Presenter:
Welcome to the Law Talk Show today. Hello, Mrs. Tyler, how are you doing?
Taylor Kosla:
I’m good. Thank you for having me on the show today.
Presenter:
Sure, thank you for your time and your [foreign language 00:00:13] version of Law Talk Show today, please say hi to the new customer and your new clients.
Taylor Kosla:
Hi, I’m Taylor Kosla from 844 See Mike. I’m a partner and I’m here today to talk about car accidents. It’s a topic that we discuss often on the show because it’s really important that people know their rights, and how we can help.
Presenter:
Yes.
[foreign language 00:00:36]
Yes, in the past we been talking about auto accidents and also personal injury and there’s a few questions that the people they call-in and they send an email. They do appreciate your time because you know, they find it’s a really interesting and important for someone, they get a void to a car accident, they know what to do and what they should do.
Today we have a list of question, I believe. Though, questions relate to auto accident, people should know and should understand and should be aware what they should do before and after. They got the car accident, right?
The first question is for the law firm. What type of car accident cases are you handle?
Taylor Kosla:
All of them.
Presenter:
Of them. Okay, that’s the good news.
Taylor Kosla:
We handle regular car accidents, vehicle-vehicle, vehicle-pedestrian, accidents with trucks, semi trucks, motorcycles, ride share accidents are really popular. Similar to accidents and cab rides, even if you’re a passenger or you’re hit by a ride share car. Those are the types of cases that we can help you with and help you get compensated for your injuries.
Presenter:
Okay. All right. That’s very good. Okay. This is very useful. Because of people they wonder, so many cases, different cases. So how they find the good lawyer to help them to resolve the problem, the issues.
[Foreign language 00:02:35]
The next question that I would like to ask you, but before I ask you a question, when you mentioned about all types of the accident. We call accident, mean it could happen to anyone, anytime. That’s the reason why we have to have a lawyer to protect you.
Taylor Kosla:
Have a layer and have insurance.
Presenter:
Yes.
Taylor Kosla:
No one thinks it’s going to happen to them. And insurance is really important because it’s not just for liability. It’s not, to protect you. If you hit someone, it’s also in the event that someone that hits you doesn’t have insurance. No one expects to get into an accident. But if you do, it’s important to have good insurance, good coverage, and a good attorney, like 844 See Mike.
Presenter:
[foreign language 00:06:01]
So the next question, what are three things, should I do after a car accident?
Taylor Kosla:
I love this question because no one knows what they should do. I’ve actually had other lawyers call me after getting into an accident saying, “What do I do?”
Presenter:
Okay, really?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah.
Presenter:
Very interesting, right? The lawyer they calling you because they don’t have concrete understanding about the accident.
Taylor Kosla:
Right. Someone who doesn’t handle car accident cases. They wanted to make sure that their rights were preserved and they took the right steps. And there’s really three important things that you should do after an accident.
The first thing is call 911. You want the police to come out to the scene of the accident because at that moment they’re going to start gathering evidence and working up your case essentially. They’ll also send an ambulance when you call 911.
Which brings me to our second step, that you should do after an accident. Is get treatment right away. It’s really important because if there is a delay in treatment, if you wait a couple days, the insurance company’s going to say, “The accident, wasn’t the cause of those injuries.” So, in some injuries don’t really hit you until hours or even days after some soft issue injuries, pain to your back or neck. Part of that is because of the adrenaline you experience after being in an accident. Just make sure you get checked out and then follow up with your providers after that, if the doctor and the ER says, “You need to go see your primary care physician,” which is a common thing that ER doctors recommend. You should do that and you continue your treatment from there.
The third thing that you should do after getting in an accident is hire an attorney. If you hire 844 See Mike, we will handle the insurance company, your property damage claim, your lost wage claim so you won’t have to deal with calls to the insurance company. Because you really should be talking to them. You want your lawyer representing you and taking care of all that so you can focus on getting better.
Presenter:
Okay, thank you for your answer because I think that’s a very important. The three things that you should know when someone, when they get the car accident, they must know what they should do and those three things is very important.
[Foreign language 00:08:25]
Next question is, should I speak with the car insurance company after an accident? That’s a very important one.
Taylor Kosla:
No. Absolutely not. The goal of the insurance company to minimize their payout. So payout, the least amount of money possible. And in doing so they devalue your claim. So in those conversations they’ll twist and use your own words against you to try and pay you less money to resolve your claim. That’s why you should hire us, because we’ll handle the insurance companies and make sure you’re not giving them any information that could potentially hurt your case or give them a reason to pay less than the value of your case.
Presenter:
Yes, that’s very good. I believe that this question is, everybody they don’t know, but they must know now because it is a very important.
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah. People think, this is my insurance company there are there to help me, but that’s actually not the case. They’re a business and their business models to pay out the least amount of money possible.
Presenter:
Yes, because normally they trust the insurance. “Well I got insurance, let them do it.” But actually, they’re not going to help you much. [foreign language 00:13:09] Well, okay. Cole, I’m not insurance ultimate company and insurance company or how the German minimize now hospital view medical treatment.
Yes, that’s a very interesting question. I never thought about it. Until, I come to our talk show here, so I understand much better why I should, we call the lawyer.
The next question is, should I get a medical treatment from the scenes after accident if I’m in jail.
Taylor Kosla:
Yes, absolutely. Even if you think it’s a small injury.
Presenter:
[foreign language 00:15:32]
Next question that I’d like to ask you is, why is this so important? Get a medical treatment right away if you injured?
Taylor Kosla:
Well, the obvious answer is to get better. You’re getting treatment because you’re injured and you want to get better. And in the meantime, as your attorneys, we’re working behind the scenes to deal with all the things that you don’t have to, so you can focus on getting better. We’re handling the property damage, your lost wage claim. We’re communicating with the insurance companies, ordering your medical records and bills. So you can really focus on getting that treatment.
I’ll say one of the biggest reasons that clients don’t get treatment is because they’re afraid of the medical bills. Maybe they don’t have health insurance. What’s great about 844 See Mike is over the past few years, we’ve created a network of healthcare providers from physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, pain management specialists, and all these healthcare providers will actually treat our clients regardless of whether they have health insurance and our clients don’t have to pay them out of pocket.
What happens is when the case settles, the providers get paid a portion of the settlement and it’s really a relationship that we’ve built. These healthcare providers trust us that the client will get paid and they will recover some of the bills that were incurred. It is important to get treatment right away. Your goal is to get better and the way to do that is listening to your doctors. I see this all the time, physical therapist, if your physical therapist says, you need to go three times a week for eight weeks, you need to go three times a week for eight weeks.
Again, the insurance company’s going to have a copy of your medical records and bills. That’s part of their evaluation of a case. If they see that you’re skipping appointments and not doing what the doctors are telling you, again, that’s an opportunity for the insurance company to jump in and say, “Hey, they weren’t really hurt. If they were hurt, they’d be going these appointments.” I know it’s not true and it can be really inconvenient to go to the doctor. But it’s important to make time for that so that you can have the best chance possible to recover.
Presenter:
Yes, okay. That’s very useful information, right. Because the insurance they can turn around and they say, “Well, that’s not true. Because you didn’t then go to see the doctor frequently as they schedule.” That’s a very weak point of the insurer.
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah.
Presenter:
Thank you for your answer, this is a very important question.
[Foreign language 00:20:13]
I believe it does.
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah, I’d like to just add something on to that. We’re really hands on throughout the process and we know when our clients have appointments and we always follow up with them, “How did it go? How is your surgery?” Just to make them accountable for their treatment. One of the ways that we can do that is we have this software called Solidify, as case management software. We are arguably one of the most tech savvy law firms in Chicago. One of the ways that we can help people as quickly and as well as we do, is by using this software where we can track clients’ treatment and stay on top of them to make sure that they’re getting the treatment that they need.
Presenter:
Okay, wow. That’s very impressive, right. [foreign language 00:23:57]
We take a short break. We will be back in shortly. Thank you.
(Silence)
Speaker 3:
[foreign language 00:25:33]
Taylor Kosla:
My name is Taylor Kosla. I’m a partner at 844 See Mike. I started in August, 2017 and after three years of practicing, I was named partner in February, 2021.
Personal injury clients come to our office in the time of need and sometimes desperation, something devastating happened to them. We can provide clients with peace of mind by ensuring them that we are here to help. We are in this together and we will take care of them. We are fast acting law firm. We are responsive to our clients and maintain open lines of communication. Our sense of urgency is part of what makes us different from other law firms. We put people first and we make sure we get our clients. The compensation they deserve.
Our consumer rights practice is a national practice. So we can help people from the East Coast to the West Coast. There are laws in place to protect consumer and not everyone knows these rights exist. And certainly not everyone knows or even believes that our clients never pay us a penny. Several consumer rights statutes contain a fee shift provision, which means that if we prevail, the defendant must pay our attorney’s fees and costs. Our consumer appreciate the work that we do and that makes my job rewarding.
What I like most about plaintiff’s work is getting to know our clients, understanding the facts of what happened and how the occurrence affected our client. As an attorney, we are given a set of facts and it is our job to create a timeline and story of events. We must put ourselves in the shoes of our client, whether that be at the scene of the accident or months after at home learning how to adapt to a disability. Having had a family member sustain a life altering injury. I can relate with my clients and their family members. This fuels my passion for what we do, putting people first. My favorite animal is a dog.
Presenter:
[foreign language 00:29:25]
I’m just talking about, 844 See Mike what can we do and how we handle the case. So we do appreciate, and thank you for your time to explain, most of the scenario after the car accident. Let’s continue.
Another question is who pay for the bills, damages and expenses, if I’m or someone get involved to a car accident?
Taylor Kosla:
If you’re in an accident, the driver who is at fault is responsible for your damages and included in those damages are your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of a normal life. Those are the sorts of damages that you can recover. However, it is really important. You have good insurance and sufficient insurance because if the party who hit you, that at fault driver, either doesn’t have insurance, or maybe they don’t have enough insurance. That’s when you can actually go after your own insurance company, which again, it is really important that you have insurance to protect yourself in a situation like this. You would be amazed how many car accidents involved an at fault driver who either doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance.
In Illinois, you’re required to have at least $25,000 in liability coverage. I’ll tell you a lot of people do not comply with that. The only penalty is they get a $500 ticket. The unfortunate reality is if you are hit by someone, without insurance and you yourself don’t have insurance, that’s not a case that we’re going to recover from. Insurance is really important in resolving these matters.
Presenter:
Yes.
[Foreign language 00:32:30]
The next question I would like to ask you is that how do I get most money from a car accident? That’s very interesting question.
Taylor Kosla:
Well, the most important thing to do is to hire 844 See Mike, because we’ll make sure you’re taking all the right steps to ensure you recover the most amount of money possible. The way that we’ll do that is making sure you’re getting the treatment that you need. You can focus on getting the treatment while we can focus on gathering evidence of your other damages, including your lost wages, time off work. That’s something you’re entitled to compensation for.
We’ll make sure that you are sticking to the treatment plan, that you’re told to do. Which is really important. Of course, we’ll deal with those insurance companies. As soon as you hire us, we send out a notice of representation. So we can deal with all those communications. We can deal with your property damage claim. If your vehicle was damaged in the accident, we can assist you with getting your rental car. Actually the property damage claim is a service that we do for free, at no charge to our clients. That just shows how dedicated we are to our clients and to making sure that they get better. Ultimately, they get the most amount of money possible for their case.
Presenter:
Yes. Okay, thank you. [foreign language 00:37:19]
The next question. Okay. We don’t have much of time. Okay. We have just a few more questions and we have to go too.
What happened if I’m injury in a ride shared accident?
Taylor Kosla:
Yeah. Common ride share companies are Uber and Lyft, and we have a bunch of experience in litigating those cases. Whether you were in another vehicle hit by a ride share driver, or you were a passenger involved in an accident while in a ride share vehicle, absolutely reach out to us and we’ll be able to help you recover.
Presenter:
Yeah, okay.
[Foreign language 00:39:53]
Next question is, you are offer help clients with property damage claim too.
Taylor Kosla:
We do and we actually do this for free. So there’s two parts of your claim, initially. There’s the property damage claim and then the bodily injury claim. For the bodily injury claim, we receive a one third contingency fee. That means our clients don’t pay us a penny out-of-pocket. We only get paid if or when the case settles. And then as far as the property damage claim, we just help our clients out completely for free to get their car fixed, get them in a rental car. Right. And get them, as back to normal as quickly as possible.
Presenter:
Yes, thank you.
[Foreign language 00:42:11]
The last question is we won’t have to pay taxes on personal injuries settlement?
Taylor Kosla:
Typically, no. However, the tax code changes every year. Currently advise you to consult with a tax attorney or consultant to confirm that. But generally, no. You don’t have to pay taxes.
Presenter:
Okay. All right. That’s a good news, right? [foreign language 00:43:25]
Thank you so much for your time and you are patient because we need to take some time to translate exactly. I mean, right to the point and make sure people, they understand what can you do and then what type law can we apply. Before we say goodbye, please say goodbye to your new clients.
Taylor Kosla:
Thank you so much for having me on the show. Again, I love being here and being able to teach our clients and future clients about their rights. So if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Presenter:
Sure. Thank you. Thanks so much.
[inaudible 00:45:06].
Again, thanks so much for watching our program and see you next time.
