Langsam Stevens Silver & Hollaender Newsletter September 2010

Earlier this year, while attention and debate was focused on the creation of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection under the financial reform overhaul which eventually passed Congress, other measures more immediately affecting consumer credit were already going into effect. Most of the provisions of the Credit Card Act of 2009, designed to protect consumers from the worst abuses perpetrated by credit card issuers, took effect in February and August of this year.

You may already have noticed differences in your credit card statements because of this act. Here’s a quick summary of some of changes that will have the greatest effect on the general public.

Limits on Interest Rate Increases on Existing Balances
Generally, the act prohibits raising interest rates on existing credit card balances except in very limited circumstances. One of the exceptions is for those introductory “teaser” rates that issuers use to draw you in; however, the introductory period must be at least 6 months and the terms of the introductory offer must be clearly disclosed. Interest rates cannot be raised in the first year of an account, except if it is a teaser rate or falls under one of the other limited exceptions.

Proving Damages
One problem that confronted us in this case was that the treating surgeon felt that he did a great job in fixing our injured client up and was dismissive of any ongoing problems. He did do a good job of surgery, but that did not mean that there was a complete recovery. His attitude, however, did mean that the surgeon would not be much help in proving the full effects of the injury on our client.

How would we prove our case? We thought long and hard and found an expert podiatrist who often treats dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet. He uses various scientific analyses to determine the effects of an injury. He was able to compare the clients gait and weight-bearing practices to samples of typical people. When this podiatrist examined our client, he was not only able to demonstrate the clients ongoing problems in a scientific way, but was able to provide orthodics, therapeutic strategies and treatments to alleviate the problem.

Some effects of the injury were permanent and irreparable, and we also engaged a functional capacity expert and a world renowned orthopedist to give objective reports on the problems.

Despite these proofs, the parties remained far apart in their views of the value of the case. The defense agreed that there was a significant injury, but valued the claim in the low-$200,000s. We valued the claim significantly higher, and there was a higher automobile policy limit than the amount that the defendant had offered.

We decided to bring suit but, in an effort to resolve the problem without the time and expense of a full trial, we arranged to have the claim mediated by a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice. Mediation packets with medical bills and injury and liability analyses were presented to the mediator by both sides. With the mediator’s insight and assistance, the parties arrived at a settlement figure in the neighborhood of half a million dollars - more than double the previous settlement offer.

We work creatively and hard on these personal/injury/catastrophic loss claims. For another example, see the earlier article in this newsletter about the use of stunt people in injury actions.