Clearwater Personal Injury Attorney Morgan Gaynor of Mark Roman Law Group in Clearwater, Florida receives AV Rating from Martindale-HubbellMartindale-Hubbell has maintained Ratings for lawyers for more than a century. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of bar members and the judiciary, and attest to the individual lawyer’s legal ability and adherence to accepted professional standards of ethics. These ratings are considered valuable benchmarks intended for use by members of the profession.

How does an attorney obtain a Rating?

Most rating reviews are initiated by Martindale-Hubbell in five-year intervals after admission to the Bar. In larger cities, where it often takes longer to build a reputation, ten years is the norm. A lawyer, partner, marketing director or colleague can also request a rating review.

How are law firms rated?

Generally, a law firm is given the rating of its highest rated active partner.

Does an individual have to have a paid listing in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory to be rated?

No. The goal of the ratings system is to develop accurate ratings for as many lawyers as possible, whether or not they have a paid listing

.What is a good Rating?

All Ratings are positive indicators of an attorney’s ethics and professional stature. The CV ® is a good first rating for lawyers and a definitive statement of their above average ability and unquestionable ethics. The BV ® is an excellent rating for an attorney with more experience. An AV ® rating is a significant accomplishment – a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.

How does an attorney obtain an AV ® rating?

The knowledge and skill derived from extensive experience in the practice of law are usually the attributes considered when endorsing a lawyer for an AV ® rating. The standard of excellence is determined by the lawyers currently practicing in that particular Bar.

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http://www.martindale.com/company/ratings-faq.htmlMark Roman Law Group is proud to announce Morgan Gaynor has achieved an AV Rating, the highest rating possible

. To learn more about Morgan Gaynor, and Clearwater Personal Injury Law Firm, Mark Roman Law Group, please go to www.markromanlaw.com. Clearwater Auto Accident Law Firm, Mark Roman Law Group, specializes in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death resulting from car accidents, boating accidents, construction accidents, falls and other accidents involving injury.

Mark Roman Law Group proudly announces its partnership with SWFBUD. a nationally-recognized, award-winning alliance of 11 Tampa Bay retail bicycle stores and four law firms. SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) works to increase the profile of bicycling in the Tampa Bay market by putting on the annual Bicycle Bash festival, lobbies government agencies and elected political leaders to devote more resources to bicycling; and partners with local businesses and community leaders to show that bicycling is effective transportation, a healthy lifestyle and a regionwide asset.

SWFBUD was created in January 2007 when former longtime newspaper reporter and bicycle activist Alan Snel recruited retail bicycle stores in Tampa Bay to join two founding SWFBUD members — Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium in north Tampa and Oliver’s Cycle Sports in New Tampa — to create an alliance that would offer political clout in advancing bicycling in the region.

Through the years, SWFBUD prompted Hillsborough County to initiate a bicycle safety action plan in response to tragic bicyclist deaths; leaned on the city of Tampa to start a bicycle-pedestrian plan and increased the awareness of bicycling through its annual Bicycle Bash and frequent media coverage. SWFBUD also attended bicycle summits in Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee to alert elected leaders to support pro-bicycle legislation.

The 11 bicycle stores are: Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Chainwheel Drive, Oliver’s Cycle Sports, ABC Bicycles, Trek Store of St. Petersburg, Bicycle Outfitters, The Ironman Store, The Trek Stores of Tampa and Clearwater, Street Fit 360, Just Ride Bicycles and University Bicycle Center.

Clearwater Auto Accident Lawyer and Personal Injury Law Firm, Mark Roman Law Group, www.markromanlaw.com, is committed to cyclists’ rights on the roads of the Tampa Bay Area.

Florida remains a high outlier for bicycle deaths, with a rate three times the national average. We have six-percent of the nation’s population, but account for 17-percent of bicyclist deaths.

Our traffic laws in Florida do not provide for special treatment or protection of cycling groups, and a group is not considered “one unit” for purposes of stopping at lights and stop signs.

A bicycle is considered a vehicle under Florida law, which means you can get a DUI on a bike.

When you’re riding on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk, you’re considered a pedestrian; when you’re riding on the road, you’re considered a driver of a vehicle.

Only those under 16 must wear a helmet, and failure to wear a helmet cannot be used to show you were partly at fault for your injuries in case of an accident (BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD NOT WEAR A HELMET).

Police reports are not admitted in evidence in personal injury or death cases; juries or judges must make their own decision about fault based on the evidence (THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL REASONS NOT TO ARGUE WITH TRAFFIC OFFICERS).

Nationally, the typical bicyclist killed was a man traveling in the afternoon or evening.

Nationally, large expensive motor vehicles, especially freight trucks, are involved in a disproportionately large share of bicyclist deaths.

In the U.S., about one-percent of urban travel is by bicycle, and about 30-percent of Americans are obese. In the Netherlands, 28-percent of urban travel is by bicycle, and 10-percent of their population is obese.

 Last month, a judge in Central Florida took the drastic step of overturning a jury verdict in a case against Ford Motor Company.  Ford had won the trial, but the judge found that Ford committed fraud throughout the trial which misled the jury and tainted the verdict.  Read More >>

 The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided that a sex discrimination case brought by female employees against Wal-Mart cannot go forward as a class action (Wal-Mart v. Dukes).  The case has attracted considerable public attention.  It is generally understood as a massive victory for big business. Read More >>

 We’ve all had the experience.  When we do something like buy a car, hire a lawn service, or get a cell phone plan, we first find out the price.  After we agree to the price, we’re told we have to sign a lengthy contract which a salesperson assures is just “a formality” or “paperwork.”  Read More >>

[W]e set up the courts.  We can unset the courts.
    –Tom Delay, Former House Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives

Delay obviously didn’t like courts.  He made this comment even before he was convicted in court of money laundering and sentenced to prison.  A similar contempt for courts appears to be the common thread running through several bills recently proposed here in Florida. Read More >>

 Last week, our post described changes to Florida insurance law favored by big insurance companies.  Those changes would have gutted an insurance company’s duty to act in good faith toward its policyholders and settle claims promptly. Read More >>

Anyone who cares about the civil justice system in Florida has to be deeply concerned at the moment.  So-called reform bills are coming out of the new legislature so fast that members of the bar and judiciary have their heads spinning.  It’s impossible to address them all here, so I will focus on just one: proposed changes to insurance bad faith law. Read More >>

Auto insurance

Eliminate PIP

The only way to fix the problem with Florida car insurance is to eliminate PIP (personal injury protection) benefits completely. The commonsense approach to the problem is to make significant bodily injury liability coverage mandatory and scrap the no-fault plan. It isn’t working. Read More >>

There’s plenty of distracted driving going on, especially among young people.  A recent poll conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Consumer Reports magazine confirms this.  People who responded to the poll were asked about their driving behavior in the previous 30 days, and here are some of their responses:
Read More >>

Floridians, particularly those in the Tampa Bay area, have heard a lot about Governor Rick Scott’s rejection of federal money for a bullet train between Orlando and Tampa. Scott cited the potential cost to Florida in rejecting the money. His opponents, on the other hand, have said the death of the project will prevent jobs from being created in the local economy. Read More >>

Florida’s new governor, Rick Scott, is on the warpath against our civil justice system.  Fully supporting Scott’s proposed tort reforms is an organization called the Florida Justice Reform Institute. Read More >>

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill recently issued its report to the President.  Consistent with previous findings, the Commission found that a series of missteps led to what’s been called the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history.  In describing the multiple causes of the disaster, the Commission described how the participants missed warning signals, failed to share information, and lacked understanding of the real risks involved. Read More >>

If there is one thing skilled trial lawyers agree on, it is the need for thorough preparation.  A lawyer who goes into court must know the case they intend to prove.  To the extent possible, they must also know their opponent’s case and be ready to defuse it.  Trying to “wing it” through a trial is irresponsible and usually a recipe for disaster. Read More >>

Mark Roman Law Group partners with one of Florida’s premier bicycle racing teams, Gearlink Racing, Inc. as a sponsor.

Gearlink Racing, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is comprised of over 80 members. Gearlink members include riders from 21 years old to 66 years old with several State and National level riders in road, mountain and triathlon. Read More >>

A St. Petersburg woman received a verdict of more than $600,000 on Wednesday for injuries she suffered in an April 2008 car accident. The verdict was reached by a Pinellas County jury after it deliberated for 1½ hours. Read More >>

The health risks of being overweight are well known. Every day people are told that carrying excess weight increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other serious health problems. However, a recent study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute suggests that being overweight is actually an advantage for men involved in serious car accidents. Read More >>

In the United States, a person who loses a case at trial usually does not have to pay attorney’s fees to their opponent.  However, there are some exceptions. In Florida, one of the most common exceptions is for cases involving formal settlement offers made by one side to the other. These formal settlement offers, which are now referred to as “proposals for settlement,” have become the plague of Florida’s civil justice system. Read More >>

Fortunately, the worst phase of the BP Gulf oil disaster has come to an end.  BP’s broken well is sealed and is no longer spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico.  Nonetheless, it would be hard to overestimate the magnitude of the disaster: 11 people killed, miles and miles of wetlands and beaches fouled with oil, and countless birds and marine animals poisoned.  Gulf oil and tourism industries were decimated by the spill and may not recover for years. Read More >>

In a prior post, we mentioned that Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for governor, announced plans for “tort reform” in his platform.  We did not have details of the plan then, but we do now. Read More >>

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company recently released its annual report to policyholders for 2009. According to the report, State Farm’s net income for its auto insurance business was $570 million for the year. While this is more than half a billion dollars and sounds staggering, it actually was a down year for State Farm. In 2008, State Farm Auto made more than a billion dollars in profits. Read More >>

A client recently referred us to a study of auto accident costs just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study measured the medical care and lost productivity costs of motor vehicle crashes in the United States in a one-year period. The total number was mind-boggling: more than $99 billion, or nearly $500 for each licensed driver in America. Read More >>

It’s election season in Florida. Because of that, you’ll probably be hearing about “tort reform” in political ads and debates in the next few months. Read More >>

If all you did was watch insurance ads on TV, you’d think the process of making an insurance claim is easy. The good hands people, or the good neighbors, or the people who are on your side, or the people who keep you safe under the umbrella, would get some background information supporting your claim. You would then get a check from your insurance money to compensate you for your losses. You would thank them and move on with your life. Read More >>