This was a medical malpractice case.

The injured patient sued her doctor.

She believed that her doctor was careless.

She believed that his carelessness was a cause of her injuries.

She believed...no, she knew, that her injuries were permanent.

Our medical expert confirmed her doctor was negligent.

Our expert confirmed that his negligence was a cause of her injuries.

Her treating doctors also confirmed that her injuries were signficant and permanent.

That allowed me to start a lawsuit on her behalf.

During the course of her lawsuit, I received a lumpy piece of mail one day.

I looked at the return address.

It was from one of the defense lawyers representing the doctor in our case.

It wasn't a letter.

It wasn't a transcript, which is long, flat and heavy.

It came in a small envelope.

Padded envelope.

It was pretty light.

What could my adversary send to me in a small padded envelope?

Intriguing.

Unusual.

Needless to say, I had to open it.

Looking inside, I found a DVD.

There was a cover letter too.

"Dear Mr. Oginski,

Enclosed you will find a surveillance DVD of your client. Have a nice day!"

Signed "Your friendly medical malpractice defense lawyer."

He didn't actually sign the cover letter that way, but you get the gist.

Why would my opponent in this case send me a DVD?

I will tell you it wasn't a major motion picture just released on DVD.

I will tell you it wasn't a limited time release movie that he just had to share with me.

Instead, this was a made-for-my-laptop movie.

Guess what?

I knew the person who was in the video!

It was my client.

The one who suffered permanent harm and injury because her doctor was careless.

As I watched this DVD, I was tempted to grab some popcorn and a drink.

I thought this would be good.

The more I watched, the more bored I became.

This was a REALLY BORING video.

There's my client!

Walking out of her house.

I thought he'd wave to the camera.

She didn't.

I thought there'd be dialogue.

There wasn't.

I thought there'd be sound.

There wasn't.

It was like watching a silent movie.

She took some garbage bags to the curb.

I saw her getting into her car.

Then she drove off.

This is really boring.

I'm waiting for some good acting.

I'm waiting for some drama.

I'm waiting for a punchline.

Why did the defense lawyer send me this crappy video of my client doing her daily activities?

It's because they wanted to try and show that she's a liar.

They wanted to show that she's less than truthful.

They wanted to get her on hidden camera doing those activities she claimed she couldn't do.

Here's the reality...

There was nothing they captured on this video that contradicted anything she said she couldn't do.

Nothing.

That's good for us.

That's good for my client.

Now, I can use this lumpy piece of mail against them at trial.

To learn even more about this lumpy piece of mail, I invite you to watch the quick video below...

 

Gerry Oginski
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NY Medical Malpractice & Personal Injury Trial Lawyer