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Progress Being Made on Breast Cancer Claims

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

                                                                                                          CHES CROSBIE, 579-4000

 

 

PROGRESS BEING MADE ON BREAST CANCER CLAIMS

 

ST. JOHN’S LAWYER CHES CROSBIE STATED TODAY THAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE TOWARD SETTLING HUNDREDS OF CLAIMS ON BEHALF OF MEMBERS OF THE BREAST CANCER TESTING CLASS ACTION.  HUNDREDS OF CHARTS HAVE TO BE REVIEWED BY EXPERTS FOR BOTH SIDES.  “THIS IS A LOT OF WORK AND IS ONGOING AS WE SPEAK,” SAID CROSBIE. 

 THE PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW IS “TO ARRIVE AT AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE INJURIES THE PATIENTS ACTUALLY SUFFERED, WHICH IS A COMPLICATED EXERCISE,” HE EXPLAINED.  “AS PATTERNS EMERGE, THE INSURANCE COMPANY LAWYERS AND WE WILL ATTEMPT TO AGREE ON WAYS TO SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS,” CROSBIE SAID.

 EACH SIDE HAS A TEAM OF CANCER SPECIALISTS DOING CHART REVIEWS.

 “ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE PREMIER IS ALWAYS WELCOME” SAID CROSBIE, “BUT THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF WORK NEEDED TO SETTLE THIS CLAIM IS ALREADY UNDERWAY.”

 “I CAN’T SAY THIS ABOUT EVERY INSURANCE COMPANY” THE LAWYER ALLOWED, “BUT I’VE ALWAYS FOUND EASTERN HEALTH INSURER HIROC REASONABLE TO DEAL WITH.  THEY TAKE RESPONSIBILITY WHEN THE CASE AGAINST THEM IS STRONG, AND WHILE THEY DON’T GIVE MONEY AWAY, THEY DON’T NICKEL AND DIME ON SETTLEMENT EITHER.”

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Associate lawyer

CHES CROSBIE BARRISTERS

www.ChesCrosbie.com

ccrosbie@chescrosbie.nf.net

709-579-4000

 

July 2008

 

            Thank you for responding to my advertisement to hire an associate lawyer for my firm.  I am very busy and you probably are too; so, I thought that rather than waste each other’s time, I would clearly set out in this document what this position is all about so that, even before you decide to send me a resume, you make the decision that this position is a good fit for you.  This job will not be the right fit for everyone. 

Background Information 

            You should know a little bit about me.  I have been practicing law for over 25 years.  In 1991 I started my own plaintiff’s personal injury and medical malpractice firm in St. John’s.  We have fluctuated between four and five lawyers, including me.  We have also developed a significant consumer class action practice.  The Breast Cancer Testing Class Action is an example. 

            I have been very involved as a founder of the Atlantic Provinces Trial Lawyers Association, with the American Association for Justice, and I frequently write and lecture.  I mention that because I believe it is important to be involved in the profession and in the community. 

            I believe in a balanced lifestyle and believe that sacrificing family and other areas of life is not necessary in order to have a satisfying legal career.  There are however times when workload does require an extra surge.   

            This is a pure plaintiff’s practice.  We represent individuals and families who have suffered the loss of health or life in a variety of cases.   

            Over the years, we have had a very steady stream of medical malpractice and personal injury cases.  Most of these cases come in referral from other lawyers or other clients.  To date, we have used yellow pages and Channel 8 “advertising”, and we have a solid internet presence.  Our website ChesCrosbie.com is at or near the top of Google for search terms like “Newfoundland Injury Lawyer”.  We market every day.  Marketing is all of the little things we do to make our business known.  It is not necessarily the same as advertising. 

Who will be the right candidate for this position? 

            You must be licensed to practice in Newfoundland and Labrador.  The successful candidate will probably have between three and eight years of experience at the bar.  I am looking for someone who is intelligent and a good writer.  You must have a great command of the English language, as the ability to clearly communicate in writing and speaking is of paramount importance.  If you only write or speak legalese, then this job is not for you.  You must be technologically literate, and at home on a computer.  You must be practical, organized, relate well to clients, adjusters and other lawyers, and have a good sense of when to close a deal. 

Your primary responsibility will be to carry a caseload of plaintiff files in primarily automobile injury cases.  You do not need an extensive knowledge of the law of these cases at the start, this is something you can pick up on your way.  But you should be a quick learner and a self starter.  This area of practice is not that hard to learn, but you have to like learning new things and be unafraid to venture into areas you know nothing about.  This is a good opportunity for growth in the areas of the law that we pursue.  

What’s the pay?  

The initial starting base salary will be commensurate with market compensation, and we reward you for performance.  I have worked out a system of commission compensation.  The numbers will not be spelled out in this letter, but if after reading this letter, you are still interested, then you can talk to me. 

What are the benefits? 

Small firm atmosphere

Good learning environment

Direct client responsibility

Courtroom exposure

Benefits package

Casual work environment

Flexible hours

Free parking

Law Society membership fees paid

 

Contact us 

            You can read more information about my firm at www.ChesCrosbie.com.  If you are interested in this position, please forward a resume and a writing sample via email, to ccb@chescrosbie.nf.net.  Please do not fax or send it by mail. 

            Thank you.

 

                                                               Chesley F. Crosbie, Q.C.

 

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Plaintiff lawyer gets five years for bribery

            Mississippi plaintiff lawyer Dickie Scruggs was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for conspiring to bribe a judge.  Scruggs intended to offer the money to the judge for help in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees claimed from mass insurance settlements following the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

             Scruggs was indicted in November 2007 together with his son and a law partner after the judge reported the bribery approach and an associate lawyer wore wiretap equipment for the FBI.  The group plead guilty in March.  The planned payment to a Mississippi county circuit court judge was to be $50,000.

             Scruggs came to national and even international fame as one of the lead lawyers in the 1998 global settlement between the state Attorneys General and the tobacco industry.  Scruggs and colleagues in Mississippi were awarded $1.43 billion in fees for their work in the 1998 tobacco settlement.

Read More About Plaintiff lawyer gets five years for bribery...

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Record $17 million injury award upheld

Canadian Court Upholds $17 Million Verdict for Injured Child

That’s right – a Canadian court has upheld a verdict worth $17 million awarded by a jury to a child who was two years old when he fell out an apartment window and suffered devastating injuries. This largest ever award was made by an Ontario jury, and in a decision released in spring 2008 the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the award.

Harvinder Sandhu, now 13 years old, was just a toddler when he fell through a broken screen of his aunt and uncle’s fifth floor apartment on Toronto’s Martin Grove Road. The broken screen had been reported more than once to the building’s superintendent.

Harvinder “suffered numerous injuries, including a frontal lobe brain injury so severe that he will never be gainfully employed and will always require supervision,” the appeal court noted. The boy requires constant care.

The Ontario Superior Court jury awarded the plaintiffs $12,936,145.60 in January of 2006. Trial judge Justice Carolyn Horkins awarded and extra $4,182,039.02 in guardianship costs, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.

The apartment owners raised 12 grounds of appeal to the panel of three Justices. For starters, the jury’s award was $1.336 million more than the plaintiff’s counsel had recommended in her jury address. The jury awarded the highest amount of non-pecuniary general damages permitted by the Supreme Court of Canada at $311,000, $100,000 to each of Harvinder’s parents and his brother under Ontario’s Family Law Act, plus damages for loss of future income at the highest level based on a retirement age of 65. The panel of judges dismissed all 12 grounds of appeal.

The appellant apartment owners also complained that the trial judge had wrongly allowed the entry of evidence of repairs.  The appeal court disagreed, stating that the fact that repairs to the screens were made quickly and inexpensively after the accident was relevant to show that the appellants had failed to meet a reasonable standard in keeping the building in good repair or in making reasonable inspections for safety defects.

The appeal judges would not overturn this jury verdict against the weight of the evidence unless it was “so plainly unreasonable and unjust as to satisfy the court that no jury, reviewing the evidence as a whole and acting judicially, could have reached it.” They did not view the outcome of the 2006 trial as unreasonable or unjust.

The lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in the court of appeal said this is the largest personal injury award affirmed at the appellate level in Canada. She also viewed the $100,000 derivative award to Harvinder’s brother, Parminder, “a vindication” because she has long fought for the recognition of the effect of devastating injuries on siblings.

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