Interview with Shareholder Jonathan Russell Featured in Lawyer Monthly
The November 2024 edition of Lawyer Monthly features an in-depth interview with Drake, Hileman & Davis attorney Jonathan Russell. Jonathan is a Shareholder and has been with the firm since 1993.
Jonathan focuses his practice in the area of personal injury representation, and the interview focuses on his approach to advocating for his clients and the insights he has gained from more than 30 years of experience fighting for his clients’ legal rights. Here are some of the topics Jonathan covers in his interview:
What It Means to Advocate for “Overcomers”
While the interview begins with a question about how Jonathan advocates for accident victims, Jonathan is quick to point out that he doesn’t view his clients as victims. “I don’t represent victims; I represent overcomers,” he says. As Jonathan goes on to explain, “My clients don’t allow their injuries to define them; they want a path forward, and my job is to help them find that way.”
This mindset is important. When people view themselves as victims, it is all too easy for them to accept what they are given. But, when it comes to pursuing a personal injury claim, this is not the right approach. Personal injury claimants need to take charge of their situation, and they need to be able to rely on a lawyer who will do what it takes to help them recover the full compensation they deserve—not only for their current losses but for their future losses as well.
By focusing on the future, Jonathan and the other personal injury lawyers at Drake, Hileman & Davis have been successful in helping numerous clients win substantial settlements and verdicts. This includes many awards of $1 million or more.
What It Takes to Prove Overcomers’ Legal Rights
In the interview, Jonathan also talks about what it takes to prove overcomers’ legal rights. As he explains, “[f]requently at trial, we refer to two parts of a negligence claim: Liability and Damages.”
Liability is the “fault” portion of a personal injury claim. In the vast majority of cases, proving liability (or establishing fault) involves showing that someone else’s negligence was to blame for the accident in question. Negligence can take many forms, though it generally involves failing to act in the way that most people know to act in order to avoid putting others in harm’s way. For example, in car accident cases, some of the most common forms of negligence include:
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Running red lights and stop signs
- Speeding
- Falling asleep behind the wheel
Again, these are just examples. From slip-and-fall accidents to accidents involving golf carts and recreational vehicles, nearly all personal injury claims involve some form of negligence. The key is proving the specific form of negligence that is to blame for an overcomer’s injuries—and this is one area in particular where Jonathan focuses a significant amount of his effort early in his representation.
Another area where Jonathan focuses a significant amount of his effort is calculating his clients’ compensatory damages. These are the losses that his clients are entitled to recover. Every case is truly unique, and this makes it essential for personal injury lawyers to work closely with their clients to understand all of the various ways their injuries impact their lives. Compensatory damages in personal injury cases generally include:
- Medical bills and other out-of-pocket costs
- Lost income and benefits
- Pain, suffering and emotional trauma
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Loss of companionship, consortium and enjoyment of life
By focusing on his clients’ paths forward, Jonathan is able to ensure that his clients are not leaving any money on the table. This allows them to make informed and confident decisions, and it allows them to move on from their accidents to the fullest extent possible.
When Personal Injury Claimants Can Seek Punitive Damages
The damages listed above are all classified as “compensatory” damages. This means that they are intended to compensate personal injury claimants for the financial and non-financial costs of their injuries. But, as Jonathan explains in his Lawyer Monthly interview, these aren’t necessarily the only damages that are available.
Punitive damages are also available in some cases. “Punitive damages are meant to punish the wrongdo[er] for behavior that goes beyond ordinary negligence and crosses into the realm of recklessness or grossly negligent conduct.” Jonathan provides three examples: driving under the influence, using a cell phone while driving and actively removing or disabling safety features.
While compensatory damages focus on plaintiffs’ actual losses, punitive damages awards focus on the egregiousness of the defendant’s conduct and its ability to pay—with the ultimate goal of “deterring both the defendant and others from [similar] bad conduct in the future.” In many cases, punitive damages awards will far surpass claimants’ compensatory damages for their financial and non-financial losses.
What Happens When Personal Injury Claimants Are Partially Responsible for Their Own Injuries
A concern for many personal injury claimants is what will happen if they are partially responsible for their own injuries. While it is critical that claimants never assume they are partially responsible for their own injuries, it is equally important for claimants to understand what it means if this is, in fact, the case.
As Jonathan explains in the interview:
“If a plaintiff is found to be 10% negligent in bringing about the harm sustained, then any monetary award would be reduced by 10%. . . . However, if the plaintiff is more than 50% at fault, then the plaintiff cannot recover at all, even though the defendant may have been as much as 49% at fault in causing the harm.”
While this isn’t true in all states, it is true in Pennsylvania. This is because Pennsylvania follows a rule known as “modified contributory negligence.” Under this rule, personal injury plaintiffs can recover a portion of their losses as long as they are not primarily responsible for their own injuries. If personal injury plaintiffs are primarily responsible for their own injuries, they are not entitled to any financial compensation.
How do you know if you were partially (or primarily) at fault in an accident? The answer is not to rely on the insurance companies. The insurance companies do not have your best interests in mind, and they will not hesitate to blame you for your injuries if they have any justification to do so (and, in some cases, even if they have no justification to do so).
Instead, you need to rely on the advice of a personal injury lawyer who is committed to your recovery. When Jonathan represents personal injury claimants, he prioritizes addressing any possible evidence of partial fault so that he can deal with the insurance companies effectively. This also allows him to help his clients make informed decisions about asserting their legal rights.
How Personal Injury Claimants Can Maximize Their Chances of Success
Lawyer Monthly’s interviewer asked Jonathan two questions about what personal injury claimants can do to maximize their chances of success. The first question focused on steps claimants can (and should) take in the immediate aftermath of an accident, while the second focused on common mistakes that claimants need to avoid. Here are some of the insights Jonathan shared:
- “If you are injured, you need to obtain medical treatment as soon as practically possible. Be sure to detail all of your injuries to your medical providers.”
- While filing a police report is important, claimants should “not rely solely on the police investigation. If possible, take photos of the scene and secure the names and contact information of any witnesses.”
- “Avoid inconsistencies. . . . Sometimes, patients [can] undermine their case inadvertently with a casual comment or response, which they don’t realize will be documented in [their] medical record.”
Overall, Jonathan emphasizes the importance of documentation. Photos and videos taken during or in the immediate aftermath of an accident can significantly increase the chances of recovering just compensation. Conversely, as Jonathan explains, when “no report was made, no photos or video were taken, and no witnesses were identified . . . . [t]hese cases can be very challenging.”
With this in mind, while individuals who have been injured in an accident need to prioritize their health, it is also extremely important that they do what they can to document their accidents, if possible. The need for documentation makes hiring an attorney promptly important as well—as an experienced personal injury attorney will be able to work quickly to preserve any available evidence before it disappears.
How the Insurance Companies View Personal Injury Cases
The insurance companies tell you that you are “in good hands” and that they are “on your side.” But is this really true? Jonathan says the answer is a clear “No.”
“From my experience, the insurance companies will not voluntarily pay full and fair compensation on a claim.” He continues, “[e]ssentially, the carrier wants to offer the least amount of money it will take to get the claim settled.” If this amount is $0, then the carrier will offer $0—at least initially.
This is where having an experienced personal injury lawyer who can negotiate on your behalf comes into play.
While the insurance companies won’t pay just compensation voluntarily, they will pay if “they have to do so.” As Jonathan goes on to explain, “An experienced trial attorney will . . . understand the ‘value drivers’ on a claim and how to negotiate a settlement that is within an acceptable ‘range of reasonableness’ relative to what verdict might be expected . . . at trial.”
This comparison to what the parties can reasonably expect at trial is important—because the alternative to settling is taking a case to verdict. If an insurance company knows that it is at high risk of facing a substantial verdict in court, this is what will motivate the insurance company to consider a reasonable settlement.
Given that this is the case, it is important for personal injury claimants to be able to show that they are prepared to go to trial if necessary. This means hiring a lawyer who is not only a skilled negotiator but also a skilled trial advocate with a proven record of success in court. If a lawyer only settles his or her clients’ cases, the insurance companies will take this into account—and they will likely reduce their settlement offer as a result. Conversely, if a lawyer has an extensive trial record, the insurance companies will generally be more willing to consider a reasonable settlement because they know that going to trial is a very real possibility.
How Pennsylvania’s Personal Injury Laws Have Changed in Recent Years
To close out the interview, Jonathan talks about how Pennsylvania’s personal injury laws have changed in recent years. As he tells the interviewer, “Recent court decisions have affected our understanding of Pennsylvania law involving insurance coverage in the context of automobile collisions. I have had several cases recently where the insurance carrier told my client they had ‘x’ dollars in coverage, only to discover that the carrier was wrong.”
Staying up-to-date on these kinds of developments is vitally important. The examples Jonathan provides further underscore the fact that personal injury claimants cannot rely on insurance companies to handle their claims appropriately. Claimants need to know their legal rights, and they need to know how to assert their legal rights effectively. Both of these require highly experienced legal representation. In Jonathan’s words, “hiring an experienced trial attorney to handle your claim will ensure that you are treated fairly in recovering all that you deserve.”
Request a Free Consultation with Pennsylvania Personal Injury Lawyer Jonathan Russell
Do you have a personal injury claim in Pennsylvania? If you have questions about your legal rights after suffering serious injuries in a vehicle collision, fall or other accident, we invite you to get in touch. To request a free consultation with Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer Jonathan Russell, please call 888-777-7098 or tell us how we can contact you online today.