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Understand What it Means To Be At Fault

Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were injured by someone else’s actions, then you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to be compensated for your injuries. For a case to be viable, the other person needs to be at fault for your injury. This is a legal definition that you need to be aware of. It will be up to your attorney to prove it, but understanding fault will help you decide whether or not to file in the first place. It is always a good idea to speak with an attorney before making any decisions.

The Four Components of Fault

There are four things needed for someone to be at fault for an injury:

  1. Duty
  2. Breach
  3. Causation
  4. Damage

First, to be at fault, someone must first have a duty to act a certain way. This may sound like only professionals who fall short of their requirements are able to be at fault, but everyone has a duty to act certain ways. For example, we all have a duty to avoid driving while intoxicated.

Second, to be at fault, it must be shown that someone breached the duty that he or she had. Essentially, it must be shown that a reasonable person would either not act as the person did, or would act in a way the person did not.

Third, to be at fault, someone’s actions must be shown to be the causation of the incident. Even if someone breached their duty, that does not necessarily mean that it caused the injury. It could be that the injury was coincidental to an individual breaching their responsibilities.

Finally, to be at fault, there must be some tangible form of damage. For personal injury cases, this means some injury took place. If someone breached his or her duty, and this breach led to the incident, that individual is only at fault if the incident caused damage. This is just another way of saying that you need to prove that your injuries were real.

You probably realize at this point that it is a fairly complicated process to prove that someone was at fault for an incident. This is one of the biggest reasons why it is so vital that you hire an attorney, rather than trying to represent yourself. There are legal requirements that must be met to win a court case, rather than just winning an argument. The first step you should always take is to speak with a personal injury lawyer.

 

How Much Does an Attorney Cost?

Personal Injury Lawyer

If you find yourself in a situation where you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit, one of the very first things you should do is speak with an attorney. Of course, it is well-known that private lawyers are very expensive. You may be wondering how much it costs to hire legal representation. This guide will explain the answer to this surprisingly complicated question.

The Cost

The price of a private attorney varies a great deal. The cost will depend on the complexity of your case. Additionally, different lawyers have differing rates based on how large their legal practices are. Generally, however, you should expect to pay a few hundred dollars at the very least. In some cases, a lawyer may even cost several thousand.

Other Options

There are a lot of alternatives to hiring an expensive lawyer. The legal system is set up to take care of those who are in a tough financial situation. In general, there are four options for inexpensive legal representation:

It is never a good idea to try to represent yourself. Because there are so many different options for inexpensive or free legal representation, no one ever has an excuse to not hiring an attorney. Judges do not like it when people try to represent themselves, as it slows down the legal process. If you want to have the best chance possible, always take the time to hire a personal injury lawyer  who has your best interests at heart. The sooner you hire an attorney, the better.

 

 

Is There a Limit to the Damages I Can Recover for My Car Accident Injuries

 

 

There are many types of damages you can recover when bringing a personal injury claim. The most common elements of damage include, medical bills, lost wages, vehicle damage, and pain and suffering. 

 

Regarding medical bills, you are entitled to recover all of the medical bills you have already incurred (“past” medical bills) and also those bills you will likely incur in the future (“future” medical bills). If you have suffered significant injuries, your medical bills will likely be very significant and will be a very important part of your injury claim. 

 

If you have been forced to miss work as a result of your injuries, you are entitled to recover your lost wages. Also, if you remain unable to work, you can also recover your future lost wages or lost earning capacity. You can recover these future damages if a doctor will testify that you have to miss work in the future due to your injuries. You will also be able to recover if you are able to return to work, but you are not able to earn as much as you did prior to the accident. 

 

Pain and suffering damages can be the most valuable part of your claim. Generally, the more serious your injuries are, the more you will be entitled to recover for pain and suffering.  You can recover these damages for both the past and the future. There is no set formula for calculating these damages, so it is critical that you speak to an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss the value of your claim. 

 

The amount that you can recover is often determined by the amount of available insurance the at-fault driver has. For example, if the other driver has $1 million in liability insurance, this is usually enough coverage to handle most personal injury cases. Of course, death cases and severe or catastrophic injury cases can be worth far more than $1 million. 

 

However, the more typical scenario involves at-fault drivers who only have $10,000 in liability coverage. What do you do if your damages far exceed this amount?  What if you have $50,000 in medical bills but the other driver has minimal insurance? What if you need surgery or ongoing medical treatment but the other driver does not have enough insurance to pay for all your damages? 

 

An experienced auto accident lawyer in Tampa, FL can answer these questions.  It is critical that you call a personal injury attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights and protect yourself by recovering all monies that are available to compensate you. 

 

Thanks to Jeff Murphy Law for their insight into personal injury claims and damages you can claim for a car accident.

 

Slip and Fall

Personal Injury Lawyer

Property owners are responsible for the safety of their invitees or guests who enter their property whether it be a commercial establishment, a place of business or a private home.

If property owners are negligent in maintaining the premises the injured party has a legal means of holding them responsible for the harm they suffer.

A trained attorney knows the fundamental threshold question to be answered during a free consultation so to best advise you regarding the pursuit of your claim for damages.

Many slip and falls occur inside businesses like shopping malls or supermarkets, also, in parking lots adjacent to the property or sidewalks and entryways to the establishment in questions.

The lawyer will initiate his representation by determining who is the owner of the property and whether there is a separate company responsible for maintaining it, for example, removing snow during the winter.

He will confirm you were on the property legally, not as a trespasser, either as a guest or invitee.  He will decide on the nature of the negligence that contributed to or caused you injury and communicate by letter with the property owner to obtain insurance company information.

Your personal injury lawyer in New Haven County, CT will have access to any experts you may need in proving your case.  You may ask, why do I need an expert.

The simple answer is that it depends on what caused the slip and fall. Here are several examples for complete clarity:

  1. here may be a design defect that is the cause in which case an architectural expert may be required.
  2. Areas that are prone to slip and falls could be prevented if an anti-slip compound had been applied to the surface.  Failure to apply can constitute negligence on the owner’s part.
  3. Experts are available to testify about the reasonable and inexpensive precautions an owner should take pursuant to fall safety programs and maintenance protocols.
  4. Others have credentials in carpet inspection, training in uneven carpet and rugs, carpet cleaning, repair and reinstallation, water damage, and extensive experience with hardwood flooring and other surfaces.
  5. Witnesses with specialized knowledge and hands-on experience are invaluable in the construction and building inspection industries, hotel/resort management, and restaurant and bar operations. There are even those who provide forensic engineering experience in analyzing slip/trip/miss and fall claims.

Managing Your Child’s Dental Injuries Following an Accident

Personal Injury Lawyer

If your child was recently injured as the result of another person’s negligence, you are likely to be looking to take legal action. However, you will first need to make sure that your child obtains the medical treatment they need as soon as possible. An accident can happen at a moments notice, whether your child slipped and fell, was playing a sport, or was a victim of a car wreck; accidents involving children are all too common. Dental injuries are especially commonplace for children. If your child has obtained a dental injury in an accident, obtaining swift dental treatment can help mitigate the risk of complications or long lasting effects.

Signs Your Child Should See a Dentist After an Accident

If your child was injured in an accident, other injuries may overshadow your child’s dental injuries. In some cases, you may not even notice there is a problem until the dust has settled. Here are some signs that your child should see a dentist following an accident:

No child should have to suffer the lasting impact of dental complications. In addition to the pain they may experience, their appearance may be altered as well. If you are noticing any of these signs, it’s important that you seek care from a dentist following your accident.

Valuing Damages with Evidence

When pursuing compensation for a dental accident, it may be necessary to speak with an accident attorney for help. They will take the time to review your claim and determine the value of your child’s case. In order to obtain the compensation for the damages you have obtained, you will need to gather key evidence that will support your case. Additionally, medical documentation provided by a dentist can help to further outline dental injuries, treatments and the impact the injury has had on your child.

Taking Legal Action

Considering legal action? Working with a lawyer can help you to have a clear understanding of what you need to support your child’s case. You will be looking for the best way to move forward, a lawyer can help you to take action. However, it’s important to be aware that you must do so within the statute of limitations. This is the amount of time in which you have to file an accident claim. While in many states, this timeframe is two years from the accident, taking action as soon as possible can only strengthen the claim. For minors, the timeframe is extended. A minor can take action once they reach the age of 18. They have two years from that point to file an injury claim against the responsible party.

Dental injuries that have resulted from an accident involving an at fault party can not only be frustrating, they can be incredibly painful. In many cases following an accident, your child may have also obtained other types of injuries that require treatment. Obtaining treatment from a dentist as soon as possible can not only help to strengthen your legal case, but help to ensure your child obtains the proper treatment.

 

Resources:

Wikipedia, Dental Care

Alliance Dentistry, Cosmetic Dentistry

Fighting for Disability Benefits

Personal Injury Lawyer

If something happens to you where you won’t be working for an extended period of time, it is suggested you contact a disability attorney to help you deal with the Social Security Administration. Disability attorneys have extensive experience in dealing with disability cases. Statistics have shown that someone applying for social security disability benefits is more likely to get approved if they are legally represented.

Why Should I Seek the Help of a Disability Lawyer?

The biggest reason to enlist the help of an attorney for your disability case is the fact that your chances of getting approved are substantially increased when legally represented.

Disability lawyers are well versed in all the applications and forms necessary when applying for disability benefits. They take all available information and present your case to the court in the most positive light for you. Insight on some of the information presented when completing the forms that attorneys can impart to their clients are:

During the appeal levels, your attorney can work for you by:

In addition, your lawyer will extract testimony from you during the hearing that can help your case. Your attorney will also have the opportunity to cross-examine any medical experts or vocational experts in an effort to confirm your inability to work.

During the next part of the appeal process, which is the federal court and the Appeals Council, your attorney will design high-level legal arguments illustrating how Social Security mistakenly denied your claim.

At What Point Should You Contact an Attorney?

Even before you are thinking about filing for disability you should contact a lawyer and get a free consultation concerning your case. Your attorney can assist you in evaluating how strong a case you have and help you with the first applications. Many people attempt this part of the process on their own; however, with legal assistance you are more likely to get your claim approved.

Here’s something else to think about: If you have legal assistance from the beginning and your first application is approved, your attorney fees will be small as there would only be a small amount of back benefits due from Social Security. If you have to fight for back benefits, your disability attorney will receive about twenty-five percent of the backpay if your case is successful.

Contact a social security disability lawyer for benefit denials as soon as you discover there may be a problem receiving your social security disability benefits. The sooner you call, the faster your claim has the potential to be addressed, the sooner you can receive the benefits you are entitled to receive.

 

Recycling Infant Sleepers Now Tied to At Least 50 Deaths

Defective Product Lawyer

The total number of infants who have died in incline sleepers is now up from 37 to at least 50 (https://www.consumerreports.org/child-safety/inclined-sleeper-deaths-rise-to-50-as-industry-continues-to-sell-the-products/), according to Consumer Reports (CR). These additional deaths were reported after an original investigation by CR into deaths associated with these types of products was released.

While two producers of such items–Kids II and Fisher-Price–have since recalled the dangerous products, other manufacturers are still selling similar products that carry the same risks. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, these incline sleepers increase the risk of an infant’s suffocation and airway compression; babies need to be put to sleep on their backs and on a firm, flat surface.

Back in April, Fisher-Price issued a recall for all of its 4.7 million “Rock ‘n Play” Sleepers, while Kids II recalled all 694,000 of its inclined sleepers.

A document recently released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states that 50 deaths have now been linked to rocker-style inclined sleepers, but these safety concerns have reportedly been on the commission’s radar for years. An inclined sleeper called the “Nap Nanny” was previously associated with six deaths, the first one being in 2010. It was fully recalled by 2013.

Despite the growing alarm over these types of sleepers, many major manufacturers–such as Evenflo and Baby Delight–still sell inclined sleep products. The CPSC has not taken any action against these similar products despite the likelihood of similar tragic outcomes for some infants and their parents.

The fate of the inclined sleepers has been left largely to ASTM International, an organization of consumers, medical experts, government officials and manufacturers who work together to set voluntary standards for a variety of processes and products in the industry. However, in May, the ASTM subcommittee handling the sleepers decided that instead of pulling the category from the market, it would investigate the potential hazards and standards of such products and reconvene in October 2019. This means that in the meantime, these types of sleepers will be available for consumers to buy.

While the industry and the CPSC delay their next move regarding the sleepers, some members of Congress are trying to take immediate action by bringing legislation forward to end the sale of inclined sleepers. However, it is too early to tell whether their efforts will be successful.

Lack of proper testing raising concerns

Fisher-Price has now been the subject of several lawsuits over its Rock ‘n Play Sleeper, and court documents in those cases have shown that the company knew about the risks prior to the CR report and that the product was never adequately tested for safety. The only medical professional contacted about its safety before it hit shelves in 2009 was a family physician who was not a sleep specialist or even a pediatrician and has since lost his license to practice medicine.

If You Were Speeding Before Your Motorcycle Accident, Can You Still Sue?

 

 

If you recently were in a wreck on your motorcycle, then you may catch yourself questioning if you deserve any compensation. Odds are that you sustained extensive damage to your property, if not serious injuries due to the collision. However, many drivers wonder if they cannot receive compensation if they contributed at all to the accident. If you were speeding before the accident, can you collect compensation? The answer is more complex than you might think.

 

No Fault and At Fault States

In some states, it will not matter who was at fault. You do not file a claim against the other driver’s insurance based on fault. In other states, however, you can determine fault as a way to determine how much money you are owed by the other driver. In these states, if you are speeding and hence contributed to the accident, you may lose a percentage of the cut. The accident will be split between the two parties. The party that is more than 50 percent at fault will be the party that has to pay. You would have to subtract your percentage of fault, however, from the compensation that you ask for.

 

How to Determine Who Is at Fault

After an accident, if you are well enough to stay on the accident scene, you should consider gathering as much evidence as possible. If you’re taken to the hospital, there may be other people who were able to take photographs of the accident and the police may have taken witness statements. It’s important that you can locate as much evidence as possible to show to your lawyer. Your lawyer will help you to determine fault so that you know what you are capable of fighting for. The picture evidence and witness statements are often strong enough to help determine fault in these cases.

 

Motorcycle accidents are among some of the most serious vehicular accidents. As the motorcyclist, you are more likely to suffer severe property damage and injuries to your body. Odds are you will need extended medical care and money to replace your bike, if not make extensive repairs. Some motorcyclists shy away from making a claim because they do not believe that they can. They believe that since they were speeding, they were partially at fault and cannot collect compensation. In many states, this is not the case. If you’re not sure of whether or not your have a case, your best option would be to consult with an attorney, like a Scottsdale, AZ motorcycle accident lawyer.

 

Thanks to our contributors from Yearin Law Office for their insight into motorcycle accidents.

Qualities Of Competent Truck Drivers

Truck Accident Lawyer

A trucking accident probably lingers long in the memories of those who either survive it or witness it. Due to their indelibility and often serious effects, it may seem that they occur more often than they actually do. In fact, truck accidents are among the least common motor vehicle collision to occur on the roadways, which speaks to the competence of the drivers, the quality of training they receive and the effectiveness of the regulations that govern them.

However, no matter how competent a driver may be at baseline, it is possible for them to become impaired or distracted, and that is when accidents are more likely to occur.

Qualities of Competent Truck Drivers

When hiring people to drive for them, trucking companies look for candidates with the following relevant qualities:

These people are likely to be able not only to withstand the rigors of the job but to comply with the regulations that are in place for everyone’s safety.

Requirements for Training and Licensing

In some respects, the requirements for obtaining a commercial driver’s license are similar to those for obtaining a personal one. You have to pass a test in order to obtain a CDL, and you get one license issued by your home state that is valid wherever you travel.

However, before taking the CDL test, drivers must undergo a rigorous training program related to operating a huge machine like a semi-truck. There are also additional requirements for extra training in special circumstances like hauling hazardous materials.

Causes of Impairment

However, even the most competent truck driver can become impaired under certain circumstances.

This is one of the most common and well-known causes of trucking accidents. The federal government has taken steps to regulate driver activity in the interest of preventing fatigue, but a driver may sometimes feel tempted or pressured to circumvent them.

It is not unheard of for truck drivers to try to extend their waking/working hours with stimulants or other drugs, though it is unclear how prevalent this practice is today. In any case, it is not safe for anyone to take alcohol or drugs, even prescriptions, before getting behind the wheel.

Driving distractions can involve cell phone use, fiddling with the radio or climate controls, eating, grooming, or a host of other activities that take one’s mind off one’s driving. An extreme case occurred recently in which a truck driver had his smartphone propped up on the dashboard to watch a football game and then collided with another vehicle.

Even competent truck drivers can make mistakes. Unfortunately, these sometimes result in accidents and injuries. Contact a law firm for information about how a truck accident lawyer may be able to help your case.

 

 

What to Do if You Get Arrested

Criminal Lawyer

“Into each life some rain must fall.”  An arrest is an event that can result in devastating consequences from going to jail or prison or being burdened by a criminal record.

Everyone should know what to do when arrested.  It can be a nerve wracking episode but even if it’s less emotional what you do and say can affect the outcome in a dramatic way.

Some of the following will seem like common sense but it is under unfamiliar circumstances that common sense takes a holiday.  Some over estimate their ability to talk themselves out of any dilemma. A prepared mind is a mind that places an arrested person in control of his own destiny.

The Right to Remain Silent

Anyone who has watched the countless police and prosecutor programs on television know that the first principle to be followed upon arrest is to be quiet.  Anything you say may be used against you.

The police at this point are doing their job and their interests are not aligned with yours.  They may be friendly. Remember they are trained to open a conversation with you and gain an admission or other evidence against you.  Do not be fooled.

Be Polite and Cooperative

You may feel there is no basis for your arrest or that you have a sufficient and reasonable explanation.  This is not the time to fight back and you must not indulge in the expectation that you are able resolve the matter with the police.  You will need an experienced lawyer to represent you in court and from the moment of your arrest forward. So patience and discipline is the order of the day.

Contacting an Attorney

The sooner you contact an attorney the better off you are.  Not just any attorney will do. Many attorneys who are not experienced, competent, or both, can do more harm than good.  When you select an attorney that is qualified he will discuss his experience and his reputation for success with you without hesitation.  His information will be accessible on his website and from referrals of former clients. He will be respected by judges and prosecutors alike.

The Bail

Once you are arrested you may be released on your signature, post a reasonable bail or go to court for a bail hearing before a judge.  If possible you will want legal counsel at this stage.

Factors the court will take into account at the time of your first appearance in court will include your financial resources, family ties, roots in the community, the “flight risk” and other relevant issues.  Are you a danger to the community is a question of prime concern. Your defense attorney can effectively argue on your behalf regarding all these questions.

At this juncture the skill of your attorney can determine whether the outcome is favorable to your liberty interest.  There are reasons why success cannot always be achieved at this level, factors beyond your attorney’s control.

However, the attorney’s conduct and ability should impress you with his attention to detail and passionate defense of your constitutional rights.

This is the beginning of the attorney-client bond that inspires the confidence you will need to confront the challenges ahead.  In a criminal case there can be no guarantee from a criminal defense lawyer in Connecticut other than the application of his superior knowledge, skillful strategy and total commitment to you.

He will fight for you like your case is his only case and that knowledge will inspire you with the confidence that you are in the best of hands.