– Intellectual Property and Personal Injury Protection (“PIP”)
Now that I have passed my states Bar exam and have officially been sworn in as an attorney in the state of Florida, a lot of people start to wonder, now what?!
I am not any different. I went all throughout law school wondering what was my passion in the law; what area of law intrigued me most; what was I actually good at; etc.
During law school, I found out about Intellectual Property (“IP”) law and all that world of excitement has to offer. I admit I was instantly drawn! For those of you who are new to the IP world, let me introduce you and formally welcome you!
IP is intellectual property rights dealing in the area(s) of 1) Copyrights; 2) Trademarks; 3) Patents; and 4) Trade Secrets.
In a nutshell:
- Copyrights provide a person with an exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the work one has created.
- Trademarks are any words, names, symbols, designs, or any combo. of those already listed, used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one seller or manufacturer from those of a competitor; used to identify the source of the goods. (Example: Coca Cola; Youtube; Facebook; etc. are all trademarks that assist the public in helping them identify products or services belonging to the company.)
- Patents provide patent holders with an exclusive legal right to exclude others from making, using, importing, and or selling the patented product for a limited time period.
- Lastly, Trade Secrets are essentially business information in which a trade-secret holder is holding as confidential and sensitive to their business. (Example: the Krabby Patty recipe and the recipe for Coca Cola are all trade secrets.)
Learning about IP in law school brought me so much joy because I was learning about topics that interested me and fueled my legal passion/fire. I went on to graduate with a Certification in Intellectual Property and “booking” my Innovations and Patents class while in law school, which is a pretty cool and hard thing to accomplish!
At the moment, I am not practicing in IP, although I wish to be. Come to find out that IP is a very exclusive area of law that not many get into unless working in a modern technology city such as Silicon Valley in California, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, etc. Living in South Florida, I believed IP would be pretty big in Miami, but it is not that way. Many firms look for attorneys that have experience and or have their Patent License, because in order to be a Patent Attorney, one must additionally take the Patent Bar Exam administered by one’s state and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”).
My dream of working in the IP field are not shattered by my current obstacles due to the fact that I am learning so much and obtaining so much practical experience as a PIP attorney.
Now on to what I actually do! Personal Injury Protection is not provided and or required in every state. At the moment, approximately 12/50 states afford PIP coverage under your motor vehicle insurance policy. In states that provide PIP, Florida being one of the main states providing PIP, a person basically is under the law of “no-fault” when it comes to car accidents. What does that really even mean?? No-Fault coverage essentially states that even if you are the “at-fault” driver in a motor vehicle crash, you and the persons injured inside the vehicle (and at times outside the vehicle) will be provided for under your insurance policy limits. PIP provides coverage for medical and surgical treatment, medications, ambulance fees, and even lost wages and rehabilitation services.
As an Associate Attorney at my job, I mostly work with medical providers (clinics, chiropractors, surgical centers, etc.). I thoroughly check and analyze medical explanations of benefits or reviews to ensure that all bills are paid pursuant to the Medicare Fee Schedule. The Medicare Fee Schedule, the Worker’s Compensation Fee Schedule, and many more Fee Schedules under the FL. statute provides that each and every service rendered while at a doctor, hospital, or medical visit must be associated with a Current Procedural Terminology code. Each code may be looked up according to the proper Fee Schedule and determine whether the insurance companies have paid correctly. You would be surprised to find out how many times they under or overpay, which essentially can mean that you are missing money owed from the insurance company!
During my time with my current firm, I have been able to routinely attend court Hearings, Mediation(s), and participate in conversations and meetings with Opposing Counsel to better serve my clients. Overall, I am enjoying the experience I have and learning all I have to learn about becoming a great litigator in court. I know that I will get to where I want to be but timing is everything, and I trust the process and God’s timing.
