Legal Blog

Personal injuries can include dog bites & violent assault through to injuries resulting from a car or bike accident. Though the injuries can vary widely the processes of recording and treating these injuries should follow the same steps if the injured party is to conduct a successful lawsuit against the offending person.
For instance, if the injured party has been hit by a vehicle whilst riding their bike, and they have sustained light grazing and bruising, the cyclist might conclude that since no serious damage was done, such as broken bones, that it is too small an injury to prosecute for compensation. This would be the wrong thing to do since, even light injuries are enough to claim some compensation for. Grazes and bruising can result in bacteria entering the wound and causing a nasty skin infection. So, with that in mind, here are is a short list of the most common mistakes that will reduce someone’s chances of reimbursement after an accident.

Refusing Medical Treatment

So, this would generally apply to someone that has received minor injuries and they feel that going to a hospital would be a waste of time, and that the treatment of the grazes etc could be done from home. Whether this is true or not, one thing that can’t be done from home is to record the injury on their medial files. A record of the injury backed up by the correct medial documentation and a record of the treatment given out is something that gives weight to a prosecution.
It is often the case that injuries received in any accident that at first glance seem innocuous can within hours or days turn into a pretty nasty infection. Once bacteria gets into a wound and an infection begins, it is often only treatable with strong antibiotics. This would mean seeing a medical practitioner at a hospital or a doctors practice. Complications like these would in most cases make the injured party think again about suing for some sort of compensation. Having gone to the hospital at the time of the accident would not only help with the medical records but also pre-empt these kinds of infections.

Deciding Not to Call the Police

Being involved in a minor road traffic collision or receiving a dog bite, may be resolved with a swift apology and a hand shake from a sincerely sorry driver or dog walker. However, it would be imperative that a report is filed with the police for proper documentation to be received and used in any court action. A victim may not want to get the offender in any trouble, but by calling the police to record the incident will not generally get them in any trouble and all the office will do is to record the accident so that it can be used in a court of law.

Not Taking Photos of the injuries

In this day and age, it is rare that someone would receive and injury and not have their smart phone with camera to hand. I mean if people are happy to take a photograph of what their next meal looks like on the plate, why wouldn’t they take pictures to record the injuries sustained after an accident. Having on the spot picture of the injury at the time of the accident and also through the recovery process would make up an important part of any prosecution case.

Witnesses, including video recorded evidence

If there are any witnesses present to your accident, it would go well in any successful prosecution to get written or video statement to what they saw. This kind of evidence can only add weight to the case. This is one of the main reasons that cyclists, motorcyclists and some car drivers use video cameras to record their journeys.

Deciding not to employ a Personal Injury Lawyer

It is common for people who receive only minor injuries during an accident to decide not to proceed with any kind of legal action. Often, reasoning that there would be little recourse due to the nature of the injuries. However, getting a consultation from a personal injury lawyer doesn’t usually incur a charge. It would take a professional a few minutes to be able to decide whether or not you have a case or not. By having taken the steps mentioned there is more of a chance of a successful legal case and the chance of benefitting from a just financial payout.
Bio: Written by Michael Gay on Behalf of Smith Jones Personal Injury Claims Calculator

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A Business Major, A Superb athlete, An aspiring model. Sean's  perfectly set life was about to turn around on that fateful night.

It was the Saturday night before the Easter Sunday, 2005. Sean was drinking with his friends and was going home with a friend Ryan McDaniel. Sean knew he was too drunk to drive but so was Ryan who was dropping him home.

Ryan's car hydroplaned and crashed into a tree, he fled from the scene and Sean was left with a brain injury that left him unable to move, to take a bath, to simply walk or talk even. He had lost his voice also in the accident. Life-turned upside down for this 22 year old.

Jacqueline Saburido, a student from Venezuela had come to Texas to learn English during her college break. An Engineering student she wanted to help her father run his air-conditioning business , but first she wanted to learn English.

On the September 19 night she along with her friend Natalia Bennett and two others were headed home from a birthday party at Austin at 4:00 am. Before they could realize anything a car came and banged into their car head on. Natalia and Laura Guerrero died on the spot. Jacqui suffered from third degree burns in the crash- burns that scorched her eyes and made her blind, that melted away her hair, took her ears, nose, lips eyelids, fingers and rendered her hands useless.

Jacqueline is just not the same Jacqueline anymore. The accident left  her physically deformed and mentally scarred forever.

Drunk Driving

Drunk Driving has become a massive threat to society, a threat that causes 17,000 deaths each year, 300 deaths each week and 45 deaths each day.

Alcohol induced accidents have become the leading cause of death for young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24.

Why do We Drink and Drive?

Drunk Driving starts with the false belief and intention, people assume of themselves that they won't drink too much.

From there it moves to overestimating one's capacity. Even one glass of any alcoholic beverage affects our motor and cognitive functions and then there are people who even after 4-5 round of drinks insist they can drive absolutely safely because they have driven safely earlier.

Why would we do that? Endanger our own and others' lives.
Yet we do that, because a drunk man who opts to drive understands neither limit nor capacity.

Peer pressure or overconfidence,whatever the reason, alcohol and driving make a deadly combination. Surveys reveal that males are more prone to drinking and driving than females.

What is scarier is that it is estimated that 3 out of every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol related incident in their lifetime.

Sean and Jacqueline were innocent victims, two faces in a sea of victims whose lives have been destroyed in an accident in which they had no fault but were paying  a price because somebody else decided to drink and drive.

Drinking depresses your brain, you cannot function properly after drinking so:-

● Think from before what arrangements can be made when you know you won't be able to drive later.

● Getting a designated driver is a good idea.

● Knowing what your actual alcohol consumption limit is- practice with a few drinks (when you are not going to drive) before somebody close and responsible like a spouse, so you know exactly where to draw the line and when your ability gets impaired. Be true and realistic in your understanding.

What happens to a victim of Drunk Driving?

You can't recognize Jacqueline anymore-no nose, no ears, no hair, no lips, melted down skin-so little of that beautiful, ambitious teenager remains. Even after 100 operations post her crash her condition remains hardly altered.

Sean, the once dynamic athlete-model today depends on his mother for every little chore.

True Jacqueline and Sean are inspirations today with their courage and spirit for life, they are role models for many victims but does that give them back what they have lost?

Independence, dreams, aspirations...

The aftermath of these accidents involve deep physical and emotional turmoil for the victims. Like Sean's mother and Jacqueline's father, these victims also need the unconditional love and support of their loved ones to recover from the trauma and resurrect their life.

The Absolute Necessity of Legal Support

Under such circumstances, it becomes of utmost importance  that you have a good and professional attorney who will ensure that the victim and the victim's family is paid the due financial compensation by the culprit for recovery, one who will have such a strong case that the defense won't be able to get the case against the drunk-driver dropped.

The expenses the innocent victim has to incur in a drunk-driving case is massive sometimes, so your experienced lawyer should be one

● With expertise, who can calculate accurately your financial requirements and present before the insurance company.

● Gather extensive evidence to show conclusively that you were innocent and the accident was the drunk driver's fault.

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.

If you have an injury resulting from another person’s actions or negligence, it would be a good idea to get in contact with a personal injury lawyer. Some might say that personal injury lawyers are sharks out to make a quick buck off of unsuspecting victims, but that is hardly the case.

Personal injury lawyers’ main job is to represent you in court so that you are not taken advantage of by negligent parties, companies, or insurance adjusters. It turns out, they are a little afraid of personal injury lawyers, and here’s why:

Personal injury lawyers are experts in their field. Many think that any lawyer would be able to do personal injury, but it takes a great deal of specialized schooling to become a personal injury lawyer. If you contact a normal, non-personal injury lawyer, you are not likely to receive the compensation that you deserve. A personal injury lawyer will ensure that you get the full composition due.

Personal injury claims to which a person is entitled are many and are not easily recognizable to those not versed in personal injury law. There are a lot of hows, whens, whys, and when-not-tos that need to be answered during a lawsuit.

Your personal injury lawyer will ensure that an insurance adjuster will not try to take advantage of you by knowing more about the procedures than anybody else. Insurance adjusters will often try to misrepresent the law to try and convince you that you do not qualify for compensation or that you are entitled to less.