Personal Safety

In order to prevail in a personal injury case, you must be able to prove that your injuries were directly caused by the negligent actions of another. If you can prove that your injuries were at least partly caused by another, you may be able to receive compensation for your medical expenses, physical and emotional pain and suffering, permanent physical impairment or disfigurement, lost income, decreased earning capacity, property damage, or other economic losses.

If you have been injured in an accident, you may be entitled to recover compensation from anyone else who partially caused the accident, even if the accident was partly your own fault. The legal theories of “contributory negligence” and “comparative negligence” apply in cases where the plaintiff in a lawsuit was partially responsible for his or her own injuries.

“Contributory negligence” means the injured person’s actions, at least to some extent caused his or her own injuries. For example, someone who ignores a “Caution: Wet Floor” sign and subsequently slips and falls may be deemed to have been careless and, thus, at fault for his or her injuries. As such, contributory negligence can prevent the injured person from recovering any compensation, even when his or her carelessness was minor as compared to the fault of the other party. In some states, accident victims are entitled to recover compensation only if they can prove that the other party’s fault was greater.

In some jurisdictions, the concept of contributory negligence has fallen out of favor and is no longer applied. Instead, it has been replaced with the concept of “comparative negligence.” Comparative negligence means that the fault for causing an accident is compared among all parties, typically broken down as a percentage of fault attributed to each party. When this occurs, the monetary recovery awarded to the injured plaintiff is reduced by his or her percentage of fault. For example, if you were injured in a car accident that was determined to be 25% your fault, your monetary recovery from the other driver’s insurance company would be limited to 75% of the amount of your damages from the accident, an amount equal to that driver’s percentage of fault for causing the accident. By applying the concept of comparative negligence, each party is held accountable only for his or her percentage of fault for causing the injuries.

You may be deemed to be partially at fault for your injuries if you have failed to act with reasonably prudent care under the circumstances of the accident, or if you voluntarily assume a portion of the risk by exposing yourself to danger, such as by failing to use the available restraints on an amusement park ride or ignoring a posted warning sign.

The total value of your claim is based on many factors, including how easily fault can be apportioned among the parties, the seriousness of your injuries, medical treatments received and insurance coverage limits. Once the claim’s total value is established and the percentages are applied, a final figure for the injured plaintiff’s compensation can be determined.

While dogs are fondly referred to as “man’s best friend”, not all are friendly and each year thousands of people across the United States are injured by dog bites. If you’ve suffered an injury as a result of a dog attack, you’ve probably wondered whether you should bring a lawsuit to collect damages. The success of your case likely depends on the following:

State Statutes
Each state has its own set of laws when it comes to dog owner liability. Some are very strict, holding the owner liable for all damages resulting from a bite or attack by the dog on another person, domestic animal or property. In others, you may only be able to bring suit if the owner knew or should have known that the dog was a danger or "had vicious propensities."

Location of the Attack
If you were attacked in a public place or on your own property, you may have a better chance of collecting damages than if you were on the owner’s property where they could reasonably argue that you were trespassing.

Was the Dog Provoked?
If the owner can prove that you provoked the dog prior to the attack, you may not be able to collect for damages. For instance, if you threatened the dog’s owner by yelling or engaging in a physical assault, or if you went to take a bone that the dog was carrying, you may not have a basis for your claim because the dog’s action could be expected as a way to protect the owner or his “property.”

Evidence
As with any injury, it’s absolutely essential that you have evidence of the bodily harm. Were there witnesses who saw the attack? Did you file a police report? Take photos and keep a copy of the medical report? All of this evidence is necessary to prove liability and help to prove why you are entitled to receive compensation.

In many cases, a dog owner’s homeowners insurance will cover some or all of the damages. In instances where insurance isn’t available and the dog’s owner does not have the means to pay for the damages, there may be a third party such as the landlord who allowed a dangerous animal to reside on their property who can be held liable. A qualified personal injury attorney can help you better understand local statutes, your rights as an injured party and protect your best interests to make sure you receive just compensation for your injury and suffering.

If circumstances have required you to get involved in litigation, you may find the process of selecting an attorney to be overwhelming.  There are, however, some steps you can take to make the selection process a bit easier.

First, you should consider hiring someone who specializes in your type of case. If you had an automobile accident, consider hiring an attorney who exclusively practices personal injury law and preferably one with a track record of success in car accident cases. If you were wrongfully fired, hire a litigator with experience in employment rights.

Since you and the attorney you choose will be working very closely together, it’s important to choose someone with whom you feel comfortable.   How long has the attorney been practicing law? Has the attorney ever handled a case like yours before? What was the outcome? How much are fees and how are they paid? Does the attorney seem like he or she is concerned about your case? Does the attorney seem knowledgeable about the area of law?   Does the attorney articulate himself clearly and effectively?  Does he have a credible and trustworthy demeanor?  Remember, a judge or jury may be making the same assessments down the line.   

With respect to fees, most attorneys will take a personal injury case on a contingency basis, meaning that you only pay if they succeed, typically about one-third of the judgment or settlement amount.  You may be able to negotiate the percentage, especially if your damages are significant and your case against the potential defendant strong.  In addition to contingency fee structure, you should also be aware that many attorneys will bill for “out of pocket expenses” such as $0.25 per page for photocopies, $1.00 per page for faxes and cost of hiring experts and consultants.  Again, depending on the strength of your case, you may be able to negotiate these terms.  If you’re involved in a commercial or contract dispute, most such cases are billed on an hourly basis.  If you’re a plaintiff, a hybrid fee structure whereby you would pay a lower hourly fee but provide the lawyer with a percentage of the settlement may be an interesting option.

It’s also a good idea to find out how long the attorney believes the case will take. Obviously, many factors are beyond your attorney’s control, but you should be able to determine a general timeline and what type of resources the attorney will commit to your case.   It’s also important to know how you will be kept updated throughout the proceeding. It can be very frustrating if your attorney does not keep you informed on the status of your case. Ask the attorney how he or she plans to communicate with you and how often you can expect a status report.

Choosing an attorney is a big decision. Before you decide to choose one based on the number of television commercials he or she runs, or the size of the yellow pages ad the firm maintains, it’s important to sit down with the attorney to make sure the relationship is the right fit for your case.

In civil cases, plaintiffs have the burden of proving defendants are to blame for their injuries or economic losses by a preponderance of the evidence, which essentially means, that based on the evidence, the defendants were more likely than not responsible for the injuries.  That can be a lot more complicated than it sounds  Expert witnesses can be a critical key to success in winning over the jury and winning these complex matters.

Almost all states require some form of auto coverage insurance. This may include Bodily Injury Coverage, Personal Injury Protection, Property Damage Liability, Collision Coverage, and even Uninsured Motor Coverage. Depending on the state, the coverage level will vary greatly. For instance, you may only be required by to carry $25,000 in bodily injury coverage. While a relative residing across the country may be required to carry $50,000 in bodily injury coverage.  And while mandated requirements are often used as guides by drivers when selecting their policies, these coverage levels are not always enough to cover the cost of an accident. So what happens if you are underinsured and at fault in an accident?

The course of action will vary greatly depending on whether you are in a state with no-fault laws or traditional tort insurance laws. In states with no-fault laws, your insurance company will pay your damages while the other party’s insurance company will be responsible for theirs so if you choose to carry low levels of coverage the amount you receive after an accident will be capped by the coverage you selected. In states where traditional tort insurance laws exist, fault is established and the party at fault is responsible for the damages. If the driver at fault is underinsured in a traditional tort state, both parties may be in trouble.

Following the accident, your insurance company will seek to settle all claims as soon as possible. Even if you carry the lowest possible coverage, your insurer is responsible for your legal representation. If the opposing party has injuries exceeding your coverage level, and has Underinsured or Uninsured Motor Coverage, he or she may be able to collect the difference from this policy. However, if they don’t have this extra protection net from their own insurer or the damages exceed the policy limits, the injured party may file a lawsuit against you where your personal assets are at risk. 

In selecting an auto insurance policy, you might consider purchasing coverage above the minimum limits to protect your assets and livelihood. While a limit of $25,000 may seem high, the costs of healthcare continue to soar and just a one week stay at a hospital following an accident can easily exceed that amount.

Worker’s Compensation Benefits Only Go So Far

Workers’ compensation laws have two primary objectives:  The first is to ensure that injured workers receive the compensation they need following an on-the-job injury and the second is to ensure that injured workers received the compensation they need quickly and easily, and without anxiety as to whether the funds will actually be available.

Millions of injured workers have received funds dispersed by the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP), which compensates workers for lost wages, medical expenses and other expenses directly related to their injuries and losses. There is another loss for which the OWCP cannot reimburse workers: pain and suffering. This means that, despite injuries that are severe, injured workers are barred from OWCP compensation for:

• Mental trauma associated with a serious injury or disability
• The inability to accomplish the activities of daily living
• A diminishment in quality of life
• Loss of consortium on the part of a spouse or family member (in the event of the death of a worker)
• Loss of mobility (except in relation to diminished earning capacity and other direct financial loss)

Fortunately, there is often a way for workers and their families to obtain additional, high-value, lump sum compensation following an injury on the job – a third-party claim.

What Is a Third-Party Claim?

To understand third-party claims, it’s important to understand that Worker’s Compensation claims are paid via the employer’s Worker’s Compensation insurance. Federal law limits what the insurance covers, leaving injured workers uncompensated for a range of losses.

Successful third-party claims result in compensation paid to an injured worker, or his or her family, not by Workman’s Compensation insurance but by a third party. A third party can be the insurer of a contractor, subcontractor, vendor or other party on a work site that was responsible for the accident and subsequent injuries.

A third-party claim could look, generally like this:

While working for a roofing company, a roofing assistant sustains a concussion when a can of paint, owned by the house-painting contractor, falls on him from above. In the wake of the injury, the employee requires a great deal of medical care resulting in high medical bills and a month of missed work. The worker files for and receives compensation from the Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs through his roofing company employer but this compensation only covers medical expenses and lost wages. In order to recover damages for the pain and suffering associated with the injury, the assistant hires a personal injury attorney and receives a high-value award for the other losses resulting from the injury. The award is not paid by the Office of Worker’s Compensation Programs but instead by the insurer of the painting company whose negligence caused the injury. 

If you or a family member endured the pain, shock and loss of a serious on-the-job injury, you should investigate the possibility of a third-party claim. A third-party claim can result in compensation that covers your whole loss, not just the losses directly related to medical and wage expense. To learn more about third-party claims, contact a personal injury lawyer. 

When an adult is injured, he or she has the legal right to bring a lawsuit or settle with the at-fault party for compensation. A child, on the other hand, does not have those same rights prior to his or her 18th birthday. When a child is injured, it is the responsibility of the parents, or legal guardian, to advocate for the child and ensure his or her best interests are protected. While the laws vary greatly state to state, there are generally some unique considerations which come into play when a minor is the plaintiff in a personal injury proceeding, these include:

The Statute of Limitations May Differ
All states impose a time limit which requires that the injured party file suit within a given time frame from the date of the accident. In many states, the statute of limitations for an injured child will be different from that of an adult and the time period may not begin until the child turns 18 (allowing him or her to bring suit on their own).

A Guardian Ad Litem May be Appointed
Since children do not have the capacity to protect their interests in legal proceedings, some states require the appointment of a guardian ad litem. This individual must honestly represent the child’s best interests. In many states, the court will choose the Guardian Ad Litem; it is often a parent or close relative of the child.

The Parents May Also Be Able to Collect
While the compensation for injury will belong solely to the child, the parents of the child are legally responsible for medical bills and they may be able to also bring a claim against the at-fault party for compensation for these associated expenses. When this does occur, the parents’ claim is often tried with the child’s although two separate verdicts are issued.

The Standards of Care May Be Different for a Child
In lawsuits regarding negligence, the court will seek to establish whether all parties acted with a certain standard of care. This is even true of the injured party as the defendant may claim that the negligence of the plaintiff contributed to the injury. In the case of a child, he or she will likely be held to a different standard of care based on what is reasonable for a child of that age, intelligence and maturity. In some states, a child under a certain age is incapable of being negligent so a claim of contributory negligence would not be valid.

Court Approval May Be Required
Most settlements for a child’s personal injury will require court approval. Before approval, the court will generally demand that all documentation of the case along with a detailed accounting of the attorney's fee and case expenses be submitted for the judge’s review. The judge will then approve the settlement, if it is appropriate and in the best interest of the child. If the settlement is approved, the money must be deposited into a designated bank account approved by the court. The money cannot be withdrawn without order of court until the 18th birthday of the injured child. It's important to note that the parents are not entitled to this money.

Since children are seen as vulnerable members of our society, these extra legal safeguards are intended to provide additional protection. If your child has been injured, it’s imperative that you contact a seasoned personal injury attorney who can help you to better understand local laws and how they apply to your child’s case, and make sure that your child’s best interests are protected now and in the future.

Each day, thousands of advertisements for personal injury lawyers can be found in local newspapers, on television stations and even on social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. Most of these ads explain that the firm doesn’t collect any fees unless they win. Of course, there’s usually a catch with this statement and it centers around what the advertising firm means by “fees” and what other costs you might be expected to pay regardless of whether or not you win your case.

Attorney fees usually involve the time and labor of the attorneys and their staff. These fees do not include the out-of-pocket case costs that are inevitable in any court proceeding. So while you may not be required to pay any attorney fees upfront or at all (unless you win), you may be required to pay all related case costs. Case costs are usually expenses charged by third parties for work on your case. These may include court filing fees, expert witness fees, cost of obtaining medical records, court reporter fees, etc. Depending on the scope of your case and the duration of these proceedings, these fees can easily be thousands of dollars.

While some firms will require you to pay case costs as they are incurred, others won’t require upfront payment (especially, if you have a very strong case) and will instead deduct these expenses from the final settlement. Combined with legal fees, these costs may add up to 50% or even more of the settlement. In selecting an attorney for your personal injury matter, it’s important that you take time to understand what expenses, in addition to attorney fees, you will incur.

Information About Reporting Rates for Medical Errors
Because no centralized complaint agency exists for reporting medical malpractice, accurate statistics about the medical error rates in the United States are difficult to come by.  A 2010 review of medical records by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that about 134,000 Medicare patients were harmed in the hospital in a single month. Another HHS report revealed that hospitals report only about 1 percent of adverse medical events they are required by state law to register.  The report went on to state that the low percentage is most likely due to hospitals’ failure to identify medical errors that occur in their facilities, as opposed to failure to report known medical errors.

In short, available data suggest that hospital error reporting does not accurately reflect the number of hospital errors that actually occur.  The data also suggest that one reason for low reporting may be that hospitals do not have accurate systems in place to identify adverse medical events resulting from medical negligence or medical malpractice.

Why Are Hospital Errors and Medical Malpractice Incidents Rarely Reported?
Hospitals may need to improve their reporting procedures if hospital error data are to more accurately reflect reality.  There are other reasons for low reporting rates, as well.  Patients who suffer from hospital errors may be too traumatized to make the report, they may be focusing on other aspects of their lives after a disabling medical error, or they may find the current reporting bureaucracy too complex to navigate.  Without a centralized reporting system, patients and their families must choose from several different complaint options:

• The state medical professional licensing board
• The state public health department
• The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals
• A Medicare Quality Improvement Organization

These different agencies do not have procedures in place to communicate complaints among one another, and no agency collects accumulated data from all agencies into a centralized location.

Summary of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Proposed Program
The AHRQ’s proposal is to design a prototype system to collect information about patient harm events, to test telephone and internet patient questionnaires, and to test follow-up surveys of health care providers after a report of hospital error.

You can Visit the Federal Register Website for information about commenting on the AHRQ’s medical error complaint prototype system.
 

Matters that are subject of litigation are ultimately decided on facts and the applicable law. The process by which parties uncover those facts is called discovery.  There are many tools in the discovery toolbox.  A deposition (questioning of a party or witness under oath, often referred to as a “dep” or “depo”) is one of the most powerful tools.

If you watch the evening news or read the local paper, you’ve probably come across the term “Wrongful death.”  Legally speaking, wrongful death is a term used for a type of action that can be filed by the heirs and beneficiaries of a person who was killed because of the wrongful conduct of another person. Wrongful death laws are intended to provide compensation to help support the dependents of the deceased.

Conduct that can result in a wrongful death claim include negligence, such as reckless driving, or intentional crimes such as assault or murder. In most states, the standard of proof for wrongful death cases is a preponderance of the evidence meaning that the injured party has to prove to the jury that there is a greater than 50% chance that the defendant’s negligent or criminal actions were the cause of death. This differs from criminal cases where the prosecutor must show proof beyond a reasonable doubt, a much higher standard. Therefore, it’s often easier for survivors to prove a wrongful death case than it is for prosecutors to prove a criminal case. One well-known example is the O.J. Simpson case where the survivors of Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson chose to sue for wrongful death and won after O.J Simpson was acquitted in the criminal case.