Speaker 1:
Mike, how are you doing today?
Michael Bertucci:
Good. How are you? Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:
Sure. Okay. Please say hello to your new audience.
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. Hi, my name is Michael Bertucci. I’m one of the attorneys at Mike Agruss Law.
Speaker 1:
Right. Yes, thank you. As last time we discussed, we’ve been discussing so many issues, so many questions has been answered by my [inaudible 00:00:22] and yourself, okay? And, but we still going to need to clarify and, again, explain in depth of what the problem or when someone or some people they get involved into a accident. So, and we have very pleased to have you here today. The first question is, what type cases do Mike Agruss Law handle?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. We handle a variety of injury cases, really any type of injury, whether it’s a motor vehicle collision or any other injury, any type of car accident, trucking accidents. If you’re on a bicycle and you’re in an accident, on a motorcycle and you’re in an accident, ride share accidents. If you’re in an Uber or a Lyft.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
And then any other type of injury. So like a dog bite case, slip and fall, nursing home negligence or nursing home abuse, those types of cases and any other type of injury.
Speaker 1:
All right. Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:01:17]. Yes. Thank you for your answer. And the next question is, who can help me at the scenes of an accident if I don’t speak English?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. You’re still at the scene of an accident and you don’t speak English, you can call a family member or a friend, or you can even call [Queen Ark 00:04:22] from our office who’s been on the show before as well. Just let the police know that you speak Vietnamese or whatever other language and that you would like somebody to help translate how the accident happened.
Speaker 1:
All right. [foreign language 00:04:35]. Yes. Thank you for your answer here. The next question is, when should I call a lawyer?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. You want to call a lawyer as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Michael Bertucci:
We can help make sure you get treatment and see doctors who can help you recover.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Michael Bertucci:
And then we also start our investigation the very same day when you call us, which is really important because the insurance companies are already going to be preparing their defenses and trying to minimize the claim that you have against them, so if you call us right away, we can get started on your claim and get started on your case.
Speaker 1:
Okay. All right. Yeah. That’s very important, right?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. Very important.
Speaker 1:
So you need to report immediately, so everything should be straightforward, right?
Michael Bertucci:
Yes.
Speaker 1:
[foreign language 00:06:25]. Thank you for your answer here. Another questions we use to answer you. Okay. Why do I need a lawyer when I’m involved in a car accident? Why?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. So we at Mike Agruss Law handle everything for our clients. We help you get medical treatment, we handle the police report, we deal with the insurance companies, we even deal with property damage claims, which a lot of firms don’t handle.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Michael Bertucci:
So we handle everything. Don’t wait, come to us first so we can handle everything and you can focus on recovering.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
And then it’s also important that you not speak to the insurance companies and don’t give a statement because they might try to use that against you. A lot of times people don’t realize what they’re saying or the importance of what they’re saying, but the insurance companies will want to use that against you if they can, so…
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
Let us deal with the insurance companies. You can focus on recovering.
Speaker 1:
All right. Yeah. [foreign language 00:08:49]. Thanks for your answer here. Next question is, do we need to have a car insurance?
Michael Bertucci:
Yes, good question. You do, it’s actually the law in Illinois that you need to have car insurance.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
So if you get pulled over and you don’t have insurance, you can actually get a $500 ticket.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Michael Bertucci:
But more importantly, insurance can protect you if you’re in an accident and the other driver doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have good insurance, so you want to make sure you get what’s called a underinsured or uninsured motorist insurance, which means if the other driver doesn’t have any insurance or they don’t have good insurance or not enough insurance, then your own policy can kick in. If you’re injured, they’ll cover those injuries for you.
Speaker 1:
Right. Yeah. Thank you. [foreign language 00:12:57]. The next question is, should I ever speak to an insurance company if I’m injury in car accident?
Michael Bertucci:
Good question. A lot of people ask that. No, you don’t want to speak to the insurance company if you’re injured. Even your own, they don’t have your best interests in mind.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
They want to minimize their claims. They’re only looking out for themselves. Like I said before, if you give them a statement, they might try to use that against you later, so you don’t want to give them a statement or recorded statement over the phone. So let Mike Agruss Law deal with the insurance companies, that’s what we do. Let us handle that, and you can focus on recovering.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:16:00]. Thank you for your answer here. Then another question is, if I’m injure in a car accident and I don’t have a health insurance, what can we do? Okay.
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah, that’s a good question. There are a few different options to get your medical bills paid for, so you shouldn’t be afraid to go get treatment if you are in a car accident.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
First of all, there’s the defendant’s insurance, the person who paid you, their insurance can pay for your bills and we can step in and make them pay if they don’t.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Michael Bertucci:
Second, there is what’s called medical payment coverage through your own policy.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
So your own car insurance policy can pay for some of your bills up to a certain amount. And then lastly, we have a network of doctors who can treat you on a lien.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
Which means instead of charging you right away when you see them, they’ll put a lien on the case and we’ll wait, and then after the case, after we settle it and have money, we can use that money to pay for your bill so you don’t have to pay for it right away.
Speaker 1:
Right. Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:19:15]. Yes. The next question is, how long has Mike Agruss Law been in business?
Michael Bertucci:
Oh, good timing for this question. Mike Agruss Law actually just celebrated its 10 year anniversary this past March.
Speaker 1:
Right. We just never had a party, right?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. We did. It was a good time.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Michael Bertucci:
So it’s been a whole decade, and Mike Agruss has been practicing law for 17 years.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Michael Bertucci:
So he’s been doing this for a long time. He really knows what he’s doing. He’s been growing a law firm over the last 10 years.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Michael Bertucci:
And it’s still continuing to grow.
Speaker 1:
Right. Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:21:42]. Yes. First of all, we have to congratulations for your achievement, right? 10 years, right? Oh, that’s great. The next question is, why should I hire Mike Agruss Law? [inaudible 00:22:50]. What’s reason?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. Well, there’s a few reasons. First of all, like I mentioned before, we handle everything for our clients, from helping you get medical treatment, dealing with the insurance companies, helping get the police report, and then we even handle property damage claims, which a lot of law firms don’t do, so it’s one reason, but second, we have a lot of support staff and lawyers that allow us to settle cases quickly.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Michael Bertucci:
And maximize the settlement.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Michael Bertucci:
So we have intake specialists who gather all of the details and documents that we need from potential clients or from new clients.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
And then we have paralegals and legal assistance who help with anything that we might need on a case, they work with the clients.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
And then everything is organized for us, the lawyers, so that we can settle the cases quickly and maximize that settlement. And since we have so many people, if you call our office, you’ll always be able to get ahold of somebody and talk about your case, which is great and somewhat unique. We’ve had clients who call us because they had another lawyer and they can’t get ahold of them anymore and they need somebody to work on their case, so they’ll call us and we’ll take over and work on their case and we’re always available to talk.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Okay. Thank you. Oh, that’s great service. All right. [foreign language 00:24:31]. Yes. Thank you for the question. And the next one… We still have only two more questions. [inaudible 00:26:27]. We sure have enough time here. Okay. What does this cost to hire Mike Agruss Law?
Michael Bertucci:
Good question. Yeah. A lot of people want to know that.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
It’s free to hire us, for us to win your case, and then our contingency fee is one third of the settlement, and that never changes, and that’s somewhat unique for Mike Agruss Law because a lot of firms will increase their fee for certain things. If they have to file the case or if they have to go to trial, they might charge you 40% or 50%, but our fee always stays at one third. And then we also handle property damage claims for free in car accident cases, which is even more unique because, virtually, no law firms [inaudible 00:27:03] but we do that for our clients for free.
Speaker 1:
Right. Okay. All right. That’s great, man.
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
I love when some people say, well, no charge. Free.
Michael Bertucci:
Yep.
Speaker 1:
That’s where you make my day. Okay. [foreign language 00:27:18] from 40 up to 50%. [foreign language 00:28:41] less than 40% [foreign language 00:28:43]. Thank you. The last questions we have is, what three things I should do after a car accident?
Michael Bertucci:
Yeah. So if you’re in a car accident, the first thing you want to do is call the police. You want to stay at the scene of the accident. Don’t go anywhere, wait for the police to get there and speak to them. Make sure you fill out a police report, that’s going to be very important when dealing with the insurance companies, and if you need help with a translator, you can always call a friend or a family member.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Michael Bertucci:
To get that. The second thing you want to do is get medical treatment right away. You might not feel the extent of your injuries or you might not think you’re injured, but it’s important to go see a doctor right away. If you wait even one or two days, the insurance company either won’t think you’re injured or will think your injuries are from something else.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
Because you waited and so they won’t pay you a fair amount in your settlement.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Michael Bertucci:
And then third, you want to speak to a lawyer right away. We can send you to get treatment. We’ll handle the insurance companies and we’ll make sure you get a fair settlement, and lawyers typically get their clients three times more money in a settlement than if somebody tried to handle a case on their own, so it’s important to give us a call.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Okay. Thank you. [foreign language 00:30:15] get a medical treatment right away [foreign language 00:31:48]. Yes. Thanks so much for your general consultation and your explanation about [inaudible 00:35:22] law. So many thing… Okay. We need to know about Mike Agruss Law and yourself as well. Okay.
Michael Bertucci:
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:
Yes. Before we say goodbye, please say goodbye to your new audience.
Michael Bertucci:
Yep. Goodbye. Thank you for having me again. It’s always a pleasure to be on the show.
Speaker 1:
Yes. All right. Before we say goodbye, thanks again. [foreign language 00:35:42].
