Local Unscrupulous Personal Injury Attorneys Get Sued for Misdeeds
Recently it was announced that a major insurance company has settled a lawsuit against some local doctors for fraud involving certain surgical procedures that were over inflated in price. It is rumored that the doctors will be paying the company upwards of $20 million for their misdeeds. Evidently, the doctors in conjunction with some local unscrupulous personal injury attorneys, concocted a plan whereby the doctors would receive a portion of the settlement, and in exchange they would perform an arguably unnecessary non-invasive percutaneous discectomy procedure on the patients/ clients. Thereafter, the doctors would seek upwards of $35,000 per procedure. It should be noted that each procedure lasted approximately 20 minutes and was noninvasive.
The lawsuit was a result of several years of investigations from collective insurance companies. It is now been revealed that the same doctors have paid other insurance companies in similar threatened litigation. I'm sure that what the doctors had to pay back the insurance companies is a drop in the bucket to what they have made over the years involved in this racket.
This is the kind of situation that gives honest, hard-working, ethical lawyers and doctors a bad name. The personal injury arena has become rife with law firms that use runners, distasteful advertising and promises that could never be delivered. The litigation practice, when I first became an attorney, was an honorable one. I am proud to be a lawyer, and I am proud to serve my clients ethically, professionally and competently. We are able to stay in business because of our reputation as hard-working good lawyers. A significant sum of our business comes from a referral sources that are happy with the work that we have done in the past. Additionally, we are referred cases from other members of the community who know our reputation and respect us. Nevertheless, we find ourselves fighting a never-ending and perhaps losing war against the unscrupulous few who have taken so much from so many to the benefit of themselves.
Just when the Florida Bar Association and legislation could have done something by tightening the solicitation rules, they have broadened the rules to include testimonials by former clients and non-party spokespersons.
Notwithstanding, it is my belief that there will always be a place in the practice of law for ethical, honest and hard-working lawyers like those at our law firm. I am still proud of what we do and especially within the confines of our firm.
Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.
Esther Uria LaBovick, Esq.
Marcie Dodson, J.D.
Rafael M. Diaz, Esq.
Mark R. Hanson, Esq.
Joseph R. Fields Jr., Esq.
Tara L. Kopp, Esq.
Warren Q. Peebles, Esq.
Joseph T. Zebrowski, J.D.