Why Should I Hire Personal Injury Attorney Stephen Ozcomert?

• We Return Our Phone Calls!
• I am the Lawyer That Will Represent You on Your Case
• We are Fair in Our Fees and There are No “Hidden” Fees
• We Will Help You With Your Property Damage
• We Listen and Take the Time Necessary to Understand Your Needs
• We are Experienced and Highly Qualified and I am Not Afraid to Try Your Case

I know this may seem basic or even silly. The truth is that many lawyers are notoriously bad about returning phone calls. When in law school, I spent a year interning with the General Counsel’s Office of the State Bar of Georgia. That is the office in charge of handling ethical complaints against attorneys. The #1 complaint was a failure of communication–the lawyers simply did not (and do not) return phone calls!

I resolved to never have this problem. My paralegal, Anne, and myself will always return phone calls the same business day the message is left. The only times that does not happen occur when I am on trial or one of us is out of town. Even then, your call will be returned by someone in my office promptly. Also, I am easy to contact by email and will answer questions from home sometimes late at night. Finally, I can usually be reached on my cell phone should I not be in the office and it is important. Rest assured, should we be so fortunate as to have you as a client, you will not have trouble communicating with us.

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Many law firms have too many clients. If a firm has 800 cases per lawyer, there is no possible way that lawyer can know anything about the cases he or she is allegedly “handling.”

This is most commonly the case in firms that are heavy advertisers. You know these firms as you see them on T.V. They have to pay for these advertisements somehow and that means they take on a huge number of clients and have to settle the vast majority of them quickly in order to pay the advertising bill. Unfortunately, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for these firms’ attorneys to give the kind of time and attention that professionally handling your case requires. Insurers also know this about the heavy advertises and will often deliberately low ball those firm’s clients knowing the cannot afford to take the time to sue the case.

In my practice, I handle a relatively small number of cases and do a highly professional job on all of them. I personally negotiate all client claims and do all of the depositions and jury trials myself. The old saw that “you are not a number to me” is really true. You can speak with me in person should you ever have an issue, and I will block aside enough time to have a thorough discussion about your situation. I am fortunate in that most of my business comes from old client referrals. I want you to be happy and to send me your friends and family. What comes around goes around.

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Many law firms will tell you that they charge a percentage of the recovery. Then, at the end of the case, there are fees and charges you were not expecting. These are most commonly charges for in house copying, postage, long distance, “administrative fees”, faxes, et al.

We don’t charge these types of fees. I think that if I make a copy on our copy machine, that is a cost of doing business. The only expenses that are charged back to the client at the end of the case are those that I actually have to write a check for. For example, if I request medical records from a hospital, they will charge me for them. That cost gets charged back to the client at the end of the case with no interest. I have never had a client complain that the expenses charged were not fair and reasonable.

On most cases, I work on a “no recovery no fee” basis. This is a contingency fee basis where we receive a percentage of the recovery. Our rates are competitive with other firms and, on a case by case basis, I will lower my fees in order to be as fair as possible to my client. I probably end up lowering my fee in some measure about half the time. This is particularly true on cases where my client has a serious injury and there are insufficient policy limits available to compensate my client for the loss. I want to leave my client in a better situation than the one that I found them. If I cannot do that, I would rather not represent the person. It is as simple as that.

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Most firms that do personal injury cases will simply tell you that they don’t handle the property damage and that you are on your own for this. While we charge no money, we will assist you in this process walking you through each step of the way. If necessary, I have occasionally even sued property damage only claims, though this is uncommon. We want to make sure our client is fairly treated and our clients greatly appreciate our help on the property damage aspect of the case.

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Every case is different. Even “routine” matters can have lots of complications. I have had clients whose landlord was about to evict them and I have gotten on the phone and explained the situation and been able to prevent that from occurring. Sometimes, a client just needs a sympathetic ear to listen to what is going on in her life and Anne or myself will be happy to listen. After all, if we can help we will and, if nothing else, we will learn more about who you are and how your case has affected your life. The process of getting to know a client as a person is deeply gratifying to us and we enjoy being able to help our clients legally and otherwise to the extent we can.

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Many firms say they “do” personal injury cases. Many lawyers think that these cases are easy and are happy to do one now and again. In contrast, I handle nothing but personal injury and professional negligence matters for individuals hurt due to the negligence of others. I have been handling exclusively these kinds of cases ever since I began practice in 1991 after getting my Doctor of Law degree from Emory University. Anne, my paralegal, has been working in this area longer than I have.

Unlike most lawyers, I have actually tried dozens of cases to juries all over the State of Georgia and been highly successful at it. I have not had a “defense verdict” (No money awarded) on a personal injury jury trial in more than a decade. Our verdicts have beaten the pre-trial offer made by the defense more than 70% of the time.

These accomplishments have led to my having an excellent reputation in the legal community. I am rated “AV” (highest possible rating) by other lawyers and judges and named to the “Super Lawyers” list for Georgia which is open to only 5% of the members of the Georgia Bar. I have also been listed in the “Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers” (a Martindale Hubbell publication). I also have been invited to lecture to various lawyer organizations on how to try and successfully handle personal injury matters and hold leadership positions in several bar organizations. My first million dollar plus jury verdict was in 1996 and have successfully handled many significant cases since. In sum, I am highly qualified to handle your case, whether it is large or small.

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Feel free to call or visit our firm should you have a case for which you need expert advice.