Obviously there are many questions that need to be answered when a person needs legal representation. In our experience, four basic questions are the most frequently asked by our prospective clients. The following are two of the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) we receive when meeting with new prospective clients.
If you have a question that we have not answered in this article please contact us for answers and clarification.
Most Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long do I have to file my case?
A: It isn’t possible to describe all the time limitations that apply to all types of cases. The running of the statute of limitations is dependent on the particular facts of each case. Generally, the statute of limitations in California for a personal injury claim is two years from the date of injury or death. In some instances the period to file suit may be longer. However, the time to file may also be shorter if the case involves medical malpractice, a public entity such as the State, a county or municipality, or a civil rights action. You should seek representation as soon as possible after an accident to avoid problems with the statute of limitations. Failure to file within the time limit imposed by law may result in the case being dismissed without compensation. Delay almost always works to the benefit of the person or entity responsible for your injury.
Q: What does it cost to consult with the firm on my case?
A: All initial consultations with Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer are free of charge. You will never be charged for our time in evaluating your case. Except in extraordinary circumstances, you will not be charged any costs we incur in having your case reviewed by expert consultants. If we don’t accept your case we will not charge you for our time or our expenses in evaluating your case.
At Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli, & Brewer we specialize in personal injury, wrongful death, consumer rights, employment law, and business fraud cases.
When you have been seriously injured or otherwise victimized by the wrongful conduct of others, it takes courage to face the physical, psychological and emotional devastation left behind. That courage takes many forms. In some cases, it is about the grieving process or enduring long hours of physical therapy and rehabilitation. In others, it can mean choosing to challenge discrimination in the workplace or taking a consumer dispute to trial.
True courage is also about placing your trust and the trust of your family in the hands of a lawyer you do not know. Our attorneys will respond in kind, showing you the kind of courage and compassion that goes beyond mere “legal representation.”
The Holistic Approach
The clients that we agree to represent, or the family members in those cases where a wrongful death is involved, almost always have more pressing needs than just our legal representation. They often need one or a combination of the following services:
Assistance of physicians
Mental health care professionals
Other professional experts
Building Relationships
Our approach is to get to know our clients, understand how they and family members have been affected by these personal tragedies, and to approach them and their case in a holistic sense; as fellow human beings who need our help in ways that go beyond any immediate legal concerns
Over the last 30 years,Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer has become one of the most successful and respected personal injury, employment and consumer law firms in northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. Like any proud partners in a successful business, we will revisit our roots with a outline of the history of our firm and our practice.
History
The firm was founded in Oakland by attorneys J. Gary Gwilliam and Eric Ivary in 1978. Jim Chiosso joined the firm in 1979 and was followed soon thereafter by Steve Cavalli. In 1986, Steve Brewer joined the firm. In 1991, the firm’s name was changed to include each of its partners. Since that time, we have gone on to establish a superior track record for winning cases, and for results that have had an impact ranging far beyond the compensation achieved for our clients.
Today, we are proud to announce the addition of our first new partner in over 20 years Randall Strauss. Randall Strauss has extensive experience in the areas of employment law, personal injury, civil litigation and civil appeals, including serving as co-lead counsel in a recent employment trial resulting in a million dollar verdict.
Our Practice
Representing clients throughout Oakland, the Bay Area, Northern California and beyond, our practice has evolved to the point where we accept only the more serious and complex litigation cases involving personal injuryandwrongful death,medical malpractice, insurance disputes/bad faith, product liability, as well as employment, business fraud and consumer law cases.
As an established firm, we have the experience, knowledge, and resources to permit us to litigate against the well-funded corporate and insurance company law firms.
Our Reputation and Success
We have achieved an excellent reputation in the legal community based on our track record. Our success is predicated on:
Track Record: we have more than 30 years of obtaining outstanding results for our clients.
Litigation Skills: our attorneys are respected for their litigation skills.
Trial Experience: our years of trial experience are an important factor in your decision.
Negotiations: we are well versed in the art of settlement negotiations.
Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Breweris proud to announce that, effective January 1, 2010,Randall Strausswas elevated to partner. The firm takes pride in announcing that Randall Strauss is the first partner to be added to the practice of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer in over twenty years.
Experience
Randall Strauss has extensive experience in the areas of employment law, personal injury, civil litigation and civil appeals, including serving as co-lead counsel in a recent employment trial resulting in a million dollar verdict.
Background
A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and Boalt Hall School of Law, he was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1993 as well as the US. District Courts and the Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit in succeeding years.
Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer welcomes Randall Strauss as the firm continues, after 30 years, to specialize in personal injury and consumer law including civil litigation, employment law, professionalmalpractice law, product liability, bad faith insurance, and business fraud.
Being a trial lawyer nowadays is tough work. The law is a conflict-ridden profession. We are constantly fighting with each other and trying to outdo each other. So how do I deal with this situation in the courtroom? I have to remember that I am not in control, to stay centered, and to not let distractions keep us from our goal.
9 Ideas That Help Me In The Courtroom
Breathing: breathe from your belly to stay relaxed. Take a few deep breathes before you enter the courtroom
Remain Relaxed: be aware of the tension that fills a courtroom. Staying loose will help your muscles stay relaxed which is so important in dealing with stress filled situations
Stay Centered: we need to think of the trunk of our body as it’s center. Breathing helps us stay centered. We need to stay aware of our center. This is similar to what is taught in the martial arts. Be aware of your body posture so as not to be knocked off balance metaphorically
Let Go of Fear: we need to stay in touch with whatever spiritual contact we have- meditation, prayer, or other forms of belief. By putting ourselves into this frame of mind before we get into a trial “battle”, we will perform better. Let go of the fear of losing
Do Not React: it is so easy to turn on the defense attorney and argue after he or she makes an objection- especially if things get personal. But by staying focused on what we are looking to accomplish, we can not be thrown off track by our adversary
Maintain Concentration: this is similar to focus but you have to keep your mind directly on what you are doing. You can’t let your mind wander. Do not think of what is going on at the office, what is happening in your personal life. Concentrate on what you are doing
Stay In The Moment: this is similar to maintaining concentration but with a slight difference. Lawyers often get ahead of themselves and want to start asking questions anticipating what is going to happen in the next few minutes. This is not good. Stay in the present; this will increase your concentration and listening skills which will make you a better advocate
Listen Carefully: if you get wrapped up in your own thoughts you could miss what the witness or the judge is saying. Listen carefully so that you can follow the meaning of the words. You cannot focus on two things at once, although we often times try to do it by bouncing rapidly from one subject to another. This gets us in trouble.
All Things Happen For a Reason: this is the guiding principle of my life. Once I recognize I am not in control, I can roll with the punches and go with the flow. Stay in touch with the principle that things are happening for a reason. This keeps us centered in the present moment, so we are relaxed and unafraid
One of my goals in 2010 is to increase the number of public speaking engagements I perform. I am happy to announce I have taken my first step toward this goal as the featured speaker for “2010 Ethics Hot Issues” to the North Carolina Advocates for Justice on Friday, February 19, 2010.
Location: North Carolina Advocates for Justice Headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, 1312 Annapolis Drive, Raleigh, NC 27608.
Time: 9:00am- 1:15 p.m. Registration is at 8:00a.m. My presentation begins at 12:15pm.
CLE Credit: The entire program will qualify for 4 CLE hours (3 hours for ethics and 1 hour for substance abuse/mental health). Reference www.ncaj.fastcle.com for registration information or call (919) 832-1413.
The proliferation of mediators and mediations is obvious. Any case that doesn’t settle is a “failure.” The pressure to settle cases is so intense that there is almost a sense of guilt when we have to go to trial. Yet, we continue to evaluate plaintiffs’ PI and employment cases on the basis of what a jury will award.
How can we make such an evaluation if there are so few trials anymore?
4 Factors In Going To Trial or Not
Mediation: are we trial lawyers, or are we simply becoming negotiators?And this negotiation, is it like poker? Is bluffing one’s way through a mediation with misstatements and outright lies the way we properly resolve cases? I sometimes tell mediators that some cases need to be tried and there is nothing wrong with a mediation that ends with a decision to proceed to trial. Rarely does a mediator agree with this. They “failed” because we are going to have a jury trial to resolve the case.
Expense of Trial: the increasing expense of trial is well-known. Trial requires expert testimony, and experts are becoming increasingly expensive and are often treated with hostility by judges who see them as nothing more than paid advocates. In addition to experts, lawyers now bear the expenses of court costs including reporters’ fees and other fees that traditionally were borne by the courts
Advertising: advertising is a deterrent especially when it leads to treating the law as a business and not a profession. Lawyers who are in the “personal injury business” for the sole purpose of making money will never step foot in the courtroom. If we judge our success solely by how much money we make, then who cares about a trial? We are perhaps more interested in how much money we make than whether we’re doing right by our clients or even chasing that elusive concept of “justice.”
Politics: politics, particularly the advent of tort reform, has become an increasingly serious problem for plaintiffs’ lawyers. It’s become worse in the last 10 years. Conservative court rulings and the failure to make fundamental changes in our medial malpractice laws make it increasingly difficult to try cases: it is outrageous that we haven’t changed the medical malpractice tort reform laws passed 35 years ago. With a $250,000 MICRA cap on general damages and a cap on our attorneys.
In a 1999 article for the American Board of Trial Advocates Journal I wrote:
“I sometimes feel like I am a dying breed – soon to become extinct. I am a trial lawyer who has spent 37 years in the courtroom. I have tried over 150 jury trials to verdict. I have been in ABOTA since 1976 when I certified that I tried 100 jury trials after about 15 years of practice
But times are changing. Good trial lawyers today who have been in practice for as long as twenty or twenty-five years will have tried significantly less cases than those of us who started our practices in the 60s and early 70s.”
Why Fewer Jury Trials?
Opportunities: there are simply less jury trials being tried
Arbitration: more cases are being arbitrated
Mediation: everything goes to mediation.
Skill Sets: our negotiation skills are becoming more important than our trial skills
10 Years Later: Concerns Are More Acute Now
With a lack of trial experience comes a lack of ability to easily and competently try a case before a jury. Judges complain frequently that lawyers are not only inexperienced, but frankly ineffective and sometimes woefully inept in the courtroom.
Younger Lawyers Lack of Experience
A byproduct of this problem is the lack of civility between lawyers. One factor in this civility problem is that younger lawyers don’t have the experience of really understanding what a jury trial is like and hence have a great fear of going to trial.
Ultimately, they mask this fear by aggressive litigation tactics in the hope that they can bluff their way out of actually going to trial.
“Michael, I met a man this weekend. He has been married twice and has just separated from his wife. He’s had alcohol problems. But I have this sense that I should call him. It seems weird don’t you think?” – Lilly Gwillam
November 10, 1990 I was with my friend, Ed Caldwell, who helped me quit drinking at my intervention. We were attending the annual CTLA convention in La Jolla, California; the trial lawyers were having a special late-night candlelight ceremony for those in recovery.
There were five of us who knew each other well in attendance. Steve Pingel, a good lawyer and a friend, was there with a woman. During the ceremony, each of us talked about our experiences drinking and where we were now.
I talked about the reason I left Liz, leaving her with integrity, and how I felt the Universe would take care of me. When I was finished, the mystery woman spoke up:
“Gary I just want to tell you that I really appreciate your integrity. So many men leave their marriages for another woman. You left because you knew it was the right thing. . . I really wish you the best and simply wanted to say that.”
Are trial lawyers preparing for battle or stage when they go to trial? Many fine trial lawyers still envision trial as battle. I am guilty of talking about “still having a few rounds left in me” at this late stage of my career. If you are going into battle you have to be ready: Energized, fired up, ready to throw a few punches and take a few hits.
Q: Isn’t that a good way to prepare for trial? Or is it stressful and counterproductive?
Trial as Sport: Stress and Conflict
Stress and Conflict: we are in a conflicted profession full of stress and conflict and this wears us down
Drain: constant stress and conflict takes away our energy
Health: loss of energy through this conflict compromises our immune systems
Ultimate Conflict: if you visualize yourself as bruised and battered after each round, then trials become exhausting and you don’t perform at your peak
Trial as Art: Resolution Through Relaxation
Resolution: is possible by deciding the best and most effective way to try a case
Relaxation: if you are more relaxed and at ease, your energy will stay strong
Fear: you also have less fear and that is very important to effective trial practice. Actors don’t need to fear being bruised as boxers do
Efficiency: by changing your thinking from “trial as sport” to “trial as art” you are more efficient, less fearful and ultimately more successful
Enjoyment: looking at trial as a art form is a lot of fun
Recipient of the Public Justice Foundation’s Champion of Justice Award 2009, Gary Gwilliam mentors attorneys on such challenges as alcoholism, stress, work/life balance, and dealing with losses.
Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer
One of my goals in 2010 is to increase the number of public speaking engagements I perform. I am happy to announce I have taken my first step toward this goal as the featured speaker for 
