It could be the sound of a familiar song, the deja vu experience of having been there, or the intuition with having made a last minute adjustment that completely altered your life.  Well as I sit and write this article, I do so after having been awakened from a dead sleep to memories of my mother, Patricia Y. Mills, taking her last breathes as our family stood at her bedside on the early morning of September 1, 2003.  Six years ago, almost to the hour she passed, I am awaken by memories I knew I would never be able to rid myself of but was not expecting the reminder to be so poignant.

In the past six years I have done some amazing things and I have done some amazingly stupid things.  The old adage "two steps forward, three steps back" come to mind.  I often wonder with the guidance and advice of my mother if any steps in my life would have changed or been altered for better or for worse. I don’t think I would have the drive that catapults me to the forefront of living my life in such a manner that I try not to look back, enjoy those moments with friends and family,  and interact more with real people not engaging in fake, superficial relationships.  

There are many things my mother taught me but my fondest quote was given to me when I was distraught over a 11th grade relationship with what I thought was the love of my life. My mom was quite the looker, yet could tear you apart with her eyes and cutting glances. Twenty years as an Emergency Room nurse on the 3rd shift can teach you those innate qualities of dealing with all walks of life. My mother said this:
 

Do you want to ride the merry-go-around all your life, where nothing really changes and life is always the same OR do you want the roller coaster, where you have your ups and downs but it’s always exciting?—- Patricia Y. Mills
 

I always chose the roller coaster.  It was her way of reminding me to always go for the best life has to offer because most people are too scared, too insecure, or too worried about what others think to take chances. You may not succeed every time but if you are going down, eventually things will go up and always be prepared for the downward ride when things are really high.  This week is another reminder that the roller coaster has its ups and downs but it is always exciting.  


 

Watching the Little League Baseball Tournament this weekend you couldn’t help but notice those patches stating, "I Won’t Cheat."  They made me think back to a time when I was growing up and they had the "Just Say No" crew come in and give a pep rally of some sort to us in elementary school.  That was a good time to catch us because we were energetic and wanted the t-shirts but the peer pressure hadn’t really started to come yet. Give it a few more years and the majority of students chanting "Just Say No" had turned that into, "Just Give Me Blow". 

I am not proud of myself but two short years after this courageous campaign by Nancy Reagan with "Just Say No", I gave up trading baseball cards to selling smokeless tobacco and cigarettes. I never did either but saw an opportunity to make a buck (sound familiar Philip Morris?), used the five finger discount from local stores and sold them to kids in school. It was a good market till someone snitched and I took a five finger lesson to the face from my mother.  I don’t think I ever stole anything again after that lesson.  Plus I had to pay back the stores. No slogan needed, experience took hold. 

I have always enjoyed being an entrepreneur and little did I know as I got older, politicians make the rules so you don’t have to steal "illegally" anymore. You play by the rules and you can do just as much harm. The first non-profit I formed was not to give back to the kids but to help with tax breaks. What’s the difference in stealing and doing a good deed? Legislatures already beat me to that moral decision, you can do both at the same time just play by the rules. 

Mark Sanford, our infamous South Carolina governor, forgot about those strong family values he had platformed on for so long. He traded those in for infidelity and adultery. I am sure he knew the Ten Commandments and right vs. wrong. Yet, still he stands as this state’s governor.  It just goes to show no matter what catchy slogan, guidelines, Commandments, or rules you try and memorize, if you don’t follow them and let your actions do the speaking, then catch phrases are just cheap sew ons.

 

I just came back from vacation to New York City and Rio de Janeiro. As far as my experiences that relate to this blog, I was amazed at how aggressive, reckless, and yet effective the drivers of any form of transportation drove in those areas without colliding with ANYTHING.

I have traveled by taxi in NYC before but Rio made NYC look like a kiddy ride. Three lanes of traffic, meant 5 wide and motorcycles racing in between. This included the mass transit buses that weaved in and out of traffic better than the motorcycles. We took the subway, taxis, buses, and walked throughout each city and I could not help but thinking about all the wreck cases I get in a small, rural community in the Golden Corner of South Carolina.

However, in these huge metropolitan cities I never saw an incident. I am sure other bloggers in those areas could fill me in with statistics but from a brief observational standpoint, you would think incidents would be higher. Yet, considering the majority of the drivers are professional, ie taxi cab drivers, mass transit, and other courier services, that could be the reason. 

Regardless, I encourage all my past, present, and future clients to take advanced driving courses before they head out of the state or out of country with the intentions on driving;

  • The 80 year old, driving the Cadillac in the left lane may be pummeled;
  • I can’t even think about the young, teenager that just got his license- ouch; or
  • The texting driver not really paying attention.

Happy Trails to you.

 

I often consult with clients that have been in a single car accident and want to utilize the insurance coverage they have paid on for years because they have "full coverage". Well, liability insurance is just that, it goes in effect when you are at fault for causing someone or something injury and/or damages. Not when you cause yourself injury or damages. People would be running their cars into trees on purpose to get insurance coverage if that were the case.

Accidents happen and those in the "driver’s seat", literally and figuratively, have a duty to the passengers in the car.  Passengers traveling in the car during a single car accident often times have claims against the insurance company of the driver.  "Fault", or liability, is a legal term here used to proceed against the insurance company of the driver. Sometimes that driver is your friend, family member, and/or loved one.  However, their insurance premium is going to go up regardless of what you do because they are going to have a "claim" for property damage or simply for the accident.  Thus, you are causing no more trouble and are actually using resources that your friend, family member, and/or loved one has provided for people like yourself. Medical Payments/Personal Injury Protection is additional coverage everyone should have because it benefits every occupant in a car that has been injured, regardless of who is at fault.

Unfortunately there were more than a few single car accidents in Upstate South Carolina this past week as reported by The Greenville News and Anderson Independent:

Be careful out there on the roadways. Regardless of whether you are the driver or a passenger.

All this week and through the weekend, South Carolina attorneys that fight for the rights of those harmed by the ignorance, negligence, or omissions of others are learning, being reminded of, and networking with like minded professionals.

The South Carolina Association of Justice conducts its annual convention down in Hilton Head Island, usually during the first weekend of August. A wonderful lineup/itinerary for all trial attorneys that provide assistance to plaintiffs in the state of South Carolina and throughout the United States.

Fortunately the backdrop of this convention is set in Hilton Head at the Westin Resort on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.  In an effort to fight more fervently for my clients and those future clients I may have, I have reluctantly forged down to the coast for this "intense" weekend of learning, networking, and being reminded of why I work so hard.

*A picture of Westin Resort in Hilton Head Island, SC.

Today, a boy heads off on his journey to become a man. Actually he is already a man but he leaves the nest to forge out into the unknown realm beyond the darkness, aka the real world.  Our sometimes legal advisor, sometimes paralegal, sometimes runner, sometimes receptionist and most times web surfer extraordinaire; completes his four year post graduate internship to follow in the footsteps of his father and embark upon law school. 

Roy and I started working at the Trammell Law Firm, P.A. about the same time in 2005.  I was new to the Anderson area and he was an excellent host.  It was hard to manage the employer/employee relationship given our interconnected social explorations in the hot Electric City nightlife but all worked out just fine. One thing is for sure, he would answer the call late into the night and come bail you out of any trouble.  The sign of a true friend.

I will miss the "What’s going on, dude!?", salutations I often overheard Roy solicit to clients, staff, attorneys and the like.  My nerves may be a little more at ease from not worrying about his caring and kind heart wanting to reach out and help someone, albeit at the expense of providing them legal advice or direction over the phone.  Hopefully before he leaves he will give me one more, "What you got going on this weekend, dog?"

Well wishes and high marks are wished upon you, Roy. May your travels up to the Northern states be safe and your pursuits at Thomas Cooley Law School be successful. 

When flying, I find a good book will make me forget about the small quarters, obnoxious people, and crying babies. I recently read John Grisham’s "The Appeal", and was so taken back by some of his descriptions in the book and how closely they came to non-fictional events and groups.

For example, in describing the position of the wealthy business owner’s perception and plan to beat the small firm’s large verdict against them; that questioned his company’s tactics in polluting and ultimately killing local people in the community:

"Summary: These people are heavily in debt and hanging on by their fingernails.  A little push, and they’re over the edge. Strategy:  Drag out the appeals, delay, delay.  Crank up pressure from the bank. Possible buyout of Second State, then call the loan.  Bankruptcy would be the only course.  Huge distraction as appeals rage on. Also, Paytons would be unable to pursue their other thirty (or so) cases versus Krane and would probably decline more clients." p.96

Another interesting description about my own brethren:

"Trial lawyers, always a colorful and eclectic bunch. Cowboys, rogues, radicals, longhairs, corporate suits, flamboyant mavericks, bikers, deacons, good ole boys, street hustlers, pure ambulance chasers, faces from billboards and yellow pages and early morning television.  They were anything but boring.  They fought among themselves like a violent family, yet they had the ability to stop bickering, circle the wagons, and attack their enemies.  They came from cities, where they feuded over cases and clients, and they came from the small towns, where they honed their skills before simple jurors reluctant to part with anyone’s money.  Some had jets and buzzed around the country piecing together the latest class action in the latest mass torts.  Others were repulsed by the mass tort game and clung proudly to the tradition of trying legitimate cases one at a time…..A few did their work in firms where they pooled money and talent, but firms of trial lawyers were notoriously difficult to keep together. Most were lone gunmen too eccentric to keep much of a staff…… If they shared anything, it was a streak of fierce independence and the thrill of representing David against Goliath." p 197-98

Amen. What a great book in the way it broke down issues of corporate greed, mass torts, political elections and power & politics.

In my brief tenure as a trial lawyer it was too on point and too descriptive of everyday non-fictional events. If only the populace of people read books and sought for deeper understanding of how the system works there would not be so many angry, crying, and perplexed people in my office on a weekly basis.

A response I seem to give too often, "No that is not legal but they do it all the time because no one will call them on it!"  Maybe their time is coming……..

Given all the local marketing we have done lately, Trammell Law Firm, P.A. wanted to take that a step further and join the World Wide Web of marketing and social networking. Enter Trammell Law Firm, P.A. to Facebook. Become a Fan of Trammell Law Firm, P.A. today and keep up with the exciting lives of those working hard to fight off the evil empire of insurance companies.

 

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I conclude my initial interview with new clients by explaining to them my goal is to do such a good job with their case, that they refer friends, family, and enemies to my office when they know they are being taken advantage of by insurance companies.

In this past year I have received several clients by way of what I would consider unusual means-Insurance Claims Adjuster referrals.  Sallie Jane* & Jenny Laura* of Deny, Delay, & Defend Insurance Company recently referred Johnny Adjuster*, a friend of theirs that was also a claims adjuster.  Johnny had been involved in an accident and did what he thought was right and not what he knew he should have done to cover his tail with the evil empire of insurance companies and their tactics of denying, delaying, and defending.

Having been an adjuster, Johnny knew he needed an attorney that was actually willing to file and follow through with a lawsuit. Not an attorney that was looking for a quick settlement. When Johnny shared his struggle with his friends, they knew exactly the attorney to call.  As Johnny explained, "I needed an attorney that was a pit bill but not so much that he was a complete Jack Ass!"  In steps Trey Mills, personal injury attorney. 

A true story where only the names have been changed. There are many more adjusters that would just refer to me as a Jack Ass or worse. However, seldom do I back down from a fight. It use to be that was the case in or out of the court but with age and abstinence from alcohol that has evolved into more court than street/bar fighting.

I hate insurance companies! They tried to take advantage of me when I was dying of cancer and I see them taking advantage of you all everyday. I can’t take on every battle and everyone’s case. However, there are others out there that fight the good fight, like I do everyday. Do not accept mediocrity and second rate treatment from those SOB insurance companies! Take action.

 

 

 

*The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

 

In the past 24 hours, two people have died as a result of traffic fatalities on I-85 in or around Anderson County:

The South Carolina Department of Transportation provides "real time" traffic cameras for stretches of I-85 in Anderson County.  However, the most dangerous stretch of I-85 starts at the Georgia border to about Exit 19 in South Carolina. Road construction is being performed from Exit 11 to Exit 19 on I-85, as indicated on the SCDOT Traffic Advisory website.

Given the varying construction projects that are ongoing in the area and the myriad number of tractor trailers that pass through this stretch of interstate on any given day, several legal issues could arise:

  • South Carolina Tort Claims Act, as set out by S.C. Code Ann. § 15-78-40, indicates the State, an agency, a political subdivision, and a governmental entity are liable for their torts in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, subject to the limitations upon liability and damages, and exemptions from liability and damages, contained herein;
  • S.C. Code Ann. § 15-78-40– provides those exceptions to the waiver of immunity; and
  • Negligence – duty, breach, causation, and damages.

These were recent pictures taken of I-85 from Exit 19 to Exit 11. Working in Anderson County, we are familiar with the area, law, and roadway conditions.