Gavel banging Narrator Welcome to Lawyers In The House with Montlick Wish you had a lawyer in the family. Now you do Here.’s. Your host Veronica Waters, Oh yay, oh yay, Lawyers In The House with Montlick, is now in session and presiding over. These fine proceedings today, your host, the Honorable Veronica Waters, here with two fabulous Montlick injury, attorneys talking about something that a lot of us probably think. We already know a little bit about Philadelphia, A Civil Action, The Verdict, Erin Brockovich Law and Order Matlock Perry, Mason, The Lincoln Lawyer, Legally Blonde Boston Legal Suits A Few Good Men, My Cousin Vinny. If any of those is the first thing that comes to your mind, when you hear the phrase going to court or going to trial, this episode is for you, my friends, because today we are peeling back the layers and peeking behind the curtain of what it’S really like to go to trial on a personal injury case, And to do that we’ve got a pair of very seasoned litigators right here in the house. So without further ado, let us introduce you to them. The first one is Cate Powell, who has been with Montlick now for several months after graduating, with her JD from Georgia State University in 2015. Before that she got a master’s from Georgia, Tech and with honors. I might add, Am I right, or am I right? Thank you so much So Cate. You’ve been an attorney since 2015 Cate. Yes, What’s it like? How does it feel? Because I know, Let me just say, not to steal your thunder, but you shared with me that you knew in your very first year that you were doing the right thing. Yes, I did Yes, I did So. I have been helping clients and I have been litigating cases since I got outta law, school and working for my dad and his firm, And that was an amazing experience And I had known the attorneys at Montlick and knew that this was such an amazing firm and Wanted to go to a bigger firm, So I got in and I’m so excited to be with Montlick, So they kinda lured you away a little bit. Okay, they kinda lured you over. Now you’ve mentioned that you’ve worked with your dad for a long time, so he’s taught you a lot. I’m sure. Yes, he is an amazing person, Doug Powell, an amazing attorney And two of the most important things he’s taught me are number one relationship building is the most important thing in law and in career and in life. So he has built relationships over 30 years with attorneys around Atlanta. The Montlick attorneys defense attorneys adjusters judges. Even So, he just has a really good reputation and I was able to kind of ride on that reputation and make one of my own as well And his priority beyond. That is his relationship with his clients and how long that lasts and how much we go through together with our clients And then the second thing he taught me was work life balance. So he is truly a renaissance man. He went to cooking school, got his cooking degree trained as a sommelier. He’s a photographer, so he taught me that I can also have work life balance And I will give a shout out here to all the working moms out there, because I have three young children and I’m making it work. Also loving my career as an attorney, I love knowing so much about you And a little known fact. Cate has a lot of extra layers to her too, because she also is out there in the community helping new moms, get into the life of being a new mom and handle all of the challenges And that’s become a go to community here in Atlanta. Maybe you can follow her on Twitter or IG, and she can tell you more about that. First, though, we are going to get to know our second new Montlick injury attorney in the house. I say new because I really don’t mean Not new to the firm Patrick but new to Lawyers In The House. His name is Patrick Matarrese and Pat has been a lawyer since 1991. This guy has more than three decades of experience And he started with Montlick in 1997 That’s correct. I had about six years worth of litigation experience with another firm before I joined Montlick and it’s was an amazing transition just to be in a position to help people to the extent that that I could And with my particular background I don’t Have the same background as Cate, I was one of 15 grandchildren that was the first to graduate from college And from there kind of made my mark in the world, And so it’s a little bit of a different background, and I like to think I Bring a lot of world experience to the table And I’ve also sat on the other side of the table at one point in time, so I’m able to identify with our clients to the extent of what they anticipate they want from their lawyers. Let’s dig into that a little bit, because I know Patrick that you are known as this champion for the underdog Yeah. I like to phrase it that I grew up: five foot six in a six foot world, and so I’ve always been a champion of the underdog starting with myself. First, And so I’ve always had that sense to want to help and help those who are most in need, And when I went to law school, I went with the idea that I was going to go into constitutional law And I can say my first Year, torts professor, who had graduated, I believe from Cornell University. He’s the one that had the biggest influence on me as to how I could fit my personality with my law degree in terms of how to help people. So I just gravitated, naturally based on my personal experience, as well as my desire to help people. The thing about law is that there’s no high school course to teach somebody who’s been traumatized or the victim of somebody else.’s wrongdoing. There’s, no college course to teach somebody what to do under those circumstances, So as lawyers and especially with Montlick, we take all of that into account whenever anybody picks up the phone and calls us And it’s helped me be able to communicate my Expertise, my practical experience and the legal expertise that our clients need All in one package On the job experience you can’t, learn it in high school, And I said it once I’ll say it again. Everything I’ve learned about, Patrick and Cate is that they are really seasoned trial lawyers, and so this is the perfect show to have them share their expertise So Pat and Cate. Thank you so much for being in the house with us today. Thank you. Thank you Happy to be here. Let’s talk going to trial Cate some of those movies, and the TV shows that I mentioned really don’t necessarily deal with civil cases, which is what we’re talking about. A personal injury case is not a criminal case, like somebody gets arrested for something, Even though sometimes a personal injury case can have an intersection with a criminal act, but not always, and But The Verdict was a medical malpractice case in that movie and I’m Sure that this is kind of something like what you all talk about, So let’s just start, maybe from the beginning, and how do we even? How does the case even end up going toward litigation to begin with? Well, I guess I’ll start with that With each case that we take in our initial approach in terms of deciphering the facts and determining what’s going on is with the idea that the case is going to be tried to a jury. So, in terms of the information we’re obtaining our initial investigations and all of the work that goes into the case is with the idea that the case is going to be tried to a jury. Why is that? Because it just makes the prep more thorough or something It makes the prep thorough, and it gives us the ability to settle that case a lot easier than if we were not to think that. That case is going to a jury, trial And the prep. That goes into that by the time you’re finished. If you’ve done all of your work, 90 or better of our cases are gon na settle without the need of having to file a lawsuit. Well – and I would also say that was such a good point that Pat made about so many of these cases do settle before going to court before the lawsuit is filed, Veronica Really small percentage that actually make it to courtroom. It’s a small percentage that makes it Yeah that makes it into lawsuit and then even smaller percentage. That goes to trial, And so I would say some of the biggest reasons why we would file the lawsuit would be the statute of limitations, which I will say, is different in every state, and I will say that there are even exceptions within Georgia, So I won.’t even say the time limit here:’cause. I don’t wan na get anyone off, but there is a statute of limitations that you have to file the lawsuit. Otherwise, your claims are totally dropped and you cannot You don’t have a right to make a claim. You don’t have a right to file the lawsuit after that statute And then another reason why we file suit is if the insurance company we feel, is not giving a fair offer for compensation. On the case And again as Patrick said, that could be a lot because they wan na gather more information from the insurance company’s side, So they wan na go through litigation, have depositions gather evidence before they will give a higher offer to settle the case. Yeah I’m. Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt you Cate, but it’s. My understanding just from stuff I’ve learned on the show before, is that the insurance company is not necessarily going to be forthcoming about offering the biggest dollar amount at the start anyway. So why does that make a difference here That’s right, and I tell a lot of my clients that the first offer you receive do not take it personally, because usually it’s a very low offer, So the insurance companies they’re big companies. They’re dealing with numbers, crunching numbers every day They’re, dealing with spreadsheets and analyzing cases. They are not the person that was injured, They don’t know in detail and in a personal way how this incident impacted that individual, So they’ll. Do a very low offer, usually at the outset and then, as we gather evidence as the case goes on, that offer gets bigger and bigger in settlement negotiations. I see How long does all this take? I mean just on Law and Order. It’s like a week to get the bad guys in the court and it’s criminal, the And then the trial is over in like 30 minutes. How long does it take Typically, the way that I explain it is that the time that it’s gon na, take to settle a case if it’s going to settle, is gon na run parallel with our client’s treatment Before we want to Put a case before an insurance company we wan na know first, what the full extent of the injury is. Then we wan na know what the full extent of the recovery is. Then we’re in a position to take all of the other work that we’ve done ahead of time in anticipation of bringing that case to trial, along with the full extent of injury and recovery. So we can present a package to the insurance company. A package Okay, so it’s like, And you can extrapolate and calculate what expenses will be like from what’s already been incurred right. Okay, now let’s say that we’re at an impasse. There’s one more step that is available before you take it to court and start duking it out. We’re going to get into that next. On Lawyers In The House, upbeat music. We are back on Lawyers In The House with Montlick. I’m. Your host Veronica Waters here with Patrick Matarrese and Cate Powell, two attorneys from Montlick, who are seasoned trial, attorneys used to getting in there and duking it out with the other side for their clients. Now we’ve already learned here that most cases, don’t go to trial. Most cases, don’t get a lawsuit filed And then of those a very small fraction actually go to trial. But if you’ve, You’ve filed a suit and you’ve gotten this discovery process underway where each side discovers the other’s evidence, then what happens if it’s not going to trial What’s that all about Right? So I would say – and that is a common misconception – that I think we can talk about just for a second, which is that a lot of my clients think Okay. Well, if the lawsuit’s filed, I’m gon na be standing in front of a judge in the next couple of days, because they’ve watched the shows, And I always say to them. No, this is a longer process and we will likely settle the case before trial. If we need to go to trial. We are prepared for that. But as you were saying, the lawsuit is filed the defendant answers and then there’s a six month period called discovery where evidence is gathered, depositions are done and most judges across the state of Georgia actually require mediation to happen before trial. To try to see if the case can get settled So settlement is still just both sides agree on an amount and call it done. Yes, yes And then mediation is going to a mediator’s office and having an independent person, a mediator, not a judge, help facilitate the settlement negotiations, while the defense attorney the adjuster our client. We are there, everyone’s there and everyone’s focused on trying to get the case resolved. That day, Are you guys, sitting across from each other, staring into each other’s eyes across a table whispering like mumbles, like that? We do have an opening session, where I will give an opening statement as though it’s an opening statement in trial, And then the defense attorney will usually say something and they’ll usually say I’m sorry this happened, The actual at fault, driver Or the at fault party is not at the mediation and then we separate into different rooms. Okay, so the mediator’s going back and forth between two different rooms: Cate! Yes, All right, so you’re a mediator right yourself, Cate! Yes, Okay! So what are you doing? Tell me in just a few seconds: what are you doing when you’re going back and forth What’s the goal here You are trying to get both sides on the same page And mediation is all about compromise. So we have to remind our clients – and the mediator reminds the insurance company. You’re gon na walk away, not feeling like you won, because you had to give something up, but that you settled the case and that we can close out the case and everybody can move on with their lives. Veronica Who chooses the mediator. It depends, but I usually like to choose the mediator myself. Okay, I wan na know who’s like? Is there some list, or do we draw names from a hat Anyway? Okay, so maybe mediation, didn’t work. That means it’s, time to seat. The jury, What a real personal injury trial looks like straight ahead on Lawyers In The House. We are back with Lawyers In The House with Montlick. I’m Veronica Waters hosting two amazing attorneys, Cate Powell and Patrick Materrese, here from Montlick, and we’re talking about taking a case to trial. What happens when you’ve been hurt? You’ve got a personal injury case and something seems like it.’s never gon na settle. You need a lawyer on your side right. These guys are gon na. Tell us exactly what happens when you get there. So what does a personal injury trial? Look like You know what Before we get into that don’t? Let me go another second, without reminding you to check us out on social. We’re MontlickLaw on every platform and you can catch every single episode current former previous future, whatever at lawyersinthehouse com, And remember that you can always send us a question. 24. 7. The address lawyersinthehouse montlick com So hit us up and subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform, Now back to it Patrick Cate. What does a trial actually look like? Is it like what I’m looking at on TV For the most part, no Veronica Dream devastated, okay, The trial process itself generally speaking, And it depends on the complexity of the case, but the average case, if it’s just an injury case where there’s not a lot of liability issues. There’s not a lot of witnesses to bring in generally it’ll take anywhere from two and a half to three days to try Veronica, Oh so they’re very short, Generally, The more catastrophic the case. The more I guess involved, liability issues are in play, the longer it goes. There are cases that take three weeks in a personal injury setting, and it depends on the extent of the injury, the complexity of the variables that come into play, Your medical malpractice, your products, liability cases, your catastrophic injury cases are typically gon na take a lot longer Than two or three days, But for the average auto wreck, if there is such a thing where you have soft tissue injuries, a sprained neck, a sprained back that type of thing, if you can’t get that case resolved and it does go to trial, then You’re looking at two to three day trial And that’s enough time to put your client on the witness stand. Put the at fault party on the witness stand, bring in your witnesses and bring in a medical specialist to testify and corroborate the extent of the injury. Are we just throwing my medical records up there for the jury to see Well that’s interesting’cause Georgia?’s changed a little bit and we’re now allowed to do that. You are in Georgia, Patrick Yes, But we didn’t used to be No In Georgia. Now you can present certified copies of the medical records and introduce them, And that’s for cases where the actual value of the case is going to It.’s. Not gon na support the cost to bring a doctor in and depose him and pay him. Typically, you’re, looking at spending three or 4 000 to take a doctor away from his practice, sit down and do a videotape, deposition and And the deposition is when both sides get to ask this doctor. Whoever the expert is questions, but you have to pay’em for their time, Because that means, if they’re in the room with you, then they’re not in the OR basically Patrick, Correct and All right. So I’m. Sorry, were you gon na, say something Patrick? I was just gon na say some courses Or cases won’t support that cost. So then you bring in the certified copies of the records as an alternative Got it See. This is why we need an expert to make the call. Can we open up the floor and just get you to talk about some of the cases that stuck with you. One case that I brought to trial was basically because the insurance company – and I did not ever see eye to eye as to what the value of the case was, We made a policy limits demand for their policy limits. The most they would ever offer is a few thousand dollars over the value of the case, And this involved a 10 year old child who was a front seat passenger in a near head on collision And when the airbag exploded. It caused abrasion and burn wounds to her face. It covered almost half of her face And as a parent having two children, I could empathize with the parents as to what they were going through And on this particular day, she and her twin sister were supposed to be celebrating their birthday. So timing was really bad And for a 10 year old child to suffer that kind of trauma. Wake up the next morning, look in the mirror and see somebody that she didn’t recognize. It was a horrible event. It turns out. She recovered really really well. When we did try the case, she was 14 years old, Veronica Wow four years And you couldn’t tell that her face was ever burned or she had suffered any injury and the insurance company thought that would work for them, And it was a case that I remember succinctly because the Friday before the case was tried that, following Monday, the attorney called me up, he said Patrick, do you have any offer whatsoever below the policy limits And I’m going? Are you kidding me? We’re here for two years battling this out and that’s the question you have for me. I wanted to hang up on him, but I didn’t I said no, then I hung up on him. I love that and I think it’s a great question, because I would wonder too because, as you said, these things can take a long time before they ever get to to trial. If I’m not still limping or hurting or physically marred. On my face, is the jury gon na hold that against me somehow or think I’m malingering, making it all up or whatever, But it’s good to know that that doesn’t And you had a good resolution in that what the jury come Back with We did, The insurance company ended up paying two times the amount of their policy limits on that case, Kudos kudos That’s, what That’s, Patrick fighting for the underdog Cate. What about you Tell me one that you remember, And I will say I had my mediation stories, but I’m bringing to mind one really big trial, and I wanted to talk about it too, because it took six years Veronica Six years. So it was a wrongful death and you were asking about. Sometimes it is the more catastrophic the situation. Then it does call for having to gather more evidence and move it towards trial. So it was a case against Motel 6 and it was a premises, liability case which was against the company and was for keeping unsafe their hotel Negligent security was what it was all about, and this young man was shot at the Motel 6, And so it took Years to get witnesses, get depositions build the case get doctor dep And then the trial took more like closer to a week, And again I was just A lot of the trial. Stories are similar where the defense attorney a couple days before trial threw out a number and for all of us it was multiple firms working on it. We had put so much work into it. It was like the That’s almost like hurtful that we’ve put so much into this. We’re going to trial. The family is gon na, be at the trial, gon na be testifying, And so the case ended up winning the trial. So it was a good result, but it was a long, hard process. It’s, amazing too, that it would come to that, and it makes me wonder, is this the game of chicken that they’re playing? I look at it this way. The insurance companies have an obligation to their insurance, and so do we as attorneys. When we’re presenting cases. We need to be fair to our clients. We also need to be fair to the at fault party. Most defendants are not doing this intentionally. There are plenty of them out there who do and we have punitive damages for those cases, But in most instances we wan na present the case where the jury has this feeling that we’re being both fair to our client as well as fair to the Other side, So I don’t There are insurance companies in cases where, yes, they can wear the hat of the Darth Vader, but for the most part they’re just trying to meet their fiduciary duties to their insurance Luke. I am your insurance carrier. I don’t know Well and a lot of the pre The litigation process. The pre trial process is the attorneys assessing. How is a jury going to view this case Veronica? How will a jury see it? How will a jury see it And the tough thing is you never know what a jury is going to do until the verdict comes back? Does it have to be unanimous? I cover a lot of criminal cases. It has to be 12. Nothing. Yes, so you’ll have people that don’t agree. You’ll have some people on the jury that think this person should be awarded four times the medical bills and other people that think No, We’ll just give them the amount of the medical bills. So then they have to work that out and then it’s a big compromise among the jurors. So we’re constantly assessing risks on our side for our case and telling our client Okay here,’s the risk We’re in this county in Georgia and we’ve seen jury verdicts that aren’t very high in this county. Do we wan na take this case to trial And the insurance companies and adjusters are assessing those same risks So that’s, why you said it’s kind of like a game of chicken that’s the thing about trial and that’s? Why it’s so big and stressful and nerve wracking? Is that you don’t know what’s gon na happen until the end? Is it like that in every state You mentioned working Doing cases in other states? Does it always have to be a unanimous verdict? I’m not prepared to answer that question because I’m just curious Patrick That’s a great question I don’t know I just I know And correct me if I’m wrong’cause it’s always Like I said I’m always doing criminal cases, But I thought that there was That there were some instances somewhere where it was just like a preponderance of the evidence, and you get a majority of the jurors or something like that. You know what Maybe that’s too inside baseball or whatever, but Preponderance of the evidence, is what the jurors will base their decision on and there’s different equations for that. So I also don’t wan na make a blanket statement to say that in every case it’s preponderance of the evidence Veronica. But basically that means we’re leaning, But the judge will give a jury charge like that Veronica. We’re leaning more this way than the other that’s, what that means, basically right And so an easy way to put that I describe it like if you had the scales of justice out. If you place a feather on one side, that’s, the preponderance Got it okay, Just a little bit Just a little bit of tip. You talked about the jury, though. Getting these cases Is it like, they’re, less likely to maybe find for me because of something that happened in their own life or something Patrick. I’ll, let you start So when you start you’re able to interview the jurors and you’re able to strike some jurors and the other side is able to strike, which means that you excuse some jurors. You ask them a list of questions. So it’s like has a traumatic car accident, for example – happened to you, So you’re wanting to get a sense of your juror profile, but you still don’t have complete control. So again I always tell my clients too: it’s a lot like you,’re, taking a risk and gambling You’re, like I,’m gon na work my hardest and I have had a high success rate, but you never know what the jury’s gon na do until they come back with the verdict And to your point earlier. Sometimes it doesn’t even get there, Even though Patrick made a point. You’re prepping for that point, but you can also have a nice settlement right before trial. In mediation, yes, Okay, all right, So the favorite part of any trial for Patrick Matarrese is the closing argument. So that means he’s gon na be first up just around the block. When we come to the Montlick closing argument, I’m Veronica Waters with Pat Matarrese and Cate Powell stay with us All right. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have arrived at the Montlick Closing Argument here on Lawyers In The House. I’m Veronica Waters here with attorneys Patrick Matarrese and Cate Powell. For the Montlick Closing Argument. The floor is yours, So I would say if you’re out there and you need an attorney and you choose an attorney at Montlick. We are prepared to take the case for you from start to finish. We know every single thing to do with whatever comes up, we can handle it And I would compare it to taking a car on a journey. So let us take the wheel and let us drive it for you, so you can sit back and live your life And we will take care of everything and give you updates and let you make the decisions, But we are in the background, doing everything you need To do So, it’s not about you having to stand up in court. It’s about you having a lawyer on your side that’s doing all of that, for you to lead to guide and to get the best results for you, no matter what the circumstances. My closing argument, I’m gon na refer back to a statement. I made earlier that what you do under these circumstances, when you’re confronted with an accident or what have you and you’re injured and you don’t know what to do. They don’t teach courses in high school. They don’t teach courses in college. If the, If you call Montlick, two things are going to occur. One you’re gon na speak with an attorney. You’re gon na speak with an attorney that has the knowledge, practical experience and legal experience to answer whatever questions you have And with regard to that process, it’s free When you call Montlick and Associates it’s free, You,’re gon na Get a free consultation and you’re going to For that free consultation. You’re gon na get our wealth of practical experience, legal advice and knowledge And to me that’s, the biggest no brainer in the world, Patrick you shared with me that it’s. You have a sort of a sixth sense when it comes to these trials. Does It’s got ta help you out somehow when it comes to those final moments in there Yeah? The reason I like closing arguments, the most is that during the trial you’re. I look at it as I have a canvas and I use the facts as my paint colors and what I see my goal is to paint the best picture that I possibly can for the jury. Closing argument. I get to transform what I’ve shown. The jury in terms of the human suffering into a basis for the jury, to make the decision to provide the social justice to my clients And to me that’s, the most rewarding part of the trial, Two Picassos of the legal field. Right here, Patrick Matarrese and Cate Powell, thank you so much for being with us in the house on Lawyers In The House, Montlick take the wheel. You’ve got the resources. You’ve got the expertise. You’ve got Montlick on your side Thanks. So much for being here with us on Lawyers In The House, I’m Veronica Waters, see you next time. Upbeat music,
