Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Welcome to Guided Legacy.
I am Dionne Duckett. Today we are having a conversation about protection, preparation, and the human side of the law, especially when families are facing injury, aging, disability, or uncertainty about the future.
Today we are joined by Mark L. Shapiro, Esquire, founder and principal attorney of the law offices of Mark El Shapiro, P.A.
mark has represented injured people throughout Florida for more than three decades. He is also a father, community advocate, board member of Autism Collier Charter School, and a longtime supporter of organizations serving individuals with autism and developmental disabilities.
Today we will explore what injured people and their families really experience after a serious accident, how strong personal injury cases are built, and why preparation, communication, and genuine personal attention all matter when choosing a lawyer.
Mark, welcome to Guided Legacy.
[00:01:22] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us.
I like to start today, Mark, by asking, you have represented injured people for more than three decades.
Was there a point when personal injury loss stopped being simply your profession and became something much more personal?
[00:01:41] Speaker B: Well, absolutely. So as you said, I've been a lawyer for more than three decades, so I understand intellectually what an injury can do to a person and family.
And I understood medical bills, I understood lost wages, I understood pain and suffering.
But for me, raising a son with a disability, he has autism and other medical issues, it gave me a completely different understanding of what it means when your family is suddenly navigating a life that you didn't necessarily expect.
So I want to be careful about that comparison because I'm not suggesting autism and my son's issues are the same as being injured in an accident, but there's some similarities. So we were a family that was had to navigate doctors and treatment decisions for our son and uncertainty, the enormous time commitments and financial decisions and questions about the futures that other families may never have to ask. So my wife and I live that.
And there are times when the question was simply not what does was simply. It's not simply what does the doctor recommend, it's which doctor which is the right doctor. Do we need other opinions? Is there other treatments that are available?
How much time can we devote to it? How much money can we spend helping our child reach the fullest potential versus putting money aside? So these were significant decisions that my wife and I made. And, you know, do we preserve resources for his future in case we're not here to take care of him in the future, or do we spend those resources today to try to improve him? So there's no spreadsheet that gives the answer to that? And that's why personal injury became much more personal for me. Because I started recognizing those same conversations were the conversations that were my clients were having.
When a person gets into a serious accident, they have to ask, do we need surgery now? Can we go back to work?
What if I can't do the job I used to do? Who's going to take care of the kids? How are we going to pay the mortgage? What happens if I need medical care for five, 10 years down the road? What happens to my spouse if I'm not quite the person physically that I was before?
So today, when someone sits across from me after a serious injury, I'm not simply looking at a claim. I'm looking at a family whose life may have just divided into two parts. The life before this happened and the life after it happened. And because of my situation for my son, I feel like I understand on a very personal level how frightening that can be.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Yes. And I think that does.
That's kind of what motivated my practice. I have a sister who has down syndrome, so very similar issues that you're discussing there.
So, Mark, what can a serious injury take away from someone that may never appear on a medical bill or on an X ray?
Yeah.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Well, sometimes the most important losses in a personal injury case are exactly the things that don't show up on an X ray. So an X ray can show a fracture, it can show a herniated disc.
A medical bill can tell what the hospital charge, but none of those things tell me who the person was before the accident.
So maybe if it's a male, it was the father who coached his daughter's soccer team. And now, now he can't stand on the field for two hours.
Maybe it was the grandmother of someone that relied on her, and now she needs someone to help her.
Maybe someone used to go fishing every Saturday morning, and now simply getting into the boat hurts too much. So maybe a husband and wife used to travel together, sleep comfortably together, have intimacy together, and suddenly the pain has entered every part of that marriage. That's real loss.
One of the things that I tell people is that human beings don't experience injury in dollars. We experience them in moments. So you don't wake up one morning and say, I suffered $4,700 worth of pain and suffering today. You think, I couldn't pick up my child? I couldn't sleep last night. I had to tell my friends I couldn't go out.
I snapped at my spouse because I was hurting.
I'm scared that I'm going to lose my job.
That's when we build, or that's why we Build serious personal injury cases. I want to know much more than where it hurts. I want to know, what did this injury take away from my client? Because sometimes the greatest loss is independence. Sometimes it's confidence. Sometimes it's a career. Sometimes it's a marriage that goes under tremendous strain.
And sometimes it's simply the ability to do ordinary things that you never appreciated that you could do until you couldn't do them anymore.
And that's one reason empathy matters so much in this profession. And if all I ever looked at was an X ray or an mri, I'm going to miss most of my client's case.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with you. When working with seniors and people with disabilities, I find a lot of the same things.
And so you have spoken about how raising a son with autism changed your perspective. How has that experience made you a better lawyer and advocate?
[00:07:21] Speaker B: Well, I think it has probably taught me more about listening than almost anything I've done professionally. So when you're raising a child that has significant needs, you quickly learn that the 5 minutes someone else sees your family isn't necessarily your family's reality.
A physician sees someone in one appointment. A therapist sees you for one session. A teacher sees you for part of the day.
But the family is living at 24 hours a day.
So my wife and I know what it's like to search for answers, to look for doctors, to coordinate treatments and appointments and rearrange schedules and. And constantly ask ourselves whether we're making right decisions. And there's an emotional component to that that doesn't appear on anybody's chart. There's worry, there's hope, there's sometimes guilt. There's exhaustion. And there's the question parents can have late at night. What happens in the future? So that experience changed the way I listen to my injured clients. If somebody says, my back hurts, I don't stop there. I want to know what my back hurts means to that person's life.
Does it mean you stop playing golf? Does it mean you're sleeping in another room because you can't get comfortable? Do your children notice that you're more irritable? Are you afraid to pick up your grandchildren? Are you working through the pain because you can't afford not to work? Are you worried that you're going to need another surgery 10 years from now? So these are questions that.
They're important legal questions because they tell us the true extent of someone's damages.
And my son has also taught me something else. Never assume that because someone's life looks different than what you expected that it's less valuable.
So that's enormously important in personal injury law, because if someone has a permanent disability, our job isn't to look at that person and see what they've lost, only we have to understand what they need in order to build the best life possible from that point forward. And to me, that's advocacy.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: Okay. And so some people might assume that empathy and aggressive legal advocacy are opposites.
How do you think, how can compassion actually help a lawyer build a strong case and achieve a better goal?
[00:09:54] Speaker B: Well, I actually think empathy can make you a much more formidable advocate. So people sometimes misunderstand what an aggressive lawyer means. Aggressive doesn't have to mean being the loudest person in the room or yelling at people. It doesn't mean sending an obnoxious letter to me. Real aggression comes from preparation.
And empathy helps you prepare. If I truly listen to my client, I find evidence that I might otherwise miss. Maybe a client tells me she hasn't gone upstairs for six months. Now I understand a functional limitation.
So maybe her husband says she used to cook every Sunday for the family and now hasn't done that since the accident. That's evidence of how her life changed. So maybe an injured business owner still going to work every day and the insurance company says, look, he's working, he must be fine. But when you talk to him, you learn he's working. Because if he doesn't show up, 20 employees don't get paid. That's a completely different story. So empathy uncovers those facts.
So being aggressive is aggression is what I do with those. I. I document them, I cooperate them, I obtain the medical support, I take depositions, I prepare for the case. And if the insurance company doesn't want to treat the client fairly, then I'm prepared to litigate it. So I don't see compassion and strength as opposites at all. I put it this way. Empathy tells me what I'm fighting for, and preparation gives me the ability to fight for it.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. So, Mark, that is such an important reminder that legal protection is not only about documents or cases. It is about people, families, timing, and the ability to make informed decisions before pressure takes over.
After the break, we will look more closely at how families can prepare for life changing circumstances with greater clarity and confidence.
Welcome back to Guided Legacy. Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish.
On the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv.
from business and news to lifestyle culture, legal insight, caregiving, family, family protection, and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Before the break, Mark Shapiro and I talked about the human side of legal protection and why families often wait too long to ask difficult questions.
Now we're moving into preparation.
What families can do before a medical event, injury, disability issue, or caregiving crisis forces urgent decisions.
So, Mark, take us behind the scenes. What separates a well built personal injury case from a claim that is simply submitted to an insurance company?
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Well, yes, thank you. There's actually a huge difference. So anybody can send medical bills to an insurance company and say, say my client was hurt, pay us. That's submitting a claim.
Building a case means anticipating every reason the insurance company may give for not paying what my clients deserve. And it means developing the evidence to answer those arguments before the insurance company makes them. So, for example, how did the crash happen? Were there photographs? Who are the witnesses? Was there surveillance video, dash cam footage?
Is there vehicle data in the black box? Are there records that need to be preserved before they're destroyed? Then we have causation, which means how the accident occurred. So the insurance company may admit their driver caused the accident, but say, okay, this person's back was already hurt before the accident. So now we're looking at prior medical history, diagnostic studies, treating physicians, and what actually changed after the collision.
Then we go into damages like medical bills.
But there are only one piece, medical care. Will the client need medical treatment in the future? Has the injury affected the client's ability to work? Has it reduced earning capacity? Are there permanent limitations? How it affected their family? Is there insurance coverage we haven't identified yet. So a serious Florida personal injury case can involve many layers of evidence that the client never sees.
And there's the critical decision. An insurance company opens a file, a good personal injury lawyer builds the case.
So that's not the same thing as presenting a claim.
You know, when you're building a case, you're preparing a case thoroughly from the beginning. And that's what I discovered.
Well, for years of being in this, that, you know, evidence can disappear, surveillance can disappear, witnesses can move away.
So if we need something that should have been preserved on day one, that becomes a problem. So good preparation gives you options, and options give you leverage. So, you know, preparation is the key. And that's different than just presenting a claim.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: Okay, so. So what types of evidence can make the greatest difference in proving how an accident happened and how seriously it affected Someone's life?
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good question. But first I need to explain that evidence has a shelf life, especially in injury cases, and that's something people don't always understand.
So damaged vehicles get repaired.
Skid marks on the road disappear.
Sometimes surveillance camera records are written over. A witness who remembers everything today may remember very little a year from now.
So early evidence is tremendously important. Photographs and videos from the scene, witness information, 911 calls, police body, Cambridge footage if it's available.
Business surveillance if it's near a business. Dash cams, vehicle data, sometimes even photographs that initially seem unimportant become important later.
But when we move from proving the accident to proving the injury, evidence is even more personal. For example, medical records obviously matter. Diagnostic studies matter. Doctors matter.
But so does evidence showing the client's life before and after the accident. So let's say someone tells me, before this accident, I ran three miles a day, four times a week.
So if we have years of race photographs and fitness records or friends who regularly ran with him and suddenly all of that stops, that can tell a compelling story also.
And I always come back to this, I ask my clients, don't simply tell me that your life changed. Help me show how your life changed. And that's what evidence does. So the strongest personal injury cases bring the medicine and the humanity together. So the MRI explains the injury, but the human evidence explains why the injury matters.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Okay, so we know large personal injury firms dominate television, radio, and billboards.
What is genuinely different about the experience clients receive at your firm?
[00:18:28] Speaker B: Yeah. So first, I'd like to say I don't necessarily think that being a large firm automatically makes the firm bad.
And likewise, being a smaller firm doesn't automatically make a firm good.
So the question is what kind of experience the client actually receives. So I practice personal injury law for, like I said, more than three decades. And one thing that's increasingly important is making sure that the person doesn't disappear behind the case number.
So at my law firm, the law offices of Mark EL Shapiro, Pennsylvania, I want a combination of experience, preparation, and personal attention.
Because when you're injured, you're not just buying a legal product. You're entrusting someone, an individual, with a period of your life when you may be scared, physically hurting, and unsure about your future. So clients need communication. They need explanations. They need somebody to tell them not only what they're doing, but why we're doing it. And sometimes what they need mostly is somebody to listen.
So I've had experience enough to know that occasionally the legal question isn't even the question the client's really asking. They might ask, how long will my take case? I'm sorry, how long will my case take? But underneath that question is, am I going to be okay financially or does the insurance company believe me? Or am I ever going to get my old life back? So those are different conversations.
So if someone's looking for a personal injury attorney in Naples or anywhere in Florida, I think the question should not simply be, how big is the firm? The better question is, will this lawyer understand my case? And will this lawyer understand me?
And the problem when you get with a big law firm is many times you don't know who your lawyer is going to be. You don't get to pick them. You're assigned one.
Which is why I feel when you come to my law firm, you're getting one of three attorneys, all who have decades long experience trying cases and putting a case together. So you're not leaving up to chance who your attorney is going to be. You know who your attorney is and you know your attorney's experience. When you go to a big firm, you're kind of at the luck of the draw.
So, you know, that's why I feel like people come to my law firm as an alternative to some of those big firms and we get many clients because of it. And we actually get clients that switch from big firms to us when they realize that they don't get the level of attention sometimes at those big firms that they will get with MiFirm.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: So with those things in mind, what should an injured person ask before choosing a personal injury lawyer?
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Yeah, so I think sometimes people ask the wrong first question. They ask, how much is my case worth? That's a common theme that I get all the time. How much is my case worth?
And particularly at the beginning, an ethical attorney might not know yet. So it's a difficult question to answer in the beginning because there's not enough information.
So I need to ask questions like, well, I'm sorry, if I'm a client, I would ask questions like, who is actually going to be handled my case?
What are the qualifications of that attorney that's going to be handling my case?
How often will I hear from you?
What experience do you have with injuries like mine? What happens if the insurance company refuses to make a fair offer? Are you experience to litigate the case?
Are you prepared to file a lawsuit if it doesn't settle?
Have you?
How do you evaluate my future medical care? How do you deal with lost earning capacity? How do you identify Available insurance coverage? Will medical liens such as health insurance reimbursement affect what I ultimately receive?
And one of my favorite questions is, how are you going to learn what this accident actually did to my life?
Because if your lawyer can't answer that question, I'm not sure that that lawyer can fully present your damages.
So you should also pay attention to how you feel during the conversation. Did the lawyer listen? Did the lawyer answer your questions?
Did you feel rushed? Did everything sound like a sales pitch?
You're entering into a relationship that may last months or sometimes in long cases, a year or more. So choose someone you trust enough to tell you the truth about what's happening in your life. And I say that because sometimes people will go to an attorney and I'll hear them say, oh, this attorney said my case was worth such and such a month. And it's like, that's impossible for that attorney to ethically tell you that at this point point, because we don't even know what your injuries will ultimately be.
So these are some of the questions that if I were a client, I would be asking.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's good insight. So this is where preparation becomes an act of care.
When families take time to understand their options, document their wishes, and ask better questions, they create more protection for the people they love.
After the break, we will talk about advocacy, community impact, and why Mark's personal experiences have shaped the work he does beyond the courtroom.
Welcome back.
We have been discussing legal protection through a family centered lens. Mark's work also extends into community advocacy, including autism awareness and support for organizations that serve families and individuals with unique needs.
So, Mark, why have autism and developmental disability advocacy become such. Such important parts of your family's life?
[00:25:03] Speaker B: Well, you know, I, I got into autism and autism related charities because I have experienced that myself with our son. And once you become part of that community, it becomes very difficult not to advocate. So, you know, I would say it begins with my own child.
And you want the right doctors for your child. You want the right education, the right opportunities. You want your child to be treated with dignity. And before long, you realize that there are thousands of families asking for the exact same questions. So my wife and I have experienced the amount of work that can go into raising a child with significant needs.
And you yourself become a researcher, a scheduler, a case manager, an advocate, and you learn terminology and acronyms you never intended to learn.
And you're doing all this while still trying to be a good husband or wife or parent, professional, and everything else that life asks you.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: To be.
[00:26:04] Speaker B: Then there's the future.
When your child's young, everybody talks about childhood services, but parents are thinking much further ahead.
What will adulthood look like for my child? Will my child be able to work? Will my child have friends? What degree of independence will be possible? Where will my child live? And perhaps the hardest question will what happens when my wife and I aren't there?
That question changes you. It certainly changed me. And it also made me more aware that disability advocacy is not simply about providing services. It's about dignity. It's about giving people opportunities to participate in their community, develop skills, form relationships, have meaningful lives.
And once you see that personally, community involvement doesn't feel like something extra you're doing.
It feels like a responsibility.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: With that in mind, you serve on the board of Autism Collier Charter School. What does the school represent to children and families in southwest Florida?
[00:27:13] Speaker B: Well, to me, it represents possibility. For many years, families of children with autism has to ask, where does my child fit in?
Sometimes I think we need to reverse that question. Instead of asking how we force the child to fit the educational environment, we should sometimes ask, how can we design an environment that better meets the needs of the child?
That's what excites me about the Autism Collier Charter School. It represents the idea that children with autism deserve an environment where their strengths are recognized, their challenges are understood, and. And they're given the opportunity to reach their individual attention, potential.
And that matters to the parents, too.
So the Autism Collier Charter School, it's free to parents with kids with autism.
You're in the school system, but there's special teachers and the catering, especially to kids with those types of disabilities.
So when you're raising a child with autism, finding the right educational environment can consume an enormous amount of emotional energy. So parents shouldn't have to feel like they're fighting the system every day just to have someone understand their child. So a specialized environment like autism call your charter school, where they see your child, they understand that every student is different, and they're going to work from where that student actually is. And I think that's incredibly powerful. And for me personally, being involved as a board member is another way of taking something my family has experienced and trying to use that experience to make the path a little easier for families who come after us.
[00:29:07] Speaker A: Okay. And I understand that your wife, Holly, has also been deeply involved with Star Ability.
So what have organizations like Star Ability taught you about dignity, inclusion, independence, and opportunity?
[00:29:24] Speaker B: Yeah, well, so one of the biggest lessons, I think we have to stop defining people by what they can't do. And star ability is very much about ability. It's about vocational opportunities, continuing education, social engagement, community involvement, building confidence, building relationships, developing greater independence. And I think that's tremendously important because childhood doesn't last forever, and a parent can spend years fighting for therapy, school services, and educational opportunities, and then suddenly their child becomes an adult.
The need for purpose doesn't disappear once someone turns age 18 or. Or on their 22nd birthday.
Everyone wants to matter, and everyone wants some degree of independence, and everyone wants relationships. Everyone wants to feel that they have something to contribute.
So my wife's involvement has given our family a close view of what can happen when a community stops asking, what is this person unable to do? And begins asking, what can this person do if we create the right opportunity? Because that's a much better question. So star ability, they provide after school programs. They provide training for job services. They actually place kids with disabilities, not just autism, in jobs. I get to see that sometimes they go on field trips, they'll go to a restaurant, and they'll actually work and be part of the community and learn job skills and do things together where there's friendships and camaraderie.
Frankly, I think that lesson goes far beyond developmental disabilities. We should probably ask these questions about people in general more often. What I mean by that is, what can this person do if we create the right opportunities, rather than what is this person unable to do?
[00:31:26] Speaker A: Yes, how has being part of the autism and developmental disability community shaped the way that you relate to injured clients and families facing an uncertain future?
[00:31:38] Speaker B: Well, it has taught me, you know, personally, and I think a lot of my clients go through this. That uncertainty itself, it can be exhausting. I mean, people think the hardest part is receiving the diagnosis, but sometimes the harder part is waking up the next morning and realizing you still have to live your life while you're figuring everything out. You know, that's what happens to many seriously injured people. The accident may last three seconds. The consequence can last for decades, even a lifetime.
And life becomes a series of questions like, which doctor, which treatment can I work? Should I have surgery? How do I pay for this? What's going to happen six months from now? What's going to happen five years from now?
My family experience has made me less likely to judge someone for how they're handling that uncertainty as different families make different decisions, and there isn't a perfect answer.
There wasn't always a perfect answer for my family either. So we get gather the best information we can. We ask questions, we make the Best decision available for us at the moment. And then sometimes we have to adjust as things change. The perspective has made me, I feel, a much better attorney. Because in my opinion, a lawyer's job isn't simply to tell somebody what the law says. Sometimes our job is to help people make good decisions during one of the most confusing periods of their life.
And, you know, I feel that what my wife and I have gone through in our charity work and seeing other people and families in those situations, it makes me a better attorney, makes me more empathetic to my clients, and really want to get the results for them that they deserve.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: Okay, and so what do you think that the broader community often fails to recognize about the daily responsibilities carried by families of children and adults with developmental disabilities?
[00:33:50] Speaker B: Well, I think they fail to see the invisible workload.
People see doctor's appointments, but they don't see everything that went into getting there. You know, the research, the telephone calls, the forms, the insurance questions, scheduling, transportation to and from, follow up, the conversations between the parents afterward.
And then there's long term planning. You know, you're thinking about education, medical care, independence, finances, and who will be there someday when you're no longer to do everything you're doing now.
So sometimes it feels like a second full time job that nobody outside the family really sees, you know, the time commitment that it takes. And that's another reason that these families deserve support rather than judgment.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: So what do you wish? Insurance adjusters, defense lawyers, and even how does your community involvement connect with broader responsibility as a lawyer and advocate?
[00:34:58] Speaker B: Well, law degree gives you the ability to advocate, to organize information, to ask difficult questions, and sometimes get people to listen. But I think there's a responsibility to use those skills beyond the courtroom.
For me, community involvement has made me a better lawyer because it continuously reminds me why the work I do matters. Cases eventually close, but people continue living their lives.
If we help build a community where families facing disability, injury or uncertainty feel less alone or have better resources available to them, that's a legacy that extends far beyond any individual verdict or settlement.
[00:35:40] Speaker A: Okay. Well, that connection between professional and community responsibility is powerful. It reminds us that legacy is not only what we leave behind, it is also how we show up while people need us most.
After the break, we will bring the conversation home with practical guidance for families who want to protect their loved ones and make decisions with more peace of mind.
Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite, live or on demand, anytime you like.
Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia tv.
From business and news to lifestyle, culture, legal insight, caregiving, family protection and beyond, NOW Media TV is streaming round the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Before the break, Mark and I discussed how personal experience, legal advocacy and community service can come together to support families in meaningful ways.
In this final segment, we are focusing on legacy, not only in the legal sense, but in the way families protect each other, communicate clearly, and make decisions with intention.
So, Mark, someone may be listening only hours or days after an accident.
What should that person do immediately and what common mistakes should they try to avoid?
[00:37:48] Speaker B: Well, immediately I would say the most important thing is to take care of your health.
So after an accident, you know, adrenaline sometimes pumps through your body and adrenaline is incredibly powerful.
So some people say, oh, I'm fine, and then 12 hours later, they can't even get out of bed.
So if you have symptoms or believe you were injured, get appropriate medical attention. That's the most important thing. So in a Florida motor vehicle accident, there's also a very practical reason not to avoid medical care, and that's Florida's personal injury protection law. You have a 14 day window or requirement for initial medical services in order to qualify for certain PIP or medical benefits.
So if you don't treat within those first 14 days, you lose some valuable benefits. So I would say the first thing is get yourself checked out because as long as you see someone in that first 14 days, you preserve that insurance.
Second is preserve information.
So if you can safely photograph the scene or the vehicles and the surrounding area, do it.
Get witness information like names and contact information, save photographs, save text messages, keep the damaged property if you can.
Evidence can disappear quickly.
And next I would say be accurate, like don't exaggerate your injuries, but don't minimize those either. And don't guess. So if you don't know how fast the other vehicle is traveling, don't invent a number and then give it to the insurance company.
If you don't yet know the full extent of your injuries, it's okay to say that.
And fourth, I'd say be extremely careful with social media. So if you're claiming that an injury has significantly affected your life and then you're posting photographs that appear inconsistent with that claim, you may spend months in deposition or courtroom explaining a 10 second snapshot that you put on social media. And finally, talk with an experienced Florida personal injury lawyer early so you understand your rights and obligations before making decisions that may Affect your claim so you don't have to solve everything the day of the accident. In fact, that's one of the biggest messages I would give to somebody is you don't have to figure out the rest of your life today.
You just have to make the next right step.
And so the next right step would be make sure you get medical treatment, make sure things are document, make sure you talk with a personal injury attorney that's experienced with these types of claims.
[00:40:40] Speaker A: So, Mark, you help some clients think proactively about protecting assets and planning for the future.
How does that work feel fit into your larger philosophy of protecting families?
[00:40:53] Speaker B: Well, for me, it's all connected by one question.
What happens next in personal injury case? Recovering money is not necessarily the end of the problem in a serious case because there's different types of cases. But in serious personal injury cases, it may be that the beginning of a new set of decisions.
How long does the money need to last?
Is there future medical care? Does the client have diminished earning capacity?
Are there children or other dependents?
Are there special needs considerations? Are there tax, estate planning or asset protection issues that require other professionals to be brought in?
I don't believe a lawyer has to pretend to be an expert in every discipline. Part of being a good counselor is recognizing when the client needs another professional to be brought in, like estate planning or a tax professional, or a financial advisor or a special needs professional or somebody else at the table.
In my own family's experience have reinforced that for me. So sometimes protecting somebody isn't one dramatic decision.
It's 20 small decisions that are made thoughtfully over time. And that's what planning does. It gives families more choices before a crisis takes those choices away.
[00:42:24] Speaker A: Okay, and so when you hear the word legacy, what does it mean to you personally, professionally, and as a father?
[00:42:34] Speaker B: You know, I used to think that legacy was primarily about what you leave behind, but I don't anymore. I think legacy is also about how you show up while you're here.
So professionally, I want my legacy to be that when people came to me during a frightening period in their lives, when they felt that, they felt that somebody took their problem seriously, that we listened, that we explained that we prepared, that we fought when we needed to fight.
But being a father, particularly being a father with a son with autism, changed my definition of success and legacy. So you learn that you can't control every outcome and you can't guarantee what tomorrow is going to look like.
What you can control is whether you show up, whether you advocate, whether you keep learning, whether you make the next decision with love and with the best information available to you. And perhaps that's the connection between my family life and my professional life.
So many of my clients would give anything to get back the day before the accident, but they can't.
So my family has also learned that sometimes looks different from what you once imagined it would be. And difference does not mean meaningless. Different does not mean there isn't joy, and. And different doesn't mean there isn't purpose.
Sometimes legacy is helping someone accept that the road changed while still giving them every resource possible to build a meaningful life on the road that they're now traveling.
And that's what the word legacy means to me.
[00:44:18] Speaker A: I like that.
Legacy of showing up in a meaningful way when it. When it matters most. I like that connection.
What final message would you leave with someone who has been injured, feels overwhelmed, and does not know where to begin?
[00:44:39] Speaker B: Well, I think I would tell them something that my own family has had to learn, and that is, you don't need to have every answer today. In fact, you're probably not going to have every answer today.
When something major happens in our lives, our minds immediately race years into the future.
What if I can't work? What if I need surgery? What if the insurance company doesn't pay?
What if I'm never the same? What if my family can't handle this?
Those are all understandable questions, but you can't solve five years from now, this afternoon.
So you start with the next right thing.
That's usually taking care of your health, documenting what happened.
Get good information, ask questions. Don't make major decisions simply because somebody's pressuring you. And don't be afraid to ask for help. A serious accident can make people feel as though control has been taken away from them. And a good lawyer should give their client some level of that control back by explaining the process, protecting the evidence, and giving the client enough information to make intelligent decisions.
So the financial recovery matters. And of course that matters. That's what we're here for as attorneys. Money can pay for treatment, and it can replace income. It can provide future security. It can create options. But ultimately, the goal isn't simply to win the claim.
The goal is to help a human move forward. And sometimes moving forward doesn't mean getting the exact life you had before.
Sometimes it means building the best possible life from where you are now.
And I learned that personally. And it's a lesson that I carry with me every time I meet an injured client.
[00:46:40] Speaker A: Well, thank you, Mark, for sharing both the personal and professional sides of your work.
For anyone listening who has been injured, is facing questions about an insurance claim or simply wants to better understand how to protect their family's future.
More information about Mark EL Shapiro and the law offices of Mark EL Shapiro, Pennsylvania can be found through the contact information included with this episode.
So, Mark, how for people who want to get in touch with you, how would you say they best should follow up?
[00:47:15] Speaker B: Yeah, well, there's several ways. One, they can give our office a call. It's an easy phone number. Locally, it's 239-500-5000. We also have a toll free number which is 866-505-000.
You can check out our website at attorney shapiro.com and you can also email me or one of the other attorneys. My email is Mark, spelled m a r cterney shapiro.com so you can call, you can visit our website and there's a form there where you can ask questions or make inquiries or you can send me directly an email and I'll answer through email.
[00:48:00] Speaker A: Okay. Well, thank you. Today's discussion is intended to provide general information and should not be considered legal advice. Every situation is different and speaking with a lawyer does not create an attorney client relationship unless a formal agreement is signed.
Mark, thank you again for joining us.
And I think for viewers watching today, the takeaway is simple. Do not wait for a crisis to begin the conversation.
Look at the people who depend on you. Ask what protections are already in place. Identify what is missing and when needed, seek trusted professional guidance so your family is not forced to make critical decisions in confusion or fear.
Thank you, Mark, for joining us today.
And to our listeners and viewers, thank you for watching Guided legacy.
I am Dion Duckett and we will see you next time on NOW MEDIA tv.
