By Peter Eriksen, Personal Injury and Litigation Team Leader

Personal injury practice in the 21st century is difficult and challenging. The insurance industry is on the offensive both at the state and national levels. It’s stated objective is to take away the citizens’ constitutional right to a jury trial and replace it with “caps” or arbitrary administrative procedures for the payment of damages. Indeed, the insurance industry would like nothing more than to eliminate the entire notion of non-economic damages. Regrettably, people are beginning to believe that there is merit to the insurance industry’s argument. Part of the belief stems from poor reporting in the newspapers. People read about Allegedly extravagant awards but they never read about the subsequent appeal. Newspapers do not report stories about people who have been rendered quadriplegic but were inadequately compensated. Newspapers never follow up on a story to show how horrible life becomes for a grievously injured person. Instead, newspapers focus on big awards for apparently minor injuries. The insurance industry then seizes upon these misrepresentations to convince the general public that lawyers and their clients are evil and must be stopped. It is as if we have, like Alice in Wonderland, walked through the looking glass and inhabit a bizarre world where exaggeration is taken for truth and insurance industry lies have become accepted. This makes the practice of personal injury law all the more challenging.

Nevertheless, at J&G, LLP we are proud to represent people who have been injured in all types of accidents and we pride ourselves in the vigorous prosecution of their claims. We deal with clients on an individual basis. Our litigation team handles the case from the initial client interview through the trial. There is never a substitution of attorney along the way. We pride ourselves in obtaining good medical care for our clients. Most of all, we pride ourselves in being accessible to our clients both by telephone and in person. Doors are always open and people are welcome to come by to discuss the status of their case.

We also understand that most people do not look forward to courtroom testimony so we will assist you in settling a case if, and only if, it is appropriate to do so. If the insurance carrier will make no meaningful offer, we are fully prepared to go to trial and to endeavor to obtain the best possible result for you. Before a client attends a deposition or goes to court, we will work with you to make sure you are completely comfortable with your roll as a giver of testimony.

We are pleased with the results we have gotten for clients and we hope to continue doing so despite the opposition of the insurance industry.

Mr. Eriksen is a partner on the firm’s Litigation Team. His Primary practice areas are Personal Injury, civil litigation, insurance law, negligence and construction law. Peter has successfully represented victims’ rights in cases ranging from electrocutions and airplane disasters to automobile accidents and slip-and-fall cases.