Leon Family Satisfied With FedEx Wrongful Death Jury Verdict of $5.5 Million

While no amount of money could ever compensate Elia Leon and her three children for the wrongful death of her husband and father, she was satisfied with the FedEx wrongful death jury verdict of $5.5 million.  An Albuquerque Federal Court jury returned the multi-million dollar verdict against FedEx on Friday afternoon.

"I hope that FedEx changes its practices and begins a truck driver safety program so that other families won't suffer personal injuries and wrongful death from FedEx drivers," said Elia Leon.  "The loss to our family when Martin was killed by the FedEx truck driver changed our lives forever."

Martin Leon was killed on November 30, 2011 while he was a passenger in the FedEx tractor-trailer on Interstate 40 near Grants, NM.  He was in the sleeper compartment of a FedEx semi truck when his co-driver Fernando Martinez-Leandro rear-ended a slower moving  semi truck operated by Puckett Transportation.  Martinez-Leandro told investigating officers that he had fallen asleep before rear-ending the Puckett truck.

Martin Leon was a 48 year old  resident of Los Angeles, CA. In addition to his wife Elia, he left three children, Juanita, Adrian and Luis.

Following the death of Martin, Elia Leon hired Mark Caruso with Caruso Law Offices to represent her in a wrongful death claim against FedEx and Puckett Transportation. The lawsuit was filed by Caruso in US District Court in New Mexico and assigned to Federal Court Judge James Browning.

Elia Leon ultimately settled her claim against Puckett Transportation and its driver, but the lawsuit against FedEx and its driver was heard by the Albuquerque jury and Judge Browning last week.   The 5 day jury trial resulted in a jury awarding $5.5 million to the Leon family.

The family argued negligence and negligence per se statutory violations in the operation of the FedEx semi truck by Martinez-Leandro.  The family also argued that FedEx  failed to provide driver safety training to Martinez-Leandro and other FedEx  drivers.

Evidence  at trial proved that the trucking industry standard is for trucking companies to provide regular on-the-road truck driver safety training and that such regular truck driver safety training results in less crashes and less injury and death to the public.

FedEx attorneys argued that neither FedEx or its driver were negligent in the operation of the semi truck.    FedEx attorneys also argued that FedEx did not need to provide regular truck driver safety training to Martinez-Leandro or other FedEx drivers.

FedEx was represented by the Rodey Law Firm from Albuquerque and FedEx national counsel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   Mark Caruso with Caruso Law Offices and Paul Barber represented the Leon family.

For additional information contact Mark Caruso at  (505) 883-5000  or   mark@carusolaw.com   or see the website at www.CarusoLaw.com   or    www.NMTruckAccidentAttorneys.com

Giovanna Caruso Starts Phoenix School of Law

By Mark Caruso, Albuquerque, NM Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorney



Giovanna Caruso

Giovanna Caruso, a 2013 graduate of a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, began her first day of law school at Phoenix School of Law.  The law school will be changing its name later this month to Arizona Summit School of Law.  The law school is one of three ABA approved law schools in Arizona.
 

Among the factors that influenced Giovanna Caruso to choose Phoenix School of Law were the beautiful new one year old complex in downtown Phoenix on the top floors of One North Central Avenue. The law school has state of the art classrooms, courtrooms, library and other facilities.

 Other factors included the proximity of Phoenix School of Law to Albuquerque, a substantial scholarship from the law school, and Indian Law courses she will take at the law school.

More important, however, is Phoenix School of Law's unique emphasis on lawyering skills and its training of its law students to be ready to practice law after they pass the Bar.

At Phoenix School of Law Giovanna hopes to specialize in personal injury and wrongful death litigation for her future employment as an attorney at Caruso Law Offices. Giovanna has worked as a legal assistant at Caruso Law Offices during her vacations away from Baylor University. She assisted attorneys with personal injury lawsuits from car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents and collisions.

Giovanna said, "I studied at Baylor University in Texas. I studied English Literature at Oxford University in England. I studied Spanish at the University of Granada in Spain. Now I get to study law at Phoenix School of Law in Arizona. I'm so excited about moving to Phoenix and studying law."

Giovanna Caruso is the daughter of Mark and Judy Caruso of Caruso Law Offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Caruso Law Offices is a personal injury and wrongful death law firm representing victims of vehicular, car, auto, truck, semi truck, tractor trailer, motorcycle, bus, bicycle and pedestrian crashes, wrecks, accidents and collisions. Mark and Judy Caruso have operated Caruso Law Offices in Albuquerque since 1987. Caruso Law Offices can be contacted at mark@carusolaw.com or thru their web site at www.carusolaw.com


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Phoenix School of Law is First Choice for Giovanna Caruso, Daughter of Successful Albuquerque Attorney Mark Caruso and Owner of Caruso Law Offices

Phoenix School of Law is first choice for Giovanna Caruso. 

By:  Mark Caruso, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorney (Albuquerque, NM)

Giovanna Caruso,  a 2013 graduate of a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, announced that she has chosen Phoenix School of Law from the list of 15 law schools who had accepted her as a first year law student. The law school is one of three ABA approved law schools in Arizona. She will begin Phoenix School of Law in August 2013.

Among the factors that influenced Giovanna Caruso to choose Phoenix School of Law were the beautiful new one year old complex in downtown Phoenix on the top floors of One North Central Avenue. The law school has state of the art classrooms, courtrooms, library and other facilities.  Other factors included the proximity of Phoenix School of Law to Albuquerque, a substantial scholarship from the law school, and Indian Law courses she will take at the law school.

More important, however, is Phoenix School of Law's  unique emphasis on lawyering skills and its training of its law students to be ready to practice law after they pass the Bar.  

Giovanna Caruso

At Phoenix School of Law Giovanna hopes to specialize in personal injury and wrongful death litigation for her future employment as an attorney at Caruso Law Offices.  Giovanna has worked as a legal assistant at Caruso Law Offices during her vacations away from Baylor University. She assisted attorneys with personal injury lawsuits from car, truck, motorcycle and pedestrian accidents and collisions.

Giovanna said, "I studied at Baylor University in Texas.  I studied English Literature at Oxford University in England.  I studied Spanish at the University of Granada in Spain.  Now I get to study law at Phoenix School of Law in Arizona.  I'm so excited about moving to Phoenix and studying law."

Giovanna Caruso is the daughter of Mark and Judy Caruso of Caruso Law Offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Caruso Law Offices is a personal injury and wrongful death law firm representing victims of vehicular, car, auto, truck, semi truck, tractor trailer, motorcycle, bus, bicycle and pedestrian crashes, wrecks, accidents and collisions. Mark and Judy Caruso have operated Caruso Law Offices in Albuquerque since 1987.  Caruso Law Offices can be contacted at mark@carusolaw.com or thru their web site at www.carusolaw.com


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Michael Morgan, Intern for Caruso Law Offices Passes 2013 Texas Bar!

Caruso Law Offices announces that Michael Morgan, the  personal injury  and  wrongful death  law firm's  spring/summer 2013 legal intern has passed the 2013 Texas Bar Exam!

By:  Mark Caruso, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorney (Albuquerque, NM)

 

Michael Morgan is a JD/MBA candidate at Baylor University School of Law and the Hankamer School of Business.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Alabama.  He was a finalist in Baylor School of Law's Dawson Moot Court Competition.  Mr. Morgan studied abroad in Madrid, Spain and is fluent in Spanish.

 

 

 

Michael Morgan is actively involved in assisting Caruso Law Office attorneys with personal injury and wrongful death cases including those involving auto accidents,  truck accidents and motorcycle accidents.

 

 In addition he has been a valuable asset to the firm with their Spanish speaking clients. He has also been extremely involved in several wrongful death claims handled by Mark Caruso.

 

Passage of the 2013 Texas Bar Exam permits Mr. Morgan to soon return to Texas to practice law and complete his Baylor MBA.  Mr. Morgan intends to ultimately have his own law practice where he can focus in the area of personal injury and wrongful death. 

 

After seeing first hand how a plaintiff's personal injury and wrongful death law firm operates, he is excited to help his own clients with their own  car accident,  truck accident and motorcycle accident claims.

 

Caruso Law Offices is based in Albuquerque, NM and strictly handles personal injury and wrongful death cliams involving vehicular accidents.  Mark Caruso, an attorney with 31 years experience and a former insurance company attorney, has two offices in Albuquerque and represents clients statewide in New Mexico and in the pueblos and reservations of NM.   Additional information about Caruso Law Offices can be found at  www.carusolaw.com  or from Mark Caruso directly at mark@carusolaw.com  or at  (505) 883-5000

 

Current clients and others wanting to congratulate Mr. Morgan can contact him directly at Caruso Law Office at    (505) 883-5000. 

 

 


 

Attorney Fees for Albuquerque Car Accident

Don't Pay the Higher 33 1/3% Contingency Attorney Fee in your Albuquerque Car Accident, Truck Accident or Motorcycle Accident

By: Mark Caruso, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorney (Albuquerque, NM)

You have probably seen all the personal injury attorneys advertising on television, billboards and the sides of buses offering to represent you in your Albuquerque  personal injury or  wrongful death claim on a percentage fee basis.  This is called a contingency fee.

A contingency fee means that you pay the personal injury attorney no hourly fee, but instead pay a "percentage fee" at the conclusion of the claim.  If the lawyer recovers no money on the claim, the attorney gets no attorney fee.

The New Mexico Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys set the ethical rules for  New Mexico attorneys to follow when charging personal injury clients a contingency fee for their  car accident,  truck accident  or  motorcycle accident. The Rules require the contingent fee to be reasonable and that the contingent fee agreement be in writing and signed by the client and attorney.

Most every auto accident and personal injury  attorneys in Albuquerque, NM  charges a contingency fee of  33 1/3% for all personal injury or wrongful death cases that are settled prior to a lawsuit being filed. This seems a little steep, especially because so little work is done by the personal injury attorney before the lawsuit is filed. Most of the initial proof of liability against the at fault driver and gathering of medical records and bills for treatment of personal injuries are done by a paralegal or legal assistant supervised by the attorney.

The personal injury attorney becomes much more involved in the preparation of the settlement demand to the insurance company adjuster,  the negotiation of settlement and the conclusion of the claim with the client.

It's only if the insurance adjuster won't settle with the attorney and client that a lawsuit may be required.  The majority of our cases at Caruso Law Offices do in fact settle without a lawsuit.    If a lawsuit is filed because the case could not be settled, then the attorney has much more involvement and expenses in the claim.

Beginning in 2009  Mark Caruso  and  Caruso Law Offices  pioneered a new approach to contingent  attorneys fees in Albuquerque, NM. 

Caruso began discounting the attorney fee to 29% contingency fee in cases that settled before the filing of a lawsuit. Caruso believed that to be in compliance with the "reasonable fee" requirement of the Rules and knowing that less work was required to settle a case if no lawsuit was yet filed, that a discounted fee was warranted.

We currently discount the contingency fee to only 29% if a case is settled before a lawsuit is filed.

The result is that more money goes into our  client's pocket in every case that we settle before a lawsuit! We also believe  it also means quicker settlements for clients. As an example, using a settlement of a $50,000 case, the attorney fee would be $14,500 rather than $16,666.  That's $2,100 more into the client's pocket rather than the attorney's pocket.

The response from clients to the discounted contingency fee has been amazing. 

Caruso Law Offices  receives most of its personal injury client referrals from word of mouth, and little advertising is really needed. Today, most of our clients with  car accident claims,  truck accident claims  and  motorcycle claims  are by word of mouth and referrals.

Lawyers insisting on the 33 1/3% fee try to argue that a discounted 29% fee means a lesser qualified attorney or law firm.   Not so with Caruso Law Offices!

Mark Caruso, the senior attorney at Caruso Law Offices, has 31 years experience and is a former insurance company attorney who now helps injured victims.   He is also licensed in both New Mexico and California, and he is a member of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association of Justice and the prestigious Million Dollar Advocates Forum.  Caruso has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell's Client Distinction Award, AVVO Lawyer Ratings Superb 9.6/10.0 rating and Better Business Bureau's A+ rating.

Because Caruso Law Offices does not do television, radio, billboard or bus advertising, its law firm advertising overhead is much lower.  It doen't need to justify the higher 33 1/3% fee to pay for this expensive advertising. More importantly, the discounted fee of 29% helps who it supposed to help--clients of Caruso Law Offices.  It puts more money in the client's pocket, and less money in the attorney's pocket.

Helping the clients should be the number one priority of every attorney, and it is the priority at Caruso Law Offices.

Caruso Law Offices isn't spending lots of money on advertising and can afford to pass the savings to his clients.  Advertising is an expensive overhead.  Freeway billboards can cost $8,000 a month, and some attorney television budgets are $20,000 monthly.  This attorney advertising does not mean that the particular attorney is a better attorney, only that he is spending more on advertising and probably charging the higher 33 1/3% fee rather than the discounted 29% fee.

Mark Caruso would like to personally meet with you to confidentially discuss your car accident, truck accident or motorcycle accident. The consultation will be FREE and without any obligation whatsoever. We will discuss the facts of the accident, medical care you have received and future medical care that you may require.  We will discuss what to expect from the claims process and the "personality" of the automobile insurance company your claim is against.  We promise to answer all of your questions and give you honest and truthful answers.

 You can call Mark Caruso at 505-883-5000 or toll free at 800-657-9292.  We have two locations in Albuquerque-our Northeast Heights office and our  Westside office. Mark Caruso can also meet you at your home, work or hospital and on weekends and after hours.

We represent personal injury clients with vehicular accidents throughout the state of New Mexico and in the pueblos and reservations of our state.

You can also visit our web site at   www.carusolaw.com  or contact Mark Caruso at mark@carusolaw.com   We look forward to hearing from you.