Considering AI Demand Letters for Settlement?

With more than 99% of all personal injury cases being settled prior to verdict, writing demand letters is the primary financial activity of most personal injury law firms.  Settlement Intelligence has recently released an extensive overview of these AI Demand Letter programs, the pros and cons of using these systems in your legal practice, and how they are already being successfully used by solo lawyers to large high volume personal injury law firms.
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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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How do Duties Under Duress Claims Impact Settlement Offers?

How do Duties Under Duress Claims Impact Settlement Offers?

If you settle most of your personal injury cases, you need to know the specific factors that are provided value by insurance companies. One of the Top 5 value drivers is a claim for Duties Under Duress.

"Duties Under Duress" is a unique term used within insurance company bodily injury software Colossus used to evaluate bodily injury claims in auto claims.

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How Jesse Wilson Helped Me Settle a Case for $16.6 Million

I credit Jesse Wilson with helping me settle a personal injury case for $16,600,000. If you want to hear how Jesse did that, read through this piece to the end. I’ve tried to figure out why Jesse’s Tell the Winning Story method works so well. I’m not sure that I’m correct, but here is my best effort to describe it. Jesse’s secret sauce can be broken down into three parts:
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Increasing Settlement Offers by Using Graphics in Your Demand Letters

Increasing Settlement Offers by Using Graphics in Your Demand Letters

Trial Guides has resources for lawyers interested in using legal graphics in motions (Show the Brief) as well as in ADR and trial (Show the Story).

But, what about increasing your settlement offers by using graphics in your demand letters?  In a free article on the Settlement Intelligence web site, Trial Guides founder Aaron DeShaw discusses the use of litigation graphics in your demand letters to increase your settlement offers.

In a cooperative deal between High Impact and Trial Guides, lawyers can purchase a perpetual license to over 100 injury and medical procedure illustrations that can be used repeatedly to illustrate common medical procedures.

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Running with the Bulls Nick Rowley Courtney Rowley Trial Guides

Years of Experience Learned in Hours – A Review of Running with the Bulls

Running With The Bulls is a book intended to teach trial lawyers how to maximize possible settlements. In the modern world of a trial lawyer, 99% of cases will settle before going in front of a jury. In times past, lawyers would try upwards of 100 jury trials per year. Now, it’s not uncommon for a firm that handles a smaller number of cases to not see a jury at all during a year.
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Advanced Depositions - Trial Guides

Settle Your Case with Advance Depositions

With over 99% of civil legal cases settling before jury verdict, Trial Guides asked some of its authors to comment about how their book can be used...
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How Nick Rowley and Team Obtain 8 Figure Settlements

How Nick Rowley and Team Obtain 8 Figure Settlements

Trial Guides author Nick Rowley recently obtained a $29.25 million settlement against State Farm Insurance for a motorcyclist after State Farm rejected a policy limits demand of $1.25 million and failed to protect its insured driver from litigation. This follows a $10.25 million settlement in December and a $2,551,000 settlement within thirty days of coming into another case where the insurance company had previously refused to pay a $300,000 settlement demand. As is often the case, Nick told us that much of the credit for these outcomes belongs to the other lawyers in his office, his co-counsel, and his staff.
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Rick Friedman, Michael Haddad, and Julia Sherwin Obtain Record $8.3 Million Dollar Settlement

Rick Friedman, Michael Haddad, and Julia Sherwin Obtain Record $8.3 Million Dollar Settlement

Rick Friedman and co-­counsel Michael Haddad and Julia Sherwin (Haddad and Sherwin, LLP) have settled a difficult case with the largest reported civil rights wrongful death settlement in California history after almost four years in litigation. The case settled for $8.3 million after the first week of a ten ­week trial. Trial Guides interviewed Rick Friedman to share his insights on the case.
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Trial by Human Nick Rowley

Nick Rowley on Settlement Using Trial by Human

“You won’t get the top dollar settlements if the opposition doesn’t fear you as a trial lawyer. You won’t get the top dollar settlements if you haven’t prepared your case for trial. The insurance companies have a system, they get reports, and they know what their risk exposure is. Settlements are based on risk assessment and the level of fear of loss that the defense decision makers have. Every book on trial law applies to working up your case, preparing it for mediation, taking effective depositions, doing an effective discovery, and getting the highest dollar settlements.
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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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State of the Law on Medicare Reimbursement Live Webinar CLE

State of the Law on Medicare Reimbursement Live Webinar CLE

Announcing a Live Medicare CLE webinar featuring Matt Garretson of the Garretson Resolution Group.

Is your firm in compliance with Medicare? The MMSEA (The Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007) ensures that Medicare is the secondary payer on settlements involving Medicare eligible claimants.

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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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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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Using Trial Strategies in Mediation and Arbitration

Using Trial Strategies in Mediation and Arbitration

Obviously not all of your cases go to trial; some are settled in mediation or tried in arbitration. Why would you walk into a mediation or arbitration any less prepared than you would walk into a courthouse?

Attorney Sharon Rowen of Atlanta, GA realized this and prepared for her mediation with trial consultant Eric Oliver, using the techniques in his book Facts Can’t Speak for Themselves. The defense counsel tried to spin Ms. Rowen's personal injury case against a renowned charity as a simple slip and fall. Using Oliver's strategies, which are outlined in Facts, Ms. Rowen was able to reframe the case using Eric Oliver's methods.

Due to Oliver's techniques, Ms. Rowen obtained a very favorable settlement (amount confidential) despite the obvious challenges in her case.

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Bloomberg Details Widespread Insurance Claim Denials and Delays

Bloomberg Details Widespread Insurance Claim Denials and Delays

The following article is published in Bloomberg Markets [Since removed from the internet] It provides one of the most comprehensive public media stories covering the serious problems in the insurance industry in America caused by programs of defense, delay and denial of claims.

The Insurance Hoax

By David Dietz and Darrell Preston

Julie Tunnell remembers standing in her debris-strewn driveway when the tall man in blue jeans approached. Her northern San Diego tudor-style home had been incinerated a week earlier in the largest wildfire in California history. The blaze in October and November 2003 swept across an area 19 times the size of Manhattan, destroying 2,232 homes and killing 15 people. Now came another blow.

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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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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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