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What should an injured motorcyclist ask to find the Motorcycle Accident Lawyer most competent to handle his case?
You have a right to inquire as to your prospective motorcycle accident lawyer's qualifications and you should do so. Furthermore, any good motorcycle accident lawyer should see the logic of your wanting to assure that you are properly represented in your motorcycle accident case and should be willing and happy to answer all of the following motorcycle accident attorney qualification questions. Mr. Henke affirmatively provides answers following each question below. Mr. Henke's additional motorcycle accident lawyer qualifications are set forth on other pages of this web site. Click the "Mr. Henke, The Motorcycle Accident Trial Lawyer" button below. Also, you should click the "Ray The Biker" button, where attorney Henke first asks and then answers the question, "Why you should care whether your motorcycle accident lawyer is a biker," and then he will explain that in chosing a motorcycle accident lawyer over an auto driving personal injury lawyer posing as a motorcycle accident lawyer, it is all about "understanding." Understanding the physics of motorcycling. Understanding what will you tell him in language only a fellow biker can really understand.
Ask: Is the motorcycle accident lawyer rated by Martindale and Hubble? And if so, what is his "Legal Ability" rating and "General Ethical Standards" rating?
Answer. This motorcycle accident lawyer, Ray Henke has now, and has had for all of the past decade, held the very highest Martindale & Hubbell "legal ability" rating, "A" [from Very High to Preeminent]; and the very highest "General Ethical Standards" rating, "V" [Very High].
Ask: Has the motorcycle accident lawyer been recognized by his peers as an established, superior trial lawyer?
Answer: This motorcycle accident lawyer, Mr. Henke, was elected and then reelected again and again Governor of LATLA (The fifth largest trial lawyer association in the country).
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Henke was nominated by the LATLA Board for the most highly coveted "Trial Lawyer of the Year" Award.
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Henke served for years in the prestigious position of the Editor-in-Chief of LATLA's legal journal, "THE ADVOCATE."
Ask: Has the motorcycle accident lawyer served as prosecuting counsel in litigation involving substantial injuries, and then obtained million dollar and multimillion dollar settlements and jury verdicts?
Answer: Motorcycle accident lawyer Henke has served as counsel in many "big" cases over the course of his career and has obtained numerous substantial settlements and jury verdicts, including multi-million dollar settlements and multi-million dollar jury verdicts.
Most Recent Example of a Henke Motorcycle Accident Jury Verdict or Settlement, specifically in a motorcycle accident case: $2,500,000.00 in contested liability motorcycle intersection accident. Motorcycle pulled out from between two left turn lanes. Below Knee Amputation, Broken Ribs and Clavicle.
Ask: Is the Motorcycle Accident Lawyer a Sophisticated Serious Injury Trial Lawyer Capable of Presenting the Complex Motorcycle Accident Liability Case, Able to Present the Complex Medical and Expert Testimony Essential to Establish His Client's Injuries, Pain and Suffering, Loss of Enjoyment of Life, Past and Future Medical Expense and Past and Future Earnings Losses, and Sufficiently Creative to Identify the Insurance and Assets to Fully Compensate the Motorcycle Accident Victim for His Full Measure of Damages.
Answer: Our Motorcycle Accident Lawyers are Very Highly Qualified Serious and Catastrophic Injury Attorneys with the Experience, Knowledge and Creativity to Present the Most Complex Medical and Damage Cases, Overcome Liability Issues, and Identify the Insurance or Assets Available to Pay the Client's Damages.
Serious injury motorcycle accidents always involve complex damage issues and require the participation of highly qualified and experienced serious and catastrophic injury trial lawyers. Our motorcycle accident lawyers provide a page on this site discussing the complexity of "serious injury motorcycle accident litigation," and our approach to such cases. In adddition, serious injury motorcycle accident cases may involved substantial complexity in terms of establishing liability and identifying sources of insurance or assets to compensate the motorcyclist for the full extent of his general and special damages. In the above referenced example, Henke was required to overcome the liability problem that his client was injured entering an intersection splitting lanes between two cars in adjoining left turn lanes. Henke took the deposition of the investigating police officer, eliciting the testimony of the officer that it was not illegal for the biker to split lanes, even adjoining left turn lanes, and that his doing so was not a substantial factor resulting in the accident. While the defense attorneys argued strenuously that the motorcyclist was at fault for the acciident, based upon the investigating officer's testimony, the Judge ruled at the outset of the settlement conference that this was a 100 percent liability case without contributory negligence on the part of the motorcyclist.
One additional problem was that the defendant driver carried only the statutory minimum 15/30 liability policy. Henke also conducted the investigation to determine that the defendant driver was on his way to a job site at the time he caused the accident. Generally, in most states, an accident occurring while an employee is commuting to work does not result in employer liability under "respondeat superior" theory, but in this case Henke established that the driver was carrying tools in his vehicle that would be used at the job site and so Henke was able to establish that the employer was liable, making its multi-million dollar insurance policy and excess policy available to pay Henke's client's full measure of damages.
Our serious injury motorcycle accident lawyers have been at the forefront in suggesting creative solutions to the "collectability" issue, so commonly a problem in serioius injury motorcycle accident cases. Too often the auto driver who pulles out into the right of way of a motorcyclist or fails to turn his head before changing his lane into the motorcyclist will be woefully underinsured to pay for the injuries, medical expense, loss of earnings, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life damages suffered by the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist may be entitled reasonably to millions of dollars in compensation, but the negligent driver may have only the minimum liability insurance policy. One additional example of our motorcycle accident lawyers creativity in solving the "collectability issue" is to obtain the cell phone records of the defendant driver. According to NOPUS, one in 10 auto drivers on the American highways at any given time is actively engaged in cell conversation, resulting in DUI level driving impairment and a four fold increased likelihood that the driver will cause an accident. This can be important liability evidence, but it can also often solve the "collectability issue," for example, where the driver was on the phone to his employer or secretary or potential client or otherwise engaged in a call that was business related. Just as in the above example in which motorcycle accident lawyer, Henke, was able to beat the collectability problem by establishing that the driver was transporting tools, by interrogating the defendant with regard to his cell phone records and conversation, establishing that the defendant driver was engaged in a business related cell call at the time of the accident, the sophisticated motorcycle accident attorney can often make the difference between a wholly inadequate recovery and a settlement or judgment awarding the motorcycle accident victim full compensation for his general and special damages.
If you would like to read more about our motorcycle accident lawyers' use of cell phone records in establishing liability and overcoming the collectability issue in motorcycle accident cases, your may consider our "The Lawyer's Use of Cell Phone Evidence in Motorcycle Accident Cases" page.
Required Disclaimer. The monetary results obtained in those cases were dependent upon the facts of the cases, and the results will differ in other cases based on different facts.
Ask: Is the motorcycle accident lawyer a member of the "Million Dollar Advocates Forum"?
Answer: This motorcycle accident lawyer, Henke, is a member of the "Million Dollar Advocates Forum," an exclusive trial lawyer organization numbering only 2500 trial lawyers nationwide, limited to lawyers who have obtained million and multimillion dollar jury verdicts and settlements, and described as: "The most prestigious group of trial lawyers in the United States."
Ask: Has the motorcycle accident lawyer obtained positive recognition in and outside the legal profession?
Answer: Motorcycle accident lawyer, Mr. Henke, has a national reputation as an effective, successful and determined trial lawyer as reflected in scores of newspaper articles about Mr. Henke and his work in legitimate national legal periodicals, legitimate national newspapers, magazines, and national television. Mr. Henke also testified before Congress at the invitation of the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives on his legal work in several cases, including his use of claims for punitive damages to set examples of defendants who consiously disregard the safety, health and rights of others. (The last mentioned cases were not motorcycle accident cases, however, the same principles would apply where the person who caused the motorcycle accident acted with malice, sometimes defined as willful or conscious disregard for the motorcyclist's safety)
Ask: Can the motorcycle accident lawyer verify that he is an effective Legal Advocate, by citation to important published Appellate victories he has achieved?
A motorcycle accident lawyer's appellate success matters because it is a good measure of the motorcycle accident lawyer's vitally important general ability to argue and persuade on legal issues. It is an ability that is not just essential on appeals. It is an ability essential to the motorcycle accident lawyer's effectiveness in meeting all the big and small challenges presented at every stage of motorcycle accident litigation, e.g., by the motorcycle accident lawyer's pretrial motions, which can seriously affect settlement posture as well as the motorcycle accident victim's important advantages or disadvantages at trial. Your motorcycle accident lawyer's willingness to ask the appellate court to immediately reverse a bad pretrial decision that guts the motorcycle accident case may also be essential to achieve the quickest and best result in the motorcycle accident litigation. Legal advocacy is also a talent essential during the trial of the motorcycle accident case as the motorcycle accident lawyer must be able to effectively argue legal issues, e.g., the admissibility of the defendant's admission of fault or the inadmissibility of prejudicial medical or character evidence that might affect how the jury views the motorcycle accident victim, or the permissibility of expert motorcycle accident reconstruction opinion testimony, etc. Then, if you "hit big" at trial of your motorcycle accident case the defendant is almost certain to appeal, and you may then require your motorcycle accident lawyer's superior legal advocacy to hold on to your victory.
Answer: This motorcycle accident lawyer, Mr. Henke, has had extraordinary published and verifiable appellate victories. As one example, on behalf of a single aggrieved client lawyer Henke obtained the reversal of a $120,000,000.00 Ohio Federal District Court approved settlement purporting to bind 1000 product liability claimants joined in the Ohio Court and all others injured by the product nationwide. On a petition for writ of mandate to the United States Court of Appals for the Sixth Circuit, lawyer Henke also obtained the reversal of the Ohio Federal District Court's certification of a national mandatory product liability class action. Mr. Henke's argument, accepted by the Court of Appeals as requiring both decisions was that Mr. Henke's client was denied his right to counsel of his choice and control over his individual litigation. The appellate decision effected an important and enduring change in the law severely restricting the availability of mandatory, as opposed to voluntary class actions in "mass disaster" litigation. This case did not involve a motorcycle accident case and therefore does not demonstrate Mr. Henke's abilities specifically as motorcycle accident lawyer or on motorcycle accident appeals; however, the acheivement is one which demonstrates Mr. Henke's appellate credentials, and the principles established by the case would also apply to mass motorcycle accident litigation, e.g., if there were a motorcycle product defect which resulted in injuries to motorcyclists across the country.
As another example of this motorcycle accident lawyer's appellate advocacy, when a trial judge applied newly enacted tort reform legislation to deprive Mr. Henke's client of his punitive damage claims, Mr. Henke obtained a stay of the trial and filed in the Court of Appeals an "extraordinary writ" seeking an immediate reversal of the trial court's order. The Court of Appeal granted the writ of mandamus, ordering the trial court to reverse its order and permit Henke's client to pursue his punitive damage claim. It also rendered an important published appellate opinion reinterpreting the repressive tort reform legislation to deprive it of most of its negative force and effect. This decision also has been cited in numerous subsequent appellate decisions, including, to Henke's delight, for the proposition that "legislation must be interpreted to avoid absurd results." Again, this did not involve a motorcycle accident case, and therefore is not specifically relevant to Mr. Henke's credentials as a motorcycle accident lawyer, however, it is relevant to Mr. Henke's credentials as an agressive appellate lawyer, and punitive damages are also available in motorcycle accident cases where the defendant has acted with malice, in conscious disregard of the motorcyclists rights and health.
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