Posts Tagged ‘PIP lawsuit’

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South Florida judges halting fee abuse by plaintiff PIP attorneys

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

County court judges in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have taken notice that attorney fee claims by plaintiff personal injury protection (PIP) attorneys are out of control.

In recent hearings, judges Andrew Hague, Gladys Perez, Lisa Walsh, Caryn Canner Schwartz and Myriam Lehr in Miami-Dade County and Judge Leonard Feiner in Broward County, slashed plaintiff attorney’s fee claims by as much as 50%.

These Florida judges see the billing abuse that PIP attorneys have been engaging in for far too long. Florida drivers have been footing the bill for this abuse and we are glad these judges have taken notice.

As previously reported here, the hourly rates claimed by and awarded to plaintiff PIP attorneys in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are equally out of control. In Broward County, Judges Leonard Feiner, Robert Lee and Linda Pratt have reduced hourly rates previously awarded by their fellow judges.  In Miami-Dade County, Judges Myriam Lehr and Shelley Kravitz have done the same.

We appreciate that these judges are addressing the problem — doing what is right in this tough economy. We hope other judges will step up as well.

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Courts take heed of important ruling on small-dollar PIP lawsuits

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

A judge wanted to hand over $0.17 or $9.63 in interest (depending on whether the judge found the interest fluctuated or was a flat rate) to the plaintiff and big fees to its attorney, but the recent appellate court ruling on “de minimis” lawsuits put a stop to the nonsense.

Miami-Dade County Court Judge Lawrence D. King granted a motion for summary judgment by United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC) after a higher court ruled that the courts should be cleared of small-dollar lawsuits.

Let’s hope that other county court judges fall in line and put an end to the abuse of the law by plaintiff attorneys. This ridiculous game of suing for pennies and pocketing tens of thousands of dollars in fees should have come to an end a long time ago.

George A. David had sued UAIC in 2008 on behalf of Stand-Up MRI, Inc., claiming that UAIC had underpaid the interest owed on a PIP treatment claim. As with other lawsuits, Stand-Up MRI had cashed the payment check before hiring an attorney who sent a letter demanding more money. The letter didn’t say how much.

Nor did the lawsuit. It wasn’t until David, of George A. David, P.A., got before Judge King that it became known his client was owed just $.17 or $9.63.

Judge King had denied UAIC’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, in which the company argued that the complaint failed to state the amount due and ordered UAIC to file an answer. Subsequently, UAIC filed a motion for summary judgment regarding Stand-UP MRI’s defective demand letter, which Judge King also denied.

UAIC argued that when it responded to the initial demand letter (which did not state the amount of interest owed), it requested that Stand-Up MRI contact UAIC immediately there was a discrepancy in the payment made. But instead of contacting UAIC and advising the interest was short by $0.17 or $9.63, Stand-Up MRI filed suit less than a week later.

UAIC then filed a motion for summary judgment based on the doctrine of “de minimis non curat lex” which was set for hearing on July 17, 2010.  Based upon the recent ruling by the appellate circuit court which found that a similar lawsuit must be dismissed based upon the same doctrine, Judge King granted UAIC’s motion for summary judgment.

UAIC has been sued countless times for amounts from a few cents to a few dollars. Now that plaintiff attorneys cannot collect five- and six-figure fees for these needless lawsuits, the courts and taxpayers should see some relief.

There’s more to be done – stamping out PIP fraud, for instance – but taking away the economic incentive to sue first and let the insurance company know what you are suing for later has started to level the playing field in the courtroom.

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Appeals court overturns verdict that gave big payoff to plaintiff attorney

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

The fee faucet from which so many plaintiff attorneys drink has been reduced to a potential trickle by the appellate division of Miami-Dade County circuit court. Before attorneys sue auto insurance companies over Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims, they must make clear beforehand what their client wants, said the court in a July 1, 2010, opinion authored by Judge Mark King Leban.

The court showed excellent common and financial sense. There is no reason that an attorney should pocket $13,000 when suing for two bucks.

In handing down a unanimous decision, the court said the only motivation for the lawsuit was attorney fees. The court told the county court judge to look at the lawsuit again, deny the plaintiff attorney her fees, and dismiss the complaint.

The case began after a United Automobile Insurance Co. (UAIC) policyholder was injured in a car accident in 2004. Fourteen months after UAIC paid her medical bills, her attorney, Maria Corredor, sent a letter saying that additional money was owed, but did not state how much.  Four months later Corredor filed suit, and only then did she explain that her client was seeking $2.53 in alleged overdue interest.

Corredor is a regular player in the plaintiff PIP bar.  When UAIC surveyed PIP plaintiff attorneys who sought the highest legal fees, the company found that she charged and was regularly awarded $400 an hour. She had every incentive to sue rather than write UAIC and ask for the tiny amount owed.

Without a trial, Miami-Dade county court judge Robin Faber awarded the plaintiff a total of $2.53 and gave Corredor $13,370.25 in fees and costs, plus interest.

The amounts made no sense – legally or economically – so UAIC appealed. Ridiculous fee awards like this one just encourage more plaintiff attorneys to bring frivolous suits in hopes of a big payday.

A panel of three Miami-Dade circuit judges acting in their appellate capacity agreed with UAIC in a 15-page opinion.  Had the plaintiff and her lawyer sent a letter specifying exactly how much was owed, “no lawsuit would have been filed, nor any judgment entered for such a paltry amount, nor any award for attorney’s fees for such a conscience-of-the-court shockingly large amount,” the court wrote in its opinion.

The judges then absolved UAIC of any wrongdoing.

“In the case at bar, there was no wrongful conduct by United,” they wrote in their opinion. The company paid the medical providers 14 months before Corredor sent her vague letter demanding more money. And her client waited 18 months after the medical providers cashed their checks to sue.

The court also said that county courtrooms should not entertain lawsuits for trivial dollar amounts. The court cited a Florida Supreme Court decision from 1858 in which a case was dismissed because the amount involved was a small (“de minimis”) amount between $9 and $11.  In the UAIC case, the judges wrote, “One wonders how ‘de minimis’ an amount for which an insured/provider will repair to the court for redress: $1.23? $0.25? A nickel?”

The answer is 17 cents, as reported in this blog. The good news is that the courts are running out of patience with plaintiff lawyers who waste the time and money of taxpayers and insured drivers. One can only hope that judges in Miami-Dade county courts and beyond heed the wise words in this court decision.

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UAIC to LaBovick: Let’s get to truth on PIP lawsuits

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Our report on April 13 that LaBovick & LaBovick was filing hundreds of small-dollar lawsuits in Broward County apparently got the attention of the law firm and its managing shareholder, Brian F. LaBovick. Don’t think he caught United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC) in the act of something devious, as the headline of his blog post would suggest. We were the ones who lifted the veil on his operations. Now, he is howling about “bringing the insurance giant to justice” in an April 27 blog post.

Thanks to our enterprising work, Mr. LaBovick now admits in his blog post that his firm has flooded the Broward courts with at least 1,000 lawsuits that are Personal Injury Protection (PIP) related. He also acknowledges that the plaintiff in every case is a company he controls, Gulfstream Medigroup. And Mr. LaBovick also admits that many of the lawsuits are for small sums of money.

Mr. LaBovick has a lot to say in his post about how he thinks his firm is undertaking a noble effort. He says his firm stands up for the rights of doctors and medical providers. There is a big problem with his argument: the doctors and medical providers he claims he is standing up for are not the ones filing suit and claiming they have been underpaid.

Mr. LaBovick also raises the question, “How much is the ‘right amount’ to be ripped off before a doctor sues?” Sadly, he has no numbers or statistics to back up the claim that anyone has been cheated. In reality, Mr. Labovick is filing lawsuits for bills that were previously paid in full, or were paid at an amount that the medical clinic accepted as full and final payment.  In one case, UAIC erroneously paid the medical clinic twice for the same services, with both checks cashed by the provider, and the LaBovick firm still filed a lawsuit claiming UAIC underpaid!  These are the numbers and statistics that will come out in court.

If you want to talk about rip-offs, cite numbers, such as the fact that the Florida Department of Insurance Fraud gets as many tips about PIP fraud as all other types of insurance fraud combined. Or read about the busts of medical clinics that excessively overcharge, submit bills for services never rendered, or treat people who stage accidents. Those people are the criminals who Mr. LaBovick should be criticizing.

So, Mr. LaBovick, let’s get down to what this is really about: your legal fees. In every case, LaBovick & LaBovick is seeking the same thing: attorney’s fees from insurance companies like UAIC.  If it weren’t about the attorney’s fees, then the lawsuits would have never been filed.  Why else would Mr. Labovick file a lawsuit for an alleged underpayment of $3.89 when it costs a minimum of $55 to file the suit?

Gulfstream Medigroup and LaBovick & LaBovick (which, of course, are one and the same) are just another group in a long line of attorneys that are out to milk Florida’s no-fault PIP system for exorbitant attorney’s fees.  This is a game to them, and the ones who ultimately pay are taxpayers and honest Florida drivers. The game needs to end.

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‘Notorius’ law firm disliked for PIP lawsuits in Broward County

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Money cannot buy a good reputation, or so it seems for LaBovick & LaBovick, a Palm Beach Gardens law firm that’s unpopular in Broward County for the hundreds of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) lawsuits it has filed. The Palm Beach Post reports that the law firm has raised the ire of not just United Automobile Insurance Corp. (UAIC) Its penny-ante tactics have angered Allstate Insurance and its attorney.

To the fans of SunFest, though, LaBovick & LaBovick may seem like a good corporate citizen. The law firm sponsored a stage at the music and arts festival that took place in West Palm Beach the first week of May.

However, appearances are deceptive. We broke the news that LaBovick & LaBovick had clogged the Broward courthouse with hundreds of lawsuits for amounts as little $3.89 using a billing company it owns as its plaintiff. In essence, the law firm has created its own client that buys billings from medical clinics.

“They’re looking to shake us down for legal fees,” Richard Parrillo Sr., founder and CEO of UAIC, told the Post. “It’s all about the fees.”

Attorneys routinely are paid upwards of $300 per hour for filing paperwork, UAIC found in an inspection of court records. Fees can total tens of thousands of dollars even if the client collects only a few dollars.

Some judges are rejecting LaBovick’s flood of lawsuits, which now total more than 1,200. According to the Post article, Broward County Court Judge Robert Lee has thrown out six cases LaBovick filed, ruling Allstate calculated reimbursement rates correctly. LaBovick vowed to appeal. The insurance company’s attorney is confident Judge Lee’s rulings will be upheld.

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It’s time to fight back against PIP fraud

Monday, April 19th, 2010

“You know all our cases are phony and we bribe the judges.”

This may sound like a quote from a television crime drama, but it’s not.  It’s a direct quote from plaintiff Personal Injury Protection (PIP) attorney and longstanding member of the Florida Bar, Michael Ira Libman.  Mr. Libman is regularly awarded $450 an hour to pursue PIP cases.

Plaintiff PIP attorney Carlos Lopez-Albear once bragged that the plaintiff PIP attorneys in Miami-Dade County are named “The Dirty Thirty.”  Lopez-Albear is regularly awarded $400 an hour for PIP cases.

“These are perfect examples of what insurers encounter in Dade and Broward County,” responds Richard Parrillo, Sr., founder and CEO of United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC).  “Plaintiff PIP attorneys are so arrogant, they flaunt the fraud they engage in.

“I’m confident we are not the only carrier that faces this type of arrogance and it is time for us to speak out,” Parrillo says. ” Insurance fraud comes at a heavy cost to Florida residents and it’s time we fight back.”

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Lawsuit-happy firm in Palm Beach files PIP court claim for $3.89

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Little lawsuits. Littler lawsuits.

It’s just another day at the Broward County courthouse for Gulfstream MediGroup. The Palm Beach-based firm has become a litigation machine, filing more than 300 lawsuits in Broward County’s courts in both January and February 2010, according to public records. That’s equivalent to one every half-hour the main courthouse was open.

In the last three months of 2009, Gulfstream MediGroup filed 435 lawsuits against companies that insure drivers, according to public records. Among them, a claim for $3.89, plus legal bills for its exclusive law firm, LaBovick & LaBovick. The CEO of Gulfstream MediGroup, Brian F. LaBovick, is also the managing shareholder at LaBovick & LaBovick, which specializes in PIP litigation. The law firm and its automobile claims collection firm operate at the same address on Hood Road in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The plaintiff lawyers who supposedly represent insured drivers are now getting into the litigation business just for themselves. In all of these cases, the driver and his or her medical provider were bought off a long time ago. Now it’s just the plaintiff lawyers and their captive billing agency down the hall.

Gulfstream MediGroup sued UAIC in December 2009 for an accident that the UAIC-insured driver said took place three years earlier. Since that time, the driver has signed over her claim to Hallandale Open MRI in Hallandale, Fla. That company, in turn, has signed over all its insurance claims from 2004 to 2007 to Gulfstream MediGroup in an undated document.

The lawsuit claims that UAIC underpaid a PIP-related claim by $3.89 and seeks to recover that amount for Gulfstream MediGroup, plus attorneys’ fees for LaBovick & LaBovick. A recent survey of attorneys’ fees in PIP cases found that many attorneys charge between $300 and $400 an hour for filing legal paperwork in Broward County courts.

From our point of view, it just doesn’t make sense to tie up the courts for a measly $3.89 so that an attorney can take home tens of thousands of dollars in fees. This is an abuse of the justice system. Gulfstream MediGroup is just dumping hundreds of lawsuits at the Broward courthouse. The firm is demanding that taxpayers and, ultimately, insured drivers pay for them.

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United Auto gets national attention for campaign against frivolous PIP lawsuits

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

National news media continue to report efforts by United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC) to fight needless litigation in claims related to personal injury protection (PIP) insurance.

In November 2009, the magazine Claims gave national attention to a UAIC news release on a ruling by a Florida appeals court. The court ruled that insured individuals cannot sue their insurance companies for not providing an explanation of benefits on a medical claim.

The pushback against PIP lawsuits and the big legal fees associated with them is part of our ongoing campaign. We want to clear the courts of wasteful, expensive litigation and to slow the rise in auto insurance premiums.

The big driver in these costs is fraud. Florida’s Office of the Department of Insurance Regulation has stated that more than 80 percent of all automobile accident injury claims are in fact falsified or overstated in some way.

The problem of PIP fraud is becoming greater, says the Florida’s Division of Insurance Fraud. It reported last August that PIP fraud jumped 41 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 2009.

With increased attention on a problem affecting every insured driver in Florida, we continue to advocate for court reforms and legislation that would take the profit motive out of filing lawsuits for tiny dollar amounts and large legal fees. With the proper legal checks in place, attorneys and health clinics that drive much of the litigation would think twice before going to the courthouse.

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Plaintiff attorney asks for a penny, judge says no

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Chalk one up for common sense. A lawsuit for 1 cent has been tossed out of Miami-Dade County Court.

“The case was another example of how far some plaintiff attorneys will go to collect fees and the trouble it takes to get rid of nuisance lawsuits,” said Richard Parrillo, Sr., founder and CEO of United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC).

“Plaintiff attorneys look to put thousands of dollars in their pockets even if their clients receive 1 cent or less,” said Parrillo. “This misuse of the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) law wastes taxpayers’ money and judges’ time. The Florida legislature needs to clear the courts of worthless lawsuits.”

Attorney Daniel Davidovic of Shuster & Saben LLC in Miami had sued UAIC in 2009 in Miami-Dade County Court on behalf of Chiro Group LLC, a Miami Lakes chiropractor; its patient was a UAIC policyholder. Damage to that driver’s vehicle in an August 2008 accident was $50, according to a police report.

According to a transcript from a court hearing in Feburary 2010, the claim was that United’s payments to Chiro Group LLC were short by one penny. Basic PIP covers 80 percent of an injured person’s medical bills and 60 percent of lost wages up to a maximum of $10,000.

At that hearing, Miami-Dade County Court Judge Linda Singer-Stein dismissed the lawsuit after listening to arguments from UAIC and Miami attorney Jeffrey Altman, who claimed he now represented Chiro Group LLC. The judge said of the 1-cent shortage on one check: “The difference is immaterial.”

But it wasn’t that simple, or unusual. UAIC has repeatedly found that plaintiff attorneys file PIP lawsuits over a few dollars. Their reward: fat fees. Altman, for example, has been paid $375 an hour on other cases, according to a UAIC analysis of court records. Davidovic of Shuster & Saben was also seeking fees.

Altman’s client had cashed the benefit checks a year before the court hearing. The penny was owed because of a rounding error, said Altman, who does business as The Law Office of Jeffrey Altman.

Judge Singer-Stein asked Altman why he didn’t contact UAIC when he found a math error. His response: “It is not our job,” he said, according to a court transcript. “If they don’t pay, we get to file suit.”

Altman did not want to repay costs that UAIC had incurred in defending the suit. He claimed at the hearing that he acted in good faith and so both sides should just walk away. The judge said she would think about whether Altman should pay up. In the meantime, policyholders at UAIC are footing the bill.

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South Florida plaintiff attorneys rack up big hourly fees

Monday, February 8th, 2010

South Florida’s county courts have become the home of the big payday for attorneys who file lawsuits related to personal injury protection (PIP) claims. An analysis of court records by United Automobile Insurance Company (UAIC) shows that a couple of lawyers in Miami-Dade County now command $500 an hour for filing legal paperwork. In Broward County, a dozen attorneys get paid $400 an hour for lawsuits.

The hourly rates put some attorneys on the same level as South Florida lawyers who perform multimillion-dollar mergers or handle sales on properties worth tens of millions of dollars. The difference: PIP lawyers sometimes sue for as little as $2.59 for their clients. And in many instances, the lawsuits seek payment on medical treatment related to a fender bender.

Plaintiff attorneys in PIP cases have turned consumer protection into a professional money machine. Time and time again firms like UAIC object in court to these fees because ultimately all drivers pay those expenses. Sadly, not enough judges can be convinced that these fees are out of line.

The UAIC fee study found that about 39 Miami-Dade attorneys have obtained the OK from county judges to charge $400, or more, per hour. Another 48 attorneys received $300 to $375 an hour. (See list below.)

The situation is similar in Broward County. There, UAIC found 15 lawyers who had received court approval to charge $400 an hour when they filed lawsuits related to PIP claims. Another 25 lawyers received $300 to $375 an hour. (See list below.)

Even if the lawsuit is for a small amount, an attorney will sometimes bill 100 hours or more and judges will award them $35,000 to $45,000, UAIC found. The county courts have a jurisdictional limit of $15,000, yet judges will freely award attorneys fees well in excess of this amount.

UAIC has seen fee awards in PIP cases in excess of $100,000 when the benefits recovered were only a couple thousand of dollars. This phenomenon of inexplicable attorney fee awards has fueled the fraud and abuse that permeates the PIP system.

** HOURLY BILLING RATES FOR ATTORNEYS IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT**

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $500.00

Marlene Reiss

Michael L. Silverstein

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $475.00

Bernard H. Butts, Jr.

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $450.00

Bartram Billbrough

Carlos A. Lopez

Michael I. Libman

Stuart L. Koenigsberg

Virginia Best

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $425.00

Amado A. Alvarez

Gary A. Friedman

John S. Seligman

Michael Feldman

Juan Montes

Kevin Whitehead

Marc Goldman

Michael Feldman

Stuart B. Yanofsky

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $400.00

Daniel L. Kaufman

DeWayne Terry

Gabriel Sanchez

Anthony L. Tolgyesi

Brian Rodier

Carlos A. Lopez-Albear

Jacinto Gonzalez

Jeannie Jontiff

Jose Iglesia

Kenneth B. Shurr

Kenneth Dorchak

Kevin Whitehead

Mari Sampedro-Iglesia

Mark D. Feinstein

Mark Feldman

Richard E. Doherty

Rina Kaplan

Robert A. Trilling

Russel Lazega

Scott Jontiff

Steven Singer

Stuart B. Yanofsky

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $375.00

Fernando F. Freire

Frank Allocca

Frederick W. Hoethke

Gregg Pessin

James D. Payer

Jeffrey S. Altman

Jon Freeman

Jonathan Friedland

Martin Berger

Michael Kaplan

Michael Leader

Neil Gonzalez

Sadie Naveo

Spencer Morgan

Thomas J. Morgan

Todd Landau

Valerie Manno

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $350.00

Lourdes Alvarez

Donald Kerner

Armando Brana

Christian Carrazana

Cornel D. Williams

Dagmar Llaudy

George A. David

Gladys Cardenas

Ivan M. Tobias

Jeffrey G. Hess

John C. Llarena

Julie Terry

Kevin D. Mercer

Lisa Sanders

Lisa-Ann Gordon

Peter DePrimo

R. Brian Boyd

Rita Baez

Robert Seitz

Stephen A. Cameron

Stephen S. Nuell

Todd Link

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $310.00 to $325.00

Sebastian Lissa

Kertch J. Conze

Travis Greene

Eric Shapiro

Miami-Dade attorneys, hourly rate: $300.00

Craig Blinderman

Deborah A. Green

Jose A. Yanez

Meena M. Lopez

Patricia Saintvil-Joseph

** HOURLY BILLING RATES FOR ATTORNEYS IN BROWARD COUNTY COURT**

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $400.00

Adolfo Podrecca

Amir Fleischer

Charles J. Kane

Cris E. Boyar

Gary Marks

Harley Kane

Jay Spechler

Joseph R. Dawson

Laura M. Watson

Marc Finkelstein

Mary Margaret-Monk

Michael Bendell

Michele Muir

Paul A. Adams

William Ruggiero

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $375.00

Andrew J. Weinstein

Angela Cohn

Nichole Pacella

Paul S. Adams

Robert Stein

Robert Bradford, Jr.

Keith Schafer

Steven Ainbinder

Steven Lander

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $350.00

David M. Spitz

Douglas  Harrison

Emilio R. Stillo

Nathan J. Avrunin

Nicole R. Malick

Rafael I. Katz

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $325.00

Brian H. Malamud

Caroline Perlegas

Mark P. Mullen

Michael Fischetti

Steve Phillips

Timothy A. Patrick

Helen Stratigakos

Broward attorneys, hourly rate: $300.00

Chris Pole

Vanessa Casullo

Kathy Eikosidekas

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