Trial Guides Founder Aaron DeShaw Wins $77.5M Verdict in Amputation Case

Trial Guides is announcing a new customer success story for one of the largest personal injury verdicts of 2023.

Trial Guides Founder Aaron DeShaw has obtained a $77.5 million verdict in a recent amputation case using multiple influences from Trial Guides. His $77.5 million compensatory damages verdict is the largest personal injury verdict in Oregon history, and believed to be the highest single leg amputation verdict in the United States.  As with other customer success stories, we asked Aaron for some insights on how he obtained the verdict that might help other Trial Guides customers.

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10 Ways to Improve Your Car Crash Demand Letters

10 Ways to Improve Your Car Crash Demand Letters

According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 98.2% of all civil cases settle prior to filing a lawsuit.  Of the 1.8% tort claims that are filed, most of those resolve prior to trial. This means that nearly 100% of tort insurance claims will settle or terminate prior to a jury trial.

While many lawyers know Trial Guides as the leader in books, audio and CLEs on trial methods, the company started with a book about how to obtain maximum settlement value in auto cases. The groundbreaking book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know, featured Trial Guides founder Aaron DeShaw’s insights from years of researching the insurance company’s bodily injury software, and how lawyers could use the information to obtain maximum settlement offers for their clients in motor vehicle cases.

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Trial Guides Spinal Injury Claims Listserve

New Trial Guides Spinal Injury Litigation Listserve Community

This week Trial Guides launches the Spinal Injury Litigation Listserve for plaintiff lawyers.  The new Trial Guides litigation group community groups will focus on specific topics in law.

One of the first four list serve communities is the Trial Guides Spinal Injury Litigation Group.

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Spinal Injury Cases - Demand Letters

Handling Spinal Injury Cases - Sessions 3 and 4

As America's leading litigation publisher, Trial Guides knows that the most successful personal injury attorneys focus on mastering the medicine in their practice area. To support lawyers in improving their skills in handling spinal injury cases, Trial Guides has created the most comprehensive and advanced educational series in the legal profession for spinal injury lawyers hosted by trial lawyer and retired doctor Aaron DeShaw. This educational series will help lawyers achieve better insurance settlements, arbitration awards, and trial verdicts for their spinal injury claims. This blog post discusses the content of Sessions 3 and 4 in the Spinal Injury Cases series.
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Spinal Injury Cases for Lawyers

Spinal Injury CLE Series for Lawyers

As the leading litigation publisher in the United States, we know that the most successful personal injury attorneys focus on learning the medicine in their practice area.  To support lawyers in improving their skills in handling a wide variety of spinal injury cases, Trial Guides created the most comprehensive and advanced educational series in the legal profession for spinal injury lawyers.  This will help lawyers achieve better insurance company settlements, and trial verdicts for their spinal injury claims.
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Demand Letters Review

Review By: Justin Zachary Esq originally published in the Summer 2019 issue of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association's publication The Docket.  S...
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Why Understanding TBI is Critical for Personal Injury Attorneys

Why Understanding TBI is Critical for Personal Injury Attorneys

I thought I would provide some insights into why the upcoming Trial Guides Brain Injury CLE is directly applicable to plaintiffs' lawyers. By way o...
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Trial Guides 15th Anniversary, a word from our Founder

Fifteen years ago this month, I turned down offers from three major legal publishers and published the first two books for Trial Guides. The books...
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Increasing Neck Injury Settlements

Increasing Claim Value on Neck Injury Cases video

Many personal injury practices center on spinal soft-tissue injuries. Most lawyers do not view these as valuable cases, but other lawyers obtain six-figure settlements and verdicts on the same type of soft-tissue injury cases. What would happen to your practice if you could spot more serious injuries, and then obtain objective evidence proving that these cases are worth much more than a few thousand dollars?
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Chiropractic testimony in lawsuits

Working with Chiropractors on Auto Cases Live Webinar CLE

According to the Insurance Research Council, 32% of all people injured in a motor vehicle crash seek chiropractic care. Despite the Doctors of Chiropractic program being over 4000 hours (similar to that of a Medical Doctorate), lawyers, judges and in some cases jurors demonstrate a clear bias against chiropractic testimony.

In this webinar, lawyer Aaron DeShaw, a former Doctor of Chiropractic, shows you how to work more effectively with chiropractors.

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Writing Demand Letters in Auto Cases Live Webinar CLE

Writing Demand Letters in Auto Cases Live Webinar CLE

In this webinar, Sinclair discusses how to improve your demand letters by basing your format and the information in the demand on the software that the insurer is using to evaluate your client’s claim. This presentation draws upon her expertise developed by seeing case files from all over the country, involving hundreds of different insurance adjusters and thousands of different health care providers.
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Increasing Claim Value in Neck Injury Claims

Increasing Claim Value on Neck Injury Cases Live Webinar CLE

Many personal injury practices center on soft tissue injuries from car accidents. For many lawyers, these are not particularly valuable cases. But what if you could find objective evidence that some of these cases are worth much more?

In this webinar, Aaron DeShaw discusses new medical imaging that can help you objectively prove serious ligament injuries in the neck that will cause permanent injuries and can only be resolved with costly fixation surgery.

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Trial Guides iPad App

Announcing Trial Guides' iPad App

Trial Guides revolutionized the practice of law by providing you with products that help you win.  In the process, we did away with mind-numbing $500 binder books with expensive annual updates.  

We'd like to completely change everything...again.

Introducing the Trial Guides iPad app.  The app provides a custom made application for lawyers.  It provides an excellent quality reader app for eBooks and eArticles, a video viewer, and a playback system for audio recordings. Every Trial Guides product can now be purchased online with immediate delivery.

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Understanding Traumatic Injuries - For Lawyers, Paralegals and Legal Staff

Understanding Traumatic Injuries - For Lawyers, Paralegals and Legal Staff

Traumatic Injuries is a video lecture by doctor / lawyer, Aaron DeShaw—the founder of Trial Guides. The lecture is an advanced course on interpreting and documenting symptoms, and proving both common and rare conditions with advanced medical imaging. These include mild traumatic brain injuries, inner ear injuries, and spinal ligament injuries that can have permanent consequences documented on motion radiography and a new series of MRIs. Recognizing and documenting these injuries defeats defense arguments about your case being a mere "soft tissue case," malingering or somatoform disorder, because you will have objective proof of a more serious injury. Increase the value of your cases by arming yourself with the knowledge of Trial Guides' experts.
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Announcing a New Version of the Colossus Forms CD for Doctors

Announcing a New Version of the Colossus Forms CD for Doctors

A new version of our popular Colossus Forms CD for doctors is being released today. It is an update to one of Trial Guides' earliest products.

The majority of all auto insurers in the U.S. use computerized assessment software to determine bodily injury settlement offers. Most of them conceal its use or allege they no longer use the software. The most widely used bodily injury claim software is called Colossus, but there are others regularly used by large insurers including Liability Navigator, and ClaimIQ. Colossus and other bodily...

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Finding Hidden Injuries in "Soft Tissue" Cases

Finding Hidden Injuries in "Soft Tissue" Cases

We are proud to release a new CLE video by Aaron Deshaw: a doctor, a lawyer, author of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyers Needs to Know, and a leading speaker on traumatic brain injuries.

In the Traumatic Injuries DVD, Dr. DeShaw lectures on traumatic brain injuries, inner ear injuries (perilymph fistulas, endolymph hydrops, BPPV), C1 ligament injuries, and Alar and Transverse ligament damages, and how what seems like a simple neck injury can lead to severe symptoms such as blindness or death.

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Trial Guides

Trial Guides Points the Way

I have started going to more seminars, reading more books, watching more video—trying to get beyond "the law" and generic trial techniques, and focusing specifically on how to win plaintiffs’ personal injury trials. It soon became apparent that a new publishing company predominates this niche, publishing and distributing some of today’s most important plaintiffs’ trial materials—Trial Guides.

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New! Moe Levine on Advocacy

New! Moe Levine on Advocacy

After over three years of work, Trial Guides is proud to announce the release of Moe Levine on Advocacy, the most comprehensive book ever released on Levine's lectures, trial transcripts and articles.

Moe Levine practiced in New York in the 1940s to early 1970s, trying over 2000 civil trials.  He was one of the first members of the Inner Circle of Advocates, and was close friends with Inner Circle founder Richard Grand.  He helped create the concept of "qualitative damages" while helping Grand re-frame one of his cases by taking a concept from the Bible and using it as a way to describe the client's loss. (The case is discussed in the book.)

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Trial Guides Intensive Motor Vehicle Case CLE

Trial Guides Intensive Motor Vehicle Case CLE

Recent statistics from the insurance industry show that 80% of all motor vehicle claims settle at $5,000 or less, 90% settle for $15,000 or less, and that less than 1% settle for $100,000 or more.(1)

Trial Guides believes these case values do not reflect a true state of the severity of crash injuries, but instead a failure by attorneys to fully understand the claim process and the injuries involved in these collisions. We believe it's time to face claim underpayments head on. So, as the nation's leading publishing company for plaintiff's lawyers, we asked ourselves this question. How can we radically change the way personal injury lawyers handle motor vehicle cases with one CLE?
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New Motor Vehicle Collision CLE for Lawyers and Doctors

New Motor Vehicle Collision CLE for Lawyers and Doctors

We are pleased to present an intensive two-day seminar on handling motor vehicle cases with Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.  DeShaw is the author of the authoritative text on Colossus, the computer program used by most auto insurance companies to evaluate bodily injury claims. He has individually, and in cooperation with other law firms, obtained settlements and verdicts for clients of over $400 million. DeShaw rarely lectures, and this intensive seminar is his first in four years.

DeShaw will discuss how to handle your motor vehicle cases in a way that will obtain the best possible outcomes in settlement negotiations, and in trial. He will discuss how claims are segmented at major auto insurers into five types of claims, and how to best handle each of these types of claims.

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Mastering Motor Vehicle Cases CLE Aaron DeShaw

Mastering Motor Vehicle Cases - CLE Seminar with Dr. Aaron DeShaw Esq.

Trial Guides is pleased to present an intensive two-day seminar on handling motor vehicle cases with Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.

The seminar will cover advanced topics in how to handle motor vehicle cases in a modern insurance environment. As author of the definitive text on Colossus, DeShaw will discuss how claims are segmented at auto insurers, and how each of these claims is handled.

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AAJ Lists Top 10 Worst Insurance Companies in America, Cites Trial Guides' Books and Authors for Uncovering Insurance Bad Faith Practices

AAJ Lists Top 10 Worst Insurance Companies in America, Cites Trial Guides' Books and Authors for Uncovering Insurance Bad Faith Practices

The American Association for Justice (AAJ) has named the Top 10 Worst Insurance Companies in America.  In doing so, it cites Trial Guides' book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves and articles arising from publicity around that book as the basis for naming Allstate the #1 worst insurer in America.

The 29 page report has a section for each of the ten worst insurers.  The section on Allstate notes at footnote 11 "There is no better analysis of [Allstate's] McKinsey documents than the book, 'From Good Hands’ to Boxing Gloves,' by David Berardinelli, Michael Freeman, and Aaron DeShaw.  Many of AAJ's citations to articles about Allstate's institutional "Deny, Delay, Defend" policy cite the book as the authoritative source on Allstate's policies and procedures as well as the way they have impacted the rest of the insurance industry.  These include the feature articles by BusinessWeek, Money magazine, CNN and others.

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Colossus Lawyer Forms CD Duties Under Duress Loss of Enjoyment of Life

Maximizing Auto Accident Settlement Offers

Nearly 70% of auto accident cases in the U.S. are evaluated by bodily injury claims assessment software.

Now there is a guide that helps you and your clients - triggering thousands of "value drivers," and helping you ethically maximize settlement offers based upon the facts of your clients' cases.

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Colossus Text Helps You Ethically Maximize Settlement Offers

Colossus Text Helps You Ethically Maximize Settlement Offers

Nearly 70% of auto accident cases in the U.S. are evaluated by claims assessment software. But the insurers have kept these programs, and how they evaluate claims, secret from their own policyholders.  But, Aaron DeShaw has consolidated three years of research into these programs into a book disclosing the way these programs evaluate your claims, as well as how they fail to properly value your case. 
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Turner / CNN Interviews Trial Guides Authors on Allstate's Insurance Claim System

Turner / CNN Interviews Trial Guides Authors on Allstate's Insurance Claim System

Trial Guides authors David Berardinelli and Aaron DeShaw are being interviewed by Turner Network for CNN and Money Magazine regarding Allstate Insurance's claim handling method called Claims Core Process Redesign ("CCPR").  

New Mexico lawyer, David Berardinelli, is the primary author of Trial Guides' upcoming book From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves.

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Trial Guides Authors Interviewed by BusinessWeek Regarding Allstate

Trial Guides Authors Interviewed by BusinessWeek Regarding Allstate

Trial Guides authors David Berardinelli and Aaron DeShaw are being interviewed by BusinessWeek regarding Allstate Insurance's claim handling method called Claims Core Process Redesign ("CCPR").
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Chiropractic Economics: Aaron DeShaw's Article on Bill Review Software in Personal Injury Cases

Chiropractic Economics: Aaron DeShaw's Article on Bill Review Software in Personal Injury Cases

Article in Chiropractic Economics:

An Excerpt from Billing and Procedure Denials: What Every Physician Needs to Know, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.

"Have you ever played a game without knowing the rules? It’s difficult to win. Over the last 10 years, chiropractors have been playing a “game” with personal-injury insurers without knowing the rules.

Sometimes they win and get paid for their personal-injury (PI) and healthcare claims; sometimes they lose.

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Nebraska Association of Trial Lawyers Publishes Excerpt of Aaron DeShaw Colossus Text

Nebraska Association of Trial Lawyers Publishes Excerpt of Aaron DeShaw Colossus Text

The Prairie Barrister, publication of the Nebraska Association of Trial Lawyers, published the article "Negotiating a Non-Demonstrable Case - A study in Colossus" in its Fall 2005 edition. The article is based on Trial Guides' book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq., the definitive text on settling automobile claims with insurers that use bodily injury claims software for the evaluation of claims.  The book is supplemented by the Colossus: Legal Forms CD.
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Chiropractic Economics Reviews Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know

Chiropractic Economics Reviews Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know

Book Review by Chiropractic Economics:

Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know
by Aaron DeShaw, DC, JD. Loose leaf, 465 pages.

According to the author, approximately 70 percent of auto injuries are evaluated by computer assessment software. The best known assessment software is known as Colossus.

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Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Publishes Excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Publishes Excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

Trial Talk, the magazine of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, published the article "Negotiating a Non-Demonstrable Case" in its August/September 2005 edition. The article is based on our book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq., the definitive text on settling automobile claims with insurers using bodily injury claims software for the evaluation of claims.  The book is supplemented by the Colossus: Legal Forms CD.
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ATLA Motor Vehicle Collision Section publishes on Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

ATLA Motor Vehicle Collision Section publishes on Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

The Association of Trial Lawyers of America ("ATLA") newsletter of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway & Premises Liability Section, published the article "Soft Tissue Cases in Colossus" in its Summer 2005 edition. The article is based upon our book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyers Needs to Know by Aaron DeShaw.
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Trial Briefs Publishes Excerpt on Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

Trial Briefs Publishes Excerpt on Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

Trial Briefs, the magazine of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, published an excerpt of our text Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know in the June 2005 edition. The book, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq., is the definitive text on settling automobile claims with insurers using bodily injury claims software for the evaluation of claims.  The book is supplemented by the Colossus: Legal Forms CD.
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The Gavel Publishes an Excerpt of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know

The Gavel Publishes an Excerpt of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know

The Gavel, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association magazine, published an excerpt of our text Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know in the Summer 2005 edition.
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The Verdict Publishes an Excerpt of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know

The Verdict Publishes an Excerpt of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know

The Verdict, the Wisconsin Academy of Trial Lawyers magazine, published a several page excerpt of our text Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know in the Summer 2005 edition.  The book was written by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.
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The Advocate publishes on Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know

The Advocate publishes on Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know

The Advocate, the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association magazine, published an excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's text Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know in the July/August 2005 edition.
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Louisiana Advocates Trial Guides Colossus Aaron DeShaw

Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association Reviews Aaron DeShaw's Colossus Text

This month, Louisiana Advocates, the journal of the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association published an excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know.
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Montana Trial Lawyers Association Publishes on the Colossus Text

Montana Trial Lawyers Association Publishes on the Colossus Text

This month, the Montana Trial Lawyers Association Journal "Trial Trends" published an excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know.
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Idaho Trial Lawyer's Association - Colossus Aaron DeShaw

The Idaho Trial Lawyers Association Journal publishes on Colossus Text

This month, the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association Journal published an excerpt of Aaron DeShaw's book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know.
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Procedure & Billing Denials Aaron DeShaw Trial Guides

Trial Guides publishes "Procedure & Billing Denials: What Every Physician Needs to Know"

Trial Guides is proud to announce its new book Procedure & Billing Denials: What Every Physician Needs to Know by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq. 

The new book provides physicians & staff with the background necessary when dealing with a modern insurance company on a personal injury case. DeShaw describes procedures and codes frequently flagged by insurers, and insurance medical bill review software. The book also discusses coding methods and procedures which are flagged for audits, or rejected. DeShaw further discusses modern necessity for charting to substantiate treatment and reduce payment problems.

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New Colossus Form CD for Personal Injury Lawyers

New Colossus Form CD for Personal Injury Lawyers

A new legal Colossus forms CD is released today, to supplement the new book Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know.

Approximately 70 percent of all auto insurers in the U.S. use bodily injury assessment software to determine claim value. Most of them conceal its use. The most widely used bodily injury claim software is called Colossus, but there are others also used by large insurers including Claims Outcome Advisor.  Bodily injury assessment programs require specific information in order to generate claim value in a client's case.

The Colossus Forms CD provides lawyers with the legal forms necessary when dealing with modern insurance companies on personal injury cases.

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New book on Colossus for Lawyers Reveals Best Practices for Insurance Demand Letters

New book on Colossus for Lawyers Reveals Best Practices for Insurance Demand Letters

We are proud to announce the release of Colossus: What Every Trial Lawyer Needs to Know, by Dr. Aaron DeShaw, Esq.  The book is the definitive resource for lawyers who handle auto insurance claims practices, and how they impact both the writing of insurance demand letters, as well as insurance bad faith implications.  The book is the result of three years of research, including non-protected claim manuals from several insurers, non-protected Colossus manuals, original programming documents from Australia, as well as interviews with claims adjustors, claim supervisors and even Lee Fogle - director of bodily injury software at ISO who oversees the Claim Outcome Advisor program.  
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Colossus Physician Forms CD Now Available

Colossus Physician Forms CD Now Available

A new physician forms CD is released today, to supplement the new edition of Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know.

Approximately 70 percent of all auto insurers in the U.S. use bodily injury assessment software to determine claim value. Most of them conceal its use. The most widely used bodily injury claim software is called Colossus, but there are others also used by large insurers including Claims Outcome Advisor.  Bodily injury assessment programs require specific information in order to generate claim value in a patient’s case.  And often they use different terminology from treating doctors.  The difference in terminology between health care professionals and the insurance industry can result in improperly low settlement offers to injured people.

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Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know - Updated Version Available

Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know - Updated Version Available

Colossus: What Every Physician Needs to Know is the definitive resource for doctors who handle personal injury cases on the insurance claims process involving their patients.  

The book provides physicians clear guidance on dealing with personal injury cases that will be analyzed by claims assessment software including Colossus.

Presently, nearly 70% of auto accident cases in the U.S. are evaluated by claims assessment software. The book provides physicians an insider’s view of the medical and legal defects in the programs used by 16 of the Top 20 auto insurance companies in the US.

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