Blog Posts
Seat Belt Use Admissibility in Injury Claims
Seat belt use reduces injuries and saves lives in motor vehicle accidents. Statistics prove it. But should the use or failure to buckle up be admissible in a personal injury claim where one is injured by the negligence of another driver? This poses an entirely different question. Seat Belt Use […]
OPTIMIZING PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM VALUE. Stepping it Up
Life is a learning experience. But sometimes, making mistakes along the way hoping to learn isn’t the best approach. Instead, if you’re serious about something, you hire a professional. Would you get on a jetliner knowing the person in the cockpit had no training and wanted to learn to fly […]
Supplemental Needs Trust & Personal Injury
Supplemental needs trusts, if established properly, can protect certain benefits when there is a personal injury settlement. Before the settlement is finalized, an attorney drafts this trust to hold and disburse settlement proceeds and potentially other property for the benefit of the person receiving the settlement. Certain benefits are needs-based, […]
Adverse Possession Law – Boundary Disputes
Adverse possession laws allow a person whose name is not on the deed to property to actually acquire legal title by meeting certain conditions. Adverse Possession Requirements The adverse possessor must openly, continuously, exclusively, adversely and notoriously use the land for a period of time which varies from state to […]
Confidentiality Agreements in Personal Injury
Confidentiality agreements in personal injury settlements are often proposed by those who have been sued. Such agreements can be enforced, even if it is a bad idea. Confidentiality provisions require non-disclosure of the terms of the agreement, or sometimes even to the fact of settlement itself, by the parties. Such […]
DRAM SHOP LAW – Injuries & Negligent Service of Liquor
Dram shop law seeks to hold a bar or other business liable when they over serve a drinker who later causes injury to themself or to someone else due to intoxication. The term dram shop came from old England, where a dram shop was a tavern serving spirits in small […]
What to do After an Accident
Driving down Main Street near one of my offices, a car comes out from a stop sign, slamming into the side of my car. I pull over. The other driver gets out, waves her arms “there’s a curve in the street … you were going too fast” and other gibberish. […]
Auto Insurance. Understanding Some Basics.
Auto insurance presents a necessary evil. Driving without it is folly. Driving a rolling two-ton metal box, disaster happens in a split second. Cars pose a rolling risk. Excuses for shirking off insurance include “I always drive responsibly … if I get in an accident the other guy’s insurance will […]
Suggestion of Bankruptcy
A Suggestion of Bankruptcy is a document filed in court giving notice that one of the parties in a pending case has filed bankruptcy. If the party is a defendant the filing stops the case by virtue of the automatic stay of bankruptcy. However the document can also be filed […]