Legal Blog

Car accident attorneys offer a service that is often misunderstood by clients. It is important to understand that whenever a car accident happens and there is even a slim possibility that you will need to deal with legal problems, this attorney should be contacted. However, this does not mean that you can simply hire the very first one you find. When looking for such a service you are interested in high quality, as with Baumgartner Law Firm. With this in mind, you do want to base your research on finding the highly experienced attorney. This is normal. Besides this, you also want to look for the following qualities that are signs that the car accident attorney will do a good job.

A Good Listener

It is vital for practically any attorney to actively listen to what clients are saying. Those attorneys that do not listen are those that are practically interested in making money fast and not in getting as much as possible for their clients. You should always pay close attention to whether or not the attorney is listening to everything you say and engaging in active conversations. If not, you want to look for someone else. The very best car accident attorney will always try to learn as much as possible about the case before offering indications. When you are instantly offered solutions without knowing much about the case, the attorney is not a good one.

An Ethical Approach

Unfortunately, there are so many car accident attorneys out there that first think about shady practices and then about what is actually ethical. You want to work with those attorneys that have a strong code of ethics. If you are told that you should fake some injury, the best thing that you can do is look for someone else and even report that attorney since this is completely illegal. Do not be tempted by the premise of getting more money. If illegal practices are used, your case will suffer and you are not going to receive much in return for what happened to you.

One of the very first things that you notice when you start looking for a car accident attorney is that there are literally thousands that you can choose from. The majority will tell you that they are the best so it is up to you to figure out exactly which one should be hired. You are mainly interested in quality and being properly represented all throughout the process. This is why you do need to ask the following questions, according to the specialists at Diederich Law Firm. They will help you make a better choice.

What Are Your Plans For The Case?

Free consultations allow you to ask any question you might have. This meeting is actually about you interviewing the considered car accident attorney as much as it is for him to get details about what you are faced with. The attorney that did handle various accident cases in the past is always going to be able to tell you exactly what plan is the best in your case. There won’t be a delay in answering and you will be told what the next steps should be for a good outcome.

How Many Similar Cases Did You Handle In The Past?

Keep in mind that the question is not about how many car accident cases were handled in the past. The difference is very important since there can be so many things that differ from one case to the next. With this in mind, your main focus is to discuss with the attorney and see if he did handle cases that are similar to yours. For instance, if the case is not going to go to trial, you are interested in an attorney that did manage to negotiate many good deals for clients as they were talking with insurance companies. This is the type of actual experience you are looking for.

In the US, out of all the charges, DUI charges are among the really common. Prevalence is really high so it should come as no surprise to see that various DUI misconceptions appeared along the years. The law offices of Thomas, Webb, and Willis present the most common ones that they met from hundreds of past clients. These are the ones nobody should believe.

Different Foods Or Drinks Diminish Alcohol Effect

There are way too many that think they can remove alcohol impairment by simply splashing water on the face or by drinking coffee. Such food and drink related tactics can help people remain awake and not fall asleep while driving, but impairment levels are not going to be influenced. Drinking effects do take time in order to wear off.

It is Possible To Measure BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) Alone

There are many that think they have the ability to estimate BAC levels and will take this into account when saying that they are impaired or not. We do have some formulas that are used in order to estimate how much alcohol you have in your body but the truth is that they all offer just estimates. It is impossible to guess how impaired you are. Police officers will never care about what you think you should drink. Precise information is needed. Remember that two people that drink the same amount of alcohol will be impaired differently, even if they have the same age, weight and many other factors.

Trucking accidents, when they involve big rigs, are more complex and deadly than a simple car accident. The number of individuals involved in the accident adds to the complexity even if it's just you and the opposing truck driver,

When a truck accident occurs, the parties responsible can include a number of people, including:

• The driver
• The truck's owner
• The employing company
• Manufacturers
• Shippers or loaders

Complexity leads to lengthy, costly legal battles. If you're in an accident, you may have numerous parties that are held responsible for the accident.

Manufacturers, Shippers and Loaders

Not only will the driver, owner and employer be potentially responsible for the accident, but manufacturers, shippers and loaders may also be involved. An investigation into the cause of the crash will need to be completed.

There are times when these parties may be held responsible:

Many people have made mistakes in their life. They might have committed a crime when they were very young and foolish. Having a criminal record is something that can haunt you forever. It can prevent you from getting a job or accepted into a good school. It can also seriously limit your ability to travel to foreign countries. There is no reason why people who have only committed a single crime that was very small should have that one mistake ruin the rest of their life. Fortunately, people in Canada have the ability to apply for a pardon. A pardon does not completely erase your criminal record. The crime will still be there. However, the crime will be removed from the criminal database that is visible to the public. In other words, it will appear as if you have no criminal record to anyone performing a background check on you. Receiving a pardon can be a very complicated process. Obviously, not every person will be able to qualify. Here is how you can go about hiring a company that specializes in helping people in Canada receive a pardon.

1.  How long has the company been in business? How many previous clients have they helped to receive pardons?

It is important for you to know exactly who you will be dealing with if you hire a company to assist you with your pardon application. Therefore, you should avoid getting involved with a company that does not have an established track record. There are many fly-by-night companies in Canada that will be happy to take your money. Unfortunately, they will provide you with an application that will not put you in a good position to get your pardon approved. Some people deal with these shady companies because of their low prices. However, you always get what you pay for. It will be worth it to pay some extra money to get help from an experienced and qualified company that has helped thousands of people to get a fresh start where their criminal records are concerned. Ideally, you should only do business with a company that has been helping Canadians with their pardon applications for no less than 10 years.

2.  Talk to people you know who have received pardons.

You can get some valuable advice about companies that offer pardon services by talking to people who have already been through this process. Do you have any friends, family members or work colleagues who have been pardoned? If this is the case, you will be able to learn from their mistakes. You would be wise to talk to these people at length and find out everything you can about their experience. Ask them how they found the company that helped prepare their pardon application. How long did the process take? How much did it cost? Did the company stay in constant contact to keep them informed of developments in their case? Would they recommend that you hire the same company to help you with your pardon application? If the answer is yes, get the name and contact info for the company.

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It is very difficult to come to terms with the loss of a loved one. Families go through a terrible phase while coping with such a huge tragedy in their lives. When a person's life is lost to due to the careless and negligent action of others, it can become even more difficult to deal with the pain and loss. Even when families do come out of the grief, the sense of unfairness and injustice to their lost member prevails. But it doesn't have to be that way. With some legal help, one can expect to get relief to some extent by suing the responsible party. Read on to know more.

What is Wrongful Death?

When a person loses his/her life due to the negligent and wrongful actions of another person or entity (defendant), it is said to be a wrongful death. In such cases, the surviving family members of the deceased have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit against those responsible for the death. This type of a lawsuit seeks to provide compensation to the survivors for their loss. The compensation could be in keeping with lost wages, funeral expenses and even lost companionship. This may vary from state to state as each state has its own wrongful death laws.

Who can file the Lawsuit?

The deceased person's surviving family members can sue for wrongful death. They would be called the "real parties in interest." The claim has to be filed by a representative of the real parties in interest. Again, the laws and exactly which members of the family can be included in the real parties of interest may differ from state to state. Some of those people could be:

● Immediate family members: The immediate family members could be the decedent's parents, spouse and children - biological or adopted. This is true for all states.

● Distant family members: In some states, the brothers, sisters and grandparents can file for the claim.

● All financial sufferers: In some states, all parties affected financially (for care and support) by the victim's wrongful death can sue the responsible person, even if they are not related by blood or marriage to the victim.

● Life partner/putative spouse: In some states, a life partner who was financially dependent on the decedent or a putative (generally considered or reputed to be) spouse can claim compensation.

● Parents of deceased fetus: In most cases, parents can claim wrongful death action only if the child was born alive and died later due to negligence. However, some states allow the death of a fetus to also become the foundation of a wrongful death claim.

Who can be sued?

A case of wrongful death can be claimed against a person responsible for the victim's death, a company responsible for the death, government agencies and employees responsible for the death. Depending from state to state, government agencies and employees can be given immunity against such cases. A wrongful death can occur due to various reasons - death due to medical malpractice, death due to criminal behavior, death due to occupational exposure to harmful conditions and substances, death due to an automobile or airplane mishap, and death during a supervised activity.

What are the types of damages that can be claimed?

There are three types of damages that can be claimed by the decedent's survivors:

● Economic damages: These refer to the value of the financial contributions that the victim could have made to the survivors had he/she been alive. Additionally, it also includes loss of victim's expected wages, loss of victim's pension and medical benefits, victim's funeral expenses, loss of an inheritance due to the victim's untimely death and value of goods and services the victim could have provided were he/she alive.

● Non-economic damages: These refer to the non-financial aspects like damages for survivor's pain and emotional turmoil, loss of care/support/protection/advice/guidance from the decedent, loss of love, society and companionship from the decedent and loss of consortium from the decedent.

● Punitive damages: Depending from state to state, these damages can be recovered by the defendant  who has displayed a bad conduct. In some cases, the victim's survivors can also get reimbursed for the costs they incurred for bringing in the claim. Some states also have a provision for the payment of interest on the damages to the survivors from the time it starts to the time it is collected.

The loss of a loved one can cause irreparable damage to a family. No amount of compensation or reimbursement can make up for the loss incurred. However, it is important to bring all those responsible for the loss to justice for the survivor's peace of mind. Bringing in wrongful death claims can also help in decreasing the number of the same kind of unfortunate incidents.