Articles by Scott Segal

Coal Mining Regulations- Crucial to Winning Your Case

We’ve all seen tragic mine stories on the news. What you don’t get to see is what happens to the widows and children of these lost miners after cameras turn off.  My job at The Segal Law Firm is to provide protection for the miners’ families and I do that by delving into the state and federal regulations that set the safety guidelines for the coal mines. Often times, these regulations have been broken in some way or another and you need an attorney that understands the rules, so they know where to start looking for answers. What Type of Mine? The first thing I’m going to do when I find out a coal miner has been killed in an accident is determine if it happened in a deep mine or a surface mine. The answer to that question is going to affect which state and federal laws were in place to protect them while they were at work. You have to know where it happened so you can begin to look at the very complex set of regulations that are in place to protect the miners. Training and Licensing Let’s say it was a deep mine. Well, deep miners […]

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Who are Scott Segal’s Heroes?

My heroes in real life are anyone who runs into the face of danger to alleviate the suffering of others. Whether it’s soldiers who are facing their own death and instead of shying away from it, go in to free people to get them away from suffering and slavery. Doctors without Borders, who go into camps where people are suffering from disease, malnutrition – anyone like that. Nurses, and people who rescue animals and people that are facing danger – those are my heroes in real life. In many instances when someone is hurt, the reason they are hurt is because they are trying to rescue someone else or help someone else at work. Time and time again I have represented brave men and women who were doing their job and then unfortunately, a co-worker was seriously hurt or killed and they sprang into action to try an alleviate the suffering of that person and get them help. And a lot of these injuries occur deep down in mines where they have to carry their brothers or sisters out, far out in remote areas of West Virginia. There are a lot of heroes in this state that face danger everyday

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How Long Does the Legal Process Take?

Unfortunately, a legal case takes more than an hour like you see on TV crime dramas. I wish they only took an hour. Small cases in West Virginia that may involve property dispute, breach of contract, a simple divorce – cases like that move through the court system pretty quickly – often times in just a few months to a year. In serious personal injury cases – explosions or coal mine accidents, drilling rig accidents, power house or chemical plant accidents – those can wind up in the court system for as much as a year to two and half years depending on the judge’s docket. A judge doesn’t have one case to handle the way they do on TV, they’ve got hundreds. So the cases move through the system like a pipeline and the judge can only handle so many cases. If the pipeline gets a little bit clogged up, the judge may be only be able to try so many cases in a year. If he gets a lot of settlements, he or she will be able to move the cases more quickly. But I think as a rule of thumb, in a year to two and half

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How to Avoid the “Stereotype Attorney”

There are lots of very fine attorneys in the state of West Virginia – very caring attorneys. You should hire an attorney the same way you would hire a doctor or dentist or someone who’s going to do any important job for you. First, you should research them on the internet. Look up their webpage. Google them. See what kind of cases they have handled, what awards, if any, they’ve been given and then Google and research that. One of the things I’m very careful about is that I don’t boast about or advertise awards that attorneys can buy. It’s a very dangerous procedure and misleading to people. It’s important when you walk in to a lawyers’ office and you see things on the wall, ask the lawyer. “Did you win that or did you pay for that?” If someone sees something in my office and it catches their eye, they should know that I won or earned the distinction. My certificate to the Inner Circle of Advocates is a good example. They should be perfectly comfortable saying, “Hey, did you pay to get in that organization?” And “what is their criteria? Because I’d like to know that.” And that’s

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Do I have a case? How am I going to pay you to handle my case?

The two most common questions we get asked when people come to the law firm and meet me for the first time, is first, Do I have a case? And second, how am I going to pay you to handle my case? The first question is a rather complex question because it depends on how were you hurt. Who is responsible? Who’s doing the investigation? Is it AMSHA? OSHA? The police? Who’s looking into this and whom are we going to have to talk to see if you have a case? Here at the Segal Law Firm we handle cases on what’s called a “contingency fee basis.” It’s important that you get your contingency fee agreement in writing. Generally speaking, somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of whatever is recovered will pay the attorney’s fees. The range depends upon the complexity of your case, as well as the risk involved in the case and the type of experts that are going to be involved. Other questions to ask when evaluating a case include: Do they need a firm like the Segal Law Firm? Do they understand the contingency fee contract? We don’t get paid unless we make money for our

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What Makes a Good Personal Injury Lawyer?

What makes a good personal injury lawyer? There’s and old story that illustrates exactly you need. A little boy walks up to the man carrying a violin case and says, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” And the old man looks at him and says, “Practice, practice, practice.” The most important quality of better personal injury lawyers is they actually try cases. They go to the courtroom with their client, they put the witnesses on the stand, and they go to the jury to get their client the justice they deserve. Actually practicing cases is the most important quality. Also, look for a lawyer who has a high level of compassion for their clients, to understand and walk in their shoes, because of the type of injury they’ve suffered, and what that is like. What is it like to live without a leg? What is it like to live with burn marks all over your upper torso and neck? You need to be able to crawl into the skin of your client and understand how their life has been forever permanently changed. You are trying to use your skill, your talent, and your experience, and your humanity, to help

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Is a Small Law Firm or a Large Law Firm Better for Injury Victims?

When you are injured in an accident, you might wonder if a large law firm or a small law firm is best for you. I’m sure both small and large law firms feel they are best for your needs, but for me personally, I have made a deliberate effort to keep my law firm small over the years. I did this for one important reason – because I believe someone who has been catastrophically injured or lost their life deserves personal attention. Having a small law firm makes it possible for me to familiarize myself with every single case in my office. I know who is working on it with me and what is happening at any given moment with that case. It is much easier to keep the client informed about their case and in fact, every single letter, no matter how small, is sent to our clients. An added benefit with a small firm is that it ensures the secretaries know our clients when they call. The lawyers know all of our clients and in the Segal Law Firm, each case is assigned to two lawyers, leaving me free to supervise each case. Some of the more complex

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No Call=No Case

I reiterate time and time again in my posts that our phone lines at The Segal Law Firm are open and free to you. It’s a toll free call, the advice is free and you risk nothing by having a conversation to see if you have a case. Yet still, there are cases that will never see the light of day because people hesitate or never call at all. Those folks might lose out on a potentially very large settlement or jury verdict, just because they didn’t take the time to have a chat with me. Why Don’t People Call Me? I’d say the number one reason people haven’t called is because they don’t realize that there is a time limitation. You’d be shocked at how many people read my blogs about mesothelioma or Benzine and call me about their Dad who died five or ten years ago, asking me what I can do. Well, the sad news is, there’s nothing I can do for them. That statute of limitations has run and the law prevents us from filing suit. I’ve also had a widow call me and say she was too grief stricken to make the call; she didn’t

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Can I Call The Segal Law Firm for a Friend or Loved One?

In the last few blog posts, I’ve said over and over, the sooner you call us after an accident the better. But what if the victim is completely incapacitated or in a coma? Is there anyway to move forward with the case? The answer is- absolutely. I’ve gotten calls from husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors and even policemen and firemen. The call is still free for you as a loved one or friend. I can give you the same advice that I would give the victim, so that we can make sure critical evidence for their case doesn’t disappear. I get calls from family members all the time with a loved one in the hospital who is unable to communicate. If it’s a spouse or the parent of a child under the age of eighteen, not only can I give the advice, we can actually bring the case in court. In a case where death is involved, that person is going to be called the executor or administrator. I can actually start sending out letters saying that we don’t want important evidence to be destroyed. I can do that for people who are lying in a bed in

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Avoiding the Stereotypical Attorney

There are lots of very fine attorneys in the state of West Virginia – very caring attorneys. You should hire an attorney the same way you would hire a doctor or dentist or someone who’s going to do any important job for you. First, you should research them on the internet. Look up their webpage. Google them. See what kind of cases they have handled, what awards, if any, they’ve been given and then Google and research that. One of the things I’m very careful about is that I don’t boast about or advertise awards that attorneys can buy. It’s a very dangerous procedure and misleading to people. It’s important when you walk in to a lawyers’ office and you see things on the wall, ask the lawyer. “Did you win that or did you pay for that?” If someone sees something in my office and it catches their eye, they should know that I won or earned the distinction. My certificate to the Inner Circle of Advocates is a good example. They should be perfectly comfortable saying, “Hey, did you pay to get in that organization?” And “what is their criteria? Because I’d like to know that.” And that’s

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