Sunday, August 31, 2008

How to Understand a Settlement Agreement

A Settlement Agreement is a legal contract effectuating a compromise between two parties, who agree to settle their disputes between them rather than resort to litigation. A Settlement Agreement usually contains a General and Mutual Release of All Claims, meaning that both parties release the other from any past, present, or future liability arising out of the events that led to the Settlement Agreement. For instance, typical language for a personal injury “slip and fall” Settlement Agreement would be: “In exchange for release of all past, present, or future liability, The Tigers Baseball team agrees to pay season ticket holder Stephens $35,000.00.”

Most parties to a Settlement Agreement will want the agreement to recite that by signing the agreement they are not admitting fault, wrongdoing, or liability. More specifically, this paragraph could say that this Settlement Agreement does not constitute an “admission, concession, or evidence of any alleged fault, misrepresentation, act or omission or any other alleged violation of law, and it does not represent a formal finding of wrongdoing by any court or administrative agency.” To further strengthen the point, the agreement might explain that the settlement has been entered into in the interest of resolving the issues raised by the complaints, investigations and examinations and to avoid the risks, loss of time and the costs associated with protracted litigation.

Because a settlement usually involves a payment of money from one side to the other in exchange for mutual and general releases, the agreement should clearly define how much money is going to be paid, in what form, when, and to whom. For instance, is the money being paid all at once or in payments over time? If it is being paid all at once, will it be paid directly to the client or to the client’s law firm? Must it be paid before the agreement can be executed, or can it be paid shortly thereafter? The agreement should clearly answer these questions.

Sometimes a party will be agreeing to do or to refrain from doing something as part of a settlement. This section of the agreement, sometimes titled “injunctive relief”, must describe what actions the settling party is agreeing to take or not to take. This section may also include language describing the consequences for breach. In addition, the agreement should contain a warranties paragraph, whereby each party covenants that no other person or entity has or has had any interest in the claims, demands, obligations, or causes of action referred to in the Settlement Agreement, and that it has not sold, assigned, transferred, conveyed or otherwise disposed of any of the claims, demands, obligations, or causes of action referred to in the Settlement Agreement.

Lastly, the Agreement should be written to express the entire agreement between the parties and should bind the successors of both parties. Each party should promise that it has obtained appropriate legal advice of its own choosing and that all terms of the agreement are fully understood and voluntarily accepted. The agreement should also state the governing jurisdiction, and finally, should refer to any supplemental documents necessary to give full force and effect to the terms of the Settlement Agreement.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Five Tips To Get The Right Personal Injury Attorney

The success of a personal injury claim highly depends on the ability, efficiency and experience of the lawyer who handles it. Though it is not compulsory to hire a lawyer while filing personal injury claim, however legal guidance can enhance the proceedings.

To win personal injury case and to receive maximum possible compensation you need to work with the right attorney. Here are some suggestions and tips that help you find the personal injury lawyer who best suits your requirements.

Tip 1: Hire local lawyer.

Always work with lawyers and attorneys of your state. They not only have better understanding of state laws, they can help you execute all the legal steps without any communication gap. Hence the whole process speeds up.

With adequate knowledge of personal injury laws, your attorney can suggest you where to file your compensation claim so that the possibilities of success go high. Assume, a resident of one state meets a car accident in another state and the other party involved in the accident belongs to a third state. Attorneys can help you decide which state the car accident compensation claim is to be submitted. The place selection greatly influences the fate of personal injury cases.

Tip 2: Ask acquaintances, friends and neighbors.

Ask your friends, neighbors, colleagues and other acquaintances for a reference. Some of them might have been represented by lawyers in past for their personal injury cases. Listen to what they say about the lawyer. Note down the contact details.

Possibly, you will get a lot of references and mixed reaction about them from different people. There is nothing to get confused with this. Different people may judge a lawyer or law firm from different perspectives. So listen to all the feedbacks and then sort your list according to their aggregate.

Tip 3: Leaf through the Yellow Pages.

Yellow Pages and Local Address Books are good resources for contact information of attorney and lawyers. However, you should always do a bit of research about the attorneys before hiring them. You can visit local BBB website or ask your acquaintances for feedbacks about them.

Tip 4: Lawyer referral service.

Attorney Referral Services are available on the internet. You can avail the service and let the system find a lawyer for you. Here also you need to do your own research about the goodwill and reputation of the law firm you have been referred to. Relying completely on the referral service may not be helpful to judge the competence of the personal injury attorney.

Tip 5: Search the internet.

Internet has got the answer to all your questions. So search for local attorneys on the internet. Many law offices, law firms and attorneys have their own website these days. So collecting their contact information or a toll free number from the websites is not a big deal. Lawyers display Case Studies, Testimonials etc. on their website that help you make your mind about the service they provide.

What’s next?

All the aforementioned steps help you compile a list of attorneys. Now you need to decide who can be most suitable for you. You may have read or heard lots of good words about a particular attorney, but never take the final decision based on other’s experience. Meet a personal injury lawyer, discuss your case with them, get all your doubts and queries cleared and then make a decision. Ask yourself if you are comfortable in working with the lawyer or not. Your approval makes the final step.