What is a "global"?

[Techfarmer]

A month ago, my son was in an accident with one of my vehicles. He was charged. The attorney for my insurance company has "invited" me to attend a phone conference called a "global" along with other parties involved. What should I expect to transpire and what should I say? Thank you

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Global, in this case, would mean all involved parties.

Your insurance company should be representing you in this case. You should contact them to be involved in this call and ask them if you should be.

 

[Techfarmer]

The attorney who invited me is the one representing my insurance company.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Sorry I misread that. If he thinks you should attend do so. But I would certainly discuss what you should and shouldn't say with him before the call.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

A month ago, my son was in an accident with one of my vehicles. He was charged. The attorney for my insurance company has "invited" me to attend a phone conference called a "global" along with other parties involved. What should I expect to transpire and what should I say? Thank you

You should speak with an attorney who represents YOUR interests. The attorney hired by the insurance company might represent your interest, or might represent the insurance company's interest. You really need to find that out before saying or agreeing to anything.

 

[Techfarmer]

About how much does it cost to speak with an attorney or to hire one?

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Call your insurance company and ask if they will provide one. It's entirely possible that the attorney that you spoke to was hired to represent you, and not the insurance company.

 

[Techfarmer]

The way she put it, she is hired to represent the IC and, through that, represent me. Not sure I worded that exactly the way she said it.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Ask her, if she representing you.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

You need to find out if she is representing you or the insurance company. Although she could claim she is representing both, there is an inherent conflict of interest between you and the insurance company. I can give you a somewhat related example.

A home buyer was at the closing and talking to "his" lawyer. The lawyer represented him and represented the bank. In most cases, the bank's interest aligns with the buyer's interest, so this is a frequent occurrence. So the buyer told the lawyer that he was having a great day. He bought a new car and now was buying a new house. The lawyer got on the phone with the bank, who checked and learned that the buyer had financed the car, and due to the increased debt, no longer qualified for the home loan. Deal fell apart, and the buyer lost his deposit. Although the lawyer represented the buyer, he also represented the bank and was obligated to protect the bank's interest.

So for the sake of example, if you tell YOUR lawyer that the car your son was driving was not the car that you really insured, but it was the same year, make, model, and color, and you had switched the plates because your car broke down. YOUR lawyer would be obliged to keep that information confidential. The insurance company's lawyer would be obliged to inform the insurance company that the car involved in the accident was not insured.

Remember that the job of an insurance company is to pay out less in claims than it collects in premiums, so they are ALWAYS looking for ways to reduce what they must pay out. If the insurance company's lawyer learns something that will reduce their liability, he wouldn't last long as their lawyer if he didn't let them know.

TL;DR Make sure YOUR lawyer is working for YOU. (It doesn't matter who is paying - he or she has an ethical duty to his or her client)