Legall Bug
Attempting to settle a personal injury claim on your own can put you at a disadvantage for a number of reasons.
In any line of work, professionals get educated, gain experience, and acquire a level of expertise that may make their work appear easy. However, a great deal of knowledge and understanding underpins successful results. Legal terms, court procedures, personal injury laws, and even insurance laws are often involved with the claims process.
Overcoming challenges in a personal injury case
Certain challenges, inherent to any personal injury case, generally involve investigating the accident or incident to determine the cause of injury, proving negligence or establishing liability, and estimating the amount of damages. Economic damages are fairly straightforward. However, determining monetary equivalents for pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and other non-economic damages are not clear cut and are usually left for lawyers to argue and juries to decide.
Personal injury lawyers have to weigh the strength of a case and what type of recovery it might bring in court. When attorneys can develop and convincingly present a case, they gain leverage during negotiations. Most cases are settled outside of court. Yet failures to reach settlements can lead to lawsuits. Whether settling or trying a case, a significant amount of hard work and strategy goes into achieving a favorable outcome.
Legal complexities
The deadline to file a personal injury lawsuit is called the statute of limitations (http://research.lawyers.com/Ohio/Ohio-Statutes-of-Limitations.html). In Ohio, the statute of limitations varies depending on the type of personal injury or civil action taken. Even determining the date that the statute starts to run can be complicated and is best discussed with a lawyer.
Advantages of using a personal injury lawyer
Challenges and complexities are good reasons to obtain a personal injury lawyer. A personal injury lawyer can also offer advantages:
- You eliminate the stress of directly dealing with the insurance company.
- You get legal advice about how to proceed.
- You receive guidance about dealing with medical bills.
- Your lawyer navigates the legal process for you.
- Initial consultations to determine whether you have a case are free.
§ Personal injury lawyers represent clients on contingency—no fees are owed unless the firm recovers through settlement or verdict.
Filed under: General Law, Legal | Tags: attorney, defective products, law, lawyer, legal advice
Product liability law is an area of practice meant to protect consumer from defective products and services that negligent manufacturers have built and marketed. Essentially, it argues that a company who provides a product is in the best position to prevent defective items from reaching consumers, and should be held accountable when it fails to do so.
When companies ignore or violate their legal responsibilities in this regard can help people who are injured by the product recover the compensation to which they are legally entitled.
Burden of proof in a product liability case
At one time, the rule of thumb in product liability cases was caveat emptor, or let the buyer beware. This has changed, and now the legal concept of strict liability is the one to which manufactures are usually held.
Under this standard, manufacturers are responsible for any injuries caused by defective or unreasonably dangerous products that they produce, even if they were not negligent in their creation or marketing.
Therefore, in a legal case based on a product liability claim, the injured person must prove that a design or manufacturing defect caused the injury, or that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn consumers about the potential dangers of using the product.
Furthermore, the plaintiff must prove the product was being used in the manner in which it was intended at the time that it caused the injury.
Types of products involved in such cases
There really is no limit to the types of products that can be involved in a product liability lawsuit, but the most common types of products involved in such litigation normally include:
- Clothing
- Asbestos
- Chemicals
- Makeup
- Weapons and firearms
- Food
- Tools and machinery
- Medical products and devices
- Automobiles, motorcycles, and other motor vehicles
- Pharmaceutical products,
- Tobacco
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Filed under: AOP, Birth Injuries | Tags: attorney, attorneys, baby, law, laws, lawyer, lawyers, med mal, medical malpractice, newborn
Some of the toughest legal cases involve injuries suffered by newborn babies at the hands of their doctor or other medical professional. As the most vulnerable of all, babies are susceptible to all types of problems at the time of birth, even with the best medical care. Devastating for any family, birth injuries need to be accounted for and if a doctor acted irresponsibly, should face the consequences.
Current statistics show that eight to ten births in 1000 incur an injury due to medical malpractice. Whether its simple bruising, improper care or more serious conditions such as cerebral palsy, fractured bones, and other symptoms, these types of personal injury cases need to be minimized at all costs. Ensuring that at-fault doctors are held accountable is one way to do this.
Families should be aware too that certain birth injuries are often undetected for the first years of a child’s life. Some become apparent as a child develops. Not all injuries are visible after birth. Parents should do their best to look for any symptoms of a potential problem immediately after borth, but should be aware that most state laws will preserve their right to seek compensation in situations that don’t present themselves quickly.
Do you have a claim for medical malpractice in the New York City area? Be sure to discuss your case with our qualified attorneys to discuss potential birth injury litigation. Your rights are important.
Filed under: Birth Injuries | Tags: birth injury, injuries, law, medical malpractice
Some of the most tragic injuries that occur in people’s lives can happen within minutes of birth. These injuries, whether physical, mental, or both, can unfortunately last a lifetime. One of these conditions is cerebral palsy.
This is caused when the cerebrum is damaged, the area of the brain which controls motor skills, higher mental functions, sensations and higher functions. Cerebral palsy is often diagnosed immediately after birth. Symptoms may include spastic muscles or abnormally weak muscles, blindness or deafness, seizures, uncontrolled or spastic muscle movements and other issues.
There is no single definitive cause of cerebral palsy. However, it can result from brain damage caused by lack of oxygen in utero or during birth. Cerebral palsy is often associated with both hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and anoxic encephalopathy. Symptoms of oxygen deprivation in a newborn include low APGAR scores, low pH laboratory values, acidosis, seizures and other symptoms.
Doctors can be responsible for causing birth injuries. Whether they are directly or indirectly the cause doesn’t really matter. With the right training and medical technology, risk factors that occur in the birth process can be reduced.
Filed under: Legal, workers compensation | Tags: attorney, attorneys, law, laws, lawyer, lawyers, worker comp, worker compensation, workers comp, workers compensation
If you’ve been injured on the job, you may be able to file a worker comp claim in Atlanta. Georgia Workers Compensation applies to employers that have at least three employees operating in the same business within Georgia. You do not need to prove fault. All you need to prove is you were injured while doing your job.
An interesting aspect of worker compensation in Atlanta is that your employer is required to post somewhere in your workplace a document called a “Panel of Physicians.” This document will have a list of six doctors or facilities. If you seek treatment at one of these doctors or facilities, it will be at your company’s expense. If this list is not posted, your employer will have to pay for a doctor of your choosing.
These are the types of issues that you can explore with an experienced workers comp lawyer in Atlanta. Worker compensation in Atlanta is a complex, ever-changing web of laws. It’s not easy to navigate through the often confusing rules of worker comp in Atlanta.
If you are injured while working, contact an experienced workers comp lawyer in Atlanta, to assist you in claiming compensation for medical treatment, lost wages and any permanent damage or disfigurement.
Filed under: workers compensation | Tags: attorney, attorneys, claim, claims, law, laws, lawyer, lawyers, worker comp, worker compensation, workers comp, workers compensation
Certain jobs are inherently dangerous and can result in catastrophic injury that can be covered under Workers Compensation. Whether you have a fall, are in an explosion, or suffer a broken bone, you can file a workers comp claim. Besides losing your income, if you are injured you may require long-term hospitalization, physical therapy, and follow-up treatment, all of which can be covered by workers comp.
Some of the types of traumatic injuries for which a worker may seek compensation include:
- Eye injuries
- Loss of limbs
- Serious burns
- Broken bones
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Spinal cord injuries
- Respiratory injury
- Other head, neck, or back injury
If you are injured while working, contact a workers compensation attorney to assist you in filing your worker compensation claim. If your worker comp claim has been denied, a skilled worker comp attorney can assist you in challenging the denial.
Filed under: Family Law, General Law, Lawyers | Tags: call or email the office, clients, contact, cost, experience, find, find an attorney, firm, handle your case, how to find a lawyer, how to find an attorney, how to search for lawyers, informed consumer, law, lawyers and firms, legal needs and professional standards, legal relationships, openness, practicing law, professionalism, research and interviewing, trust
How to Find a Caring but Tough Attorney
Legal counsel that meets your needs
Finding the right attorney to suit your legal needs and professional standards is very important to the outcome of your case. Legal relationships between an attorney and a client require a certain amount of openness and trust in order to fully address the legal issues at hand.
Caring and tough is an excellent combination for a legal counselor. On the one hand, you know that your lawyer has the interpersonal skills to empathize with your situation but you can also feel confident this person will not let that empathy cloud his or her legal judgments.
Steps to find the right lawyer for your case
It can take some initial work in the form of research and interviewing to find an attorney with whom you feel comfortable. A few simple steps can make this process much easier:
- Start online. A simple search will return dozens of lawyers and firms in your area that handle cases in your field. Try a keyword phrase like “family law in Tucson” that is applicable to your legal needs.
- Evaluate the firm’s website. Does it meet your standards? Are you comfortable with their marketing messages? A law firm’s online image is closely intertwined with their representation style, and you should feel comfortable with this aspect of the firm you hire.
- Make initial contact. Call or email the office and discuss your legal needs with the support staff, or, if available, the lawyers at the firm.
- Ask tough questions. You want to know they can handle your case, and this requires a little bit of digging. Have they had a case like yours? How long have they been practicing law? If caring and tough is what you are after, ask them how they handle a difficult situation.
- Explore your options. Chances are there are several lawyers in your area that handle cases like yours. Make it your goal to find the one firm that best supports your legal needs in terms of cost, experience, friendliness, and professionalism.
- Retain counsel. This last step you can make with the confidence of an informed consumer. You have done your research and considered all available options.
Hope this Helps Y’all!!!
Filed under: Malpractice | Tags: alwsuit, attorney, attorneys, law, lawsuits, lawyer, lawyers, Legal, Malpractice, medical malpractice, suit
Are malpractice lawsuits the reason why malpractice insurance is so expensive? They are determined to find out in Utah, as a compromise medical malpractice bill passed in the Senate there a while back. All the stakeholders interested in the bill came to the table, discussed compromises, then created an amended, substitute bill. Trial lawyers, members of the medical community and others were all involved in the proposed legislation.
The bill includes a clause that nullifies the law four years from now. In essence, the bill would make it more difficult to win a medical malpractice lawsuit against an emergency room physician. The medical community agreed to not make medical malpractice lawsuits more difficult to win against any other type of physician beyond those in the emergency room. Many who opposed the original bill feared the new standards would be applied to all types of doctors.
“If there is a problem that’s been stated, evidence that we’ll see hopefully over the next four years is that medical malpractice insurance rates will plummet, and if they don’t over that four-year period, then this legislature will know that in fact, this doesn’t have anything to do at all with medical malpractice rates,” said Sen. McCoy.
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Filed under: AOP, Employment Law | Tags: attorney, law, laws, lawyer, worker comp, worker compensation, workers comp, workers compensation, workmans comp, workmans compensation
What are your first steps if you are injured on the job?
If you are injured on the job, here are some steps you should take to file a worker compensation claim and to preserve your rights under workers comp law:
- Report the injury to your employer by telling your supervisor right away.
- Get emergency treatment if you need it. Your employer may tell you where to go for treatment.
- Tell the health care provider who treats you that your injury or illness is job-related.
- Complete and file a WC-14, with the State Board of Workers’ Compensation and send a copy of the form to your employer and their workers’ compensation insurance carrier.
Report any accident to your employer (boss, foreman, or supervisor) immediately. This is important because if you wait longer than 30 days, you might lose the benefits due you under Atlanta worker compensation law.
If you are injured while working, contact an Workers’ Compensation lawyer to assist you in claiming compensation for medical treatment, lost wages, and any permanent damage or disfigurement all of which are covered by Atlanta worker compensation law.
Filed under: Family Law, Lawyers | Tags: attorney, attorneys, divorce, filing for divorce, find, finding, law, laws, lawyer, lawyers, separation
How to Find a Caring but Tough Attorney
Legal counsel that meets your needs
Finding the right attorney to suit your legal needs and professional standards is very important to the outcome of your case. Legal relationships between an attorney and a client require a certain amount of openness and trust in order to fully address the legal issues at hand.
Caring and tough is an excellent combination for a legal counselor. On the one hand, you know that your lawyer has the interpersonal skills to empathize with your situation but you can also feel confident this person will not let that empathy cloud his or her legal judgments.
Steps to find the right lawyer for your case
It can take some initial work in the form of research and interviewing to find an attorney with whom you feel comfortable. A few simple steps can make this process much easier:
- Start online. A simple search will return dozens of lawyers and firms in your area that handle cases in your field. Try a keyword phrase like “family law in Tucson” that is applicable to your legal needs.
- Evaluate the firm’s website. Does it meet your standards? Are you comfortable with their marketing messages? A law firm’s online image is closely intertwined with their representation style, and you should feel comfortable with this aspect of the firm you hire.
- Make initial contact. Call or email the office and discuss your legal needs with the support staff, or, if available, the lawyers at the firm.
- Ask tough questions. You want to know they can handle your case, and this requires a little bit of digging. Have they had a case like yours? How long have they been practicing law? If caring and tough is what you are after, ask them how they handle a difficult situation.
- Explore your options. Chances are there are several lawyers in your area that handle cases like yours. Make it your goal to find the one firm that best supports your legal needs in terms of cost, experience, friendliness, and professionalism.
- Retain counsel. This last step you can make with the confidence of an informed consumer. You have done your research and considered all available options.
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