Accident attorney - Should you hire one?

Written by David G. Hallstrom


Continued from page 1

You say that you were not hurt that bad or at all. How do you know how badly you were hurt. Some injuries do not show up for months. Other injuries may aggrivate a prior problem. Even if you have been found to be "ok" by a doctor, how do you know that a problem will not come up later. If you have insurance and did go to a doctor, who is going to pay your co-pay or deductible. If you do not have health insurance, who is going to pay for your examination which should include xrays, etc.. If you retain an attorney he or she can probably refer you to a doctor who will accept a lien againstrepparttar insurance settlement, thereby saving you from paying money out of your pocket.

You say you have accident insurance, why not let them handle everthing for you. Your insurance company is there to defend any claims against you not to represent you in any claims against other parties. Additionally, they also are in business to make money. How do you know if they are trying to settle a case to help you or to save themselves money.

The foregoing article was written byrepparttar 119287 author based on experiences he has had as a private investigator representing both accident attorneys and insurance companies. This article is not stated as a legal opinion or as fact but instead is stated as opinion ofrepparttar 119288 author.

Permission is given to reprint this article providing credit is given torepparttar 119289 author, David G. Hallstrom, and a link is listed to Resources For Attorneysrepparttar 119290 owner of this article. Anyone or any company reprinting this article without giving proper credit andrepparttar 119291 correct link, is doing so without permission and will be subject to legal action.

Licensed private investigator for over thirty years, President of Resources For Attorneys. The detective agency represents over 1900 attorneys and the author has given several hundred seminars to attorney groups regarding private investigations, process serving, how to set up and operate a private law practice, etc..


Anatomy of a Chinese Debt Collection

Written by Zhao Xiomei


Continued from page 1

Despiterepparttar initially tough attitude of Alimex's lawyers, we knew we could not abandon our efforts to achieve a settlement, particularly since we knew settlement made sense for all parties. We proposed a three way agreement between Daxin, Alimex and Bolshoretskoe, whereby Alimex would keep its purchase price funds and not pay any party forrepparttar 119286 fish untilrepparttar 119287 dispute between Daxin and Bolshoretskoe had been resolved through arbitration in Canada. Alimex would then payrepparttar 119288 winner ofrepparttar 119289 arbitration up torepparttar 119290 purchase price ofrepparttar 119291 fish. Alimex would also agree not to pursue any claims against Daxin for wrongful arrest. Uponrepparttar 119292 signing of this agreement, Daxin would release its arrest ofrepparttar 119293 cargo. Daxin secured oral agreements from both Bolshoretskoe and Alimex to go forward with such an agreement.

Forrepparttar 119294 fish to go out onrepparttar 119295 next liner to Europe, Dan and I had to work overtime in draftingrepparttar 119296 appropriate agreements. This time,repparttar 119297 multitude of languages and time zones (China, Russia, Singapore, Seattle, and Denmark) worked to slow us down, and byrepparttar 119298 time Bolshoretskoe received its Russian language copy ofrepparttar 119299 agreement, only a few hours remained beforerepparttar 119300 pollock needed to be loaded onrepparttar 119301 liner to Europe. But, atrepparttar 119302 last minute, Bolshoretskoe changed its mind and decided it would not sign. All our hard work had been for naught. We were all exhausted.

The next liner to Europe was leaving in six days. Duringrepparttar 119303 weekend, we stopped talking with opposing parties and communicated with only Dan and Daxin. We went back overrepparttar 119304 case history and analyzed each party's positions and risks. We concluded that Bolshoretskoe was Daxin's real adversary. It was Bolshoretskoe that owedrepparttar 119305 money and it was Bolshoretskoe that had avoided payment for so long. It also was Bolshoretskoe that had backed out of its oral agreement. There had been no prior conflicts between Daxin and Alimex. Though Alimex was listed asrepparttar 119306 consignee ofrepparttar 119307 pollock onrepparttar 119308 Bill of lading, it had yet to actually pay forrepparttar 119309 fish. Above all else, Alimex wantedrepparttar 119310 pollock sent to Europe so it could fulfill its commitments with its European buyers.

If we could persuade Alimex to provide a deposit orrepparttar 119311 purchase price torepparttar 119312 Qingdao Maritime Court, we would lift our cargo arrest. If, onrepparttar 119313 other hand, Alimex insisted on payingrepparttar 119314 purchase price directly to Bolshoretskoe,repparttar 119315 arrest would remain in place, and Alimex would be unable to fulfill its supply contracts with its European buyers. Daxin would be left fighting a two front war against Alimex and Bolshoretskoe inrepparttar 119316 Chinese courts.

We told Alimex that if it did not immediately settle, we would moverepparttar 119317 court to require Alimex payrepparttar 119318 Pollock purchase price torepparttar 119319 court and seekingrepparttar 119320 immediate sale ofrepparttar 119321 pollock at auction. Within hours, we received contact from a Chinese lawyer retained by Alimex, who would, he informed us, be going to court to have our "illegal" arrest thrown out. The court ignored him.

The next liner for Europe was coming to Qingdaorepparttar 119322 next day and it finally began dawning on Alimex that if it wanted to getrepparttar 119323 pollock to Europe and to its customers, it would need to settle with us. Intensive settlement talks began anew and another oral agreement was reached. Alimex would guarantee to pay up torepparttar 119324 amount ofrepparttar 119325 pollock purchase price to whomever prevailed between Daxin and Bolshoretskoe. Alimex also agreed not to pursue any claims against Daxin arising from Daxin's allegedly wrongful arrest ofrepparttar 119326 cargo. A settlement was drafted and signed andrepparttar 119327 parties worked diligently to getrepparttar 119328 arrest lifted in time forrepparttar 119329 product to make it on that day's liner to Europe.

Daxin had a Guarantee Agreement from an established and well funded Danish company and we had achieved a smashing victory on this exciting arrest of cross-border transshipping cargo.

Somewhat smooth sailing in recovering Daxin's award. We then filed Daxin's case against Bolshoretskoe inrepparttar 119330 Qingdao Maritime Court. Bolshoretskoe consistently failed to attend any court hearings and we eventually secured a default judgment against it.

Alimex then paid Daxin all but US$15,000 ofrepparttar 119331 amount it had guaranteed, but claimed entitlement to withhold US$15,000 for itself to help pay forrepparttar 119332 costs it had incurred in China defending against Daxin's arrest. One e-mail from Dan threatening arbitration in London (pursuant torepparttar 119333 Guarantee Agreement) forrepparttar 119334 $15,000, plus all fees and costs, convinced Alimex it had no case on this either. Alimex paidrepparttar 119335 remaining US$15,000 to Daxin andrepparttar 119336 case was over.

After six months, close cooperation and flexibility by lawyers on both sides ofrepparttar 119337 Pacific had given us full and total victory.

Epilogue A few months after I closedrepparttar 119338 case, Dan sent me an e-mail telling me he had heard from one of his Danish clients that Alimex's Danish lawyers had told them of our great job on this case. Dan and I have since worked on a couple additional cases together, but it will be this first one that I will always remember. In thinking of this case, I know I will never forgetrepparttar 119339 sleepless nights I spent communicating with lawyers and parties in four times zones. But I also know thatrepparttar 119340 pride I feel from knowing how much we achieved, despite having to work throughrepparttar 119341 laws of so many countries under such tight deadlines, is what will always stand out. Our wisdom, our legal knowledge and our strenuous diligence had garnered us high praise not only from our foreign colleague and from our client, but also admiration fromrepparttar 119342 opposing party.



Zhao Xiaomei (Meggie) is a senior partner at the Fada law firm in Dalian, China, where she focuses on international and maritime law. http://www.fada-lawyer.com/introc_e.htm


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