CONTROL© 

Whether it’s controlling the dog on an afternoon walk, or controlling your plans with friends. Perhaps it’s controlling the team at work or your personal finances. Perhaps it’s being the most successful person in your group. Whatever it is, it’s a big deal!

We are all humans. We all crave control. And that’s okay.

Most understand. Most also understand it can drive you crazy because…

Not all things in life can be controlled.

No matter how hard you try, some circumstances are unforeseeable.

You can do all of your research on doctors. You can chat to your friends for recommendations. You can scour the hospital websites. But it's not going to stop you from receiving poor medical treatment.

And once you are victim of the incident, you can feel as though you’re on a slippery slide. But unlike a normal slippery slide, you haven’t initiated the descent. Someone has put you at the top and pushed you.

Because nobody ever goes to a doctor if they know they are going to treat them poorly, right?

Right.

You can never be certain when that will happen.

Unforeseen incidents can rob you of your ability to work. Your ability to play. Your ability to have independence. Your ability to have control of your life.

And you shouldn’t be robbed of any more than you have. After all, you’ve worked hard. You've done your research. You've spoken to your friends. You've called around. You don’t deserve to be robbed of any more.

Insurance for the medical system is designed to protect doctors from medical negligence claims. And the insurers are king at delay and denial tactics.

And the best way to defeat delay and denial tactics from an insurer is with a lawyer. A lawyer that you can control.

It’s really quite easy. You take control by quite literally using CONTROL©.

What is CONTROL©?

It is a simple audit process to put you back in the driver’s seat.

A seven step process to guarantee faster, fairer payouts. A process to refine and perfect the quality of the legal advice you receive. A bulletproof process for total certainty.

The seven step CONTROL© Audit is simple. Each letter of the word is a step in the process. And together, the steps guarantee every element of work performed, every piece of legal advice, is in your control:

It’s a matter of asking your lawyer some simple questions, which will be outlined in a minute. Their answers will determine whether you will be guaranteed:

The second step to the CONTROL© audit is testing obviousness.

After all, they have studied years upon years. Spent hours upon hours getting work experience. Learning word after word in legal jargon.

They surround themselves with like-minded people. And sit in an office all day with other lawyers.

Terms like “volenti non fit injuria” and “in pari delicto” are second nature to them. And lawyers love using these terms. It makes them feel that their law school tuition was well spent. 

Their language allows less scrupulous lawyers to take their client for a ride. Their client can’t understand what they’re agreeing to. Their clients are left wondering if they’re even speaking the same language.

And honestly, they aren’t. They are speaking legalese.

It’s like any foreign language, whether it’s legalese. Business jargon. French. It can all leave you confused.

Imagine you have traveled to Paris. You might feel intimated – it’s unfamiliar territory. There are unfamiliar faces. There are new streets. New sounds. New smells.

Like the smell of fresh croissants. You have followed your nose. You spot the buttery sheen on the golden ‘cwa-sohns’.

Your stomach grumbles. You’ve approached and are welcomed with “bonjour, voudriez-vous de l'aide?”

Did you have any idea what they just said? No. Did you feel mildly intimidated? Yes. Did you reconsider your need for the buttery, golden croissants?

It’s a common sensation for most when they experience another language. And it’s the same sensation for most when they hear legalese for the first time.

And it’s the reason there have been international movements for use of ‘plain-language’.

Jeremy Bentham Source 1 Source 2, Plain English Campaign Source 1 Source 2, Hon. Justice Michael Kirby Source 1, Bill Clinton Source 1, Barack Obama Source 1 Source 2

Bentham. Kirby. Clinton. Obama. They’re some of the most powerful people in the development of the modern day world. And they are all believers in the use of plain English. Together, they pioneered the movement.

And why wouldn’t they? The dollar savings are astronomical.

For example, the UK Department of Defence revised their claim form for travel allowances. Time spent completing the form was reduced by 10%. Time spent processing the claim was reduced by 15%. And the error rate was reduced by 50%.

The savings added up to $600,000 per year by simplifying the language on the form.

In Holland, a division of the Department of Education & Science had similar successes. Their application form for educational grants created great confusion.

So much confusion that 60,000 forms were returned yearly because of incorrect or missing answers. After changing the form to plain-language, only 15,000 forms have to be reprocessed.

A 75% decrease.

Understandably, this saved enormous clerical costs, postage, handling, and time (ACLA, 2012).

It makes sense. The more confusing something is, the longer it takes to understand it.  

The cost of poor communication is a transaction of time. And time is money. Time delays and wastes resources.

Time spent translating the French, “good morning, can I help you?” is time that could be spent eating the buttery croissant.

Like William, who unknowingly picked a legalese lawyer. A pay-by-the-hour legalese lawyer.

William would receive an email from his lawyer.

He’d spend 20 minutes trying to read it. Frustrated.

5 minutes spent sitting. Confused.

10 minutes searching for something to understand. Intimidated.

And 10 minutes typing a response asking “what on earth did that email mean?”

Embarrassed.

…And that would happen at least twice before it was obvious what the original email meant.

Hours of William’s time he could’ve spent with his mates. Hours of the lawyer’s time that William was being billed for. Paying his lawyer to clarify things.

Paying roughly $650 per email just to understand it.

And while he was waiting for answers, he was also extending his claim. Longer. And longer. And longer. The compensation is getting further away. The buttery croissant, getting staler and staler.  

And no one wants a stale croissant.

All William had to do was pick a plain-English, fixed-fee lawyer. William would have:

It all seems so easy and clear. And it is.

All you have to do is check the following:

Like what you've read? This is just a small part of something much greater!

Click below to continue reading the other 6 steps.