers wastelevision, movies, books, and
every lawyer I saw was in courttrying cases.
It looked wonderful and Iwanted to do it, and that's what
(02:50):
lawyers did.
I only found out as I startedgoing to law school that most
lawyers are not trial lawyers.
Most lawyers do not work in thecourtroom.
Most lawyers do everything buttrial law, and it really is a
(03:12):
very small amount of lawyersthat are actual trial lawyers
practicing in the courthouseweek after week.
It's similar to doctors, whereyou know, you see doctors all
the time, great doctors, butmost of them are not surgeons.
Most of them are not operatingweek after week they're seeing
(03:34):
patients in the office and ifthere is a surgical case, you
get referred to a surgeon, andvery often my firm is referred
cases from other firms that arenot trial firms, and they refer
the case to us because a trialneeds to happen, and so we fill
that role in a similar way thata surgeon would.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Now we know that many law firms settle cases and we
know that trial attorneys areprepared to fight at any point
in time, and we know that trialattorneys are like, prepared to
fight at any point in time.
Here's a question when it comesto the insurance company's
perspective, do you thinkinsurance companies know the law
firms that have a history ofjust always settling case and
never going to trial, and do youthink they're aware of the
(04:18):
firms that have a trial attorneyand have a history of going to
trial, and do you think itactually makes a difference?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It absolutely does make a difference.
They absolutely know who thefirms are who go to trial,
because the insurance companiessend a representative to sit in
the courtroom while the trial isgoing on.
They take notes, they reportback to their superiors how is
the trial going?
So I get to meet many of theseclaims, people who are sent to
observe the trials and to reportand the reports very often are
(04:56):
it is not going well for theinsurance company.
You should increase your offer.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So right there, you just touched on the value in
having a law firm that has ahistory of going to trial, has
lawyers that actually are trialattorneys.
You talked about the value.
Right, there is um reputation,not just reputation publicly you
know this is a great term firmbut reputation with the
insurance companies.
I don't think a lot isdiscussed about that kind of
(05:23):
reputation, and so maybe you canexpand on that.
But then also, what about theability to negotiate?
Are you positioned as a trialattorney?
You think to be able tonegotiate, I think, more
aggressively than, let's say,someone who's not a trial
attorney or not known to be atrial attorney?
Does that play a factor at allin sort of the negotiations end
(05:46):
of it?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Well, I can only speak from my experience that I
believe it does.
Now, I'm sure there are veryfine negotiators, attorneys who
are not trial lawyers, attorneyswho are not trial lawyers, and
(06:10):
eventually, however, there comesa point where, if you don't get
what your stated goal is, whatthe client's goal is, what you
know you should deserve, theonly option for a lawyer is to
go to trial, and if that lawyeris not a trial lawyer, their
only option is to give that caseto a trial lawyer to see it
through, and that does happenmany times.
(06:31):
The other option is to take themoney that they're offering,
but you wouldn't want to do that, because then you're settling
for less than what the fullcompensation should be for your
client.
You never want that.
Now, when it comes to myselfpersonally negotiating as a
trial lawyer, I will hear thingsfrom examiners of the insurance
companies that will be likewell, you know, why do you think
(06:54):
this case is worth that muchmoney?
We don't pay that much money.
Why are you different than someother lawyer who you know?
I settled three of these typesof situations last week for much
less money.
Why are you being so greedy, mrAlfano?
And I can say well, I'll tellyou why because I just tried a
case very similar to this lastyear in Nassau County and this
(07:17):
is the verdict that I got andI'm not asking for anything more
.
But I know that's what a NassauCounty jury is going to get me.
And I tried a case like that twoyears ago in Suffolk County and
guess what?
It was a tremendous verdict.
So I'm not saying that youshould.
You should give me a tremendousverdict because you know that
was a special situation, maybeslightly different than this.
(07:37):
But I know what the range isfrom what I can do.
So I'm not depending upon whatother people are settling cases
for.
I'm not depending upon, youknow, some of the cheaper
verdicts that the claimsexaminer can whip out at me and
say well, you know, this case inQueens, you know, went for
20,000 last week.
Well, that's great, it wasn'tme and it wasn't my firm and it
(07:59):
wasn't my client.
And I have that ability to dothat on a firsthand personal
basis and I think that doescarry a lot of weight.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Oh, 100% Well put.
A couple of things else I wantto add and as the attorney,
again, I want you to give alittle bit more detail here is
that a trial attorney?
From the experience that I'vehad working with you guys and
speaking with all you guys,speaking with a number of other
attorneys from other firms, isI've noticed that there is a
skill involved with being atrial attorney that involves
(08:32):
things that a lot of peopledon't know about.
How about, like, picking a jury, collecting evidence you know
making, you know anticipatinginsurance tactics in the
courtroom?
It takes a skill and it takes acertain level of experience, I
would think, to be able to knowall those things and then use
all of that to your advantage or, in this case, in the best
(08:53):
interest of the client, right?
So I would think that havingsomeone proven in results and
you just touched on that beforeis a big deal.
So if someone's in a caraccident and they've got a
serious injury, it's in theirbest interest to find a law firm
with experienced trialattorneys.
Let's just talk about that.
Let's not even talk about but afew good associates in a second
(09:15):
for a for a second here.
Let's talk about what is in thebest interest of clients who
have been seriously injured,when they're looking to hire an
attorney like Sean.
You know what, what?
What do you think that theyshould be looking for?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, you're absolutely right, rob.
You're looking for someone whohas the experience, someone who
has handled this type of casebefore, from the beginning to
the end.
And the experience is key.
Just like in any type ofvocation, any type of sport and
any type of thing that you arelooking at where people are
(09:50):
competing and they're looking tocompete at a high level, you
want somebody who has been doingit for a long time and has
proven success and a lot ofskills that have been developed.
And the skills don't justappear.
They're not magical, right,you're just born with it.
There are certainly people whohave great personalities, and
(10:12):
they're born with a greatpersonality, but it takes a lot
more than that to actually, asyou say, develop the skills
necessary to present asuccessful case at trial.
And a successful case at trialdoesn't just magically happen.
It happens from the moment ofthat first interview with the
client.
There's so much importantinformation that the client is
(10:33):
going to give you that you needto develop your case.
There's things that you need topreserve immediately Witnesses
that may disappear, videos thatmay disappear.
We know that there are videocameras everywhere these days,
but a lot of times they'rerecorded over very quickly, and
so we need to run out andcapture video?
We may need to.
(10:55):
We have experts on hand thatcan go and retrieve black box
data from cars right, that mightbe overwritten, that might get
lost, that might end up in achunk pile somewhere and you'll
never be able to recover it.
So just having the experts inplace that have the tools
necessary to preserve theevidence, so when it comes time
(11:17):
for the trial, the evidence isthere, is key, is key, and so
many different aspects ofdeveloping a case that after
you've been through it at theend enough times, you know what
to ask for in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So we're going to be closing this out soon.
But I want to ask you based onwhat you're saying, it sounds
like the process for managing acase.
It's complicated.
It's not as cut and dry asmaybe people who've never gone
through this process beforemight think.
There's a lot that goes intobuilding a quality case that
results in a maximum result forthe client, and you already
(11:56):
touched on it.
Now, one thing that I've becomeaware of working with you guys I
want you to share this a littlebit.
I understand that with our firm, we work on what's called a
contingency fee.
If you can first explain whatis a contingency fee and what
people have to understand thatthese cases are expensive, very
(12:17):
expensive, and having a firmthat is well established is in
the best interest of the client.
Because they can, they've gotenough resources to cover those
expenses and they're notnecessarily put in a position of
compromise where they're goingto settle early because the firm
needs the money, and that doeshappen a little bit, I'll say it
.
But if you could touch on thosetwo things what is a
(12:39):
contingency fee and what's theadvantage of having a firm that
can in fact cover the expensesof very complicated cases?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Well a contingency fee is is just that it's
contingent.
The fee is contingent means itdepends upon there being a
result.
The contingency fee most oftenthat you'll see in New York on a
regular negligence case is onethird of whatever recovery there
(13:08):
is, whether that's a verdict ora settlement down the line we
take a case on and some of ourcases complex cases can go on
for quite a long time.
They can go on for years andmeanwhile we're running a whole
(13:38):
staff and full of attorneys andbuildings and the experts that
are needed, all with.
Let's just take one case at atime.
No money in year one, no moneyin year two.
No money in year three, oh,trial happens in year four.
Oh, but we got a fantasticresult.
The insurance company didn'tlike that.
They appealed that.
Okay, now we're funding theappeal after we got a tremendous
(14:01):
result and that we have nomoney in year four, and then,
finally, we get the tremendousresult in year five.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
All right.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
So just we, just you know we did a lot and then we do
get a third.
But when you put that incontext of the amount of time
and money that we invest in acase, it's really what's
necessary, just so we cancontinue to deliver superior
results to our clients.
And on the flip side, we canwork on a case for four years.
(14:33):
It almost never happens, butthere is a situation that could
happen where we work on a casefor four years and you know what
Bad result.
And guess what?
The client owes us?
Nothing, right, right, becausewe invest all our time and our
money and our skills into thecase to get the client a result.
(14:54):
If we don't get them a result,they do not owe us a thing.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Right, the law firm is taking on the financial risk.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
A hundred percent, a hundred percent.
The clients just have to worryabout healing and getting better
.
We will take care of everythingelse.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, now I'm going to put up a quick screenshot.
I know you can't see it, sean,but for everyone who's watching,
this is the firm, really thebig numbers here of some of
these cases that we've settled.
I know we've had some reallybig milestone cases.
We're well north of, I think,150 individual cases that have
settled for a million dollars ormore.
I know, dan, he gets so excitedwhen we get to get another one
(15:36):
and add to that list.
Maybe in the future podcast wecould put like a ticker or
something that shows all thatstuff.
But you've been a part of a lotof these.
To close it out, what does itmean to you when you see a case
go to completion and you get areally good number for these
clients and you're seeing thatit's changing their life?
(15:57):
And I'm going to put some wordsin your mouth here, because I
know you don't like to bragabout yourself, but you're an
amazing, amazing attorney and Iknow your clients absolutely.
They love you and they loveworking with you because at the
end of the day, you're workingwith some clients for years and
you get to know their families,they get to know you and it's an
emotional experience.
So I'd like to know.
What does it mean to you?
Right now, everyone's seeingthe results we're talking about
(16:20):
over the past.
You know, 40 plus years, 750million dollars in verdicts and
settlements, and then it has alist of all the big cases that
we've settled over the years.
What does this mean to you andwhat?
What does this translate now tomaybe future clients that are
considering us?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
well, I mean it means everything, it means the world,
I mean that's.
You know we are dealing withpeople's, people's lives, plain
and simple, with with how, howtheir lives have been upended,
how they have to learn how tomake the best out of a really
bad situation and and and moveforward.
(16:57):
And we cannot heal them and wecannot undo some of the horrible
things that happen in some ofthese tragic accidents.
All we can do is get them moneyto try to get them the best
possible rehab, the bestpossible life and comfort that
(17:22):
they can get.
And you know we're dealing withchildren who are, you know, who
could be orphans or had lost atleast one parent.
You know, sometimes they'reonly parent, right, and now
they're living with agrandparent because their only
parent died.
(17:42):
I mean this tragic, tragicthings that we see all the time.
And so you know, truly, everyclient that I've ever had that
have had a significant case tosay it doesn't matter how much
money I get, it's not enough,because all they want is to go
back in time, all they want isfor this not to have happened.
(18:03):
Dad was not killed in a caraccident, right?
Somebody's brother did not losetheir leg in an accident you
know, somebody you know canstill run and play soccer and
play basketball and they're notin a wheelchair.
I mean, these are the realhorrible situations that people
(18:25):
find themselves in when tragicaccidents happen.
They do not want that to happen, but if it happens and it's due
to someone else's negligencesomebody was being careless and
not paying attention and nowtheir lives are forever altered
yeah, you bet that we demandthat full justice and full
restitution and all the moneythat they should have coming to
(18:48):
them to try to help the rest oftheir life, that that is
actually given to them.
And it means a tremendousamount when a jury sees it just
like we do, and they give thatperson an adequate amount to try
to help out with this badsituation that they have to live
with for the rest of theirlives.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, sean, thank you so much for coming on and
sharing your expertise and yourpassion for what it is that you
do.
You truly are an extraordinarylawyer.
You've helped hundreds ofpeople over the years.
I know they're grateful.
I'm grateful just for knowingyou and calling you a friend,
and so I can't wait to have youon again the show to deal with
other questions that people haverelated to personal injury law
(19:32):
and what we do at the firm here.
But honestly I'm going to saythis confidently is in a
position where they'veexperienced some type of tragedy
and now you lead need anattorney who will fight for full
compensation, fight, fight forjustice.
Um, I'm confident inrecommending, but if you could
associates and sean, I know andand I don't speak for you, but
(19:52):
I'm gonna, you know can canpeople call you?
Can people call the firm for afree consultation?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
please call.
We speak to people every singleday.
Uh, you know we help as manypeople as we can.
We can help everyone.
We, you know we, we have that.
We get a lot of calls and wehear a lot of different you know
terrible situations that happenand every single person that we
can possibly help.
We absolutely do.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Amazing.
Well, sean, thank you again forcoming on the show, and
everyone else thank you so muchfor tuning in to Ask your Injury
Lawyers.
Do me a favor and share thiswith others.
We're trying to grow thiscommunity and provide this as a
resource for people and arm themwith the resources they need to
get a better result for thesituations that they're in.
Remember ButterfuckingAssociates.
(20:38):
We're helping accident victimsrebuild their lives.
Take care.
The advantage of having an experienced trial
attorney for your car accident,why you need a trial attorney
for your car accident case andthe key to maximizing your
compensation.
Welcome to Ask your InjuryLawyers.
Featuring ButterfuglianAssociates and hosted by Rob
Taramina.
Today we have a special episodeand we're going to be
introducing our guest to coverthis very important topic.
(00:22):
To give peace of mind andunderstanding to all the clients
out there who are asking thequestion does it matter what
type of attorney you have and doyou want a trial attorney?
To help us out with that?
We have our friend, sean Alfano.
Sean, how you doing, buddy?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Very good, rob, how you doing today.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
I am doing well.
Listen, thank you so much.
I know you're an incrediblybusy person, but this is an
important topic.
A lot of people have thesequestions and I will also say
enough people are not actuallyasking this right question.
Is it important to have a trialattorney?
And I thought what betterperson to address this than the
senior trial attorney forButterfield Associates?
(01:01):
And so I don't want to give thebio for you.
So if you could just leteveryone know who you are, how
long you've been with the firmum, and then we can sort of uh,
get right into our questionshere well, I've been with the
but if you go firm for 25 yearsnow.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I came on when I was young.
I already had some trialexperience, but I wanted to be
with a firm that had a goodopportunity for me to really
expand and try a lot of cases,and that was the reputation of
the Buttafuoco firm 25 years ago.
(01:40):
And so I started here and I wasimmediately thrown into the
trial courts, mainly in Brooklynstarting out, and I've, over 25
years, have tried cases in mostevery county in downstate New
(02:00):
York, new York, nassau, suffolk,all the boroughs, westchester,
rockland, orange, albany County.
So yeah, I've gotten aroundquite a bit, got a lot of
experience here.
It's been wonderful.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
So you're clearly the perfect person for this subject
.
Let's just get to the easiestand the obvious one, if you
could.
What is a trial attorney andwhat is the difference, let's
say, between, like, a generalpersonal injury lawyer and a
trial attorney?
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Well, isn't every lawyer a trial attorney?
The answer is no.
I didn't know that when I wasyoung because, you know, my
introduction to lawyers wastelevision, movies, books, and
every lawyer I saw was in courttrying cases.
It looked wonderful and Iwanted to do it, and that's what
(02:50):
lawyers did.
I only found out as I startedgoing to law school that most
lawyers are not trial lawyers.
Most lawyers do not work in thecourtroom.
Most lawyers do everything buttrial law, and it really is a
(03:12):
very small amount of lawyersthat are actual trial lawyers
practicing in the courthouseweek after week.
It's similar to doctors, whereyou know, you see doctors all
the time, great doctors, butmost of them are not surgeons.
Most of them are not operatingweek after week they're seeing
(03:34):
patients in the office and ifthere is a surgical case, you
get referred to a surgeon, andvery often my firm is referred
cases from other firms that arenot trial firms, and they refer
the case to us because a trialneeds to happen, and so we fill
that role in a similar way thata surgeon would.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Now we know that many law firms settle cases and we
know that trial attorneys areprepared to fight at any point
in time, and we know that trialattorneys are like, prepared to
fight at any point in time.
Here's a question when it comesto the insurance company's
perspective, do you thinkinsurance companies know the law
firms that have a history ofjust always settling case and
never going to trial, and do youthink they're aware of the
(04:18):
firms that have a trial attorneyand have a history of going to
trial, and do you think itactually makes a difference?
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It absolutely does make a difference.
They absolutely know who thefirms are who go to trial,
because the insurance companiessend a representative to sit in
the courtroom while the trial isgoing on.
They take notes, they reportback to their superiors how is
the trial going?
So I get to meet many of theseclaims, people who are sent to
observe the trials and to reportand the reports very often are
(04:56):
it is not going well for theinsurance company.
You should increase your offer.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So right there, you just touched on the value in
having a law firm that has ahistory of going to trial, has
lawyers that actually are trialattorneys.
You talked about the value.
Right, there is um reputation,not just reputation publicly you
know this is a great term firmbut reputation with the
insurance companies.
I don't think a lot isdiscussed about that kind of
(05:23):
reputation, and so maybe you canexpand on that.
But then also, what about theability to negotiate?
Are you positioned as a trialattorney?
You think to be able tonegotiate, I think, more
aggressively than, let's say,someone who's not a trial
attorney or not known to be atrial attorney?
Does that play a factor at allin sort of the negotiations end
(05:46):
of it?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Well, I can only speak from my experience that I
believe it does.
Now, I'm sure there are veryfine negotiators, attorneys who
are not trial lawyers, attorneyswho are not trial lawyers, and
(06:10):
eventually, however, there comesa point where, if you don't get
what your stated goal is, whatthe client's goal is, what you
know you should deserve, theonly option for a lawyer is to
go to trial, and if that lawyeris not a trial lawyer, their
only option is to give that caseto a trial lawyer to see it
through, and that does happenmany times.
(06:31):
The other option is to take themoney that they're offering,
but you wouldn't want to do that, because then you're settling
for less than what the fullcompensation should be for your
client.
You never want that.
Now, when it comes to myselfpersonally negotiating as a
trial lawyer, I will hear thingsfrom examiners of the insurance
companies that will be likewell, you know, why do you think
(06:54):
this case is worth that muchmoney?
We don't pay that much money.
Why are you different than someother lawyer who you know?
I settled three of these typesof situations last week for much
less money.
Why are you being so greedy, mrAlfano?
And I can say well, I'll tellyou why because I just tried a
case very similar to this lastyear in Nassau County and this
(07:17):
is the verdict that I got andI'm not asking for anything more
.
But I know that's what a NassauCounty jury is going to get me.
And I tried a case like that twoyears ago in Suffolk County and
guess what?
It was a tremendous verdict.
So I'm not saying that youshould.
You should give me a tremendousverdict because you know that
was a special situation, maybeslightly different than this.
(07:37):
But I know what the range isfrom what I can do.
So I'm not depending upon whatother people are settling cases
for.
I'm not depending upon, youknow, some of the cheaper
verdicts that the claimsexaminer can whip out at me and
say well, you know, this case inQueens, you know, went for
20,000 last week.
Well, that's great, it wasn'tme and it wasn't my firm and it
(07:59):
wasn't my client.
And I have that ability to dothat on a firsthand personal
basis and I think that doescarry a lot of weight.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Oh, 100% Well put.
A couple of things else I wantto add and as the attorney,
again, I want you to give alittle bit more detail here is
that a trial attorney?
From the experience that I'vehad working with you guys and
speaking with all you guys,speaking with a number of other
attorneys from other firms, isI've noticed that there is a
skill involved with being atrial attorney that involves
(08:32):
things that a lot of peopledon't know about.
How about, like, picking a jury, collecting evidence you know
making, you know anticipatinginsurance tactics in the
courtroom?
It takes a skill and it takes acertain level of experience, I
would think, to be able to knowall those things and then use
all of that to your advantage or, in this case, in the best
(08:53):
interest of the client, right?
So I would think that havingsomeone proven in results and
you just touched on that beforeis a big deal.
So if someone's in a caraccident and they've got a
serious injury, it's in theirbest interest to find a law firm
with experienced trialattorneys.
Let's just talk about that.
Let's not even talk about but afew good associates in a second
(09:15):
for a for a second here.
Let's talk about what is in thebest interest of clients who
have been seriously injured,when they're looking to hire an
attorney like Sean.
You know what, what?
What do you think that theyshould be looking for?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, you're absolutely right, rob.
You're looking for someone whohas the experience, someone who
has handled this type of casebefore, from the beginning to
the end.
And the experience is key.
Just like in any type ofvocation, any type of sport and
any type of thing that you arelooking at where people are
(09:50):
competing and they're looking tocompete at a high level, you
want somebody who has been doingit for a long time and has
proven success and a lot ofskills that have been developed.
And the skills don't justappear.
They're not magical, right,you're just born with it.
There are certainly people whohave great personalities, and
(10:12):
they're born with a greatpersonality, but it takes a lot
more than that to actually, asyou say, develop the skills
necessary to present asuccessful case at trial.
And a successful case at trialdoesn't just magically happen.
It happens from the moment ofthat first interview with the
client.
There's so much importantinformation that the client is
(10:33):
going to give you that you needto develop your case.
There's things that you need topreserve immediately Witnesses
that may disappear, videos thatmay disappear.
We know that there are videocameras everywhere these days,
but a lot of times they'rerecorded over very quickly, and
so we need to run out andcapture video?
We may need to.
(10:55):
We have experts on hand thatcan go and retrieve black box
data from cars right, that mightbe overwritten, that might get
lost, that might end up in achunk pile somewhere and you'll
never be able to recover it.
So just having the experts inplace that have the tools
necessary to preserve theevidence, so when it comes time
(11:17):
for the trial, the evidence isthere, is key, is key, and so
many different aspects ofdeveloping a case that after
you've been through it at theend enough times, you know what
to ask for in the beginning.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
So we're going to be closing this out soon.
But I want to ask you based onwhat you're saying, it sounds
like the process for managing acase.
It's complicated.
It's not as cut and dry asmaybe people who've never gone
through this process beforemight think.
There's a lot that goes intobuilding a quality case that
results in a maximum result forthe client, and you already
(11:56):
touched on it.
Now, one thing that I've becomeaware of working with you guys I
want you to share this a littlebit.
I understand that with our firm, we work on what's called a
contingency fee.
If you can first explain whatis a contingency fee and what
people have to understand thatthese cases are expensive, very
(12:17):
expensive, and having a firmthat is well established is in
the best interest of the client.
Because they can, they've gotenough resources to cover those
expenses and they're notnecessarily put in a position of
compromise where they're goingto settle early because the firm
needs the money, and that doeshappen a little bit, I'll say it
.
But if you could touch on thosetwo things what is a
(12:39):
contingency fee and what's theadvantage of having a firm that
can in fact cover the expensesof very complicated cases?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Well a contingency fee is is just that it's
contingent.
The fee is contingent means itdepends upon there being a
result.
The contingency fee most oftenthat you'll see in New York on a
regular negligence case is onethird of whatever recovery there
(13:08):
is, whether that's a verdict ora settlement down the line we
take a case on and some of ourcases complex cases can go on
for quite a long time.
They can go on for years andmeanwhile we're running a whole
(13:38):
staff and full of attorneys andbuildings and the experts that
are needed, all with.
Let's just take one case at atime.
No money in year one, no moneyin year two.
No money in year three, oh,trial happens in year four.
Oh, but we got a fantasticresult.
The insurance company didn'tlike that.
They appealed that.
Okay, now we're funding theappeal after we got a tremendous
(14:01):
result and that we have nomoney in year four, and then,
finally, we get the tremendousresult in year five.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
All right.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
So just we, just you know we did a lot and then we do
get a third.
But when you put that incontext of the amount of time
and money that we invest in acase, it's really what's
necessary, just so we cancontinue to deliver superior
results to our clients.
And on the flip side, we canwork on a case for four years.
(14:33):
It almost never happens, butthere is a situation that could
happen where we work on a casefor four years and you know what
Bad result.
And guess what?
The client owes us?
Nothing, right, right, becausewe invest all our time and our
money and our skills into thecase to get the client a result.
(14:54):
If we don't get them a result,they do not owe us a thing.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Right, the law firm is taking on the financial risk.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
A hundred percent, a hundred percent.
The clients just have to worryabout healing and getting better
.
We will take care of everythingelse.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Yeah, now I'm going to put up a quick screenshot.
I know you can't see it, sean,but for everyone who's watching,
this is the firm, really thebig numbers here of some of
these cases that we've settled.
I know we've had some reallybig milestone cases.
We're well north of, I think,150 individual cases that have
settled for a million dollars ormore.
I know, dan, he gets so excitedwhen we get to get another one
(15:36):
and add to that list.
Maybe in the future podcast wecould put like a ticker or
something that shows all thatstuff.
But you've been a part of a lotof these.
To close it out, what does itmean to you when you see a case
go to completion and you get areally good number for these
clients and you're seeing thatit's changing their life?
(15:57):
And I'm going to put some wordsin your mouth here, because I
know you don't like to bragabout yourself, but you're an
amazing, amazing attorney and Iknow your clients absolutely.
They love you and they loveworking with you because at the
end of the day, you're workingwith some clients for years and
you get to know their families,they get to know you and it's an
emotional experience.
So I'd like to know.
What does it mean to you?
Right now, everyone's seeingthe results we're talking about
(16:20):
over the past.
You know, 40 plus years, 750million dollars in verdicts and
settlements, and then it has alist of all the big cases that
we've settled over the years.
What does this mean to you andwhat?
What does this translate now tomaybe future clients that are
considering us?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
well, I mean it means everything, it means the world,
I mean that's.
You know we are dealing withpeople's, people's lives, plain
and simple, with with how, howtheir lives have been upended,
how they have to learn how tomake the best out of a really
bad situation and and and moveforward.
(16:57):
And we cannot heal them and wecannot undo some of the horrible
things that happen in some ofthese tragic accidents.
All we can do is get them moneyto try to get them the best
possible rehab, the bestpossible life and comfort that
(17:22):
they can get.
And you know we're dealing withchildren who are, you know, who
could be orphans or had lost atleast one parent.
You know, sometimes they'reonly parent, right, and now
they're living with agrandparent because their only
parent died.
(17:42):
I mean this tragic, tragicthings that we see all the time.
And so you know, truly, everyclient that I've ever had that
have had a significant case tosay it doesn't matter how much
money I get, it's not enough,because all they want is to go
back in time, all they want isfor this not to have happened.
(18:03):
Dad was not killed in a caraccident, right?
Somebody's brother did not losetheir leg in an accident you
know, somebody you know canstill run and play soccer and
play basketball and they're notin a wheelchair.
I mean, these are the realhorrible situations that people
(18:25):
find themselves in when tragicaccidents happen.
They do not want that to happen, but if it happens and it's due
to someone else's negligencesomebody was being careless and
not paying attention and nowtheir lives are forever altered
yeah, you bet that we demandthat full justice and full
restitution and all the moneythat they should have coming to
(18:48):
them to try to help the rest oftheir life, that that is
actually given to them.
And it means a tremendousamount when a jury sees it just
like we do, and they give thatperson an adequate amount to try
to help out with this badsituation that they have to live
with for the rest of theirlives.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, sean, thank you so much for coming on and
sharing your expertise and yourpassion for what it is that you
do.
You truly are an extraordinarylawyer.
You've helped hundreds ofpeople over the years.
I know they're grateful.
I'm grateful just for knowingyou and calling you a friend,
and so I can't wait to have youon again the show to deal with
other questions that people haverelated to personal injury law
(19:32):
and what we do at the firm here.
But honestly I'm going to saythis confidently is in a
position where they'veexperienced some type of tragedy
and now you lead need anattorney who will fight for full
compensation, fight, fight forjustice.
Um, I'm confident inrecommending, but if you could
associates and sean, I know andand I don't speak for you, but
(19:52):
I'm gonna, you know can canpeople call you?
Can people call the firm for afree consultation?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
please call.
We speak to people every singleday.
Uh, you know we help as manypeople as we can.
We can help everyone.
We, you know we, we have that.
We get a lot of calls and wehear a lot of different you know
terrible situations that happenand every single person that we
can possibly help.
We absolutely do.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Amazing.
Well, sean, thank you again forcoming on the show, and
everyone else thank you so muchfor tuning in to Ask your Injury
Lawyers.
Do me a favor and share thiswith others.
We're trying to grow thiscommunity and provide this as a
resource for people and arm themwith the resources they need to
get a better result for thesituations that they're in.
Remember ButterfuckingAssociates.
(20:38):
We're helping accident victimsrebuild their lives.
Take care.
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