Personal Injury
MITIGATION OF DAMAGES IN PERSONAL INJURY
No one expects a person seriously injured in an accident to run a marathon or to bench press 500 pounds soon after the injury. At the same time, the legal concept of mitigation of damages requires those injured to make reasonable best efforts to get back on their feet. […]
Discovery in Civil Litigation
A “search for the truth” is the idea behind the discovery phase of civil law suits. Hollywood keeps movie viewers in suspense, telling a tale but holding back on a final nugget of truth until a secret witness shows up in court at the end revealing “the truth”. Forget all […]
Dog Bite Cases in Personal Injury Law
Dog bite cases present a shocking sudden trauma and long term damages. Man’s best friend turns into a monster. Permanent scarring results in many cases. Strict Liability The only good news in dog bite cases comes in strict liability. Most, not all, states impose strict liability on the owner or […]
Notice Requirements in Personal Injury Cases
Notice requirements compel those injured in an accident to notify proper authorities within a certain time frame. Otherwise, they lose the ability to make a claim. Many people understand statutes of limitation. Such laws give an injured person a certain number of years after an accident to file a proper […]
PREMISES LIABILITY LAW AND INJURIES
Premises liability cases address the legal duty of property owners. Many scenarios fall under premises liability. A store customer opens a cooling unit to reach for an item and a heavy door slams into her head. A shopping cart speeds along the floor, striking a customer. A homeowner, legally burning […]
Products Liability: Personal Injuries Caused by Defective Products
Products liability cases present horrifying facts: A power wrench explodes throwing metal pieces into an auto mechanics face, causing partial blindness. The transformer block on a new telephone answering device short circuits, sparking a home fire. A breast implant ruptures, leaking fluid into a woman’s body, causing cancer. These actual […]
Minor Settlements: Why is Court Approval Required?
Minor settlements, personal injury settlements for those under the age of minority, often need court approval before funds are released. Here’s the problem: minors lack legal capacity to make binding decisions. Minors in most cases can’t sign enforceable contracts. So, an insurance release cannot bind a minor. This contradicts the basic […]
Life Expectancy Tables In Personal Injury Cases
Life expectancy tables provide key information in evaluating some personal injury cases. The tables give a statistical perspective, a number, telling us how long any given human being can be expected to live. One of the most often overlooked elements of a personal injury case calculates long term potential damages […]
Cell Phones and Accidents: Is Legal Cell Phone Use Negligence?
Motor vehicle accidents happen more often than not due to driver inattention. Jabbering on the cell phone, texting, eating, drinking, turning to communicate with passengers, daydreaming and many other distractions reduce driver attention. Unfortunate but true, tragedies like this are not uncommon. More people are using phones every day as […]
SNOW AND ICE PERSONAL INJURY CASES
Snow and ice cases, where injuries are claimed for a slip and fall, present unique issues. A slip and fall on slippery snow or ice can cause serious injuries. But, the happening of an accident and injuries does not automatically entitle the injured person to a recovery. Fault must be established on […]
