Archive for the 'Law' Category

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Virginia Personal Injury Lawyers Must Know How to Link Texting to Accidents

Published on April 27, 2009 in Law. 0 Comments

I have previously written about the dangers of texting while driving, but the latest news from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) provides more tragic proof of the reality of these dangers.

The NTSB is investigating the recent Los Angeles Metrolink commuter train crash, which resulted in 25 deaths and 128 people injured. According to recent reports, it is suspected that the engineer of the train was text messaging when the train ran a stop signal and crashed into an oncoming freight train.

Virginia personal injury/accident lawyers also have the ability to prove a driver who caused an accident was texting.

At the beginning of a lawsuit, lawyers can simply issue a subpoena for the driver’s cell phone records from the provider by obtaining the driver’s cell phone number.

Diligent Virginia injury lawyers should also be sure to ask whether the person accused of causing the accident has a work phone or uses more than one phone. If so, these providers should also be subpoenaed.

Also, Virginia accident attorneys should inquire as to whether the driver suspected of causing the accident has a blackberry device in addition to his/her phone. If so, these records should be obtained.

Further, an experienced Virginia accident lawyer will inquire about passengers in the car of the person accused of causing the accident and obtain their cell phone information as well.

It is a well-known fact that drivers frequently text “through” passengers’ devices by “dictating” messages to their passengers to be sent.

All of these cell phone records will demonstrate the time each text message was sent or received, as well as the same type of information for telephone calls. These records may also prove that the at-fault driver was on the job at the time of the wreck, which could permit a claim against that driver’s employer. As we all know, many employers provide cell phones and/or blackberry devices to workers and do not limit their use to just normal working hours.

If a driver caused a catastrophic automobile accident because he had his eyes and hands on his cell phone instead of the road or was otherwise distracted by passengers texting or talking on their phones, then Virginia personal injury attorneys can build a substantially better case for their clients using cell phone records as evidence to prove the other driver’s negligence.

Is your Virginia accident lawyer doing this in your case?

Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice

Published on April 23, 2009 in Law. 0 Comments

Personal injury is the name given to the branch of tort law that covers any wrongdoing or damage done to another in his/her person, property, rights, or reputation. A personal injury can happen any where such as work, in a traffic accident, because of a faulty product or a faulty repair, due to bad medical treatment, or because you slipped and fell on a wet floor or pavement.

The personal injury can be physical or psychological but, to be considered actionable, it must occur due to the negligence or unreasonably unsafe actions of your employer, a manufacturer, your doctor, your landlord, or some other person or organization who owes you a duty of ordinary care. If you think you may have a case for a personal injury settlement, please contact a personal injury lawyer or personal injury attorney.

Selecting a lead counsel rated personal injury attorney for your legal case is a very important decision. An initial consultation from a personal injury lawyer will have experience in todays legalities involved in a personal injury case.

Personal injury can be defined as any physical or mental injury suffered by an individual that is the result of another parties negligence or wrongful act. There are so many things taken into consideration to determine how much a personal injury claim is worth, and it can be tough to set any dollar amount on injuries you suffer in an accident.

You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, time lost from work, medical costs for ongoing injuries, pain and suffering, and so on. There are no formulas that a single jury or a judge is required to use in order to determine these damages and the compensation is based on a case-by-case basis.

For more information about your specific legal claim, it is best to speak with a qualified personal injury attorney to discuss your litigation options.

Below I have pen pointed specific personal injury cases:

* Auto/Car Accidents

* Aviation Disasters

* Plane Crashes/Accidents

* Birth Injury

* Brain Injury

* Food Poisoning

* Dangerous and Defective Products

* Dental Malpractice

* Dog Bites

* Medical Malpractice

* Nursing Home Neglect

* Products Liability

* Catastrophic Injury

* Slip and Fall

* Spinal Cord Injury

* Unfair Insurance Practices

* Wrongful Death

If you have suffered any type of personal injury including bodily injury, sickness or disease resulting from libel, slander, malicious prosecution, someone else’s neglect, false arrest or false imprisonment, or if you have lost a loved one due to any of these factors, you need to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney right away to protect your legal rights and fight for the compensation to which you may be entitled.

Each year, thousands of people are injured due to medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is defined as an instance when a health care professional is negligent in the care he or she provides and causes injury or damages to a patient.

Now, it is easy to make such a claim as many people do but it is difficult to prove. You cannot simply sue a doctor for medical malpractice because his treatment was not effective in treating your disease or injury. That is why, when faced with the possibility of medical malpractice, it is important to consult with a medical malpractice attorney.

Medical malpractice attorneys specialize in these cases, and their job is to study the standards and practices of health care providers. However, these standards can vary based on the state. For example, an experienced medical malpractice attorney would ideally be well-versed in health care practices and medical malpractice claims.

Working with a local medical malpractice attorney that is knowledgeable of state laws and experienced in handling such claims can ensure that you will be given the best chance at successfully receiving your due.

Contact a medical malpractice attorney if you suspect that you or someone you care about is a victim of a health care providers negligence, and you will learn more about the options available to you.

Why You Should Use a Personal Injury Attorney For Mass Transit Accident Claims

Published on April 7, 2009 in Law. 0 Comments

Fortunately, most people go through their entire lives without ever running into any major trouble while using public transportation. Every day, millions of people use things such as public buses, trains, planes and boats without incident. According to many statistics, these types of transportation are often thought to be far safer than private transportation methods like automobiles and motorcycles. However, when an accident does occur in a public transit setting, those who suffer injuries need to protect their rights; as such, hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is one of the best ways to do so.

Many laws govern how various types of public transportation are conducted. Whether it be buses, planes or other forms of transportation, the law is quite clear regarding passenger safety. It is unsettling, then, to find out how many injured people fail to be adequately or fairly compensated when incidents occur. When an accident happens in public transportation, the responsible party is often quick to rush forward with compensation of their own determination. When offered to the dazed, injured passengers involved in the accident, it is often accepted – and any further action against the company is rendered impossible.

The second that you or a loved one is involved in a mass transit accident, it is imperative that you seek the legal aid of a professional lawyer. While many law firms specialize in personal injury cases, far fewer are truly knowledgeable when it comes to mass transit cases. Your odds of receiving truly comprehensive compensation are greatly improved, though, when the attorney that you hire has proven experience in things like plane accidents, bus accidents and other mass transit mishaps.

Even if you are involved in a mass transit accident and do not feel that your injuries are that serious, failing to protect yourself with an attorney is a major mistake. Many injuries do not immediately present themselves; also, the nature of many public transit incidents can cause serious post traumatic stress disorders in the people who are involved. Being a passenger on a public vehicle that is involved in an accident can be a terrifying experience; holding the responsible party accountable is essential.

When injured passengers on public transportation fail to hold the responsible party accountable, nothing changes for the better. All too often, the very same circumstances that caused the accident can occur again and again, when no one attempts to hold the company liable for their injuries. If nothing else, holding these companies accountable is a means of protecting future passengers; after all, you certainly would not want anyone else to go through what you did.

An experienced law firm can make going about the process seamless and effortless. Knowing that you have an attorney by your side who has your best interests at heart is a wonderful thing. Rather than wonder whether you should have done more, you can hand all of your worries over to a professional lawyer and allow them to handle the repercussions for you in a court of law. Don’t be one of the people who allows their rights to be violated by large mass transit conglomerations; if you are injured on public transportation, protect yourself by hiring an experienced personal injury attorney.

The information you obtain from this article is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

How to Calculate Lost Wages in Personal Injury Lawsuits

Published on March 31, 2009 in Law. 0 Comments

In a personal injury lawsuit, the plaintiff seeks damages from the defendant for medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of ability to enjoy life and lost wages into the future. Depending on the job and type of injury, the amount of money rewarded for lost wages can vary vastly. Personal injury lawyer, Charles Flaxman, a lawyer at Flaxman Law Group based in south Florida, sheds some light on how to calculate lost wages.

Lost wages in the past and, even more so, in the future, are sometimes tough to quantify, but there are ways and means which we have developed to attempt to do exactly that. Depending on the person’s job, their age, the typical upward mobility for that career and a variety of other factors, we are able to make a rough calculation as to how much money this person will lose because of this injury.

There are easy examples of how we do this and much harder ones. An easier case would be if someone has been working the same copper mine for 20 years, with 2% raise each year and 15 years until retirement. We can probably figure with some pretty simple calculations about how much money this person will not be making if they are never able to work again.

But then there are tougher cases to put a dollar amount on. Let’s say a young person just graduated law school. It’s their first year out and they are a clerk in a huge law firm for 12 dollars an hour. Suddenly, they get hit in the head and sustain significant brain damage and now can only work flipping burgers at McDonald’s. While this person was only a clerk at the time of the injury, there is a very likely chance that they could have worked hard and risen to partner and within 10 years be making $300,000 a year. So how do you know? And how do you prove it? We hire vocational rehabilitation experts as well as economists. They will testify as to the present value of money and what others lawyers are making and how long on average it takes to rise to that position and they project that forward and calculate based on that what this person might have been making, compared to what he is able to make after the accident, and subtract and reward the difference.

In cases like these, there is no hard science and everything is really just an educated guess. That is why a good lawyer can artfully spin these numbers into the highest damages possible. There will always be a push and pull and compromise will come either in the mediation room or the courtroom. The plaintiff will claim he could have been a partner, while the defendant will claim they would have never risen past file clerk. In the end, depending on the lawyer, the jury, and most especially the credibility of the plaintiff, a somewhat happy medium will be reached.

What is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Published on February 26, 2009 in Law. 0 Comments

Charles Flaxman, a lawyer at Flaxman Law Group, has worked as an insurance claims adjuster and has been fighting personal injury lawsuits for over 37 years. In this article, he defines what a personal injury lawsuit is and why the advice of a lawyer is so important.

A personal injury lawsuit is a type of legal claim made in the court system that attempts to obtain compensation for any type of injury that a person sustains to their body or mind. This compensation can apply to any medical bills that one has to pay in both the past and future, any suffering one sustains in the past and future, the loss of one’s ability to enjoy life in the past and in the future and any lost wages in the past or future. It must be proven in court that the cause of these damages is directly due to the negligence of another party – known as the defendant.

The most common personal injury cases usually are due to accidents. A person or corporation did not mean to injure another party, but by some fault of their own, they did. These lawsuits are fought in civil court, not criminal court where the injury would be due to one’s purposeful attempt to hurt another person and that act would be a crime.

The United States court system is quite complex, and for that reason, the services of a lawyer, usually one who specializes in personal injury law, is often required. Most lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means that they keep a percentage of the damages if the defendant wins and nothing if they lose.

A personal injury lawyer will be able to help you understand better how the system works, who owes you damages for your injury and how much. Don’t try to be frivolous and request stellar amounts of cash for minor damages as no lawyer will take your case as it will be eventually thrown out. You should also not sell yourself short if you have been injured. The services of a good lawyer will help you achieve what is due to you if you have been personally injured by another’s negligence.