Tag: accident lawyer
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 […]
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, […]
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. […]
SOCIAL HOST LIABILITY – PERSONAL INJURY
Social host liability law holds people accountable where they serve house guests liquor to the point of intoxication. Hosts can be held liable to those injured by an intoxicated guest or, under limited circumstances, for injuries to the intoxicated guest. Social Host Liability to Guest Courts impose a heavy […]
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 […]
Proximate Cause: Personal Injury Claim Causation Requirement
In a famous case, a commuter runs for a train that’s just started rolling. The man sprints across the platform. A conductor on the train reaches out, pulling the man. Another railroad employee on the platform pushes him onto the train. A wrapped package falls out of the man’s hands onto […]
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 […]
