Speaker 1:
Hi, Taylor, how are you doing good?
Taylor Kosla:
Good. How are you?
Speaker 1:
Nice to meet you. Please say hi to your client, your customer.
Taylor Kosla:
Hi, my name is Taylor Kosla. I’m a partner at 844 See Mike, and I’m looking forward to telling you more about our firm and all the behind-the-scenes that goes on, on behalf of our clients.
Speaker 1:
Yes. [foreign language 00:00:30]. Let’s go right to the question. I understand we’ve been discussing so many issues here, especially about personal injury and car accident and why would we hire 844 See Mike. So today we are going to discuss a little bit about 844 See Mike, what kind of service and why we had to hire 844 See Mike for a service. The first question I would like to answer you is why is this important to have a legal team represent you in a personal injury case?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah, the most important thing about having a legal team represent you is they will ensure that your rights are protected so you can focus on getting better. 844 See Mike will help you with your property damage claim, get your car fixed. We will help you with medical records and bills, finding doctors and physical therapists to treat you. So it’s really important that you retain us so we can maximize the results of your settlement, protect your rights, and you can just focus on getting better.
Speaker 1:
Okay. All right. Thank you. [foreign language 00:02:02]. Yes, thank you for your answer. The next question is I have for you, what sort law does 844 See Mike practice?
Taylor Kosla:
We handle personal injury and consumer rights. Personal injury is mostly what we’ve discussed on this show, car accidents, dog bites, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and then consumer rights is anything from inaccuracies on your credit report to debt collection harassment.
Speaker 1:
Okay. Yes. Thank you. [foreign language 00:04:00]. Yes, the next question I would like to ask you is how long 844 See Mike have been in business?
Taylor Kosla:
Mike Agruss started the firm 10 years ago this March. So we just passed the 10-year anniversary, but he’s been practicing 17 years.
Speaker 1:
That’s a long time.
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah. Unfortunately, he couldn’t be here today, but he’s been doing this forever and the firm has really grown over the past 10 years and we’re looking forward to see it grow over the next 10 years.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. All right. Good question to answer, because 10 years, this has been a long time, right?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
It’s been a decade.
Taylor Kosla:
A decade.
Speaker 1:
Wow. A decade. [foreign language 00:06:29]. Yes, thank you for your answer about 844 See Mike and your experience, also. Congratulations for 10-year anniversary.
Taylor Kosla:
Thank you.
Speaker 1:
Yes. So next question is, why should someone hire 844 See Mike?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah. There’s a few reasons why you should hire 844 See Mike. There are millions of lawyers out there. 844 See Mike is different in that we have the best case management software on the market that allows us to stay as organized as possible. It makes it easy for our clients to communicate with us, and this allows us to get the best results possible for our clients. Our clients get to call, email, text us. We’re very responsive. And that helps their case value. Because we hold them accountable for getting the treatment that they need and then, as soon as they’re done with that, we’re very quick to order records and get the case resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Speaker 1:
Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:08:42]. Yes. Another question is, what sort of team is [inaudible 00:09:52]?
Taylor Kosla:
We have two teams and that kind of just depends on the status of the client or the potential client. So first we have the intake team and that’s when maybe we’re speaking to a person with a potential case. We have not yet signed them up as a client. So that’s the very first team that really tends to interact with a potential client, and then once we actually sign on a client, they are a legal team and I’ll get more into details of what makes up these two teams that we have at the firm.
Speaker 1:
Okay. Wow. That’s very well organized. [foreign language 00:10:31]. Yes. I think we should move on very quick today. Can you explain what does your intake team do, exactly?
Taylor Kosla:
So the intake team, like I discussed, they’re usually the first line of communications with potential clients. And their goal is to gather information and details by interviewing a potential client. For example, maybe someone lands on our website or they call in, typically an intake specialist will answer the call and interview them. And it’s a very detailed interview, from their background information. If this is a car accident, where did the accident occur? When did it happen? So they’re just starting to gather the details, information and evidence we need to determine whether it’s a case or not.
If the client’s like, “I have pictures from the accident, I have a copy of the police report,” that’s information that the intake specialist will gather. And oftentimes they can determine if it’s a very clear liability case, they’ll sign them up right away. Other times, they might reach out to the attorneys or the rest of the team and say, “Hey, this is what we have here. What do you think we should do?” So our intake specialist team, they’re great. They have a lot of experience and they do a really good job of getting what we need to start working up the case.
Speaker 1:
Okay. Thank you, Taylor. [foreign language 00:13:26]. Yes. Next question is, who is in the intake team?
Taylor Kosla:
Yes. Our intake team is comprised of three intake specialists that their job is just to work with potential clients and interview them and get information from them. We have Rachel, she’s been with us about three years. And we have Lakisha and Madison, who were just brought on the team a few months ago. So their full-time job is to handle intakes. However, we also have paralegals and legal assistance that also help, as needed, with potential new clients. So there’s always someone available to interview new clients and provide potential clients with advice.
Speaker 1:
Okay. [foreign language 00:15:21]. Next question is, who’s responsible for a case after it is signed up?
Taylor Kosla:
Okay. So the intake team initially handles the potential client and then, once they’re signed up, every client is assigned a legal team. And A legal team is comprised of a case manager, a paralegal and an attorney, and everyone works together. They have different roles and job duties, but everyone works together to handle the case. It’s really efficient, everyone communicates with the client, the client always knows who’s handling their case and they can reach out to us at any time.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:18:12]. We’ll take a short break and we’ll be back. Thank you.
Qui Ngoc:
[foreign language 00:19:33].
Speaker 4:
[foreign language 00:21:04].
Speaker 1:
[foreign language 00:21:52]. Yes, let’s go back to our general talk show today. We understand a lot of lawyers, especially in Chicago, Illinois State, a lot of people, they’re scaring and they don’t understand and they dare not to ask someone what should they do about involving in a car accident or how to communicate lawyer. Because, to me, I don’t want to talk to the lawyer unless something really serious happen to me. And again, before we go on, again, one more time, we do appreciate your time and your patience because we’re trying to translate as much as we can.
Taylor Kosla:
Well, you just mentioned the last thing you want to do is basically call a lawyer. And that’s because lawyers have bad reputations and they’re expensive. But, that’s awesome, because what we do is our clients don’t owe us a penny. So there should never be a hesitation in reaching out to us if you’ve been involved in an accident or a similar occurrence.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. One thing I noticed, is the first place, when I reached out to 844 See Mike, people first, you can see everywhere. 844 See Mike, people first. I like that slogan. First of all, a little bit doubt of why people first. I think, lawyer first. But then the second thought I say, oh no, you need a lawyer on your side. That’s why the people first. It does make sense to me. [foreign language 00:23:57]. Yes, the next questions we’re interested about, the paralegal, because the term a little bit confusing people. What exactly is it? What is it?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah. A paralegal is someone who has some formal legal training, but they’re not an attorney. Oftentimes, they have a degree in paralegal studies and they do so much on cases and in law firms. Pretty much anything that you can think of, from helping interview clients, ordering records, speaking with clients about their treatment, a lot of communications between the client and the insurance companies. And then they also actually help the lawyers with their legal work because they have legal training.
For example, there’s a portion litigation called discovery and that’s after a lawsuit is filed and the parties exchange information, the paralegal will help out with that. So it’s not unusual for a client of ours to be contacted by the paralegal and say, “Hey, these are questions. These are information that we need to provide to the other side. Can you get this to me?” So we, as attorneys, absolutely love our paralegals. The ones we have at 844 See Mike are great. Our clients love them because they’re very understanding, very relatable and they listen to our clients. Like you just said, we put people first and, at our firm, that means our clients first, as well.
Speaker 1:
Yes. [foreign language 00:26:16]. Yeah. Thank you for your answer. Now I understand very clear about paralegal. Before, I have no clue what it is. How many paralegal does 844 See Mike have? I believe you have two, right?
Taylor Kosla:
We have two. Jackie and Veronica. Jackie’s been with us for seven years, so she came on board shortly after the firm started, and Veronica, she’s been with us about two years and she’s still completing her degree in paralegal studies, but they’re absolutely great. We love working with them and they’re really helpful to our clients.
Speaker 1:
Yes. [foreign language 00:30:03]. Next question I would like to ask you about, case manager does 844 See Mike have. How many case managers?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah. Part of our legal team is a case manager. We have one case manager who’s assigned to all the cases and she oversees the case. She’ll order the medical records, the police report, if there’s a photo or video that was taken, maybe body-cam video or recordings, 911 calls. That’s the information that the case manager will gather. So, especially early on, her job is dedicated to gathering all the evidence needed for the case.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Thank you. [foreign language 00:31:11]. Yes, I believe we run out of time right now. The last question for you is, there’s a question from here. Any other support staff?
Taylor Kosla:
We do. We have Maria, who is a legal assistant, and she really helps a lot with our Spanish-speaking clients. We’ve had her on the show before. She’s absolutely great. We have a law clerk. That’s pretty typical when someone’s in law school. They will clerk. It’s almost like an internship for a future attorney. She helps us out with everything. And then we have Qui, as you know, he’s also a legal assistant and primarily focuses on our Vietnamese clients.
And the purpose of today’s show, I think it’s important to see who’s behind the scenes. As clients, you’re getting calls, communications, from initially the intake team and then various members of the legal team. And it’s important to understand that everyone at 844 See Mike is working together and everything that we’re doing is in your best interest, with the goal of maximizing the results for your case. So it’s trust us, trust the system, and you’ll be in the best position possible when it comes to settlement.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Thank you. [foreign language 00:33:44]. Thank you again. Before we say goodbye, we do appreciate your time and your patience and explanation when I ask why. Please say goodbye to your clients.
Taylor Kosla:
Thank you again for having me on the show. We’re here to help family, friends, neighbors, so if you have any legal questions or any questions about anything we discussed, please reach out. We just discussed part of our team that is here to help. So, really, don’t hesitate. We’re here for our community.
Speaker 1:
All right. Thank you. Thank you so much, one more time, and hopefully see you next time. Okay. We’re going to discuss more issues there. [foreign language 00:36:58]. Thank you so much for watching. Goodbye.
