Effective Drafting of Personal Injury Demand Letters

Course Description

Any personal injury practitioner knows that an important part of the practice is attempting to obtain a favorable settlement with the at fault insurance carrier prior to having to file suit. There are many reasons for doing so, both practical and theoretical. This is a webinar where you will learn about how to best maximize your ability to obtain a pre-suit settlement with an insurance company through the use of pre-demand and final demand letters.

Principles

• A well-crafted demand letter is a strategic advocacy tool that can facilitate favorable pre-suit resolution by presenting liability, damages, and supporting evidence in a clear and persuasive manner
• Understanding how insurance carriers evaluate, reserve, and negotiate personal injury claims enables attorneys to structure demand packages that better support settlement discussions
• A staged or “step ladder” approach to pre-demand and final demand letters can strengthen settlement leverage by progressively presenting information and providing opportunities for meaningful claim evaluation
• Demand letters should be drafted with an awareness of applicable bad faith principles and should include the factual, medical, and economic information necessary for an insurer to reasonably evaluate the claim

Syllabus

1. Why bother?
2. How insurance companies settle cases
3. Step ladder approach to reserving
4. Bad faith implications
5. Advantages of the step ladder approach to presenting pre and final demand letters
6. Information the insurance company needs to see