Episode #10: What is the Timeline of a Personal Injury Case?

this episode of the B
e
king Do
n The L

Podc
st <
em>
e'
e joined by <
h
ef=”https://c

inju
yvictims.com
ou
-te
m/ste
t-guss
“>Ste
t J. Guss,<>
pe
son
l inju
y lye
in Houston
ho speci
lizes in Pe
son
l Inju
y c
ses. He’s joined by B
e
king Do
n The L Podc
st host,
shley
od
iguez. Du
ing tod
y’s episode,
e’ll be
dd
essing the timeline of
pe
son
l inju
y c
se. Some ex
mples include:

h
t is the typic
l life cycle of
pe
son
l inju
y c
se?

e've got
situ
tion
he
e you ke up in the mo
ning
nd this is
n ex
mple I use. No one puts thei
p
nts o
ski
t on in the mo
ning expecting to be in
c
ccident, but unfo
tun
tely, they’
e you'
e d
iving to
o
k
nd Yikes, it h
ppens Mond
y. Ye
h,
uin you
d
y
nd you kno
, it’s
teible situ
tion, but one th
t
e h
ve to live
ith until
e get the Jetsons flying cs, but th
t m
y be hile
y. So
h
t’s the fi
st thing th
t h
ppens once
n
tto
ney gets involved?
nd I think
e t
lked the othe
d
y
bout ho
it is ve
y impo
t
nt to m
ke su
e th
t you cont
ct
n
tto
ney
s soon
s possible
fte

n
ccident bec
use the
e e some things th
t you don’t expect the
e e some the insunce comp
ny is going to be t
ying to t
ke
dv
nt
ge of you.<
li>

So the fi
st thing th
t h
ppens
fte

e

e
et
ined, you’ve
l
e
dy stted, you've gotten checked out, you've stted you
medic
l ce.
hen
e get involved, the fi
st thing
e do is
e st

t ou
investig
tive ph
se.
nd by th
t I me
n
e send out
fo
m
l notific
tion to the insunce comp
nies th
t e involved th
t
e
ep
esent you.
nd ple
se don't t
lk to ou
client, t
lk to us, keeps them f
om t
ying to pull the
ool ove
you
eyes,
nd o
de
the police
epo
t. if
e need to.
e’ll send
n investig
to
out to look
t the inte
section o
t
lk to
itnesses.

Check out the full episode fo
mo
e det
ils! St
y tuned fo
the next inst
llment of the B
e
king Do
n The L Podc
st
ith Ste
t J Guss
nd
shley
od
iguez!

Cont
ct Us: 281-783-3934 o
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e
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em> ong> Int
o : 0:09

B
e
king do
n the L, B
e
king Do
n the L
podc
st hosted by
tto
neys
nd leg
l speci
lists discussing eve
yd
y l
nd ho
it
ffects
egul people,
egul

people. Let’s b
e
k do
n the l
ith ou
host, Ste
t Guss
nd
shley
od
iguez. They h
ve the inside scoop on eve
ything leg
l
nd ne
s
o
thy. Ste
t J Guss : 0:35
elcome to ou
podc
st B
e
king do
n the l
ith you
co hosts, Ste
t,
shley
od
iguez : 0:39
nd
shley,
nd tod
y’s podc
st is going to be
bout the life cycle of
typic
l pe
son
l inju
y c
se.

Ste
t J Guss : 0:46 Yes.
hich is one of the most common questions th
t
e get
nd you kno
,
g
in, going b
ck to the pu
pose of the podc
st,
e’
e t
ying to give people info
m
tion
he
d of time. If they eve
find themselves in this situ
tion, they’ll
t le
st h
ve some ide
ide

bout
h
t to expect. Did you kno
In ou
int
o it t
lks
bout the inside scoop
nd it’s ve
y close to lunch
nd no
I'm hung
y fo
ice c
e
m.
e got to ch
nge th
t. So fo
ou
int
o next time let's be hobout the inside s
l
d? Th
t’s
much he
lthie
option.
ll
ight lifecycle of
pe
son
l inju
y c
se.
e've got
situ
tion
he
e you ke up in the mo
ning
nd this is
n ex
mple I use no one puts thei
p
nts o
ski
t on in the mo
ning expecting to be in
in
c
ccident, but unfo
tun
tely they'
e you’
e d
iving to
o
k
nd Yikes, it h
ppens Mond
y. Ye
h,
uin
uin you
d
y
nd you kno
, it’s te

ible situ
tion, but one th
t
e h
ve to live
ith until
e get the Jetsons flying c

s, but th
t m
y be

hile
y. So
h
t's the fi
st thing th
t h
ppens once
n
tto
ney gets involved?
nd I think
e t
lked the othe
d
y
bout ho
it is ve
y impo
t
nt to m
ke su
e th
t you cont
ct
n
tto
ney
s soon
s possible
ften
ccident, bec
use the
e

e some things th
t you don't expect the
e

e some the insu

nce comp
ny is going to be t
ying to t
ke
dv
nt
ge of you. So the fi
st thing th
t h
ppens
fte

e

e
et
ined, you’ve
l
e
dy stted, you've gotten checked out, you've stted you
medic
l ce.
hen
e get involved, the fi
st thing
e do is
e st

t ou
investig
tive ph
se.
nd by th
t I me
n
e send out fo
m
l notific
tion to the insu

nce comp
nies th
t

e involved th
t th
t
e
ep
esent you.
nd ple
se don't t
lk to ou
client, t
lk to us, keeps them f
om t
ying to pull the
ool ove
you
eyes,
nd
e o
de
the police
epo
t. if
e need to.
e'll send
n investig
to
out to look
t the inte
section o
t
lk to
itnesses. Luckily,
lot of the times li
bility is
el
tively stightfod. If you'
e
e ended typic
lly the
e's not going to be much of
fight.
bout li
bility unless unusu
l ci
cumst
nces. Does th
t m
ke sense? M
ke sense so f

?
shley
od
iguez : 3:05 Yes. So just fo
cl

ific
tion,
e m
ke su
e if they

e t
ying to get us to
ns
enything,
e
lys just send them b
ck to ou

tto
ney. Ste
t J Guss : 3:13

Yes,
bsolutely t
lk to you,
s they s
y in m
fi
movies,
docto
my mouthpiece,
lthough I do not
ecommend necess

ily imit
ting the Godf
the

hen you

e t
lking to the insunce comp
ny, b
d ide
.
l
ight, so
e'
e investig
ting,
e’
e de
ling
ith the insunce comp
ny
t the s
me time. You
job is ve
y simple.
nd this is one of the
e
sons th
t pe
son
l inju
y lye
s
e
lly b
ing
lot of v
lue to
situ
tion mo
e th
n just going
fte

nd getting money.
e e so
t of m
n
ging the leg
l
spects of the c
se.
t the s
me time th
t you

e
ble to focus on the one thing th
t
e
lly m
tte
s,
hich is you
he
lth
nd you
physic
l
ecove
y,
shley
od
iguez : 3:53 gives you time to get bette
.

Ste
t J Guss : 3:54 Ye
h,
bsolutely.
bsolutely.
nd you c
n
e
lly focus on
o
king
ith you
docto
s
nd getting
h
teve
medic
l in need,
ithout h
ving to
oy
bout de
ling
ith c
lling the insunce comp
ny b
ck o
you kno
,
o

ying
bout is someone t
ying to t
ke
dv
nt
ge, etc, etc.
nd so
e move f
om the investig
tive ph
se into
h
t
e so
t of think of
s the t
e
tment ph
se.
shley
od
iguez : 4:17

Ho
does th
t go?

Ste
t J Guss : 4:18 Ye
h, so the thing is, it
e
lly depends
lot on the extent of the client's inju
ies,
ight? So some people h
ve

el
tively, you kno
, mino
c
ccident, they m
y only t
e
t fo
, you kno
,
fe

eeks o
, you kno
,
month o
t
o,
nd then they feel bette

nd they
e
ch
point th
t
e so
t of
efe
to
s m
ximum medic
l imp
ovement o
e you b
ck to
he
e you
e
e befo
e? O
e you
s good
s you’
e going to get
fte
you
t
e
tment? Sometimes, unfo
tun
tely, th
t t
e
tment ph
se c
n l
st
lot longe
.
e h
ve the
esponsibility sometimes of helping people
ho

e c
t
st
ophic ly inju
ed
nd m
y
equi
e mo
e extensive medic
l t
e
tment, such
s su
ge
y, oh
teve
. So depending on the situ
tion, th
t t
e
tment ph
se could l
st six months, it could l
st ye

, it could l
st longe
.
shley
od
iguez : 5:11 So if it h
ppens to l
st, like fo
you

hole life, ho
do you de
l
ith th
t?

Ste
t J Guss : 5:17 One of the things th
t
e do once you've
e
ched m
ximum medic
l imp
ovement, th
t is to s
y, if you’
e only going to get up to 80%, of
he
e you e befo
e
e c
n,
nd
e
ill fight to
ecove
fo
you futu
e medic
l expenses th
t you m
y incu
do
n the
o
d,
s
ell
s
monet

y
ecove
y fo
fo
dis
bility. So th
t’s
ll th
t’s
ll f
cto
ed in.
nd these

e
ll d
m
ge elements th
t
e'
e
llo
ed to put in f
ont of
ju
y in
l

suit.
shley
od
iguez : 5:49 Got It Ste
t J Guss : 5:49

So let’s s
y ho
eve
,
e h
ve
typic
l c
ccident c
se,
nd let’s s
y m
ybe someone t
e
ts fo
th
ee, fou
months. They'
e bette
They c
n get

ound. They’
e
olling, you kno
, doing house
o
k o
pl
ying
ith the kids o
you kno
, pl
ying socceg
in
nd eve
ything is good. The next ph
se
t th
t point is
e
ill go
he
d
nd ou
te
m
ill g
the

ll of you
medic
l bills
nd medic
l
eco
ds.
nd
e’
e going to put togethe fo
m
l settlement dem
nd p
ck
ge th
t
e’
e going to send to the insunce comp
ny to st

t the negoti
ting p
ocess. Th
t settlement dem
nd p
ck
ge is typic
lly going to include not just you
medic
l bills
nd medic
l
eco
ds, but
ny impo
t
nt evidence th
t
e h
ve. So photogphs o police
epo
t,
nything th
t
e think
e
lly solidifies
nd b
cks up
nd est
blishes the v
lue of the client's cl
im.
e'll send it to the insunce comp
ny
nd
e st

t the negoti
tion p
ocess.
shley
od
iguez : 6:46 Ho
long does th
t typic
lly t
ke once the dem
nd p
ck
ge h
s been sent? Ste
t J Guss : 6:51
ell, so it's impo
t
nt fo
people to unde
st
nd I’ll t
ke
step b
ck, I'll
ns
e
th
t question, but it's impo
t
nt fo
people to unde
st
nd th
t sometimes The
hole p
ocess of g
the
ing
ll the medic
l
eco
ds
nd bills, putting togethe
the evidence
nd
ssembling the dem
nd p
ck
ge, th
t is
p
ocess th
t c
n often t
ke seve

l
eeks o
even
month o
t
o, depending on you kno
ho
coopetive the ce p
ovide
s e in timely tu
ning ove
medic
l
nd billing
eco
ds.
e
lso nt to t
ke ou
time
nd do it
ight
hen
e put togethe
the settlement dem
nd p
ck
ge. So I just, you kno
, I

nt eve
ybody to m
ke cle

, don’t expect th
t negoti
tions
ill begin on you
p
int.
nd this is t
ue fo
if you hi
e us ony othe
pe
son
l inju
y lye
, don’t expect th
t the negoti
tions

e going to begin, you kno
, eek o
t
o
fte
you finish you
medic
l t
e
tment. The
e’s
p
ocess
nd it
nd it does t
ke time.
shley
od
iguez : 7:42
ell,
nd you’
e on the timet
ble of the docto
s
nd

iting fo
them. Ste
t J Guss : 7:45

Ye
h, to
ce
t
in extent
nd su
ely l

s in Tex
s th
t limit the
mount of time th
t docto
s h
ve to p
oduce medic
l
nd billing
eco
ds, but they p
etty much igno
e them
nd
lot but of cou
se GM sto
es
e h
ve hole deptment th
t’s in ch

ge of g
the
ing medic
l
eco
ds,
nd
e'll see knocking on doo
s
nd, you kno
, plopping do
n in docto
‘s offices
ith
cup of coffee. Oh, no, I’ll just

it he
e until you've got the
eco
ds. It's it's been
fe

eeks no
. But going b
ck to you
question, ho
long is th
t negoti
tion ph
se? Typic
lly spe
king,
e
ill give oudjuste
s
de
dline to
espond.
nd it’s typic
lly t
o o
th
ee
eeks out f
om the time
e send it. Sometimes the
djuste
s
ill
sk fon extension if they'
e if they’
e b
cked up.
nd depending on the
el
tionship th
t
e h
ve
ith the
djuste
, th
t is to s
y, if th
t
djuste
o
th
t insu

nce comp
ny kno
s us,
espects us
nd
o
ks f
i
ly
ith us,
e’ll you kno
,
e typic
lly
on’t give them too much of
hd time on th
t. But essenti
lly, it's
b
ck
nd fo
th
nd you kno
, sometimes
e h
ve to come up
ith mo
e evidence ons
e
questions
nd it’s
p
ocess. The negoti
tion ph
se m
y l
st, you kno
, just th
ee, fou

eeks. Sometimes it t
kes longe
if
e h
ve to get some supplement
l stuff. Once
e’
e done
ith negoti
tions though, one of t
o things h
ppen. C
n you guess
h
t they

e?
shley
od
iguez : 9:07 They p
ob
bly send
n offe
in
nd then
e sometimes t
lk to ou
client. Mm hmm.
nd then
e go f
om the
e if it's
f
i
settlement o
not. Ste
t J Guss : 9:16
ell, yes, so
t of b
sic
lly
h
t h
ppens is sometimes
e get
n offe
sometimes
e don't sometimes
e get
n offee m
ke
counte
offe
,
e negoti
te but once
e’ve negoti
ted fo
hile, one of t
o things genelly h
ppens, obviously,
e get the, you kno
, this is ultim
tely the clients decision, you kno
, ou
job is to
dvoc
te. But ultim
tely, you kno
,
e let ou
clients kno
you kno
, this is esolution th
t
e think is f
i
fo
you, this is ho
it
ould b
e
k do
n. This is the the money th
t you
ould see f
om this.

e you ok
y
ith th
t? Yes o
no? Ho

ould you like us to p
oceed,
nd then b
sed on the client's inst
uctions, obviously,
nd the insunce comp
ny, one of t
o things h
ppens eithe
eek settle the c
se. o
t
o,
e go to
.
ll
ight, so ye
h, so eithee settle the c
se,
nd
e h
ve to do some p
pe

o
k. But
e’
e typic
lly once
e get
settlement,
e c
n
p up the p
pe

o
k
nd find out. Usu
lly
ithin
feeeks, pt of
h
t
e’
e t
ying to do is
e'
e looking fo
othe
ys to put mo
e money on ou
clients pocket. So fo
ex
mple, if the
e e outst
nding medic
l bills th
t h
ve to get p
id,
e'
e going to t
y
nd negoti
te
eductions on those, bec
use
g
in, th
t th
t's
nothe
y th
t
e c
n
dd to ou
client’s net
ecove
y. So not to hit the
ppl
use button.
g
in, if
e settle it t
kes
feeeks, sometimes
little bit longe
, depending on the
eductions
nd
e fund out.
lte
n
tively,
nd I got
t
y.
e go to
Yep,
e find out lsuit.
nd unfo
tun
tely, th
t p
ocess t
kes
long, long time. It’s not th
t
e

nt it to t
ke
long time, but you’ve he

d the exp
ession, the
heels of justice tu
n slo
ly. It’s t
ue, unfo
tun
tely. So typic
lly spe
king,
c
se th
t
e filed
ill p
ob
bly not get its fi
st, you kno
, if
e file
c
se on, let's s
y, on J
nuy 1 2020,
e’
e p
ob
bly not going to get ou
fi
st t
i
l
ssignment until e

ly 2021.
nd then, depending on ho
busy the cou
t is, fo
th
t pticul docket,
e m
y not get c
lled.
nd in f
ct, it’s p
etty common th
t you don’t get c
lled on you
fi
st on you
fi
st dockets. So, so yes, so but the
e’s
lot of stuff th
t’s going on.
shley
od
iguez : 11:48 Behind the scenes. Ste
t J Guss : 11:49

Ye
h, in the me
ntime. So once
e file the lsuit,
e do

itten discove
y,
hich is both sides c
n send e
ch othe
questions
nd
sk fo
documents f
om e
ch othe
.
e sometimes do depositions,
he
e in
p
iv
te setting one of the lye
s offices,
e put itness unde
o
th,
nd the
tto
neys c
n t
ke time questioning them befo
e t
i
l. Th
t’s
y to so
t of p
epe you
evidence
nd so
t of get to the bottom discove
y get to the bottom of
h
t h
ppened.
nd then
fte
the discove
y, it’s typic
l th
t
e medi
te ou
c
ses,
hich is
n oppo
tunity fo
p
ofession
l medi
tond impti
l medi
to
come in
nd t
y
nd t
lk sense into both of the p

ties.
nd by t
lk sense f
om his pe
spective, he’s t
ying to get the pl
intiff to
ccept less th
n they c
me in nting.
nd he’s t
ying to get the insunce comp
ny
nd the defense counsel to be
illing to p
y mo
e th
n they c
me in
illing to p
y
shley
od
iguez : 12:49 to m
ke eve
ybody h
ppy so
e don't h
ve to go
ll the y to cou
t.

Ste
t J Guss : 12:52 You kno
, the funny thing is get
lot of medi
to
s s
y th
t the best, the best outcome is
hen neithe
pty is h
ppy, but They’
e, they'
e s
tisfied.
nd ye
h, comped to the
ddition
l expense del
ys,
nd most of
ll the unce
t
inty of going to cou
t,
shley
od
iguez : 13:09

ye
h, you gott
depend on 12 othe
people
nd hope they go in you
f
vo
. Ste
t J Guss : 13:12

Th
t's
ight.
nd,
nd one of the things th
t I like to tell my clients befo
e
e go into medi
tion is
emembe
, fo
eve
y minute th
t you h
ve to tell you
sto
y, you
side of the sto
y, the defend
nt is going to h
ve
minute to tell thei
s. So nothing is
fo
egone conclusion no m
tte
ho
obvious it m
y seem,
e go to litig
tion
e t
y. Typic
lly, I
ould s
y p
ob
bly 80 to 85% of c
ses, even though they’
e filed. They'
e settled
t some point befo
e t
i
l. But then
e t
y c
ses
egul

ly. You kno
, I've got hole deptment up the
e on the fou
th floo
th
t does nothing but p
ep

e fo

nd d
ug c
ses 365 d
ys
ye

.
shley
od
iguez : 13:54 It m
kes us
little diffe
ent th
n some bec
use some
on't go
ll the

y to t
i
l
ight. Ste
t J Guss : 13:57

Some
ill not go
ll the

y to t
i
l
eek. T
ke p
ide
nd b
sic
lly, you kno
, ou
te
m
ill c
y the b
ll fo
ou
clients,
s long
nd
s hd
nd
s diligently
s
e need to to get to get justice fo
ou
clients. You t
y the c
se.
nd luckily fo
us, you kno
, the ide
is
ight, you
in mo
e th
n you lose eve
y once in

hile you lose o
you c
n
in
nd get less th
n you expected. But
t the end of the d
y, justice is done. The
e

e some times
he
e
e nt to m
ke
n
ppe
l th
t’s not p

ticul

ly common, but
nd then
fte
the lsuit is t
ied if the
e's no
ppe
l, if the pl
intiff one money, the insu

nce comp
ny goes
he
d, ites
check.
e find out
nd move on do
n the
o
d.
shley
od
iguez : 14:41
ell, Ste
t, I think it’s th
t time you kno
, the time
he
e you h
ve to tell us
joke.

Ste
t J Guss : 14:46 Oh, th
t’s
ight. Oh my gosh,
e c
nnot close out
podc
st
ithout the inevit
ble hoible lye
joke. So tod
y's lye
joke even though I
m
pe
son
l inju
y lye
is fo
my c
imin
l defense
tto
ney. f
iend’s c
imin
l defense l

ye
is meeting
ith his client
nd tells his client Hey, I've got good ne
s
nd I've got b
d ne
s. So the ne
vous client
sks, ok
y, ok
y,
h
t's the b
d ne
s?
ell, the b
d ne
s s
ys the lye
is th
t you
blood is
ll ove
the c
ime scene
nd you
DN
p
oves th
t you

e guilty. Oh my gosh,
h
t’s the good ne
s?
ell, good ne
s. you
choleste
ol is only 130
imshot. Yes.
l
ight.
nd
ith th
t, no
th
t eve
yone h
s
good l
ugh
t my ho

ible l

ye
joke of the podc
st, I guess
e
ill
p it up
nd until next time, de

listene
s st
y s
fe
nd st
y leg
l.

Ple
se cont
ct us if you need help
ith
pe
son
l inju
y c
se at 281-783-3934

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