Dominic Sinclair

As an attorney with over 35 years' experience handling insurance bad faith litigation, here is my advice to wildfire victims: 1)     Do NOT hire a lawyer or adjuster to file your claim for you. They will take between 10% and 33%, and most insurance companies are just paying out the full value of policies if you have a total loss. 2)     Make your insurance claim directly to your insurance company, and not through your insurance agent or broker. 3)     Communicate with your adjuster in writing (email or text). If you have telephone conversation, confirm it in writing. 4)     Make an inventory of all personal property that was in your home.  You should be able to use credit card statements or Amazon account information to establish what you had and what it cost. If you have pictures or videos that show the inside of your home, you can use those to establish what you had.  5)     Keep a log of your contacts and attempted contacts with your insurance company. Insurers have a limited amount of time to respond to claims and to pay claims once you establish the value of your claim. 6)     If your insurance company won’t pay or slow walks your claim, then a lawyer might need to become involved. 7)     If the fire was caused by a public utility (which Eaton almost surely was) then the utility is liable for all damages, even if you were uninsured, or underinsured, or your insurance has limits for things like landscaping that are exceeded. It’s called inverse condemnation. 8)     If your home was damaged or destroyed, or you were evacuated, your homeowner’s insurance will cover you for additional living expenses. You are entitled to comparable housing. Insurance adjusters will advise you to get a hotel room, but you are entitled to rent a house or an apartment that is comparable to what you lost. Your homeowner’s policy contains a stated limit for additional living expenses. That is most your insurer will pay for loss of use. You are entitled to continue receiving additional living expense payments for up to 24 months. 9)     If your home suffered damage caused by smoke, ash, char, or other fire debris, it is covered by your homeowner’s policy. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair smoke damage if you were close to the fire. Typical repairs include cleaning or replacing the ductwork, replacing attic insulation, and cleaning all interior and exterior surfaces. Cleaning of clothes and interior fabrics (drapes, carpets, etc) affected by smoke should also be covered.

567

99 Comments

My 3 rules of timekeeping — 1. My associates know to enter the time they worked. They don't write down their own time. I'll review the bills and make any appropriate write offs. 2. I've never written up an associate's time. I can't think of a situation where that'd ever be ok. 3. I don't tell my associates how long they should spend on an assignment. It takes however long it takes. I may tell them that "I don't think you're going to find anything, so don't go down too deep a rabbit hole." But I never put a number on it. If it'd take them an extra hour to find the answer, they should spend the extra hour. It's up to me to write down their time if appropriate. #Michigator

374

24 Comments

Attorneys, want to make more $? First, raise your rates. If you bill hourly, raise them $50 ot $100 per hour. You will lose not one single client. If you bill flat fee, multiply your price by 1.25 and go with it. (If it scares you to raise rates on existing clients, don't. Raise rates only on new clients. Problem solved.) Second, don't write off time, ever (unless you make a mistake). What you do, all of it, is valuable. Third, collect 100% for the work you do. Don't let clients steal from you by not paying you 100% for the excellent work you do.

56

9 Comments

You don’t have to agree on everything in your divorce. That’s not the expectation and it’s certainly not the law. But when one spouse refuses to engage in any meaningful settlement discussions, it doesn’t just create tension; it creates exposure. Illinois courts don’t force people to settle. What they do expect is a baseline level of cooperation. When one party refuses every reasonable offer, insists on litigating minor issues, or deliberately stalls the process, that conduct becomes relevant , even if not immediately admissible. Under Rule 408 of the Illinois Rules of Evidence, courts generally can’t hear about offers or conduct related to settlement negotiations. But that rule has limits. An attorney can still preserve the issue through an offer of proof, which is a procedural safeguard that says, in effect, “Judge, you’ve excluded this, but here’s what we would’ve shown.” Once that offer is made, the refusal to compromise may not formally enter evidence, but the judge has heard it. 🔔 And as the saying goes, you can’t unring a bell. This isn’t about forcing agreement. It’s about showing that one party is acting in good faith and the other isn’t. Courts can, and often do, reflect that reality in their rulings, particularly in attorney’s fee awards and property division under 750 ILCS 5/508 and 5/503(d). If you’re the spouse trying to move the process forward, but the other side won’t even meet you halfway, you need to understand what tools you have; both legal and procedural. The article goes deeper into how Rule 408 works, what an offer of proof actually looks like, and how to protect yourself from being financially punished for someone else’s refusal to settle. Read the full breakdown on my blog. #divorce #lawyer #chicago #breakup #divorcecourt #divorcelawyer @jewelosco

32

4 Comments

Having practiced personal injury law for over 10 years, I’ve noticed three key traits that all great personal injury attorneys share: 1. They’re great communicators – not great yellers. Some people think a lawyer needs to be loud and aggressive, but I think you can get a point across just as easily with calm and deliberate words. 2. They work hard. It takes a lot of resilience to get through these cases, and I always appreciate when someone is still sending me emails back at 5:00pm on a Friday rather than hitting me with their OOO message. 3. They have high standards for themselves. These people don’t just take the first settlement that they get offered. They aren’t going to just take the first job they can find. They have a clear vision of what they want their life and their work to look like, and they don’t stop until they get the result that they are happy with. Obviously, these aren’t all just one-off skills that you can teach yourself over a weekend. These are deeply embedded traits that develop over months and years of intentional work. But, I think if you have these three traits, you can get to pretty much anywhere you want to go in the world of law.

36

6 Comments

We all prep clients for depositions. We tell them: * Tell the truth * Only answer the question asked * Don't volunteer information * Don't argue or be rude But do you tell them: * Pause two seconds before answering every question * Use the question in the answer Pacing, cadence, and control are typically in the hands of the interrogator. But a witness can flip the script by doing two things: * Count one-one thousand and two-one thousand, and then answer the question. This slows the pace and rhythm and disrupts the questioner's pattern, style, and approach. It also allows the deponent to think about every question and not indicate that the questioner has hit upon a sore spot by only pausing for the tough questions. * Use the question in the answer - What is your name? My name is X. Where do you work? I work at X. This has the same effect as waiting two seconds and prevents anyone from putting words in the deponent's mouth or misconstruing a response. These two items are the most effective for any deponent, but they take much practice during deposition prep because no one thinks, talks, or communicates this way. Spend an hour or more practicing these two points with your client in deposition prep.

749

65 Comments