Tag: car accident
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
LIENS ON PERSONAL INJURY CASES
Like locks on a gate, liens prevent final settlement of personal injury cases until they are addressed. Government liens, private liens, statutory liens and others lock down settlement until dealt with. Medicare & Medicaid Liens Medicare & Medicaid, by statute, have liens on injury cases where accident related bills have […]
Independent Medical Examination in Personal Injury: the “IME”
Independent Medical Examination is anything but independent. The exams, also called an “IME” are also not medical examinations in the sense of a physician performing an unbiased examination seeking clinical findings for the purpose of healing. IMEs are set up by insurance companies solely for insurance company purposes. So, the correct […]
AUTO INSURANCE IN MASSACH– USETTS
Car accidents cause trauma. Those injured wonder why they suffer again when they try to figure out auto insurance. PIP Massachusetts law includes ‘no-fault’ auto insurance. This means that under the ‘PIP’ or Personal Injury Protection coverage of your own insurance policy, regardless of fault, your insurance pays up to $8K of your medical bills. There are […]
