Rodney H. Testimonial

I highly recommend the Robert Katz law firm for personal injury lawsuit representation. In my particular accident and personal injury case I experienced a bicycle upon bicycle collision and injury. Immediately following the violent bicycle accident and contacting Mr. Katz law firm for the initial free consultation I was apprehensive. I had no prior experience with a personal injury lawsuit, was unable to obtain a police report because no law enforcement arrived at the scene of the accident. When I later contacted the appropriate local police precinct the officer on duty said that they would not write an accident report when no automobiles were involved, because no automobile insurance companies would require the accident report. I also had no first party visual witnesses to the bike-on-bike collision where vehicle (bicycle) operator negligence had occurred on a Georgia public motorway. My understanding was that bicycles were classified as legal vehicles on Georgia roads and had to obey specific vehicular law regarding turning, signaling and yielding.

So, with a severely fractured limb requiring surgical repair with a metal plate, several screws and inserted bonding material I contacted the Katz firm to help determine my legal recovery options. After a brief telephone screening my wife and I were invited to visit the Katz firm to present the facts of our accident case, introduce ourselves as potential clients and receive guidance and a preliminary assessment of our case from Robert Katz. Mr. Katz welcomed us to his offices and provided us with reassurance and peace of mind to where we were less fearful of this undertaking. Mr. Katz determined that we did have a legitimate personal injury accident situation that he would be willing to undertake. It was clear to me at that moment that Mr. Katz was very professional, experienced, an attorney of good character and that Mr. Katz and his firm were of a quality and stature that they would not undertake my case unless the case had merit based on my injury and that he believed that together, we had a high probability of winning this case, either with a significant settlement or at trial.

Mr. Katz was expert as assessing the legal damages I incurred and the likely duration of my case development to potential trial. I recall Mr. Katz said my case would require two to three years to complete. This was due to the time required for my injury to heal, physical therapy and exercise rehabilitation and then the routine of the legal case development following determination of level of injury and losses.

Mr. Kats and his legal team always treated us with excellent client care and professionalism. I always maintained a comfort and trust with Robert even when several months of time passed between our initial in-person meeting and when we were required to appear in person again for depositions or later, potential settlement negotiation consultations via telephone and later, courtroom trial testimony preparations.

The defendant’s lawyers made an initial low settlement offer and didn’t move off of their initial offer until we were fully prepared for trial, more than one year later. In the days immediately preceding our scheduled trial date we specifically asked the defendant’s team to double their financial settlement offer and that we were agreeable to “settle”. At that time the defendant’s also found it appropriate to settle at a medium, yet satisfactory dollar level for my team. It is my understanding that Mr. Katz steadfast and persistent investigation of secondary witnesses, bicycling experts, doctors, myself, and the defendant that Mr. Katz had raised our probability of winning the case at trial that finally got the attention of the defendant’s legal team and moved them to double their settlement payout offer. Mr. Katz pretrial briefing statements were clearly diminishing the defendant’s team chances of succeeding at a jury trial.

Near the end, with our trial only days away, I weighed my personal financial risk and reward profile and was motivated to settle to obtain a very satisfactory financial settlement and to avoid potential personal “out of pocket” legal expenses if we did not prevail at trial. Mr. Katz informed and advised me accurately and consistently throughout the 32 months that my case developed. Mr. Katz was “at my side” during the final days when I agreed to settle, just prior to trial.

The conference room at the Katz law firm was filled with the smiles and laughter of my wife, Mr. Katz and me as the final settlement checks were distributed.

In foresight and hindsight, I would like to emphasize to anyone interested and who may have a similar case, the success and favorable outcome that Robert Katz brought to my case. Please reconsider the challenges and circumstances of winning our settlement, or possibly winning the case at trial as we were prepared to undertake.

1. Bike on bike accident, no automobile insurance, an unorthodox case
2. No police accident report
3. No ambulance pickup or transport (later diagnosed as shattered leg with x-ray and cat-scan at hospital)
4. No eyewitnesses
5. Selective memory regarding traffic accident facts by defendant
6. Imaginative interpretation of Georgia bicycle vehicular law by defense

Signed,

Fulton County Cyclist