First, should you hire a lawyer? You should only hire a lawyer if you would like to be treated fairly by the insuarance company. Without a lawyer, the odds of you receiving a fair settlement are slim. For more details as to why this is so, click here.

The claims and litigation process can be time consuming and filled with uncertainty. Even those plaintiffs with strong cases may lose. For these reasons, our court justice system encourages settlement. Most car accident cases settle before trial. That is perhaps why so many lawyers claim to be able to handle a personal injury case.

But to increase your chance that your case settles, and settles on favorable terms, you should choose an experienced trial lawyer who concentrates only in personal injury law. At its core, personal injury law involves insurance law and negligence principles. Additionally, the law is specific to the area where you live. Please take a look at our FAQ page for more information on this topic.

You also need a lawyer you can trust and rely upon. When you call, you need help. And you need to understand your rights.

Why hire us?

At The Bottaro Law Firm, LLC, we understand that car accident victims need fast, reliable help at all hours. Because we have experience with a variety of injury cases, including medical malpractice, premises liability, truck accidents, and motorcycle accidents, the local insurance adjusters know that we will not settle for less than the fair market value of your case. In short, we will fight for you. Here in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, our passion is justice.

DeMarco involved a multi-party car accident resulting in serious personal injury to two people.  Each injured party brought an injury claim against the at-fault driver who had a one million dollar bodily injury policy per occurrence with Travelers Insurance Company.  Under existing Rhode Island law (Asermely v. Allstate Insurance Co., 728 A.2d 461 (R.I. 1999)), one injury victim who suffered catastrophic injuries demanded the entire one million dollar policy from the insurer.  Travelers refused to pay, even though it was likely that the victim’s damages greatly exceeded one million dollars.  Instead, Travelers chose to settle with the other victim within the policy limits for $450,000 and offer the remaining $550,000 to the other victim.  But the remaining injured party rejected such an inadequate offer and proceeded to trial where he was awarded damages in excess of $2 million.

The Superior Court then entered judgment for the entire amount against Travelers, reasoning that, under the Asermely case, the insurer’s failure to settle within the policy limits needlessly exposed its insured to an excess judgment.  More than a decade ago, the Rhode Island Supreme Court had held in Asermely that an insurer that rejected a settlement demand within the policy limit became responsible for any later judgment in excess of the limits (unless its insured objected to such settlement).  However, on appeal, the Rhode Island Supreme Court vacated the Superior Court’s summary judgment, thereby backtracking from its bright line rule in Asermely.  Although the Court did reaffirm Asermely’s holding and its application to multiple claimant cases, the Court held that an insurer in such a situation that fails to settle does not face strict liability.  Instead, the insurer’s actions would be analyzed in a factual context.

After DeMarco, it is now more important than ever before for car accident victims and any consumer involved in an insurance dispute to consult a Rhode Island lawyer experienced in representing injured victims.

The plugin was tested up to WP 3.3 and should work with versions down to 2.7 but was never tested.