Alexandria, Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer Gerald A. Schwartz HomeMaximizing Recovery
The Virginia State Bar requires that all lawyers set forth the following regarding their verdicts and settlements: “ GROSS SETTLEMENTS INDICATED ARE CUMULATIVE RESULTS AND DO NOT APPLY TO ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL SETTLEMENT. INDIVIDUAL CASE RESULTS DEPEND UPON A VARIETY OF FACTORS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. CASE RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE OR PREDICT A SIMILAR RESULT IN ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY THE LAWYER. ”
Gerald Schwartz strongly believes that “a case isn’t settled right - unless it is settled for maximum recovery.” Only then does a client receive justice. Obtaining maximum recovery for a client requires maximum hard work, maximum dedication and maximum effort by the client’s lawyer. For 30 years, Virginia personal injury lawyer Gerald Schwartz has dedicated his practice to fighting for maximum recovery for each client.
The Law Offices of Gerald Schwartz has recovered over Two Hundred Million Dollars ($200,000,000.00) in gross settlements and verdicts for clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Gerald Schwartz is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, The Top Trial Lawyers in America -- a national organization that recognizes the dedication and achievements of lawyers across America in winning one million dollar settlements and verdicts for their clients.
Gerald Schwartz has been recognized as a “master advocate.” Examples of his advocacy on behalf of clients in an effort to obtain maximum recovery can be seen by clicking “advocating for maximum recovery”.
Gerald Schwartz is often asked by the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association to teach other lawyers how to maximize recovery in personal injury cases. He has given over 80 lectures across Virginia including “Maximizing Recovery in Fracture Injury Cases,” May 2011. Gerald Schwartz was Chairman and Editor of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s seminar and publication How To Maximize Recovery in Auto Accident Cases. Some lawyers have called this publication the “Bible” for maximizing recovery in auto accident cases.
Serious Injury = Not Enough Insurance Coverage
Paul suffered a serious traumatic brain injury in a Fairfax, Virginia car crash. He was treated at the Fairfax Hospital Intensive Care Unit for over a month. The other driver only has minimum auto insurance coverage. Many times a negligent driver who causes serious personal injury or death has insufficient assets and not enough liability insurance coverage to pay the value of the case. Inadequate insurance coverage is a major problem facing seriously injured people and their lawyers. A million dollar verdict is useless unless the client’s attorney can find insurance coverage to pay it.
Gerald Schwartz is a recognized expert throughout Virginia at Maximizing personal injury and wrongful death recovery by finding insurance funds to pay for the harm the wrongdoer caused. Personal injury and wrongful death lawyers across Virginia regularly go to Gerald Schwartz for advice to maximize their client’s recovery.
On Maximizing Insurance Recovery
For almost twenty years, Gerald Schwartz has written legal articles and extensively lectured personal injury and wrongful death lawyers on how to maximize their client’s recovery. The following are a few legal articles and seminar books written by Gerald Schwartz on how to maximize insurance recovery in serious injury and wrongful death cases:
- "Maximizing Recovery – Resident of the Household – The Gateway to First Class Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage”, The Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, 2011
- “Maximizing Your Client’s Recovery With Underinsured Motorist Coverage”, The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Volume 21, No. 1, 2009, pp. 15-25
- Master of Advocacy Seminar, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, October, 2007, “Auto Insurance - How To Get All The Coverage And Beat The Defenses”
- “Non-Owned Auto Liability Coverage: The Pot of Gold at the End of the Coverage Rainbow”, The Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, 2006
- “Understanding Auto Insurance Law - Maximizing Coverage”, The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Spring 1995, pp. 14-23
- “Understanding Auto Insurance Law: Maximizing Recovery with Medical Expense Benefits Coverage”, The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Fall 1995
Was Able to Maximize A Client’s Recovery
Gerald Schwartz has handled many serious injury and wrongful death cases where the negligent driver did not have enough insurance coverage to pay the value of his client’s claim. On numerous occasions, Gerald Schwartz was able to find more liability insurance or underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) to help maximize his client’s recovery.
D.H. was injured in a Fredericksburg car accident while a passenger in his girlfriend’s car driven by Laura, who was at fault. The car had no auto insurance. The negligent driver, Laura, had only $25,000 in liability coverage insurance on her personal auto not involved in the accident. Since Laura was at fault, her personal insurance company offered its $25,000 policy limit to our client, D.H., which was not enough.
Gerald Schwartz discovered that the negligent driver, Laura, lived in the same household with her daughter, Alice. Alice owned a car insured with OMNI, which had liability limits of $100,000. Since Laura was driving a car she did not own or regularly use (what the law calls a “non-owned auto”), Schwartz was able to recover another $100,000 from OMNI, in addition to Laura’s $25,000, to help maximize his client’s recovery. Learn more about “non-owned auto” excess liability coverage.
Finding Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM)
R.C. was tragically killed in an auto accident in King George, Virginia, leaving a wife and two small children. Gerald Schwartz represented R.C.’s estate in a wrongful death claim against the negligent driver. Before Schwartz was retained, the negligent driver’s insurance company offered its full policy limits of $100,000. After R.C.’s widow retained Schwartz, he found an additional $900,000 in underinsured motorist coverage maximizing the client’s recovery. Gerald Schwartz maximized the client’s recovery with a $1,000,000 settlement instead of the $100,000 which the insurance company urged the widow and two children to accept before Gerald Schwartz was retained. Learn more about maximizing recovery with underinsured motorist coverage.
R.O., Administrator v. J.A.G. and L.H.A., Administrator
R.O. lost his wife, Anna, in a car accident in Fredericksburg, Virginia caused by the negligence of two drivers. Each driver had minimum liability limits of only $25,000 for a total of $50,000 which the insurance adjuster urged R.O. to accept since it was all the insurance coverage available. Instead, R.O. retained Gerald Schwartz to represent his wife’s estate in the wrongful death case.
Gerald Schwartz found that R.O.’s mother owned a tractor-trailer which was used in her trucking business. Since Anna and R.O. lived in his mother’s household, Schwartz maintained that the underinsured motorist coverage on the tractor-trailer covered Anna. The insurance company refused to pay, contending that since Anna was not occupying the tractor-trailer at the time of her death her estate was not entitled to the insurance coverage. Gerald Schwartz filed a lawsuit to compel the insurance company to pay. The insurance company paid the wrongful death claim. Gerald Schwartz was able to recover over $500,000 for Anna’s estate by maximizing the recovery with underinsured motorist coverage. Learn more about the case.
Gerald Schwartz, a Virginia personal injury lawyer, fights hard in an effort to maximize each client’s recovery. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured, or a family member tragically killed because of another person’s carelessness, contact Gerald Schwartz at 1.800.423.0055 to stand by your side to hold the wrongdoer responsible and fight for maximum recovery.
