It never ceases to amaze me the lengths insurance companies will go to avoid paying a claim. I've seen a lot in my years as a personal injury lawyer, but I ran across a case the other day that still surprised me.

If you're going to be negligent and commit medical malpractice, you probably should be careful who you malpractice on. Don't leave a one-foot-square sponge in the belly of a judge.

There are a lot of different ways auto accidents are caused, but they all have something in common: They often involve complex laws, regulations and procedures and you need the help of an attorney to protect your rights, your options and your future. Following a car accident, it's important that you speak and with an experienced car accident lawyer at The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya.

A series of articles by top notch researchers provides some solid numbers on the actual costs of medical malpractice. The September 2010 issue of Health Affairs, a highly respected health care policy journal, reports on the cost of various components of the medical malpractice system.

A new law takes effect in Colorado on August 11, 2010 – a law that has a big impact on personal injury cases and settlement amounts. The law affects three areas:

There’s no special definition of “serious personal injury,” and everyone likely considers their injury to be serious. But when evaluating a case in terms of negotiating with an insurance company or preparing for trial, there are certain hallmarks of a serious injury.

You never know when you’ll be in a car accident. But when you are, having a few resources close at hand can be useful.

What we do here at the law office is pretty serious business. I work with a lot of people at a very difficult time in their lives.  Almost 10 years ago a young woman came into my office severely injured from a car accident. She didn’t know what to do next or what would become of the life she thought was shattered forever. A couple of years ago, she invited me to attend her college graduation. I was proud to go and cheer for her.

In this final part of showing you how The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya works to settle your personal injury case, I'll explain taking your case to trial. This is the option of last resort, as it is time consuming, stressful and expensive. Sometimes it's necessary to go to trial because of a genuine dispute over facts. More often, though, an insurance company is only looking out for its bottom line - and that's when we file a lawsuit to force them to compensate you fairly for the injuries you suffered at the hands of their negligent policyholder.

I wrote a couple of days ago about mediation as one way for our clients to reach a settlement with insurance companies. Mediation is a formal process of negotiating with the help of a neutral third party, and can avoid the time-consuming, stressful and expensive process of preparing for and litigating a trial.

A protracted lawsuit and court trial isn't the only way to settle your personal injury case. There are a number of other options the personal injury attorneys at The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya consider before going through the time-consuming and stressful process of preparing for and litigating a trial.

Funny how injuries have a way of happening when it's least convenient. You never expect to be involved in a car accident, bitten by a dog on a Saturday night or hurt by a physician's negligence after a serious surgery. But when you are, you need help sooner than later with your Colorado personal injury case.

The economy is tough, and even behemoth insurance companies are hurting. At least they are if the last couple of months are any indication.

Interest in our SmartKits has been high in the last few months since we introduced it, and in response to comments we've added a couple items like a handy list of emergency numbers you can use in case of an accident.

I don't know any other area of the law except personal injury where even the poor have the same access to justice as the rich. How much money you make, how big your bank account is or how many stocks and bonds you own makes no difference when you've been hurt.

I've been talking with some of our doctors about some new research being done on treatments for spinal cord injuries. These injuries rank right up there with traumatic brain injury as among the worst my clients have to contend with following an accident.

You don't hear about bicycle accidents as often as reports of car crashes. But when you do, you can be sure that in a lot of cases the injuries are severe.

I've been talking with some of our doctors about results of a new scientific study on acupuncture that may offer an option for some of our clients to reduce pain from their injuries, and not rely solely on painkiller medications.

Slips, falls and trips are one of the most common accidents that can lead to personal injury, second only to automobile accidents. "Slip and fall" is a term personal injury attorneys use to refer to an incident in which a dangerous condition on another person's property causes a person to trip, fall or slip and be injured.

Because every car accident is unique, we have a detailed process we use to investigate an accident. The more our car accident attorneys can learn about your accident, the better we can represent you when it comes time to negotiate with an insurance company.

I wrote a couple days ago about the collateral source rule, and said a new state law taking effect August 11, 2010 reinforces this rule. The collateral source rule says that the amount of damages paid to a plaintiff by a defendant can not be reduced by payments the plaintiff has received from other sources ("collateral sources") such as the plaintiff's medical insurance.

A Colorado Court of Appeals ruling last week reaffirms my commitment to fairness for victims who have been injured by negligent people and companies.

The sweeping health insurance reform legislation that became law earlier this year includes a program of 20 federal grants to various organizations to find a way to rein in "skyrocketing medical malpractice payouts."

A federal judge says big-box giant Home Depot stole an inventor's idea and ordered the company to pay the inventor a total of $25 million.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week concerning the challenges states face in improving the safety of teenage drivers, and how states and the federal government have addressed those challenges.

I ran across an interesting report about nursing homes as I was working my way through the old reading pile this week.

A couple of days ago I wrote about what to do if an insurance company asks you to give a recorded statement. (Don't.) As I thought about it some more, I realized that's one of the things we talk about during our initial consultation. Today, I'd like to tell you a little more about what that first free visit is all about.

If you're in a car accident, you may get a call from the other driver's insurance company. They may say they have a few questions, and ask you if they can record the conversation.

No one expects to be in a car accident, so it's not surprising that when you are you're probably not prepared with items you may need. It's a time of confusion, and it's easy to not have at your fingertips certain things that would guide you through the time following a crash.

One of the common results of a car crash is a traumatic brain injury. The force of an impact in a car crash can cause a brain injury, even if you don't hit your head. It's not uncommon for the rebound to bruise the brain, causing symptoms that could include fogginess, dizziness, lack of concentration and more. The repercussions of a brain injury for a client and family can be severe.

I have a friend named John Anderson who runs an important organization called Alive at 25. You may have heard of it – it’s dedicated to keeping our kids alive in the early years of their driving careers.

National Public Radio broke a news story on Thursday that Massey Energy, the corporation that owns the West Virginia coal mine where 29 miners died, is offering to pay $3 million cash to the families of the dead miners.

Sometimes it takes me a while to catch up on the stack of reading that teeters on the corner of my desk. I ran across a March 29, 2010 item in the Los Angeles Times that caught my eye.

Here’s a story from the school of hard knocks. A man was broadsided by a driver who ran a red light. There was several thousand dollars of damage to his car and he wound up with a sore back. The other person’s insurance company quickly said they would repair his car and pay for a few visits to his doctor. They told him there was no need to get an attorney involved, that they would take care of him and would pay him fairly for his claim.

Colorado lawmakers have taken several steps in the last week or two to boost rights of victims of personal injury accidents.

A bus driver working under contract for the Denver RTD blew through a red light on April 3, 2010, smashed into a Volkswagen and killed the two occupants, then hit a pickup truck and injured more than a dozen more people, including passengers on the bus. The bus driver was charged by police with 13 misdemeanor careless driving violations.

I ran across an interesting report the other day that I’d like to share with you.

It’s from the Department of Regulatory Agencies, part of the state government that oversees insurance. The report lists every automobile insurance company licensed to sell policies in Colorado in 2008 (the most current year for data), each company’s market share, and how many consumer complaints have been filed against it.

I had my fifth birthday yesterday. (No, I’m not that young, but thank you anyway.) On April 1, 2005, I officially incorporated The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya, LLC. There were no balloons or cake, and no celebration – at least none that I’m aware of. If my staff was partying, I missed it. I was with a client arguing her case before a judge.