People drive ton-and-a-half steel machines at high speeds while singing along to the radio, drinking coffee, applying makeup, and playing with their phones. An average text takes 4.6 seconds, and if you glance at your phone while driving at 55 miles per hour, that translates to driving the length of a football field — while driving blind. Is it any surprise that people get into car crashes, or that 3000 pounds moving at high speeds can cause serious injury?
Think of what your body would experience running head first into a brick wall. While your car provides some protection from actual impact, the sudden shock of a car crash gets transferred through the car's frame to drivers and passengers.
Just because an accident occurs, however, doesn’t mean the other driver is automatically at fault. Even rear-end collisions are routinely denied by insurance companies (of course, they’re also looking for excuses not to pay). We make sure that they are held accountable for what their insured drivers cause.
An Attorney’s Job In The Early Stages After An Accident Is Critical, and Knowing What to Do With That Information is Essential:
Right from the first phone call, our office acts on information to fully develop a client's claim, including
- Identifying the negligent person(s) and companies
- Investigating and developing proof of negligence (fault) and responsibility
- Identify and persuade the insurance companies involved
- Making sure your medical bills are coordinated and paid
- Tracking and understand evidence of your injuries and work with doctors to document your condition
- Advocating and argue for maximum value from insurers
This all happens before lawyers even think of a trial. In fact, approximately 95% of all automobile negligence cases are settled before they get to court. Only one in 20 cases goes before a judge or jury. However, insurers are resisting valid claims on an increasing basis, which means the process, whether by settlement or trial, is only becoming more difficult for claimants.
What ultimately resolves cases is the threat of a jury verdict -- meaning that insurers take injured plaintiffs' cases seriously when they're represented with a lawyer who has an established reputation in court.
Unlike many lawyers who advertise on television for clients, who are generally in for the quick settlement and quick case turnover, MALIS | LAW treats every case like it’s going to trial, and Dan's reputation as an experienced and skilled trial lawyer is well known to insurers.
At our firm, we understand not just the essential elements of an auto case, but how to maximize a client's recovery. That means an understanding of not only the claim itself, but the law that applies to that claim; the ins and outs of insurance, coverage limits, fair and unfair insurance practices; settlement tactics, from describing an injury to knowing what juries and insurers care about; good and bad lawyers, insurance companies and adjusters, judges and mediators; favorable and unfavorable courts; as well as an extensive knowledge of medicine and the biomechanics of injury. Successful resolutions and settlements also require the ability to communicate to insurers or to courts and juries the human element -- what a particular injury means to that client's lifestyle, work abilities, and future.
Our track record of settling several million dollars’ worth of car collision claims proves our knowledge, skill, and results.
Auto Accidents Are:
All claims for injury caused by the negligent operation of a car or another motor vehicle.
Automobile Accidents Include:
Truck accidents
Bus accidents
Pedestrian injured by a motor vehicle
Hit and run collisions
Car accidents
Passenger in a motor vehicle
Accidents involving Uber, Lyft and other Rideshare companies
We also understand the twists and turns of dealing with the growing trend of rideshare companies like Uber, Lyft and others, which have added thousands of constantly idling and circulating vehicles to Massachusetts traffic. While Massachusetts law has stringent requirements for drivers of Lyft, Uber and other rideshare companies, the law has yet to establish that while on line with their companies that these drivers, operating their own vehicles, are agents or employees of the rideshare (or, as Massachusetts calls them, Transportation Network Companies (TNC)).
These companies provide adequate coverage for their drivers while actually on an assigned ride, but only provide $50,000 when they are logged in and orbiting looking for fares — and no coverage when they are not logged in. Our firm has taken the lead on this issue, successfully calling a TNC company to account in one of the first lawsuits against a TNC for failing to appropriately investigate their drivers before joining a TNC.
Contact Us
617-491-1099
30 Second St.
Cambridge, MA 02141
MALIS|LAW serves clients throughout Massachusetts, with a central office in Cambridge, MA and satellite meeting spaces in the Merrimack Valley and on Massachusetts’ South Coast. Our local presence in these areas gives clients ready access to our firm and our resources.
While we can schedule meetings in any of those areas, we recognize that we serve injured people who may not be able to leave their homes to meet initially. Dan will come to you wherever you are to speak with you and personally manage your case. While we always want to get to know our clients personally, disabled clients also appreciate our familiarity with on line streaming services like Zoom , and our internet-based case management system allows for immediate data entry and a prompt commencement of your case.
Our central office in Cambridge provides easy 2-minute access from Route 93 in Cambridge, and steps from the Green Line Lechmere MBTA stop.