FIND THE TOP INJURY LAWYERS IN ARKANSAS – by looking to the ratings and reviews.

If it’s lonely at the top …then maybe you’re not there!

When it comes to finding the right attorney to go to battle for you or your family, you need to remember that anyone can buy billboard advertising, make a slick website or create a slogan. Did you know that there are law firms in Arkansas that employee full-time public relations directors whose only job is to make sure the law firm is getting attention from any source available?  They are literally paid to draw attention to the law firm and to make it appear strong, important, involved in the community and successful.

This is the sad reality of the practice of law these days. Law firms are promoting themselves on billboards, radio and television, touting themselves and begging for business with silly slogans or really dumb questions like “INJURED?” (As if someone driving down the interstate is going to see that question and think, “Wait …I am injured …I better call that lawyer!”)

So how do you find the best lawyer for the job and ensure that you or your family is not being sucked in by some public relations promotion or being influenced by lawyer advertising? One of the best ways is to carefully research the lawyer or firm by looking to trusted online resources where you can learn what an attorney’s peers think of his or her work or, more importantly, learn of what a lawyer’s former clients have to say about their experience.

Martindale-Hubbel’s Lawyer Ratings is one excellent resource. It is a peer review rating system, so what you are seeing is what other attorneys, who practice in the same geographic area as an attorney, think of his or her work and ethical standards.

      

If a lawyer has an “AV Preeminent” rating with Martindale-Hubbel, then that lawyer’s peers have given him or her the highest rating available. This not a law firm touting itself as “good” but other lawyers in your community rating that lawyer as one of the best.

Another excellent resource is Avvo’s online rating service. Avvo hosts the most comprehensive rating service of attorneys on the internet.  What sets it apart, is the fact that you can see not only what other lawyers say in endorsements but, more importantly, what former clients have to say about their own experience with the lawyer or law firm.

Fortunately, with such resources available online, you really do not have to rely on billboards and slogans to find the best lawyer to help you.  The bottom line is that you should do some research and ultimately trust yourself and your instincts …and look beyond advertisements.

-bruce

Call me anytime and I will be glad to discuss your case with no obligation.

Here’s my cell: (479) 936-4384

Please click HERE to learn more about our firm.

 

 

REALLY GOOD LAWYERS IN ARKANSAS – don’t tolerate even “small” lies.

This will probably come as a surprise to no one, but there are lawyers that are untruthful. They will skirt the rules of ethics when dealing with opposing counsel and lie to their co-workers, employees, partners, and even clients, for financial gain and/or to feed their egos. I believe this is a conditioned behavior. Such lawyers simply do not recognize that integrity is like a boat, and with each act of dishonesty a small hole is punched into the hull.  At first the boat sails on, as it is watertight for the most part, but over time no amount of bailing will keep it afloat.  Such lawyers are destined to eventually fail in one aspect or another of their lives.  A good friend of mine recently sent me this article …which is right on point:

An attorney’s integrity and reputation for honest dealings is far more important than money. Self-serving lying lawyers gradually burn bridges with those around them until there is no where to go ….because there is no bridge left. They end up on an island with those who still pretend to respect them – convinced that they are still respected …because they cannot even be honest with themselves.

-bruce

Mulkey Law Firm takes great pride in the lawyering we do inside and outside the courtroom. You can talk to Bruce about your case any time with no obligation. Just call his cell: (479) 936-4384.  Click HERE to learn more and see his client ratings.

 

 

 

AVVO 2016 CLIENTS’ CHOICE AWARD – THANK YOU CLIENTS!!!!

Mulkey Law Firm is proud to announce that Bruce has received Avvo’s Client Choice Award for 2016. We are dedicated to providing each client with personal attention and service and to obtaining the best possible results for each case.

Avvo is an online legal service marketplace that offers legal advice and showcases ratings of legal professionals. About 97% of U.S. lawyers are rated by Avvo, which allows prospective clients to research attorneys based on their reviews and ratings.

In addition to his most recent achievement, Bruce also maintains a “Superb” Avvo rating of 10 – Avvo’s highest rating.  Ratings on Avvo are calculated by using information from state bar associations, along with the attorney’s honors, experience, and qualifications.

Please click HERE to read Bruce’s full Avvo profile and read his latest client ratings and reviews.

 

 

BENTON COUNTY’S BEST INJURY LAWYERS …stand up to insurance companies that play games!

The best auto and truck accident lawyers in this, or any other, county are those that work the hardest to obtain evidence before going to battle with liability insurance companies. Moreover, when a company ignores powerful evidence that is contrary to its position, the best trial lawyers know it’s time to fight.

Not long ago my firm had the pleasure of representing a gentleman who, remarkably, only suffered minor injuries after his car was totaled.  A driver turned directly into his path as he was driving down Walton Blvd. in Bentonville one afternoon. The negligent driver’s insurance company, for whatever reason, decided it was  going to declare our client 20% at fault and pay only 80% of his property damage and personal injury claim.

What made this liability game so unbelievable was the fact that the company took this position despite the fact that we were able to obtain and provide it with a video of the accident from every angle!  Using the Freedom of Information Act, we procured video captured on traffic cameras operational at the intersection of Walton and Central (a major intersection in Northwest Arkansas) recording the entire unfortunate episode from start to finish. Viewers can even see the color of the traffic lights as the maroon truck turns (without a green arrow) across Walton Blvd. as our client enters the intersection under a green light. Liability could not be any clearer.

Amazingly, the insurance company, stood its ground and maintained its ridiculous stance. However, once we filed suit and served its insured, wiser adjuster heads prevailed and the company quickly forked over payment of 100% of our client’s property damages and bodily injury claim. Not only that, we extracted additional expenses our client incurred due to the delay and those associated with filing the lawsuit.

The moral of the story is: if you really have the evidence …call their bluff!

-bruce

Please click HERE to learn more about my practice.

 

THE BEST NWA PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER – (in his own mind)…. that you may NOT want to hire!

The other day I was reading an article I found online by Ann Bittinger entitled Disarming the Narcissistic Attorney.  It is an insightful essay on how attorneys should deal with other attorneys afflicted with narcissistic personality disorder.  However, it really  made me think about how sad it is when people facing very real and very serious problems entrust their cases to such attorneys. That is because, as Ms. Bittinger points out, attorneys are supposed to advocate for their clients.

True advocates put the interest of the person for whom they advocate ahead of their own. Thus, when we take a case, the client’s interest comes first. While a self-absorbed attorney often has trouble with this very simple concept, a narcissist finds it impossible. That is because the client and the client’s case are merely vehicles by which the narcissistic lawyer feeds his or her constant need for admiration.

Ms. Bittenger writes, “[t]he narcissistic attorney is the direct opposite of the attorney advocate. We are all familiar with the stereotypical narcissistic attorney: puffing his chest, bragging about his cases, his achievements and at the same time insulting and deflating those around him, including partners, associates and even the client. The narcissistic attorney must keep inflating his ego and perceived persona, like a balloon, while behaving in a way that deflates the behaviors of those around him.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, a narcissistic personality disorder can include these features:

• Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
• Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
• Exaggerating your achievements and talents
• Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
• Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
• Requiring constant admiration
• Having a sense of entitlement
• Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
• Taking advantage of others to get what you want
• Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
• Being envious of others and believing others envy you
• Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner

Do any of the foregoing describe someone you initially admired, or wanted to admire you, only to later despise as their true narcissism became evident?  We have all encountered a narcissist and many of us are forced to encounter them everyday for the sake of a paycheck!

When you are trying to select the right attorney, who will truly put your needs ahead of their own, then you should at least make a mental check list to take into the initial conference with the lawyer.

• Does the attorney whom you actually wanted to see, pop into the meeting to be introduced but then leaves you in the hands of other “staff” in the firm to get the details?
• Does the attorney make statements such as, “oh we’ve handled cases just like yours half-a-dozen times successfully” (often asking a member of his or her staff to confirm his or her boast)?
• Does the attorney casually tell you of some “really important” thing (or things) he or she has recently done?

Keeping in mind that a narcissist usually makes an impressive first impression and surrounds himself with only admirers, if everything you see and/or hear is a little over the top with respect to “how great we are” or “how great he or she is,” – you might want to visit a few other attorneys before signing a contract.

Trust is extremely important when it comes to finding the right lawyer. If you genuinely trust the attorney, then others will, too. (That can be really important when it comes to a jury trial.)  If you have reservations regarding this …then others will, too.  Find a true advocate by trusting your instincts.

-bruce

Please click HERE to learn more about my practice.

 

TOP ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS IN BENTON COUNTY ARKANSAS – Are those who dig deep!

For twenty-five years I have been working for families that have been harmed in some way by the carelessness or negligence of another. Despite what television may depict, attorneys do not do all of their fighting in court. In fact, most of the battles take place well before a case ends up in court and, frankly, the better the lawyer, the less likely it is that there will ever be a court battle.

When it comes to car and truck accidents, the best lawyer a family can hire is one who recognizes that hard work on the front end of a case can pay off in spades for his or her clients; both in terms of saving them time in reaching a fair resolution and, more importantly, genuinely balancing the books in terms of receiving fair compensation for their clients’ harms and losses.

In most cases where liability is clear and the harm is not seriously questioned, the lawyer’s job is to stay engaged with all concerned and shepherd the client through the process; run interference between the client and the big insurance company, collect the medical and billing records, collect lost wage or income information, prepare a demand brochure and, hopefully, settle the case.  However, when the negligent party’s insurance company denies liability or refuses to recognize that your client was genuinely harmed, the lawyers job suddenly becomes difficult.

In my mind, this is really where the rubber meets the road in terms of lawyering.  What does the attorney do when the insurance company tells him to “go away?”  Some lawyers, for whatever reason, hang it up and hand the case back to the client. (Every injury lawyer knows this happens because we have all been called by someone who had a case handed back to them.) Others file suit no matter how bad the facts are; convincing themselves that the insurance company will fold at some point. (Don Quixote!!)

In my opinion, the top personal injury attorneys are those who go to work and dig deeper when the insurance company denies liability. There can be game changing evidence beyond what is found in the police report, but it won’t find itself.

For example, I was recently hired to represent two young women who were traveling through Arkansas when a dark colored car driven by an older woman veered into their lane and forced them off the interstate. Their car spun through the wet median and slammed into the retention cable on the opposite side. The cable then threw their car back into the center of the median like a giant slingshot.

According to the accident report, an elderly woman was pulled over by a State Trooper further down the interstate and identified (at least in the report) as the driver of the vehicle which had run my clients off the road. However, after the insurance company completed its investigation, I received a letter advising me that it would not be accepting responsibility.

I telephoned the adjuster and learned that, based upon his interviews of the State Troopers involved, there was simply no evidence that the woman identified in the report had been driving the vehicle that forced my clients’ car off the road.  She was just randomly pulled over several miles down the interstate because she was driving a black car. There was no evidence linking her to the wreck. End of story. Go away.

I contacted the trooper who investigated the accident, as well as the second trooper who pulled the woman over down the road, and confirmed that neither really knew the reason that particular woman had been pulled over or just how it was that her information had made it into the police report. To me something was missing. There had to be an explanation.

To try and get to the bottom of it, I sent Freedom of Information Act requests to the Arkansas State Police for all audio and video from the car and/or body camera for the trooper who pulled the woman over. When a disk finally arrived, I was able to watch the State Trooper pulling over a lady in a dark car, and I could see and hear him speaking to the woman and explaining to her that she had apparently run a car off the road. She was seemingly ignorant of this and he sent her on her way. It still made no sense. Why had he pulled HER over?

The answer came when I dug a little deeper. Again using the Freedom of Information Act, I ordered the 911 calls for the accident. When the disk arrived, I put it into my computer and started listening to one 911 call after another. Caller after caller alerted the State Police to a white car crashing in the median and, time and again, the callers were advised that the dispatcher was aware of the accident and thanked. After listening to ten or eleven such calls, I was beginning to think I had struck out, when a caller suddenly said something different.

A gentleman told dispatch that he had just witnessed a dark car run a white car off the interstate. He provided the cars license tag number and said that the vehicle was then directly behind his and that he had maintained sight of the vehicle since the accident and finally, thankfully, he provided his name and telephone number.

I pulled up the video of the State Trooper pulling over the older woman and the license tag number matched. I called the witness, who lives in another state, and learned even more regarding the erratic driving of the woman who forced my clients off of the interstate.

Needless to say, once I provided copies of the disks I had obtained from the State Police to the adjuster who had basically told me to “go away,” his company decided to accept responsibility for the accident. There was no more mystery as to why the police pulled over the elderly woman. Hard work pays off!

Most good lawyering occurs outside of the courtroom. Digging for facts takes time and can be hard work but it can make all the difference in the world to individuals or families who place trust in an attorney to build a case. When hiring an attorney, make sure he or she is not afraid to work hard, dig and get a little dirty!

Mulkey Law Firm takes great pride in the lawyering we do inside and outside the courtroom. You can talk to Bruce about your case any time with no obligation. Just call his cell: (479) 936-4384.  Click HERE to learn more.

 

 

 

 

THE TOP PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER IN ARKANSAS – as selected by Timothy J. Ryan and Associates

Wow! I am so humbled and honored to have been singled out and recognized as the top personal injury attorney in Arkansas by Timothy J. Ryan and Associates. Here is what that firm announced regarding this:

Outstanding personal injury lawyers can be found in every state. Asking friends for a referral to a personal injury lawyer is the traditional way to find one, but your research should not stop there. The internet offers new tools to help you learn about personal injury attorneys who are licensed to practice in your state.

Reading the reviews that clients have given to the lawyers who represented them can help you decide which attorney is right for you. The Avvo website rates lawyers on a scale of one to ten. The rating is based on their accomplishments, experience, and recognition in the legal community. Avvo also allows clients to post reviews of their attorneys and gives attorneys an opportunity to endorse other lawyers.

 Arkansas

Bruce Mulkey handles medical malpractice cases as well as personal injuries and deaths caused by all other forms of negligence, including trucking and motorcycle accidents. Clients who posted reviews to Avvo admire the integrity of this Arkansas native. They also appreciate his willingness to return telephone calls promptly and to keep them informed of the progress of their cases.

Mulkey studied law at the University of Arkansas, graduating in 1990. The National Trial Lawyers organization named him one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers while an Arkansas newspaper placed him in the Best of the Best attorneys in Northwest Arkansas. Mulkey belongs to the Arkansas Trial Lawyer Association and the American Association for Justice.

Mulkey’s practice is based in Rogers (479-936-4384). His Avvo rating is 10.0.

The lawyers featured in this article — one from each state — were selected because they have a “superb” rating on Avvo and because they devote their practices primarily or exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims. Most importantly, they were chosen because their clients have given them stellar reviews. This article is not an endorsement by Timothy J. Ryan & Associates or by Timothy J. Ryan himself.

Mulkey Law Firm is not affiliated with, nor do we even know,  Timothy J. Ryan & Associates or Timothy J. Ryan, but we are honored to have made the list!

FIND A TOP-RATED INJURY LAWYER IN ARKANSAS – that will actually talk to you!

When Elaine and I are unable to be at our office, for whatever reason, we transfer incoming calls directly to my cell. We do this because we know that in the immediate aftermath of an accident, no matter how minor or serious, people often need answers and/or guidance …not tomorrow but right now.

Despite my publicizing this fact and making my cell phone available on our website, callers always seem surprised when I actually answer my phone. I suppose that is because in our culture we often equate professional success with how many layers of insulation (secretaries, clerks, assistants, receptionists, paralegals…etc.) the “professionals” put between themselves and the clients. Try to call your doctor lately?

I really think that the attitude is more often in the minds of the “professionals” than the public. I’ve seen young lawyers who coattail into early success build practices in which they  rarely are available to actually talk to their clients, relegating that “unpleasant” aspect of their job to underlings and staff.

This same attitude on the part of some lawyers, results in accident victims, or their families, hiring a “big name” firm after meeting with one of the “big name” partners (who stops by and makes a brief appearance at the initial consultation) only to have their case handed to a young and inexperienced attorney.  Unfortunately, once that contract is signed with the “big name” firm… the accident victim can end up with a “no-name” lawyer.

When your family has suffered and injury or loss as a result of another’s carelessness or intentional conduct, you need to find and speak with a top rated attorney right away. I’m not suggesting hiring an attorney over the phone, but, if nothing else, get some guidance before dealing with insurance adjusters.  And, when you first meet with a lawyer, if you are not 100% comfortable with what you are hearing, seeing and feeling about the lawyer, do not sign a contract in the first meeting. Give it some thought.  Ask what attorney will be handling your case?  If the answer is, “we take a team approach,” ask for the “big name” lawyer’s cell phone number and tell him or her you’ll think about it.

For twenty-five years we have taken great pride in being available and responsive to our clients. We consider that as important as any other aspect of what we do. Don’t believe me?

MY CELL NUMBER IS: 479-936-4384

Please click HERE to see all of my Avvo client reviews.

We proudly represent families all over Arkansas in serious injury and death cases. If you or a family member is involved in a car accident in any of the following locations, we are nearby and ready to help: I-49, Benton County, Washington County, Madison County, Carroll County, Sebastian County, Bella Vista, Bentonville, Rogers, Lowell, Springdale, Fayetteville, Van Buren, Fort Smith, Huntsville, Siloam Springs, Harrison, Green Forest, Eureka Springs, West Fork, Garfield, Centerton, Gravette, Decatur, Mena, Elm Springs, Cave Springs, Alma …and everywhere in between.

 

 

 

NWA AUTO ACCIDENT ATTORNEY – We win when our clients are satisfied!

A young lawyer once told me that practicing law is a “numbers game”. He meant, of course, that the more cases a firm takes the more likely it is that one will pay off. That may be how some firms do it; put up billboards and sign up as many cases as possible and maybe some will pay off! Some do, but are all of the cases getting the attention each deserves?

That is NOT how Elaine and I do it, nor will it ever be. This year will be our twenty-fifth year of serving individuals and families who have suffered some loss or injury as a result of the negligence of others. If our case load will not allow us to give a new case the attention it deserves, we will decline the case. Always have, always will.

The reason is simple. We measure success by how much we are able to help our clients not by how much money we make. When client satisfaction is our number one priority, we will not allow ourselves to take on more cases than we can handle.

Experience is invaluable in the practice of law. We know from experience what resources a particular type of case will require in terms of our time. Wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases often demand far more of our attention than accidents with minor injuries.

Whatever the type of case, we want each family or individual who we serve, to feel confident that we are devoting the attention to their case that it deserves. Most of our clients are referred to us by former clients and whenever that happens we know that we are practicing law the right way.

 

Annoying “Chat” Pop-up Boxes on Law Firm Web Sites

Is it just us or are you also completely annoyed by those boxes that pop up and float around on attorney Web sites hoping you will click on it so they can start reeling you in. Like the lawyers in the pop-up box are actually eagerly waiting at their computers at 9:30 in the evening in their pajamas to respond to your questions and give you immediate advice? Or, a receptionist with a headset pops up on the screen and says “Can I help you?” but you just know that the smiling blonde with perfect teeth in the photo has really never even heard of the law firm she is supposedly “chatting” on behalf of?

And, why does she have the headset on anyway?

The Mulkey Law Firm solemnly promises that we will never annoy you or anyone else with a pop-up chat box on our Web site.