Tara Tighe Umbrino’s Post

“Can I settle a case in a state I’m not licensed in?” In most states an out of state attorney may handle a personal injury case presuit. But SHOULD you? I often get calls from out of state attorneys that go something like this “hey Tara, I’ve been representing this client for almost two years and it looks like we’re approaching the statute of limitations. Can you take over for litigation?” As I talk to them it’s clear that they’ve assumed Virginia law is the same as they’re home state ✨Virginia is a contributory negligence state. A great case somewhere else could be an instant loser here ✨ We’re not a no-fault state. There’s no amount of injuries or medical bills you need to meet in order to file suit ✨ The collateral source rule is alive and well. We claim the full cost of medical bills regardless of what was paid or is owed. Insurance companies know you don’t know these things. They know you can’t file suit. They know you don’t know judge/jury trends. So they lowball you or wait you out until the statute hoping you strong arm your client to settle because it’s hard to find someone to take over the case 30 days before the statute. So *can* you take on that case? Probably. Should you? Probably not. The better thing for you and your client is to refer it or co-counsel it early to someone equipped to litigate the case. #thetltdifference #themoreyouknow #triallawyer #virginialawyer #marylandlawyer #dclawyer #personalinjury #carcrashattorney #referral #cocounsel #localcounsel

Now that there is an automatic right of appeal in all civil cases from circuit court to the court of appeals, every trial lawyer in Virginia needs to know about appellate practice

Today Jennifer Porter and I had a hearing in Arlington Circuit Court. It made us realize what a small legal community we’re in and that you keep running into the same people. We sat and chatted during a 3 hour recess. In 2014 I had my first #GeneralDistrictCourt trial. Jennifer defended it. In 2015 I had my first solo #CircuitCourt jury trial. It was an appeal of the same case that I tried against Jennifer. The judge who presided over my first jury trial was the judge at our hearing today. 10 years after my first trial as a new lawyer I am co-counsel on a case with the attorney I was up against so many years ago.

Pro Bono. How many lawyers actually do pro bono work? Most state bars are encouraging their lawyers to perform pro bono work. Very few states are mandating pro bono work. At a big law firm, pro bono work is a great way for younger associates to gain experience. At a smaller law firm, however, you may not have the bandwidth to have your associates or partners work for free. In fact, I’ve never worked at a law firm that encouraged pro bono work or had a frame work in place for pro bono work. This week I resolved my second pro bono case in as many weeks. A former client of mine was being sued for medical debt in connection with the personal injury case I had represented her for. She had Medicaid and the provider submitted to Medicaid, so we’re still not sure why she had any outstanding balance. The client called me up, extremely worried because she couldn’t pay this debt and was worried about going to jail. I explained that she would not be going to jail for money. I signed her up. It took an hour of my time to get this situation resolved for her by calling over to the attorney. It didn’t take hours of prolonged litigation, just a friendly phone call. And this could have served as a valuable lesson to a young associate that you don’t need to be an aggressive litigator to settle a case. #makeadifference #probono #triallawyer #virginialawyer #deedsnotcreeds #gdc #medicaldebt #problemsolved

It’s back to school season in Virginia! I have a mix of emotions today. So proud of the independent, sweet, kind, smart girl that #1 is becoming. Maybe TOO independent as she barely even hugged me goodbye on her first day of Kindergarten. But I’m reminded of the strong role model I’m setting for her in being a mommy and a lawyer. Fighting for my clients and helping people. Making breakfast and dinner, going to afterschool activities. She tells me she wants to be a doctor AND a mommy. I know how hard it is to balance both of those careers and I’ll support her every way I can. #lawyermom #lawmama #backtoschool #mommylawyer #trialattorney

I do my job for completely selfish reasons. I like the way it makes me feel. I went to law school because I wanted to help people. I was never supposed to be a trial attorney. I was supposed to do public interest or policy work. When I graduated school, I didn’t have a full-time job offer. Based on the work I’d done and the classes I took, I assumed that I would go into policy work. My dirty little secret is that I did not take a single trial advocacy course. Or really any course that prepared me for trial work. Then one day I met with Dean Keri McCoy who told me I had the personality for trial work and I would love personal injury work. I was skeptical. She helped me land a job and if I’m being honest, I didn’t feel good about it. I felt like an ambulance chaser [side note: the insurance lobby did a great job with that label] I cringed when I told people what I was doing. Until I had the first client that was thankful for the work I did to get her back on her feet after a crash. She gave me a huge hug. It’s the Thank Yous and gratitude that keep me doing my job. #TheTLTDifference #ThankYou #Gratitude #personalinjury #plaintiffswork #trialattorney #virginialawyer #triallawyer #lawyermom #lawmama

VERDICT ALERT Today I got a great verdict for a Pro Bono client. Edit: it was a defense verdict in favor of a small business that did over 60 hours of work and their customer wanted all of their money back. I’ll be posting about the Access to Justice issues in cases like this soon. Had my client had to pay an attorney, they would easily have spent 4x what was being sued for on attorneys fees. #tltlegalservices #thetltdifference #probono #virginilawyer #princewilliamcounty #victory #verdict #justice #lobono #breachofcontract #accesstojustice