If you take a look at the economic landscape today, it is the big and powerful companies, even the ones that got into some financial trouble, that are thriving.  It’s the companies with a wealth of resources that are excelling in today’s economy.  My excuse for keeping things simple and manageable in my law firm was a lack of time and money.  What’s your excuse?

Especially frustrating to me is that I’ve contributed my time and efforts to organizations that have focused on growth and have witnessed its benefits first hand.  So I should have known better.  Another statement that I’ve been recently introduced to is “if you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go with a group.”  I definitely went fast as a solo practitioner but our professional careers are more of a marathon than a sprint.  So take a deep breath and carefully plan your move forward.

Get Your Team Ready!

You have to be willing to surround yourself with the right people.  This usually costs a significant amount of time and money so you need to be resourceful about how you get the right people together.  You may consider tapping into your savings, getting a loan, or partnering with another attorney.  Your main objective should be to surround yourself with the best and brightest attorneys and support staff available.  If you currently have attorneys and support staff personnel, you need to take inventory of their skill level and their accomplishments over the past year or two.  Can these people get you to the next level?  You need to be brutally honest about this assessment because the wrong people on your team bus are going to take you and your business down the wrong path.

Small, Medium & Large:  No Matter the Size, All Must Grow!

This focus on growth applies to every organization, no matter its size.  The focus on growth is a culture that needs to be created and developed with “urgency” within every organization. There is no rest for the weary if you will. This is free market competition at its best and you have to be on your game 24/7 to excel. Competition is fierce! Growing your law firm will lead to adding and/or changing attorneys, management personnel, support staff, practice areas, or offices in other cities and towns. It all depends on your current situation. It’s a scary thought but one that will pay huge dividends in the future if properly executed. Be cautious but be bold and grow your business like its life depended on it. Because it does.

Our Personal Injury Attorneys understand and know that all personal injuries are serious. Our Personal Injury Department handles every case with the attention it deserves. We never charge any fees or costs unless we recover money for you. That means that until you approve your settlement we will not charge you any money to represent you.

Neck pain and back pain can seriously affect your life and happiness. While you may not experience pain and suffering from these injuries right after your car accident the pain and suffering from your accident may manifest two or three days after your accident some people may not feel their first symptoms for a week or more after their  car accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident.

Whether we are dealing with a serious debilitating spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury or a fractured arm our personal injury lawyers give every case the attention it deserves. Remember if your injured through no fault of your own  call us right away at 800-752-1940.

What has changed in your life in the past year?

The end of the year is a great time to reflect on how your life has changed and what adjustments need to be made to your legal portfolio. You may not be sure what changes you need to focus on but if you go to http://GetSmartLegal.com/ and browse our Florida Legal Forms Library, it will give you a good start. Remember, being prepared is not being pessimistic. And, just like it’s a good idea to take health precautions, it’s also a good idea to take the steps necessary to prevent a costly legal situation from developing.

Get Smart Legal is committed to bringing traditional law firm barriers down to better serve your needs.  Our focus is on providing practical and affordable legal access to you.  We give you the option to do as much or as little as you feel comfortable doing when it comes to your legal portfolio.  But you have to help us help you.  You must decide the importance these types of decisions have in your life.  The thing about problems or issues that are not properly addressed is that they usually get bigger and more expensive as time passes.  Make it matter to you today by being proactive and checking our our service at http://GetSmartLegal.com/

The Delivery of Online Legal Services

GetSmartLegal believes that everyone should have access to value priced professional legal advice from a licensed attorney to better address all present and future legal needs.  We specialize in web-enabled legal documents bundled with legal advice for a fixed fee.  We are the online attorney-assisted legal document law firm that makes it practical and affordable to have an attorney on your side again.

GetSmartLegal utilizes efficient functionality through the use of web-enabled interface technology to reduce legal service costs and increase productivity.  This allows us to efficiently serve our customers by allowing them to choose their legal document(s) and accurately answer the questionnaire content prior to attorney review.  However, customers will also have the option at anytime during the process, to request our assistance for any of the required functions.

At GetSmartLegal, you’ll have the advantage of utilizing familiar technology to accurately answer the online questionnaire content and realize a significant savings over traditional law firm services.  However, our added value service to you, the customer, is providing attorney review and advice at fixed fee schedules that are easily understandable and comparable to non-attorney document preparation companies and other traditional law firms.

Visit our homepage today at  http://GetSmartLegal.com/ to experience the difference and have an attorney on your side again.

Experience the Difference with Get Smart Legal

How do you know if a legal document you purchased online from a legal services/documents company is a valid legal document?  How do you know that when it comes time for that document to perform the legal function it is intended to perform, it will do so?

The short answer is you won’t know how the document you so carefully crafted and put together will perform until it’s “Go Time.”  And, when that time comes and things don’t work out according to the terms of your legal document, you will only have yourself to blame.   You see, most of the reputable legal services/documents company have some very small print at the bottom of their web sites that state the following:  Disclaimer: The information provided in this site is not legal advice, but general information on legal issues commonly encountered. LegalZoom is not a law firm and is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm. Even though most of the companies that provide this type of service claim that every legal document undergoes a “professional review”, in the United States, only attorneys are permitted to review a legal document and provide advice to clients.

You may ask yourself;  If these legal services/documents companies state they are not providing legal advice, like only an attorney can, then why do they compare their services to attorneys and claim they can save you thousands of dollars over using an attorney when they are not giving the consumer the same service of “legal advice.”?

The truth is these legal services/documents companies can save you thousands of dollars over using an attorney, but they can also cost you thousands of dollars for not using an attorney to assist with your legal documents.  Be an informed consumer.  You have a great deal at stake when you execute any legal document such as a will, living trust, trademark application or power of attorney.  Even the smallest mistake can render your entire document invalid and end up costing you thousands of dollars.  We’ve seen this occur many times.  Don’t let this happen to you.

We welcome the opportunity to explain the advantages that we offer as an Attorney Assisted Legal Document Preparation Company.

Many unscrupulous companies and individuals are taking advantage of the desperate situation our state’s homeowners are facing. These companies promise they can help save homes, then take outrageous up-front fees from our homeowners facing foreclosure. The companies often keep the fees, take no additional action, and let the homes fall into foreclosure after promising to save your home.

By the time the homeowners discover the fraud, it is TOO LATE.

What Should Consumers Do?

• Homeowners should NEVER pay any up-front fees and should avoid any high-pressure sales tactics. Fees may only be collected AFTER services are completed.
• Homeowners should first try talking to their lenders or a lawyer before contracting with any third-party company for rescue or modification services. However, many law firms are taking big up-front fees as well and not providing any real results for their clients. Fees run as high as $5,000.00.
• If a homeowner believes he or she has been taken advantage of by a disreputable company or law firm, he or she should call the Florida Attorney General’s fraud hotline at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM or file a complaint online at www.myfloridalegal.com. The complaint will be reviewed by the Attorney General’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force. If a lawyer is involved you can file a complaint at www.flabar.

A Wells Fargo executive has acknowledged that he verified only the dates on the up to 150 foreclosure documents he signed daily.

Wells Fargo Vice President Herman John Kennerty made his admission in a May deposition involving a Washington state homeowner. He said he relied on co-workers to ensure that other information in the documents was correct.

Three other lenders, Ally Financial’s GMAC Mortgage unit, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have halted tens of thousands of foreclosures after similar practices became public.

Wells Fargo is confident that foreclosure documents involving the bank are accurate, and it has no plans to halt foreclosures, said Vickee Adams, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based bank. She noted that the Washington homeowner’s case was dismissed.  Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for GMAC, Bank of America or JPMorgan Chase.

The growing questions about foreclosure documents could cause thousands of homeowners to contest foreclosures that are in the works or completed. But analysts say most homeowners facing foreclosure are still likely to lose their homes.

This has caused title insurers to evaluate how they do business going forward. One of the nation’s largest title insurance companies has stopped insuring titles to homes foreclosed by JPMorgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage.

Old Republic National Title Insurance said last week that it will no longer insure title to any property foreclosed by Chase or GMAC after both mortgage servicers halted foreclosure sales in 23 states and said they are reviewing legal filings that may not have been properly verified or notarized.

Most lenders won’t issue a mortgage without title insurance, which ensures buyers have clear title to the property and protects theirs and lenders’ financial interests if ownership disputes arise. This will make foreclosed homes harder to buy.

Attorney Alex

Do You Have a Last Will & Testament to Protect Your Assets and Your Loved Ones?

Legal Wills are the most common way for people to state their preferences about how their estates should be handled after their deaths.  Many people use their legal wills to express their deepest sentiments toward their loved ones.  A well-written Florida Will eases the transition for survivors by transferring property quickly and avoiding many tax burdens.  Despite these advantages, many estimates figure that at least seventy percent of Americans do not have valid legal wills.  While it is difficult to contemplate mortality, many people find that great peace of mind results from putting their affairs in order.

Attorney Alex

What is a “Personal Injury” Case?

“Personal injury” cases are legal disputes that arise when one person suffers harm from an accident or injury, and someone else might be legally responsible for that harm. A personal injury case can become formalized through civil court proceedings that seek to find others legally at fault through a court judgment or, as is much more common, such disputes may be resolved through informal settlement before any lawsuit is filed:

Formal “Lawsuit” – Unlike criminal cases, which are initiated by the government, a formal personal injury case typically starts when a private individual (the “plaintiff”) files a civil “complaint” against another person, business, corporation, or government agency (the “defendant”), alleging that they acted carelessly or irresponsibly in connection with an accident or injury that caused harm. This action is known as “filing a lawsuit”.

Informal Settlement – In reality, most disputes over fault for an accident or injury are resolved through informal early settlement, usually among those personally involved in the dispute, their insurers, and attorneys representing both sides. A settlement commonly takes the form of negotiation, followed by a written agreement in which both sides forgo any further action (such as a lawsuit), choosing instead to resolve the matter through payment of an agreeable amount of money.

(Note: the “middle ground” between a lawsuit and an informal settlement is alternative dispute resolution procedures like mediation and arbitration.)

If you live and own your real property in Broward County, Florida, you probably received the 2010 Notice of Proposed Property Taxes as I did. This is the dreaded proposal that shows my home keeps losing value but my taxes some how keep increasing. When it comes to property valuation and proposed taxes, I just don’t get it.

Because the impact of a tax assessment can be quite expensive for property owners, challenges to the valuations of properties are quite common. In most cases, owners are free to meet with the assessor to present their cases. Owners need to keep in mind that any changes must be based on evidence. Mere complaints that the owners think their taxes are too high will not lead to a reduction.

Tips for Challenging the Valuation

Property owners will need all the records pertinent to the valuation of their property in order to make a successful argument for changing the valuation. Make sure to scrutinize the accuracy of the assessor’s information for obvious errors. If the assessor accidentally added an extra bedroom or bath in his assessment of the property, or figured the tax using the wrong taxing authority, these mistakes can make an enormous difference in the property tax. Owners should also request copies of the comparable sales information the assessor used to value their property. Examine these documents and closely compare their property’s assessed value and those of nearby properties.

A valuation challenge may be successful if the appraisal overlooked hidden conditions such as a pest infestation, a cracked foundation, or other undesirable environmental conditions. These factors could adversely lower the property’s value, and hence adjust the owner’s appraisal downward. Additionally, certain exemptions in the property may negatively impact its value. These include veterans, prisoner-of-war, and homeowner exemptions.

Comparing Property Sales

In most cases, the best evidence of property value is comparisons of recent property sales within the same neighborhood. Because this is public information, it is not difficult to obtain; however, analyzing it and applying it to the owner’s particular situation can be difficult. For example, the motivations of buyers and sellers can influence sales prices, but this information is very difficult to obtain. If there are no recent property sales within the property owner’s neighborhood with which the owner can make comparisons, the next best alternative is to check for areas of comparison between the owner’s property, and property that is reasonably similar to it. Consider factors like location, style, age, square footage, lot size, number of rooms, and so forth.

Don’t get frustrated

Dealing with property valuations can be confusing and overwhelming. But don’t get frustrated. You can challenge the valuation yourself or have an attorney help you with the process. Either way, the effort may payoff and end up saving you some money. Good luck and let us know if Get Smart Legal, Inc. can be of assistance.

Attorney Alex