Sam Bernstein Commercials and Ads

[Baselinepunk]

Some of the ads have changed now, but when they first came out, I loved how the blind guy was the only one facing somewhere off in the distance instead of at the camera. It was like that on all of the billboards and tv ads. Hilarious.

That's a gimmick. When they first came out, Dick was facing the right way and talking into the camera. He looked like someone who was not comfortable reading off a teleprompter. Then Beth looked kinda the same way. It's a cheap trick; you got baited into thinking this guy could see, which would facilitate a comment or two, then someone would say "Hey, he's blind; that ain't cool". False sympathy.

Sammy is a slick salesman; a real pro. Between him and "Lee Free", they've cornered the market on the cultivation of "settlements for their clients". Market research places these ads where they are [[and ads rates as well). They've made a mint off borderline cases that just "settle". These "people" are the primary reasons why insurance rates are so high. [[Yes I've worked in the court system, have many lawyer friends, worked on many cases in the "system", so I am using personal experience as support, in addition to working in the educational side of the television biz where we would teach that type of technique to our students).

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "You've never laughed at someone that fell down, while feeling sorry for them at the same time?"

Only if I tripped them.

[Blarf]

Bernstein is actually one of the best attorney's in the country when dealing with personal injury. Don't let he commercials fool you into thinking he's an ambulance chaser. If you don't have a case, he will tell you.

[professorscott]

Actually, Rich is a hoot, and you all ought not to talk about people as if you know them unless you do. I've worked with Rich on a few projects.

My favorite story about him is this: one of the things he's very interested in is pedestrian safety, because he's been hit by cars, several times. He told me the one nice thing about him getting hit is that the driver who hits him freaks out, not once but three times.

Freak out number one: Oh my God, I hit somebody.

Freak out number two: Oh my God, I hit a blind guy.

Freak out number three: Oh my God, it's Sam Bernstein's kid!

[lizaanne]

I Since some here seem to be his best friend, do me a favor and ask him why he's looking at the top of the dude's head next to him while everyone else is looking straight ahead.

Geeze - maybe it's because he CAN'T "look" at anything?

~Liza

[Sstashmoo]

Not to be insensitive, but one has to wonder how much his disability would play to the sensibilities of the Judge and jurors. There is something in us all that wants to help the less fortunate. I just wonder how much part that plays in delivering justice evenly. Not saying it's intentional, but is it fair to the other players in a court proceeding?

And no, I'm not suggesting any new laws. Just posing the question.

[cheddar bob]

Geeze - maybe it's because he CAN'T "look" at anything?

~Liza

No shit. Hence the...

And possibly more importantly, why didn't anyone tell him?

[Sstashmoo]

Sibling rivalry, a setup for later yucks? possibly..

[Ocean2026]

As an attorney - those "injured " ads make me sick. The State Bar in Texas had banned them but the US Supreme Court said it infringed on Freedom of Speech. It stinks.

[detroitbred]

You are right professor...I don't know Sam personally but have a relative who works for him, and thinks quite highly of him. He treats his employees well, and is quite a family man also [[ so I'm told ). His daughter banks where my spouse works and is also a very nice, friendly person...not high handed at all.

[Baselinepunk]

"but have a relative who works for him, and thinks quite highly of him. He treats his employees well, and is quite a family man also [[ so I'm told ). His daughter banks where my spouse works and is also a very nice, friendly person...not high handed at all."

All in a days work when the Slickster is paying her bills. So Sammy has "taught" his kids to be respectful in public, big deal. He knows the power of reputation, image and word of mouth. It ain't no rocket science, people. After all, why would they piss in their own bed? Perhaps if you were to sit in on an MTLA [[now re-imaged as the laughable "Michigan Association for Justice) conference you'd see the chest-thumping [[read: BRAGGING) about how much money they've made, or how they can "step into a courtroom and just can't loose".


The Sammies make a living off of feeble "slip and falls" and other marginal cases. I don't care if they're nice as "people"; they are part of the problem that have driven up the costs of the insurance I [[and you) have to pay. These guys could be frickin` Christ for all I care, it would not take away from the fact that they're gutter pimps, plain and simple.

[cloud_wall]

These "people" are the primary reasons why insurance rates are so high. [[Yes I've worked in the court system, have many lawyer friends, worked on many cases in the "system", so I am using personal experience as support...).

This is an absolute falsehood the insurance industry, under the guise of the Chamber of Commerce, has spent billions to spread. In Michigan in particular, and across the country, the number of lawsuits have steadily declined since "tort reform" [[insurer-written laws) became all the rage. The amounts of settlements and jury awards have declined as well. This is particularly true in medical malpractice cases.

Your insurance rates are going up today because insurers invest their premiums in the market. That hasn't done so well lately. In general, the industry has become more and more profit driven. There are only two ways to make money in the biz: make more on premiums and deny more claims. They've gone for both angles.

Sam and other injury attorneys are not the bad guys. Sometimes they overreach and actually get what they ask for. Naturally, the media goes nuts. But remember that the insurance adjuster they're going against wants to pay ZERO every single time. No matter what happened. Which makes bargaining difficult. So the injury attorney asks for a lot. And sometimes, once a jury gets a whiff of the tactics used by the charming individuals who get paid with their insurance premiums, they send a message.

Baseline, unless you have actuarial experience in the insurance industry, I'm not sure how you have at have any idea what goes into insurance premium rates.

[1KielsonDrive]

Having been raised in a family whose livelihood was derived from the insurance industry, I can tell you that insurance companies are good guys. Well okay, that was back in the old days. Nowadays, they suck. Who's been getting the large share of bailout money? AIG. A pseudo insurance company. Cloud_wall hit it exactly on the head. Banks and insurance companies gambled our money on the market. Not much different than blowing it on the tables in Vegas. They also hired large staffs of commodity brokers, many from Enron, immediately after Enron ripped everyone off and then collapsed. If you do some reading and research, you'll find that the insurance industry and corporations instigate more suits than anyone. Usually suing each other and you, and billing you through premiums. They also employ large staffs of attorneys. If attorneys and lawsuits are so damn bad, why do they have so many? Because they're suing everyone. Who's behind the big lobbying and marketing campaign to defeat health insurance reform? Geez, couldn't be insurance companies, could it? Yep!

[1KielsonDrive]

For every attorney that wins a multi-million dollar settlement, there's dozens of insurance companies screwing customers on a daily basis. From overcharges to redlining to stonewalling claims and refusing medical coverage. You better hope there's a good attorney out there who hasn't been neutered by John Engler's tort reforms, who can represent you when you're refused coverage or sued by an insurance company.

[daddeeo]

It's amazing how superior some people feel by putting others down. Same ploy was used by politicians about welfare cheats that Ronald Reagan used so well. Too bad Ronnie made up the story he told everyone.

[detroitbred]

Baselinepunk...your name fits you. You sound angry and disgruntled. I don't believe that if Sam or his daughter were as awful as you would like to think, that they would be able to pull out their "fake niceness" when they think it's needed. It's just possible that they really are nice people who just happen to be lawyers. There are good and bad in every walk of life.

[BFoster]

I don't know the Bernstein clan from Adam, but they're just the latest of a long line of local personal injury lawyers that advertise on afternoon and late night TV. Feiger was one of the trailblazers, as was Larry Korn and a host of others. Seems that once these folks make some big money, they class up and pull back on the ads.

Most of them use nationally produced ads, with costs shared by a syndicate of lawyers, and they just use the name of the firm in a graphic overlay and voiceover [[the ones running now with William Shatner, for example). In that sense, I guess the Bernsteins deserve some points for producing their own spots [[locally, I hope).

Anyhow, it seems a bit unfair to hit Sam and fam for doing what has become an established practice for marketing personal injury legal services.

[the rock]

Thank you Det_ard. I don't post much any more but am happy to put in a good word about Sam. Don't judge him or his staff by his TV ads. But those ads do produce results, however. I have been on the other side of Sam's case since he first practiced in the old Congress Building on Southfield Road, long before his current diggs were built. Thats a good 30 years ago. Our office always trusted him and his staff, he is well thought of by the defense lawyers in the area and the judges too.
He has a very competent staff, the Battersby boys and Mike Weisserman come to mind. For as long as I can remember, when I concluded a case with Sam, I would always add a p.s. to my letter and remind him that he is "still the second nicest Jewish lawyer I have dealt with." After all these years, it still drives him nuts wondering who is #1.

[chitaku]

nice people or not, they are part of the evil court system's money scheme.

[Baselinepunk]

"Baseline, unless you have actuarial experience in the insurance industry, I'm not sure how you have at have any idea what goes into insurance premium rates."


lol! I love the "if you don't have personal experience in "insert field here", then you do not have a qualified opinion" fallacy.

You're soooo cute! Perhaps if you had the ability to argue a position without using mulitple fallacies as a means to make your "point", you'd be much beeter off.

"Baselinepunk...your name fits you."

Thanks, Cap'n Obivous. That's why I choose it.

"You sound angry and disgruntled."

Ahhh, yesssss. [[in my best Maxwell Smart voice), the old "oppositional voices must be angry and disgruntled" routine. lol.

"I don't believe that if Sam or his daughter were as awful as you would like to think, that they would be able to pull out their "fake niceness" when they think it's needed."

LMFAO! Have you ever seen a real trial attorny in the courtroom? It's as simple as turning a hose on and off.

"It's just possible that they really are nice people who just happen to be lawyers."

Anything is possible; hell, it's possible there's green cheese on the moon, too! Doesn't validate your position, but please feel free to continue. Really nice people? Do nice lawyers really win cases? lol!

"There are good and bad in every walk of life."

I'm sure it's possible. lol!

"For as long as I can remember, when I concluded a case with Sam, I would always add a p.s. to my letter and remind him that he is "still the second nicest Jewish lawyer I have dealt with." After all these years, it still drives him nuts wondering who is #1."

Wow. Just wow. This is the type of chest thumping / "one ups manship" crap I was talking about. That's so nice that you used his religion as a means to get under his skin. Thank you for providing a clear example to support my arguement [[talk about Christmas in July! ROTFLMMFAO!!)

[Matt]

Thought some of the more cynical people on here would appreciate this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vm18VvLYG0

[cloud_wall]

These "people" are the primary reasons why insurance rates are so high. [[Yes I've worked in the court system, have many lawyer friends, worked on many cases in the "system", so I am using personal experience as support...).

Baseline, I salute you. You understand that strong points can't be made without multiple exclamation points and text-speak acronyms for laughter. But your use of "fallacy" is either ironic or mistaken.

Your original quote is above. Working "in the court system" and having lawyer friends does not familiarize a person with insurance premium rate making.

Actuarial science is a somewhat complicated field involving math that I don't understand. If you choose to discount bad investments and sky-high profit margins as factors in the equation, so be it. Feel free to blame all of society's ills on the civil justice system, even if it's been a foundation of western civilization for centuries. But you have given us no reason to agree with you.

You're probably right that you could have an understanding of how an actuary determines insurance premiums without working in that field. But you certainly haven't demonstrated how you could have achieved that knowledge.

Also, I have no idea whether you're generally angry and disgruntled, but I think Detroitbred wrote that because it oozes from everything you've written in this thread, and not because you disagree with him/her or anyone else here.

Professorscott, that freakout hierarchy is one of the funniest things I've heard in a while. Nice to know that Richard plays the hand he's been dealt with grit and humor.

[Baselinepunk]

"Baseline, I salute you."

At ease, Private.

"You understand that strong points can't be made without multiple exclamation points and text-speak acronyms for laughter. But your use of "fallacy" is either ironic or mistaken."

False dichotomy is no ones friend.

"Your original quote is above. Working "in the court system" and having lawyer friends does not familiarize a person with insurance premium rate making."

My statement is clear; I worked in the court system; a statement that does not even imply that I currently work in the system and is a misrepresentation of my position as a means to further your position. Very thin at best.

"Actuarial science is a somewhat complicated field involving math that I don't understand."

Then why continue?

"If you choose to discount bad investments and sky-high profit margins as factors in the equation, so be it."

The above statement is your assumption based on nothing that I offered. I offered that the Sammies, and those like them, are the primary reason why both you and I [[and everyone else) pay higher insurance rates. I, in no way, inferred that this primary reason is not without secondary contributors.

How about a "chicken and the egg" level discourse on this matter, then?

"Feel free to blame all of society's ills on the civil justice system, even if it's been a foundation of western civilization for centuries."

All of society's "ills" on the civil justice system? Are you joking? I did not even come close to offering, posit, nor implied such garbage. That "statement" is both ludicous, obnoxious and invalid.

"You're probably right that you could have an understanding of how an actuary determines insurance premiums without working in that field. But you certainly haven't demonstrated how you could have achieved that knowledge."

Read: Fishing expedition.

"Also, I have no idea whether you're generally angry and disgruntled, but I think Detroitbred wrote that because it oozes from everything you've written in this thread, and not because you disagree with him/her or anyone else here."

As the old saying goes; opinions are like assholes ... your either have one or you are one.