After you've been in an accident, you really don't feel like talking to anybody. Ed Bernstein feels your pain, and he's here to help. Now, you can just text Ed when you get in trouble ... kind of like a bat signal for the lazy and litigious.
When you text Ed's number, 24000, you'll get an instant response, giving you options for your reply:
*SPK to speak to a live rep *ESP para espanol *ASK to ask a question *APP to schedule an appointment *TIP for accident scene advice
*ASS to tell Ed you feel like an asshat and would rather dial that number from the radio jingle
*MAL to notify Ed of your pending malpractice lawsuit*
We wonder if Ed accepts MMS messages as well. Could we take a picture of our "bulging disc" and get instant feedback on how much our case will settle for?
Ed reportedly spent $50,000 getting this new service up and running because he had to sign separate agreements with all the cell phone carriers to use his extra-special numerical text address. We can't wait for the first firm that allows us to tweet our "injuries" to the world. Isn't the future awesome?!
Need a little collateral for a loan? No problem, just leverage your lawsuit.
Las Vegas Business Press has an interesting article about lawsuit financing (a.k.a. "settlement loans") and our State Bar's supposed "mixed messages" regarding the subject:
The cautious attitude on the part of some attorneys likely stems from the conflicting messages coming from the State Bar on the subject. Initially, a State Bar ethics committee opinion said the practice of Nevada lawyers' referring clients to third-party lenders was acceptable. However, the State Bar Counsel, which enforces the rules, has since come out against lawyers referring clients' to settlement lenders.
These "settlement lending" agencies appear to offer nothing more than payday loans for the litigious, charging anywhere from 30% to 180% interest on the loans. One client's testimonial is just sad:
"I called a couple other places and they didn't sound good, and my lawyer referred me to (Preferred Capital)," said Renee Locke, a customer of the Las Vegas Preferred Capital Lending office.
Locke spent more than 30 years as a casino dealer before being disabled by an on-the-job injury two years ago. She has been fighting for a workers compensation settlement since and scraping to get by, she said.
"I am on disability and it is hard to get banks to lend me money," Locke said. She has now taken out five loans. The former dealer also turns to payday lenders, but says her overall experience was better at Preferred.
"They were so nice to me, and they didn't try to take a lot of my money," she said. "Sometimes I'd ask for $3,000 and they'd just give me $1,500. And I don't have to pay it back until my case is done."
Yes, and by the time her case is done (say five years for the sake of argument) that $1,500 will be anywhere from $3,750 to $15,000 depending on the lender she chose. And what if she ultimately loses the case?
Las Vegas attorney Ed Bernstein tries to talk his clients out of leveraging their settlements, reasoning:
"If a client took out a loan for $20,000 on a $100,000 case, in a few years after interest and fees, the client owes $100,000," he said. "Where's the incentive to show up in court when you have to pay that $100,000 back to someone else?"
Seems very telling that Ed is more concerned about his clients showing up than digging their financial graves.
What do you guys think? Are these lenders taking advantage of people who can't do the math, or are they providing a valuable service? Do you refer clients to them? Perhaps more importantly, what is the Nevada State Bar's stance on attorney referrals to these lenders?
Things are heating up in the Third Round. Our first match pits the virile Uncle Ed against Mr. Nice Guy: Ed Bernstein v. Craig Kenny.
In the last round, Mr. Kenny continued his amazing run through this tournament, showing that cordiality and kindness still matter in this profession with a win over the powerful Vannah & Vannah firm with 59% of the vote (background on Kenny found here and second round results found here). Meanwhile, Mr. Bernstein stormed into the tournament after his first round bye, showing the popularity of "ask Ed," by earning 78% of the vote over G. Dallas (background on Bernstein and second round results found here). Voting ends on July 29 at 5 p.m.
Something special for you in the tournament for this completely overheated Friday: the Man Known as "Ed" v. the Notorious B.I.G.
"Call Ed" Bernstein Ed Bernstein certainly earned his top seed in the tournament. Bernstein is a media master with his face pasted in serious black and white billboards all around town, never ending "call Ed" commercials and hosting of Nevada's longest running television show, The Ed Bernstein Show. Doubt Ed's fame? Name another attorney in this tournament who's interviewed Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George Foreman, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and many other celebrities. But media presence aside, we just love Bernstein's commercials. He's like that goofy uncle that just doesn't get how absurd he comes across. But while goofy as hell, you weirdly trust him. Okay, the voters may not have agreed with us when they voted to elect John "Slept with my Aide's Wife and Then Had the Husband Paid Off Not to Talk" Ensign to the U.S. Senate over uncle Ed (RJ), but we still can't help but find the guy trustworthy. Add that to the fact that Bernstein is one of the attorneys trying to find justice for the Hep-C infected [alleged] victims of Dr. "Needles" Desai (LV Sun), and he's definitely earned his top seed as a master marketer and tough litigator. Let's see if he's as tough as the flowerbed that once beat GDH.
G. Dallas Horton The Notorious B.I.G. Dallas Horton (website available here) made his grand entrance to WWL in March of this year, when WWL reported about his apparent botanophobia and willingness to frivolously burden the Supreme Court of Nevada over a flowerbed. (post available here) In response to the posting, one person commented: “Anybody who takes a case like this is desperate and/or stupid,” while another said: “Even Dallas is smart enough to know this case had no merit.” Then, when WWL reported that Horton just recently took down an $8.9M judgment, more than a few posters jumped at the chance to undercut Horton’s involvement in the actual trial itself and lend credit to Bobbie Vannah [my personal favorite quote: “Horton is an asshole AND and idiot. Vannah's just an asshole.”]. (For additional insinuations against GDH and GDH's replies, check out his firm's entry on the RipOff Report) Even with the Ken-doll haircut and the spray on tanner, can G. get no love?? Apparently not.
G. Dallas does have a decent television advertising presence, but not many of his commercials have made it online. The only one we could find was on Crazy Motion (available here) and that ad just features gliding photographs of G. Dallas in earlier ads.
According to its website, G. Dallas Horton & Associates “is AV rated with an AV rated attorney” – an interesting boast given that martindale.com currently sizes Horton up as being only “BV-rated.” Apparently, Horton’s relatively recent raid on Lewis Brisbois (taking LBBS partner Dave Thomas & LBBS associate Christian Smith) and addition of long-timer Monte Hall, Esq. (Bar No. 239), to the mix have given G. the street cred to bolster his boasting.
[Final Writer’s Log: Despite extensive research, I have been unsuccessful in discovering what the “G.” stands for . . . Tony The Tiger says it’s “grrrrrrrrrreat,” but I’m not buying it.] [Update: Peoplefinder suggests the "G" is for "Gregory"]
Ed Bernstein of Ed Berstein & Assoc. [you know, the lawyer in that super annoying "doors closed in your face" commercial] apparently received a threatening email related to his representation of Plaintiffs in the Hep-C/Endoscopy/Dr. Needles civil case. Best part is, police tracked the email back to a doctor's email account.
The Las Vegas Sun reports (scroll down under the Aryan Warrior report):
Personal injury lawyer Ed Bernstein received a threat that attracted the attention of law enforcement early in his involvement in the massive litigation over the hepatitis outbreak.
Bernstein received an e-mail from someone using a phony name in March telling him to “watch his back” in the litigation. The writer told Bernstein, “We will be following the events closely, and we will certainly be keeping an eye on you and your associates.”
The e-mail concluded, “It would be quite the tragedy if you or someone you cared for ... were to be diagnosed with hepatitis C, wouldn’t it?” That sentence included Bernstein’s home address, which naturally caused him some concern.
Bernstein turned the message over to Metro Police which, with the help of subpoenaed records, traced the e-mail to an account belonging to a doctor. Police determined the e-mail originated at a computer in the physicians break room at Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center, Bernstein said. The doctor denied creating the e-mail, and police have not filed charges in the case.
Wow. In this round of the eternal war between lawyers and doctors, doctors appear to have taken the d-bag title.
Enough said. Text Ed. 
