In 2002 a car ran into the back of my small pickup truck while I was sitting at at a yield sign waiting for the traffic to clear so that I could turn right.
The car hit me so hard that it bent the frame of my pickup truck and damaged two disks in my back and jammed my leg into the door injuring my hip.
I hired Attorney Derek Hays of Gary, Martin, and Hays, the Tell Tell Them You Mean Business lawyers to represent me. First he sent out an investigator to my home to talk to me and get me to sign a contract for them to represent me. Then when I asked for a copy of the contract I was told one would be sent back to me in the mail—I have never got a copy of anything or than some booklets that their investigator left and sued for $5000.00.
I have never seen Derek Hays, my attorney except to see him on a video on their website where they tell you how serious they are about taking care of you. Don't believe it.
I spoke to Mr. Hays three times on the telephone. Once when told me to go ahead and get the medical treatment I needed. The second time when he tried to explain to me why they had dumped my case off to another lawyer that was not in their firm. And the third time when I told him I was firing him and the sorry lawyer he had assigned me to and told me that he would make sure that the Attorney James (Jimmy) Rice Jr. Billed me for not expenses but for as much of the settlement agreement that he had received from the defendant insurance company.
The same $10,000 settlement agreement that Attorney Rice had told a friend of mine that we could not accept because my medical bills were over
$17,000, and after all he needed to be paid.
And the same settlement agreement that I turned down because Attorney Rice did not call my Doctor's and hopitals to ask that they cut their fees. He believe the doctors and hospitals would take what we gave them, but he never called them to find out.
But these lawyers after being fired for not doing their job and lying to me, filed a lien against my lawsuit before it was dismissed and after it was refiled for $5,000, half of $10,000 settlement which I never accepted.
And as my actual and potential medical bills (because I need surgery) equal over $160,000, if I had taken the $10,000 settlement that was offered the only one getting paid would have been the lawyers! And I would still owe the doctors, hospitals, and still not have money for my back and hip surgery.
I still dont' have a copy of my contract even after calling both offices and writing them. I still also dont't have a copy of a bill for what they are charging.
These guys took no pictures of my vehicle, would not order my past medical records but gave permission to the defendant insurance company to get everything, which they did. Refused to order any of my past medical records. When I asked them to because that would cost money.
Refused to get copies of the medical records that the defendants had because that would cost money; refuse to deposition my doctors or call them as witnesses because that would cost money; lied to me and said that rather than get copies of all the medical records the defendant had or to order copies from the actual doctor that Attorney Rice would take me with him when he went over to look at their records and that he would make copies of anything that I thought we needed to have copies of but that he (Attorney Rice) had a good memory and he did not need copies of the medical records.
Of course we never went to the defendant's office to review records. Two months went by and I had to go out of town. Before leaving I gave Attorney Rice my cell phone number where he could reach me and the address where I was going. I also gave him my friend's phone number, and he had my counsin's phone number and one of my friend's daughter was his client.
However, once I left town he went to the defendant's office to review the records without giving me an opportunity to go and told the Defendant's attorney that he had been trying to reach me for three weeks but could not find me. He, however, never called my family or my friends or his client to let anyone know he was looking for me or could not find me.
Then when I complained he sent me on a wild goose chase —claiming that we could go back to the defendant's office and see the reports again. I was told to me him at the defendant's office at 9:00 am one morning but was told to not go to the office but to meet him at the little cafateria across the hall. Of course after driving an hour one way, and limping inside, there was no one there but the cashier and the cook.
He later called and asked the cashier if I was there. And then told me over the phone that the defendant's leader lawyer said he did not know anything about a meeting and would not allow one.
When I complained to the judge about not being able to see the defense records, the defendant's lawyer said he had allowed me and my lawyer to look at the records but that my lawyer Attorney Rice said he had been looking for me for three weeks and could not find me to get me to come along. So it was my fault not theirs.
My lawyers did not stop there; they did not take pictures of the accident site, did not know there was a yield sign, would not add witnesses that I suggested, did not make pictures of the vehicle; suggested that I get rid of my vehicle, the only evidence I had to show that the frame was bent and how hard the lady hit me, had me come to the office to review a report that was not even made, then had me prepare it and proof it; then missed the dead line for submitting the same report and told me it was my fault if my medical expenses did not get into court.
Attorney Rice told me that he did not have to do what I asked him to do and then tried to convince me to ask for $15,000 the friday before trial because he had just gotten a fax from the defendant showing a doctor's report that I had fallen and hurt my leg before and that this really hurt our case, but when I told him the report was wrong and that all he had to do was get a statement from the doctor who wrote the report he told me that we did not need a statement from the doctor, I could just ell the jury that it was wrong,
When I asked mr. Rice how did he plan to win my case he said—%, if they (the jury) like you and they liked me they would give us some money. That it we don't need anything from the doctor.
Jusr like my closing statement, I don't prepare I just shoot from the hip.
Yes, I tried to fired Mr. Rice twice, but the judge would not let him resign because he did not really tell the court why he needed to resign. I finally had to write the court myself about what was going on with my case. When I did Attorney Rice agreed that he and I needed to part ways and told the Judge so, but instead of sending me a bill of about $1000.00 for me to review. Attorney Rice keeps filing $5000 liens against my lawsuit each time it is filed.
Attorney Rice is suing me for $5000 although Gary, Martin & Hays took the case on contingency and their flyers say we don't collect if you don't. And they are not working on my case. And neither the doctors or I have been paid.
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