Rana Law Group Newsletter
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In this issue:
- Kim Gardner
- Personal Injury Commercials
- Just for Fun: Sarah’s Birthday
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Kim Gardner
There have been a lot of news stories involving St. Louis City prosecuting attorney Kim Gardner, culminating in her recent agreement to resign. I am sure the residents of the City of St. Louis had high hopes for Gardner who was voted in on a message of change. She campaigned with good intentions to establish a fair justice system that worked for everyone. Unfortunately, as time went on, it became evident she could not deliver. Some of the accused were lingering in jail longer than necessary, potentially denied their right to a speedy trial and fair access to the courts, and their attorneys were not receiving crucial discovery to properly defend their clients. Worse, victims were not receiving justice since many legitimate cases were dismissed due to staffing shortages and poor office management. Imagine being a victim of a crime and finding out the defendant was going to get away with the crime because the prosecutor failed to do her job. Most of us would be livid and further distrust a criminal justice system that is already imperfect.This post is not about the politics of what happened (honoring the will of the voters vs. “meddling” from Jefferson City). Rather, the underlying issue is it is difficult to manage a large prosecutor’s office in a major city. Gardner probably had the best of intentions, however, the reality of running a large office is a logistics issue she ultimately could not handle, which lead to chronic turnover and a reduced workforce. This in turn put more stress on the employees who remained, eroding morale and creating an atmosphere of chaos. Then, when cases were not properly covered, rather than taking full responsibility for her organization’s failure, Gardner cast blame on others. The lack of organization and leadership in the prosecutor’s office turned cracks in the foundation into a house falling down.I was relieved to hear Gardner agreed to resign, not because I wish her any ill will but because this saga needed to end so everyone could move on to attempt to rebuild what is an essential function of our government. Punishing wrongdoers has the dual effect of deterring both the wrongdoer but also others who may commit the same offense. For the system to work, it has to work for everyone and what was happening under Gardner was not working for anyone. I do not envy whoever Governor Parsons appoints to the position, however, I trust many attorneys, judges, clerks and others who interact with the prosecutor’s office will do everything they can to make the office functional again. |
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Personal Injury Commercials
If you still watch local TV, it seems like every other commercial is for a personal injury law firm. Whether it is one that has been around in St. Louis for a long time or the newest firm trying to move in from out of town, I think most viewers agree these ads are annoying because they are excessive. Many people ask us if we are worried about all the competition. The good news is we do not typically compete against TV or billboard attorneys. 100% of our clients come from referrals from people just like you (as always, thank you!) so, when someone calls our office, they are not going through a list to see who will call back and give them the best deal. The potential client called specifically because someone they know had a fantastic experience with our firm or they saw all the 5-star reviews we have on Google (if you love us, have you left us a review on Google yet?).But shouldn’t a person hire the “biggest law firm”? After all, they must have the resources to take on the big insurance companies and get the most money, right? Not so fast. The reality is most injury attorneys have the same attorney’s fees, with the exception of the TV firms. They traditionally charge more than the standard fee, arguing they are the biggest and therefore the best so they get to charge more. But do you get more? Typically, no. Many bigger firms have to work in volume and have a lot of support staff to handle all the calls, which means they cannot litigate as efficiently. They look to cherry-pick the easy cases to settle for policy limits (think catastrophic cases where the maximum settlement is capped because of insufficient policy limits. In these situations, the insurance company is going to roll over for whoever is on the other side) and refer out cases that require more work.The number one factor for whether an insurance company objectively considers a firm good and, by extension, deserving of full compensation for the injured person is their willingness to go to trial. This is simply not feasible for the TV firms, which is why they refer out cases which require litigation to trial firms like Rana Law Group. We receive many referrals from the TV firms and successfully litigate the case to increase the settlement or we proceed to trial where we obtain substantially more than what the TV firm was originally offered. This is typically the only real way to get full compensation for your injury case.So the next time you see an ad or billboard from one of the TV firms, remember, there is a cost to all that marketing and it is usually at the expense of the end consumer. Which is one of many reasons you will not see Tarun on a billboard anytime soon! |
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Just for Fun: Sarah’s Birthday
Attorney Rana has been working hard all month on everyone’s cases so he does not have anything fun to report. We instead wanted to use this section to wish Sarah a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She has been with us now for three and a half years. We appreciate all she does from answering the phone in her usual cheery voice to ordering medical records to making sure client’s get all the case status updates. If any of you get a call from her for a ‘treatment update’, please remember to wish her a happy birthday! |
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Case Referrals
From time to time, clients call and ask which type of cases we handle. Our practice is built on referrals from satisfied clients. We know that if we work hard and do a good job for our clients, they will tell their friends about us. The best compliment from a former client is that client entrusting us with the potential case of their friend or family. Our office specializes in the following cases:
- Personal Injury (auto collisions, trucking, motorcycle, slip and fall)
- Work Injuries
- Traffic tickets and DUI/DWI
If you know someone that meets these criteria, please have them call our office. If someone does not quite fit the above criteria, please still have the prospective referral give us a call as we can usually help the person find the right attorney via a referral.
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| Share the Love – Reviews
Thank you very much to everyone who already left a review, we appreciate it! If you have not left one and have some kind words, we would appreciate the time.
- For Google: simply click on the link.
- For Facebook: please “Like” and “Follow” the page and then click on “Reviews” on the left-hand side
- For Avvo: click on “reviews” and then “Review Tarun Rana”
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