By David Daggett on 10/29/2007 7:07 AM

     How often do you consider all of the hazards we face in our daily walks of life?  With Halloween coming up this week it is probably a good time to review some of the risks we often face but don’t always think about.  I was doing a little research on accidental injuries and deaths in the United States and was shocked by some of the statistics. For example, according to the National Safety Council’s (NCA) most recent statistics your odds of dying from other than a natural cause is one in twenty-two! 

     According to the statistics, accidental injuries and death are on the rise. There are many reasons including are increasing complicated and crowded society. But, it also seems that maybe we just don’t pay as much attention to the risks we face; or, perhaps even the converse - that is since we don’t pay enough attention we face higher risks.

     Perhaps predictably, injuries and deaths from automobile wrecks occur with the highest frequency. But I was surprised to learn that deaths from poisoning rank second in frequency in North Carolina. Other major risk areas include falls, choking, fires, smoke and suffocation. I wonder how many of us actually think about or prepare for these sorts of risks?

     For example, the NCA research indicates that most Americans worry more about random acts of violence than about any sort of accident even though the odds of an accident are much higher. Further, we are actually more capable of and have more control of managing accidental risks yet most of us don’t actively do so.

     Many causes of accidental injury and death are preventable. Please join us helping our families and friends be aware of the every day risks and dangers we face. We can all work for a safer today, and a better tomorrow. Thank you for your help.

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By David Daggett on 10/22/2007 6:49 AM

     Completion

     Completion - that seems to be a goal in helping people who have been wrongfully injured, hurt at work, or who are disabled. This past week I competed in the Hawaii Ironman World Triathlon Championship. My article on the race and other links are here. The theme for this year’s event was "Kupau," Hawaiian for "Completion."

     The photo above is The Place of Refuge dating back to at least the 1500's. It was a spiritual place, a place for royalty, a place of safety, and a place where Kupau is obtained.

     In ancient Hawaii there was a sort of rite of passage in obtaining Kupau. It included demonstrating the seven traits of knowledge, understanding, wisdom, strength, inspiration, authority, and endurance. To me an interesting part of Kupau is that part of obtaining completion is the understanding that the journey regarding these traits continues. Most of us probably tend to think of completion as being an end, not a journey.

     Learning about Kupau had me reflecting a lot about what we do as a team at Lewis & Daggett. Certainly part of our culture of learning incorporates traits similar to the seven traits of Kupau. They are sort of common traits or areas of study for most major religions and philosophies throughout history. It would take a book or two to cover these subjects!

     Understanding that completion is part of the journey seems strikingly similar to what our clients and we frequently experience. The cases conclude, many times very favorably, and yet many times the injury, loss, or disability continues well beyond completion of the case. This is one reason why the continuing relationships are so important to us.

     I plan to continue to further reflect on the seven traits of Kupau, as well as to further understand that part of completion is understanding that the journey continues. Thanks for joining us.

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By David Daggett on 10/14/2007 8:15 PM

     Inclusiveness

     We have previously discussed our weekly firm meetings, and the learning opportunities they present. Last week we had a guest speaker, Dr. Ben Reese, Vice President for Institutional Equity at Duke University. He was a charming presenter with a welcoming disposition. He helped us, as a team, to further recognize the need to continually work toward continually improving communication and interaction.

(Dr. Benjamin D. Reese, Jr.)

     Part of the Lewis & Daggett strategic plan includes internal growth and development in order to better serve our clients, and also to makes us all better people along the way. We strive to become better individually and collectively.

     Dr. Reese brought up many issues in addition to the obvious that become barriers to communication and acceptance. These included discussing areas that define each of us as individuals, including age, cultural background, gender, geographic residence, race, family, marital status, disability, occupation, religion, etc. He taught us how all of these areas are all very complex and multifaceted.

     At our firm, we work with and tend to represent broad ranges of people with many differences. In fact, many of our clients have been stereotyped. this applies to folks wrongfully injured, hurt at work, and disabled. many times we have to work on behalf of our clients to overcome preconceived perceptions in order to adequately pursue fair legal results.

     We have a deep belief in and strive for inclusiveness on an ongoing basis. So, we have to be conscious of differences both internally and among our clients and continually strive to make This effort aligns with our business goals as well as our long history of helping people.

     We are committed to continually work toward more and better inclusiveness both internally and externally. Certainly we all have room to grow and develop. We hope you will join us in this life long pursuit in learning respect for others.

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By David Daggett on 10/8/2007 1:19 AM

     Momentun Shift

     Last weekend we were at a law school event and got to chatting with a Federal Judge and his wife. The topic quickly shifted to Wake Forest football. The Judge and I are both big Wake Forest fans, and after last year’s stellar season culminating with the Orange Bowl our hopes were high for this year. However, the Deacons got off to a bit of a tough start with a 1 - 2 record.

     Things weren’t looking too good in Wake Forest’s last home game against Maryland. But, it turned out to be a thriller to the last second when our beloved Deacons pulled it out in overtime. Wow - I’m sure glad we stayed ‘til the end!

     This game was really interesting because Wake was way behind 24 - 3 with one minute left in the third quarter, and Maryland was getting ready to score again! But, the Deacons intercepted a pass and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown - the longest in the history of the school. You could immediately feel what the Judge and I dubbed as the "Momentum Shift."

     As we further discussed the "shift" the conversation then turned again. It turned to how the same principle applies in what we do professionally. "Momentum Shift" is exactly we try to do for our clients when they have been wrongfully injured, hurt at work, disabled, or has their land taken.

     The other side is usually bigger and more powerful, so our clients need help on their side. That is where we come in and apply our knowledge, understanding, work, and experience. We try to put the law on their side in order to do what is right, just, and fair. We are proud that our team at Lewis & Daggett takes this obligation so seriously.

     We hope the Wake Forest can use the "Momentum Shift" as the season continues. At the same time, our pledge is to always try to give a momentum shift to those who need our help.

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By David Daggett on 10/1/2007 7:54 AM

     Collective Impact!

     Several of us here at the office were meeting with some clients at the end of a long case. It got us thinking about our previous article on teamwork, and just what does that really mean. I reread the article and parts of it seemed to need further discussion. So I thought I would spend a few moments to discussing what I will call our "Collective Impact."

(Photo from the 2007 L & D Family Cookout)

     Remember, we of course are a law firm, and lawyers have egos. So, working well together may not always seem like the easiest thing to do. It seems more and more rare these days to have a group of folks who can put their own egos aside in order to better achieve a collective result. Don’t get me wrong, we have plenty of egos around here. But, it is admirable that our folks seem to be able to put that aside when needed in order to best serve our clients.

     When speaking of collective impact we refer to a number of different areas including collective work effort, collective intelligence, collective integrity, and collective results. We believe that one of the areas in which we excel is our combining of talents to be better in these areas than any of us could be alone.

     Collective effort encompasses all of the things we do together as a team to make the office work and flow efficiently. This includes case work, client services, and general office workings and responsibilities. It is simply amazing all of the little things that get done around the office by, what I believe, is the best administrative support staff around.

     Collective intelligence is all of us coming together with unique abilities and knowledge and combining them in a way that best solves problems for and ultimately serves our clients. Areas of knowledge would include investigation, clients services, medical information, insurance issues, negotiation, medical accounts management, processing, strategy, litigation, and firm management. Whew, there is a lot to know here!

     Collective integrity is sort of a hallmark of our firm. Mike Lewis "preached" to me from day one that we do what is ethically, legally and morally right to advocate for our clients, and instilled the deep belief in that character and honor in our firm. We are proud of that.

     Collective results refers to our philosophy of comradery in working together to obtain results. This encompasses the combination of all of the above traits in order to make us as good as we can be. Obviously this is something we have to consciously continue to work on daily.

     Lastly, we have a passion for what we do and have fun doing it. We work hard and admittedly have some tough days, but we are always on the same team, work together, and try to do the best we can. We trust this commitment to each other becomes evident in our work and serving our clients.

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By David Daggett on 9/24/2007 6:52 AM

     Just a Little Help

     Many people call us and may really just need a little legal help or guidance. In those situations we try to provide you with some help and assistance to point you in the right direction. Please allow me to share with you a little further information that you may also find helpful.

(Attorney Julie Bell Providing help)

     First of all let me tell you it is very difficult for us to say no to somebody who is calling for legal representation. Our attorneys and staff are really the type of people who like to help. We like to be able to help when you call. We like to guide you through your problem and we like to see you get it resolved one way or another. But we also feel that it is fair to tell you the truth regarding your situation and not to send you on a wild goose chase.

     In fact one of the things that we try to do here is refer folks onto other legal professionals in areas that we don't handle. However, we try not to send somebody on if it's a situation that is simply not economically feasible for a lawyer to handle; or, just as importantly if it is not an economically feasible situation for you to hire a lawyer. The reason is that is that it just simply isn't in your best interest and may lead to further frustration and financial strain.

     Certainly we think your situation is important and because of that we want you to feel free to use us as a resource for further guidance or direction either with your specific issue or within the legal community.

     For further information that may be helpful to you we want to provide you with some tips so that you can handle your situation when a lawyer really isn't needed. And remember sometimes as your situation develops it may become more feasible in the future for an attorney to help you out even though at the present time it is not feasible.

     We will very candidly try to give you help and direction so that you know if your situation gets to the point where you would benefit from having an attorney involved. Until then there's free information for you - sort of some self help kind of guidance available on our website or you can contact us and we will be happy to send you brochures and information to provide further guidance.

     We will work hard and continue to work hard in striving to live up to our well known reputation as a firm with a "History of Helping People." Thank you for your time and for joining us again. We really appreciate your giving us the opportunity to further help you and direct you. We look forward to further assisting you as the need may arise.

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By David Daggett on 9/17/2007 6:56 AM

    A Piece of Our Heart

     Hello, and as always, welcome to Lewis & Daggett. We appreciate your taking time to read our firm blog. This week we want to talk to you a little about something that is most important to us. That is our clients and our former clients. It may sound a bit cliché to say you are important to us, so we wanted to talk about this and explore this just a little bit further.

(L & D Front Desk)

     As you know, we are proud of our team here at Lewis and Daggett that includes attorneys, legal assistants, former insurance adjusters, investigators and support staff all working for your best interests. Also, we pride ourselves in our firm motto of "A History of Helping People." But our clients and former clients are probably a little bit more important to us than you probably realize.

     You may have experienced good service with our firm and, in fact, one indicator of the good service that we have done for you is the many families and friends of our clients and former clients that we end up representing and we appreciate that. But what you may not know is that with every client that we represent, literally a piece of our heart goes with each one of them.

     It means so much to us when we hear back from you or when you call in or just tell us how you are doing. One of the things that we hope that we can do is continue our relationship with you so that we can keep in touch with you and so that you can help us to continue to do a good job for other folks.

     We have a number of avenues that we use to try to stay in touch, to learn, and to continually improve. We try to stay in good contact while cases as proceeding. We survey all of our clients at the end of their cases so that we can continually learn and improve. We also stay in touch using e-mail, audio postcards, and electronic surveys. Many of you even participate more actively on our Client Advisory Panel.

     If you are interested in these ongoing updates and participation please click on the "Contact Us" link on the bar at the bottom of this screen to submit your contact information and we’ll be sure to include you in future communications.

     Our Client Advisory Panel is important because it helps us learn a little bit more about how to serve you better, how you think and feel and is a way for us to continue our relationship. Once you're on the client advisory panel, it's actually very minimally intrusive. We won't take up a great deal of your time. We will occasionally send you surveys, contact you for your questions and possibly set up some special events so that we can continue our relationship. We hope that you will find that relationship to be mutually beneficial and it's a way for us to continue to express our feelings toward you and to be able to stay in touch with you.

     We hope that you have enjoyed getting to know our firm. We thank you for your time and thank you for continuing to join us. We really appreciate your giving us the opportunity to further introduce ourselves, to learn more about us and in turn, for us to learn more about you. We look forward to speaking with you further.

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By David Daggett on 9/10/2007 6:57 AM

 Always Learning   

     It is "Back-to-School" time. Do you remember the thrill, anxious anticipation, and nervous excitement of your first days and weeks of each of your school years? What energy you had! What openness to new possibilities! At Lewis & Daggett we believe that we can all share this sense of excitement, and continual learning is actually one of our major firm beliefs.

(Photo form last Friday’s firm meeting)

     Learning is a continual process. Social scientists, doctors, psychologists, and researchers confirm that continued learning is necessary for proper brain function and development. Long term learning affects intellectual, ethical, social and performance development. At L & D we work daily as individuals and as a team to learn new skills, and challenge our brains. Formally, one of the ways we pursue this object is by having firm meeting every Friday morning. These meetings include all of us.

     Our Friday meetings may consist of some substantive presentations, team building opportunities, outside motivational speakers, personal betterment, and sometimes just plain fun and fellowship. We try to share our successes, as well as learn from experiences to make us all better individually and collectively as we progress. For example, we continually update and share efficiencies gained and better results achieved through advances in processes and technology.

     We believe this culture of continued learning betterment is important for each of us as individuals, and makes us better collectively. Our combined progressive intelligence, ethics, motivation, and client focused action plans we believe makes our firm a bit unique. Further, we are committed to continuing future progress and development. We believe this not only makes us better, but also allows us to better serve our clients.

     Members of our L & D team many times find our environment challenging while at the same time welcoming. We believe this makes us all better, more productive, and helps us worked together toward common missions and goals.

     We look forward to opportunities for continued learning, together.

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By David Daggett on 9/2/2007 10:42 AM

       Do Good Things . . .

     Today is a special day here in the Lewis & Daggett family. Today, Mike Lewis’ father, The Reverend Henry A. Lewis, celebrates his 90^th birthday and 65^th year in the ministry. Certainly both of these are significant milestones. What can we learn from him?

     There are many lessons we have and can continue to learn from Rev. Lewis. He tends to stop by the office at fairly regular intervals, and is around enough that he is truly part of our L & D family. We always enjoy it when he stops by, and I always try to pick up a lesson. I may write a book some day on the lessons learned . . . perhaps a fitting title could be "Mike and His Dad - Inter-Generational and Timeless Lessons."

      The first and most immediate lesson is to smile. Rev. Lewis always has a smile on his face from the moment he walks through the door, and continues to greet each individual with a smile. It always makes you feel good in his presence and is very welcoming. More, it is contagious and makes the whole environment better.

     Rev. Lewis is fond of saying something that incorporates some version of "Do good things." Which is usually closely followed by "Good things will happen for you." Wow, what a basic, simple, and a timeless lesson on how to succeed in life.

     Give positive encouragement to others. Rev. Lewis is always good about offering a word of encouragement. Interestingly, within his encouragement tends to be woven a message of high expectation. So, he not only encourages us toward good things and good results, he expects it!

     Oh, did you notice the Wake Forest shirt? Always pull for the home team - win or lose, good years and bad - always let them know which side you are on and pull hard. Rev. Lewis, thank you for always being on our Team! Happy 90^th!

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By David Daggett on 8/27/2007 10:39 AM

     There is a lot of excitement around our house - school starts this week! The start of a new school year is always a time of excitement and anticipation, but is also it a time to review and remember a few aspects of safety, particularly for our youngsters. Unfortunately, at our law firm we have seen too many times when an accident, injury, or some other harm dampens the year before it really gets started.

     The first thing that we will all notice is that traffic in general is heavier. That means we need to remind ourselves to be sure to stay alert and practice paying attention to our best driving skills. Additionally, it is a good time to remind ourselves to be courteous and respectful to other drivers. Good Manners go a long way toward being safe!

     Next, let’s all help to look out for our youngsters. Please pay particular attention during the early morning hours. Schools start early and many children will be out waiting for the buses in the dark. Some of them need a constant watchful eye, while others simply need help just learning where to stand for the school bus. In either case, they need our help and our support.

     Try something with me this week - at least one time offer some of our young people a kind word of support and encouragement. Especially the kids in our own neighborhoods need to know we care and that the they have a network of support. It makes a difference and will make their day just a little bit better (and your’s too!).

     Lastly, all those yellow school buses. Yes, they at times seem to slow us down....don’t they know we are in a hurry! But, we will all get where we are going so please be patient. Every year we hear about injuries from incidents with school buses. They are big, yellow, and have flashers for a reason. Please use extreme caution around the buses. North Carolina has a very a very good resource guide (click here: http://www.ncbussafety.org/) for parents, teachers and students that focuses on these sorts of safety issues.

     Let’s make this a great school year!

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