Liens are an ever-present challenge in personal injury cases and can drastically impact your recovery as an injured party. Several types of liens exist under both state and federal law. When you are injured it is important to know which liens may be involved in your case and how to deal with them. The most common type of lien you are likely to see in your personal injury case is a medical lien. Medical liens are authorized under Arizona law (A.R.S. § 33-931) and allow any health care institution providing medical services in the state to attach a financial interest to your personal injury case. These liens are intended to compensate the medical provider for the full cost of care when they treat your injuries. These liens generally allow you to receive some medical care in return for giving the…

This morning I walked for Chris Kutcher. He couldn’t walk. He was killed by a drunk driver on June 7, 2014. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) organized a walk and Renee Kutcher Loncar formed a group to walk together on behalf of her life’s partner, Chris. I was struck by the tragedy of needless death, and yet surrounded by the joyousness of the people whose love and devotion was so great that they could see past their own tears in order to try and prevent drunk driving deaths for others. It reminded me of what Robert F. Kennedy said after the death of Martin Luther King: “My favorite poem, my — my favorite poet was Aeschylus, and he once wrote: Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair,…

This morning a Phoenix police officer, conducting a routine traffic stop, was shot multiple times by the vehicle’s driver. Fortunately, it appears that his bullet proof vest may have saved the officer’s life, and we at Robbins & Curtin wish this officer a speedy and complete recovery. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.  In August alone, at least seven officers were killed in the line of duty.  Some, such as Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth, appear to have been targeted solely because of his uniform. The law firm of Robbins & Curtin specializes in civil rights cases, including cases involving claims of excessive force by police officers. However, our firm’s specialization does not diminish our respect for the vast majority of officers who, every day, brave the dangers of the job to protect and serve. In our decades of…

Since the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014 – just over one year ago – shootings of unarmed persons by police have taken the national spotlight.  The South Carolina shooting of Walter Scott as he ran from an officer.  The recent shooting of a college football player outside of Dallas.  The shooting of an unarmed motorist by a Cincinnati police officer. To date, this spotlight has notably avoided Arizona.  However, Arizona’s avoidance of the limelight may not be well deserved.  In fact, Arizona appears to be among the nation’s leading states in terms pro rata police involved shootings and deaths. Federal agencies are notorious for tracking the most mundane of statistics – number of unprovoked shark attacks, number of people who attend symphonies, or how many Botox procedures were performed last…

Believe it or not, you don’t have to be a criminal for the police to take your property, and keep it. It doesn’t matter if your cash is hidden in your luggage, stored in a safe, or even in a safety deposit box at the bank—if the police know it’s there, they will take it, and often times, without effecting an arrest or issuing a citation. In March, 2010, the Institute for Justice published Policing for Profit, an article that discusses the forfeiture laws of each state, and grades each state based on the police incentives for abuse. The article shows that despite the varying degrees of police incentives in each state, every state promotes the seizure of property by granting the seizing agency a stake in the property they seize for forfeiture. In February, 2015, Forbes published an article…

In England historically during the 1600’s, the King gathered juries to do his bidding.  Judges, who were friendly to the King, could try and force a jury to do their bidding.  This is the story about one jury: The case against William Penn and William Mead in the late seventeenth century illustrated the importance of the jury and its rise to power within the judicial system. Penn and Mead were religious dissenters who were given to preaching in public. Around this time, Brits were so suspicious of King Charles II’s Catholic leanings that they passed laws against preaching in public. Penn and Mead were arrested, and opponents of the king sought to have Penn and Mead prosecuted and imprisoned, which would have embarrassed the king. The court impaneled a jury and, after both sides presented their case, they retired to…

So you have to prepare for a deposition. Your attorney has called you into his office and is going to give you instructions. A deposition is both a positive and a negative. On the positive side, it gives you the opportunity to tell the other side what occurred. On the negative side, it gives the other attorney a chance to harass you, possibly confuse you, and will be recorded so that any errors that you make will be recorded, and will be able to be used at trial. In preparing for a deposition, it is important to keep both of these facts in mind.  Specifically, the preparation for a deposition is an important step in terms of telling a jury what has happened to you and what you know about it. There are four processes that one goes through during…

Good lawyers find the truth.  I’m proud to be a lawyer and I’m proudest when our work uncovers something that was hidden by those who refuse to accept responsibility for their actions.  Here’s a great commentary on the positive contributions that lawyers make to the free enterprise system through lawsuits. >>return to main blog page

It is a well-known fact that lawyers have a reputation for being unlikable. Look to any comic about attorneys, you will find sharks or grim white men in business suits representing “our kind.” There is a simple reason the general public views lawyers as cold blooded – law students are trained to leave their emotions at the door, and unfortunately, some lawyer forgot to pick them back up with their J.D. The first year of law school is equal parts education and indoctrination. The message is clear: drop your feelings off with your tuition check. Young lawyers-to-be are trained to be issue spotters. They teach us quickly that your affection for a sympathetic client will only cloud your judgment. As your client’s advocate, the way that you help the most is to quickly spot the legal issues, present the potential…

Our firm doesn’t publish substantial settlements or jury verdicts. Usually. However, as I was looking at the June 2013 Arizona Attorney magazine from the Arizona State Bar, on page 18, an article referred to a jury verdict from John Curtin as one of the top ten verdicts in the state this last year. It was the second highest verdict in a medical malpractice case. I was there for the many weeks of trial and the many months of preparation before trial.  John and his co-counsel, Roger Sharp and Bill Friedl, worked many late nights to identify all of the exhibits, write the motions prior to trial, and prepare for trial. Their love for the clients was obvious before, during and after the trial. Two young women who were left orphans when their father passed away due to medical negligence are now going…