The letters and liens that medical providers ask you to sign do not protect YOU when settlement time comes. When medical providers want a letter or protection from you or your client, reach for this form.
You know what happens in your BI cases. The medical bills pile up, and your client’s doctor tells her patient (your client) that medical treatment will stop unless the client either pays the doctor bill now or signs the doctor’s form saying that the doctor will get paid out of the case settlement.
The form the doctor gives your client to sign is usually not good for either you, the client, or the lawsuit. Nine times out of ten, the doctor’s form is worded so that the doctor can be attacked on the witness stand for having agreed not to be paid unless the case is won. Worse than that, ten times out of ten, the doctor’s form is worded so that the doctor gets paid before the costs of litigation (that you advanced) are paid!
And it gets worse. When you sign multiple forms for medical providers you can get into some real conflicts of provisions. The doctor’s form conflicts with the hospital’s form, and the hospital’s form conflicts with the physical therapist’s forms, and the chiropractor’s form attempts to supervene them all. In most states, you are held to be the trustee of the funds to see that all are paid properly before you are paid out of the settlement.
Our letter of protection form starts out with an eight page report summarizing the lawyer’s duties on disbursing funds and how you can protect yourself by using properly drafted letters of protection. This report by itself may keep you from making costly mistakes. Then after this eight page report provided for your education, we give you the form you should use in sending out your own Letter of Protection when you need one.
Check your state law, but we think, for most states, our Letter of Protection form is the single best, uniform, form one you can use. Use our form with the modifications your research suggests is needed for your state. Then send the doctor back her form, and the hospital its form, unsigned by you, and send them your own form, signed by you and the client. (Remember, if your client does not sign a letter of protection authorizing you to make the agreement, you can get in big trouble, and our Letter of Protection guides you to get it done right.)
This Letter of Protection is so inexpensive that if it saves you one-half hour of time —- ever —- it would have paid for itself. But where you will really praise yourself for using this form is the first time it gets you out of trouble! (Just one paragraph, the pro rata payment clause, probably will do that more than once for you.)
Three big points
- The Letter of Protection saves you worry about what you are signing when you sign the forms medical providers have your client bring you. Use our form — not the doctor’s form. Just the feeling of no worry is worth the cost of our Letter of Protection.
- The Letter of Protection gives you a standard procedure. Not only does it save you time, our Letter of Protection will standardize your office procedures. With everyone in your office doing the same thing, you do not have to worry about conflicts between medical providers caused by your own office signing different forms for different doctors.
- The Letter of Protection is a very low investment with a high value return in terms of keeping you out of trouble!
You can own Letter of Protection for the price of only $19.90
Dear Fellow Attorney,
While practicing for the last 35 years, in a successful five state litigation practice, I developed and refined a Letter of Protection that medical providers all accepted and that saved me from problems when the case settled and the client and doctor were about to part ways. I developed the form for my use in Texas, where doctors were particularly insistent on not providing medical services to plaintiffs unless there was a letter of protection guaranteeing payment of their medical bills out of the settlement proceeds. Then I found that the same form seemed to work well in every state where litigation took me.
Having my own Letter of Protection form saved me lots of time, and made me more effective for my clients.
Most attorneys have no real system of developed forms to use with doctors. Most attorneys waste time, and they miss issues and questions they should ask.
But that doesn’t have to be you.
My Letter of Protection is a mentor in a box, coaching you on the points you should consider. You do not have to waste time, looking at various forms different medical providers send you. Don’t sign the form of the medical provider. Instead, send them your own standard Letter of Protection form. Standardize your office practice and protect both you and your client from the clauses in the liens or form letter of protection thrust at you by doctors, hospitals, and physical therapists.
This total “form” is both an eight page summary report on what you need to know about the law in this area and also your legal form Letter of Protection. You can get started in just minutes!
If Letter of Protection saves you from liability in just one case – ever – it will have paid for itself thousands of times over.
Remember, you can own Letter of Protection, and its included Law Report, for the price of only $19.90
All The Best,
Leonard Bucklin, Civil Trial Attorney
Attorneys who buy our SET017 Letter of Protection are often also interested in using our #SET018 Plaintiff’s Request to Medical Providers for Amount of Medical Bill. It works well at settlement time when you have letter of protection or a lien notice in your bodily injury case file.
