Chapter 11

Frank was comfortable being back in the warm humid air of Florida. He followed up on his conversation with Wanda and found the information on the “Friday Nites” club. He wasn’t sure after seeing what was posted on their website if he would go there but they did offer a one-time introduction meeting. The club served a purpose but the photos posted showed the majority of the members were older than him. He would think that young, attractive, financially secure female members were at a premium at this social club. While he had a competitive spirit, he didn’t like competing for female companionship.

Since he was going to be spending more time in Florida than he would be spending up north, he did all that was necessary for him to be considered a Florida resident. Doing this would let him avoid paying some of the Illinois state income tax since there was no state income tax in Florida.

Frank’s cellphone chimed and the caller ID indicated it was Josh Traylor calling. Who Josh Traylor was, Frank didn’t know. He was tempted to let it go to voice mail but he answered the call.

“Frank, my name is Josh Traylor. I am the managing partner of the law firm Traylor and Traylor. I would like to meet with you for lunch and discuss some legal work. My neighbor Wanda who is a realtor told me that you recently were admitted to the practice of law in this State.”

The mentioning of the name Wanda told Frank that she knew everything about everybody and wasn’t shy about sharing that information.

“You should know that I am not interested in or am I looking for or wanting full-time employment.”

“That is what I assume since I see you still practice up north. What I am talking about is doing some part-time work here. I would like to meet and discuss that with you.”

Frank agreed to meet Josh. The restaurant for this lunch meeting was the “Sandbar” which Josh said wasn’t that far from his office.

At the agreed time Frank walked into the restaurant and noticed a man a little younger than him waving a hand at him. After introducing themselves and shaking hands, Frank took a seat at the table. A drink was ordered and the menu was looked at.

“I and my partner have a relatively small legal practice here, a total of five attorneys and support staff. We are involved with all practices of law as wills, trusts, contracts, real estate, estate administration, etc. We do get some bodily injury cases which is why I am meeting with you. After Wanda mentioned your name to me, I googled you and learned you are a heavy hitter in trying bodily injury cases.”

“We do get bodily injury cases which we can handle but certain ones, namely the larger value cases to be fair to our client, we refer those cases out to another law firm. Doing this referring out is a two-edged sword. By doing that, we are trying to take care of our clients for them to get the largest settlement possible but our law firm loses money in referring cases out. On referred-out cases, when the case is settled we will get twenty percent of the attorney’s fee. As I said we don’t get that many of these serious cases but for those we get, I would like to keep them in-house and not refer them out. If you would handle those cases we could keep them in-house and that would be a win-win for our client and us. Would you consider being what could be called a part-time attorney handling those cases for us?”

Frank was quietly thinking about what Josh had said. He liked it when Josh said that he was concerned about wanting to see that the client is fully compensated. Frank also was considering doing this since it was not a full-time job and it would give him something to periodically do here to keep busy.

Finally, he said, “Let me think about doing that. After we finish eating why don’t you show me your office? What is “Traylor and Traylor,” you and your father?”

“No, it’s me and my sister. Dad works for the post office and Mom is a med tech.”

There was small talk about the area during lunch. After lunch was finished they walked over to Josh’s law office.

Frank saw it was a nice office but most law offices are. What was the nicest thing about the office was when Josh introduced Frank to his sister Aria. She as some would say “Was worth the price of admission.” She was of average height and weight with a slim figure and shoulder-length light brown hair along with having a pretty face. The straight light gray skirt and high-heeled shoes she was wearing showed some nice legs.

Aria extended her hand and said the internet showed Frank had achieved some nice verdicts and hoped he could do the same here. He said he was considering doing that. Being in her company would be a plus in working here he thought.

Frank asked Josh to introduce him to the other attorneys, especially the one who handles the bodily injury cases as he would like to talk to him. Josh did that and Frank found out that he was a her, a Joni Stellar.

Joni who he would guess was somewhere around fifty years old was tall and slim and fairly attractive. He thought at some time in her life she had been an athlete. Frank discussed with her the bodily injury cases she was handling.

Taking a file she had on her desk she said, “Here is an example of what we are faced with and will probably be referred out. This man was hit by a car while in a crosswalk. The car that hit him was making a right turn at a red light. Our client incurred a broken leg, was in the hospital for a few days, lost about a month of lost wages, and has some doctors’ bills.”

“The car has a 50k per person liability policy and the claim adjustor says the most they will pay is 45k as he needs to save some money off the limits. I have threatened a lawsuit but the adjustor won’t budge.”

Frank said, “Let’s see if we can do better for the client. Send a certified receipt return letter to the claim adjustor. The letter should say that this is a clear liability situation in which your client sustained serious injury. Although the injury claim is worth much more than the policy limits of 50K, we will settle for that amount if it is paid in the next twenty days. If not, a suit will be filed which will be tried to a verdict and they will be sued for acting in “bad faith.” List in the letter what the injury is and the special damages. Enclose copies of the medical reports. It will become interesting if they don’t offer to pay the policy limits. Let me know in thirty days what the reaction is and don’t refer this case out.”

Frank sat in Josh’s office and spelled out the types of files he would handle. He said those would be serious injury cases with large limits, files where “bad faith” may exist, and also injury cases where an agency situation exists with a deep pockets defendant. When the special damages on injury cases are submitted to the insurance company, the cover letter should include a demand for them to pay the policy limits. Frank said he does not do file preparation for trial, so files that do go to suit will require that an associate do that prepping but Frank will review the file and spell out what needs to be done. His fee for files assigned to him will be one-third of the attorney fee whether or not the case is tried.