Personal Injury Blog

How to Recover Damages in a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Legal Terms Comments Off

Sep 012021

Courtroom

A personal injury lawsuit includes several aspects. Therefore, one should follow the right procedures and practices to receive a financial claim after an accident or incident. The best recommendation from experts is to hire a personal injury lawyer that can handle your case and represent you in front of the court.

No one gets injured by choice; we often get involved in such situations that lead to painful injuries, loss of vehicle, and a bunch of medical bills that you cannot afford. In such circumstances, it is necessary to receive a monetary payment that can assist you with regaining the normal flow of life. Experienced personal injury lawyers can help you throughout the process to recover the damages under a personal injury lawsuit.

What do you need to know about a personal injury lawyer?

In order to understand the procedure to receive compensation after an accident, it is first important to understand a personal injury lawyer. These professionals are licensed to file a lawsuit to represent the injured victims in court. With their knowledge and experience in the field, they prepare the case and stand by the victim throughout the case.

There are variety of tasks that a personal injury lawyer needs to handle while following a trustworthy legal strategy. They file court documents, pursue evidence and speak in the court to present facts on behalf of the victim. These trained representatives can claim compensation in a reliable manner and take relevant actions after a personal injury accident.

Steps to recover from damages in personal injury lawsuit:

There are so many types of personal injury cases such as auto accidents, wrongful death, workplace accident, slip & fall accident, medical malpractice, exposure to toxic substances, intentional torts, and product liability. Depending upon the personal injury case, the victims can receive various kinds of compensations that mainly focus on emotional distress, loss of consortium, property loss, loss of wages, loss of earning ability, and medical treatment.

There are few necessary steps that one need to follow to recover from the personal injury damages:

First of all, it is important to consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer and discuss your case. Make sure you tell every single detail about the accident to the lawyer so that the expert can guide you accordingly. They may explain to you the law, case process and also provide details about the value of the case.
It is necessary to file the case in court within a specified time duration; then, only you will be able to receive the claim legally. Moreover, the legal papers must meet the lawsuit requirements in terms of content as well as formatting. This process needs some time; therefore, it is better to approach a personal injury lawyer on time.
In most cases, the personal injury lawsuit shows its winning or losing potential during pretrial case preparations. The experienced attorney may take some legal steps accordingly and file pretrial motions to build solid evidence in favor of your case.
The personal injury lawyers also check the settlement options before the trial, and if required, they prefer post-trial motions to help victims receive the proper claim.

Once you follow these simple steps to deal with personal injury cases, you can assure considerable support from the lawsuit to cover the damages.

Citation

https://www.lawyer-monthly.com/2021/08/what-are-the-steps-to-recover-damages-in-a-personal-injury-lawsuit/

What Is Pre-Settlement Funding?

Legal Terms Comments Off

Aug 012021

Lawsuit Pre-Settlement Funding

The consumer pre-settlement loan provides access to the recovery amount in the lawsuit before the ultimate closure of the case. This loan is known by many different names, such as lawsuit loan, litigation funding, pre-settlement funding or car accident loan as well.

Usually, the court trials or case settlements take longer time, even months and years in case of some complicated accident cases. And in most cases, the settlement amount is usually very high. In such situations, the pre-settlement funding company provides some portion of the expected pay-out in advance to the claimant. However, the claimant also needs to assign some portion of this recovery amount to the respective funding company which will be issued when the case is finally resolved.

Who can apply for a pre-settlement advance?

The funding agreement is not only influenced by the creditworthiness of the claimant. Rather, the funding agreements mainly focus on the strength of the case on behalf of the claimant. For the litigation funding agency, this transaction works more like an investment. Same as all investors, the agency needs to ensure that they are making a reasonable investment that could ultimately bring some profits. In order to investigate the case, the company hires a team of experts that could review the details and prepare estimates for the claimant.

While going through the case for estimating pre-settlement loan amount, the underwriters check below listed important factors:

Active status of litigation

The first thing that the litigation funding firm will need to check is that claimant has hired an attorney and they have an active case in the court. When the case is already filed, the agencies find it easier to rely on the investigation and assessment. Cases that are active in the court make these funders believe that the details are in the hand of some professional staff members, and the outcomes may be in favor of the claimant.

Type of case

All cases do not qualify for litigation loans. The most commonly accepted cases include personal injury or in which the claimant can expect some cash settlement from court. The list of such cases usually includes the destruction of property, slip and fall incidents, car accidents, and negligence. Very few litigation funding agencies provide loans for other cases like employment law cases, unsafe medical devices, and whistle-blower.

Settlement potential

This is another important aspect that underwriters need to investigate. After all, the settlement amount will decide how much profit the company can make out of this investment. Therefore, they are likely to check case files and estimate the settlement amount along with the case timeline. They just need to ensure that the respective case settlement will cover the fees of attorneys, travel, court reporters, and the cost of a lawsuit. The professionals offer pre-settlement amounts only after judging the potential of the respective case.

Experienced litigation funding providers know the best ways to deal with settlement-related cases. They can help claimants to manage ongoing expenses before the case is resolved in court. In this way, they make profits for their investments and yet the claimant receives funding to cover necessary expenses originated after the accident.

Citation

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/pre-settlement-lawsuit-funding-how-does-it-work

What to Expect When You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Legal Terms Comments Off

Jul 032021

When it comes to filing a personal injury lawsuit, it is easy to get carried away. We all see major stories of people winning millions of dollars or catching the aggravating party red-handed in a court of law. However, the reality is that applying for a filing for personal injury lawsuits is a more challenging process than one might assume. To help you make sure you can go through the process as effectively as possible, here is a simple 5-step process to think about that might help your personal lawsuit.

Always seek treatment

Once you have gone through any kind of injury, accidental or otherwise, you should seek medical assessment ASAP. Having it on-record that you immediately sought out treatment is very important. Even if you don’t feel in pain, a medical professional might spot something internal that could be problematic and thus needs correction or treatment.

If nothing else, it helps to show to any insurance adjuster that you have gone through the correct steps after the incident happened.

Get in touch with legal aid

Your next step is to contact a personal injury lawyer to discuss what steps can be taken. No matter how small a claim, you should always want to get legal aid to support you. Unless you have legal expertise and know the ins and outs of the courtroom process, don’t try to avoid paying out for help – a lawyer can be the difference between winning your day in court or having the case dismissed.

Begin the process

A lawyer will study your complaint and then look through your health records. Here, they should have a clear idea of what to do next via an interview with you. They will also look to go through your medical records and your medical costs; this takes time, so be patient.

Also, they will go through the process of making a petition and then negotiating with the other party. In the case of smaller claims, this could lead to pre-court settlement.

Filing the complaint

At this stage, the claim might have to go to court – if that is the case, your lawyer should take this to the court and now litigation begins. The case will begin trial on a certain date that is given to you both. Please note that it can take as many as one to two years for a trail to begin in earnest. This typically comes down to the kind of laws in your state.

Negotiation and trial

At this stage, some form of negotiation will likely take place. This could mean trying to mediate and find consensus so that some kind of payment is made prior to having to go trial. If not, though, you will need to take your case to court; this could be over in an afternoon or go on for months. It depends on how clear cut the evidence and the likelihood of guilt is. In short, be prepared for a long journey!

Taking part in a personal injury lawsuit can be demanding on your time, your bank balance, and your mental and physical health. Make sure you can commit everything needed, and that you are sure of the validity of the case, before taking this any further with a personal injury lawyer. Most lawyers provide a no-risk, free evaluation of your case – speak with a legal representative, and make your decision from there.

Citation

https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/269894891/planning-to-file-a-personal-injury-lawsuit-heres-what-to-expect

NFL Accused of Race-Norming in $1B Brain Injury Settlement

Discrimination Comments Off

Jun 062021

In Philadelphia, a mass case taken up against the National Football League (NFL) has sparked a mass discussion. A huge number of retired Black professional football players, alongside their families and supporters, have demanded an end to what is known as “race-norming”. The use of “race-norming” to determine eligibility for player payouts in the $1bn settlement fund for NFL brain injury claims has become a major controversy within the discussion.

Experts believe that the use of “race-norming” is a discriminatory practice. Indeed, Ken Jenkins, a former Washington running back, delivered some 50,000 petitions alongside his wife, Amy Lewis. These petitions demand the fair and equal treatment of black professionals. The petitions were handed to U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody in Philadelphia. Brody is the official overseeing the settlement case. Former players who have suffered from dementia and/or other diagnoses are eligible for a payout from the $1bn fund.

However, the NFL uses a scoring system on dementia testing that assumes black athletes start with lower cognitive skills than others. Therefore, they need to reach a lower score than white counterparts to obtain their ability to gain funding and support. The practice had been used for years unnoticed until it was first spotted in 2018.

Jenkins said about the discovery that “It’s the same old nonsense for Black folks, to have to deal with some insidious, convoluted deals that are being made.”

Though Jenkins, an insurance executive after retirement, does not experience any cognitive issues, he knows various NFL friends and colleagues who do.

Brody previously threw out a civil rights lawsuit that claimed the practice was discriminatory. However, she asked a magistrate to begin compiling reports on the problem, with no completion date provided.

Combating for an end to race-norming

Chris Seegar, Class Counsel, is now fighting to bring an end to the concept of “race-norming” and intends to any investigate any awards which were impacted this adjustment in the past. Seegar, through a spokesman, said: “We are investigating whether any claims have been impacted by a physician’s decision to apply such an adjustment. If we discover an adjustment has been inappropriately applied, I will fight for the rights of Black players to have those claims rescored,”

With a majority of the 20,000 NFL retirees being black, only one quarter of those who have sought awards for dementia have been provide with qualification under current testing. Lawyers have asked for extra details on how the $800m in payments made so far is broken down along racial lines, with no information provided as of yet.

While “race-norming” has been used in other fields in the medical industry, the NFL has been accused of using a simplistic and restrictive system that, others argue, is discriminatory towards black players.

Citation

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31444676/nfl-families-seek-end-race-norming-1b-settlement-brain-injury-claims

Family of 5-year-old Who Died at Rotating Restaurant Settle Lawsuit

Wrongful Death Comments Off

May 052021

The loss of a child is never easy to deal with, but when the loss comes at the tender age of five it could be impossible to recover from. This is the tragic situation faced by the family of Charlie Holt, a 5-year-old child who was identified as the victim of a tragic event that took place at Sun Dial Restaurant, Atlanta. The youngster died during an incident that took place at the Westin Peachtree Plaza four years ago and has been the result of a long-running legal case. The suit has now been settled, though, with ownership group Marriott.

Holt died in 2017 when he was caught between a wall and a table of the rotating floor within the restaurant. The child was on holiday with parents Rebecca and Michael, when he was pinned. Though staff and employees worked hard to rescue the boy, serious brain injuries led to his untimely death at Grady Memorial Hospital.

The family filed a lawsuit in 2017 stating that the restaurant had failed to tackle what they called a “longstanding safety hazard”, and also heavily disputed claims that the child’s death came when he wandered away from his parents.

A statement was released from both parties, saying that Charlie has not wandered away from his parents, and both parties have agreed to find consensus as opposed to continue litigation. The terms of settlement, though, were not made public.

What was said?

The parents of Charlie released their own statement, saying: “Our family will never recover from the loss of Charlie. In fact, we have struggled for many months with whether or not we should release this joint statement. Being under the microscope of the world has been horrific and the thought of conjuring it up again was like reopening a wound that will never fully heal. However, we are reminded of the goal of this statement, so that Charlie’s siblings know that their brother and their parents did nothing wrong that day.

“One day, when they Google their brother, which they will, they need to be able to find the truth hidden in the lies and commentary of the press and police officers who never asked nor took our statement. We owe it to Charlie to make sure the world knows the truth. And we owe it to all families, to make sure safety measures have been put into place to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Citation

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/family-5-year-old-who-died-after-being-pinned-sun-dial-settles-lawsuit-with-marriot/K26IZCGZOBBINJ2H4IFNMFJHLI/

Police Stun Gun Injuries Face Lawsuits

Police Misconduct Comments Off

Apr 082021

Police with Stun Gun

Amidst one of the largest political and social crises in American modern history, there is a medical crisis as well. While the USA battles the silent killer of opioid addiction with one hand, it fights back against the COVID-19 pandemic with the other. Add in the spark of racial tension and inequality that is rife across US society, and it is easy to see where the concerns are building from across American culture. This has led to mass protesting, and often been met with heavy-handed response from law enforcement and civil obedience groups.

Over time, this has led to a stark increase in the number of times that stun guns are being used. Stun guns and tasers are commonly used by police today, often used to stop someone resisting arrest or to stop someone mid-offense.

However, as reports show, stun guns and tasers are often used with reckless abandon. This has led to a large uptick in the number of people being injured, even killed, with the use of such weapons. When used in the right way or when operated to excess, stun guns can be used as a lethal form of force. People who have been harmed by police officers using stun guns that have gone to excess are now able to file an excessive (or deadly) force lawsuit against the law enforcement officials who use such a practice.

Depending on what has taken place on a case-by-case basis, there is the chance for civil lawsuit success. This could involve a suit against an individual, the department, or even the government of the county or state itself. In fact, some have even taken up cases against the manufacturer of the weapon itself. A victim can sue the officer, the department, or the wider government if they feel that such an action would be justified.

What does this mean?

Almost five hundred lawsuits against police stun gun usage have been filed in the last two decades – this is taken from around one thousand cases. This means that some believe that one in two cases are unlawful, excessive, or malicious.

Given the high-profile cases being seen in the press and by the public, there is likely to be an increase in the number of cases that are looked at in legal courts. Most of the time, the push will be to look at abuse of the constitution, or abuse of civil rights. This can see claims filed on a regular basis against officers who have been extrajudicial in their use of such weaponry, as well as those who have been negligent or otherwise lacking in care when using such an item.

There are various experiences of people finding success in the courts, too, especially when a freedom of information request is used to grab body cam video and dash cam footage to be used. In a world where so many people are put in unlawful situations, being able to find some form of justice – regardless of who the perpetrator is – is an essential part of American life.

Citation

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/suing-police-stun-gun-injuries-and-deaths

Utah Motor Carrier Files RICO Lawsuit in New Orleans

Fraud Comments Off

Mar 062021

C. R. England Truck

The Utah-based motor carrier C.R. England has launched a major Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO, civil lawsuit. They have alleged that a law firm within New Orleans, and a group of six co-conspirators, have been paid a total of $4.7m in fraudulent settlements for a staged accident that took place in 2015.

The lawsuit, which takes up some 98 pages in total, contains details which have been made open in public for the first time. They claim that “criminal enterprise” groups have been involved in some 150 staged accidents using tractor-trailers in the New Orleans area. They also claim that this took place over a 3-year period, from 2015 until 2018. So far, some 33 individuals have been indicted as part of the scheme, with 15 pleading guilty of participation in staged incidents. This is part of a wider ongoing FBI investigation, as well as a federal grand jury investigation, into the incidents.

In the lawsuit itself, it is stated that: “It is believed that while this RICO complaint is pending, many more indictments will be filed, guilty pleas will be entered and additional staged accidents will be identified, thereby publicly identifying additional actors and participants in this criminal enterprise,”

What happens now?

Should the lawsuit go forward and succeed, then this RICO lawsuit could result in triple monetary damages being awarded to the lawsuit. RICO cases, enacted since 1970, have become a way for the enforcement of severe criminal penalties for acts which take place as part of a organized, ongoing form of criminal enterprise.

As part of the lawsuit, the following were names as defendants in the case: Jason Giles, The King Firm, Giles Law, Damian Lebeaud, Roderick Hickman, Anthony Robinson, Audrey Harris, Jerry Schaffer and Keishira Robinson.

The claim in the lawsuit alleges that the group above were conspiring to stage accidents involved tractor-trailers to help defraud England and ACE American, the insurance company, through claims of false bodily injury. Three of the four ‘ringleaders’ of the staged accidents have chosen to plead guilty; a fourth ‘ringleader’ was murdered two weeks prior to their plea hearing, the lawsuit informs.

The vast majority of those who were alleged to have taken part were New Orleans residents. The scheme is believed to have involved the mention of severe damage, medical treatment, and even legal referrals – these would be included as part of a false claim that included spinal injections, lumbar fusions, and other extensive (and expensive) treatment options.

Indeed, one claim made clear that future treatments would cost as much as $7.7m in treatment fees. More is likely to come out in future regarding this case, with the lawsuit set to go further as individual cases and testimonies are looked at in closer detail to determine just how real – and, if so, how extensive – the claims have been.

Citation

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/cr-england-files-rico-lawsuit-new-orleans-staged-accident

PFAS Lawsuits on the Rise

Products Liability Comments Off

Feb 062021

PFAS

There is a massive rise of per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) lawsuits taking place. These lawsuits are commonly being brought against companies that use, or used, PFAS as part of their products. Liability cases are beginning to rise in tandem with many companies, and it could see a huge number of litigation cases open up in the near future for people who feel like they have been let-down.

PFAS has become a major talking point in the world, as we realize just how many man-made compounds are having an impact on the wider world. Indeed, this has been an ongoing issue for almost a century; the first PFAS compounds were created in the 1930s when looking I nto carbon-based chemical reactions. The discovery in these events found that a particular coating had formed in a test chamber and was completely resistant to any methods that might otherwise break the chemical down.

They found that, like other PFAS compounds, it was able to repel water and oil with consistent ease. Before long, the company that had developed PFAS, Dupont, commercialised it into the ‘Teflon’ product that we all know today. 3M, the other part of the discovery team who ‘made’ PFAS, invented “Scotchguard” which was a form of perfluorooctane sulfonate. Within a few years, PFAS was found in thousands of worldwide products.

However, these “forever chemicals” are infamously hard to break down, which has led to some concerns about their impact on the environment and on humans themselves. Indeed, there has been ample research into the possibility that PFOA and PFOS are capable of producing forms of cancer, problems in livers and kidneys, and immune problems.

As this information begins to become more popular and widely shared, PFAS litigation has also grown.

Should we expect PFAS lawsuits to continue to grow?

Absolutely. The knowledge about what these substances could do to the body and the environment are only becoming known on a wide basis in recent years. Many claims are to do with environmental clean-up and remediation, but other lawsuits are built around combatting personal injury problems. The fear, though, is that PFAS lawsuits are going to move on from the manufacturers and more towards smaller businesses that simply use PFAS in their goods and products.

Indeed, landmark cases in Minnesota and now in Michigan show a distinct change in how these lawsuits are being brought forward. The case that looks to try and take on more than just the producers, but also those who use PFAS in their products, could set a major precedent that might leave many business owners confused and worried.

While PFAS concerns have been known for some years, the 2018 settling of the case against 3M by the state of Minnesota has opened the door to litigation that would have once been deemed unlikely.

Citation

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/pfas-product-liability-cases-are-floodgates-now-open

Woman Shoved by NYPD Officer Sues City

Police Misconduct Comments Off

Jan 142021

Police Misconduct

As the various major cities across the United States reached fever point in the summer, many incidents took place that placed both public and police in challenging situations. Many stories have emerged from protests that paint people in the wrong kind of light. However, there has been a large uptick in the number of lawsuits to come from the aftermath of the police handling of various protests. One such example comes from New York, where a woman who was shoved by an NYD officer during a George Floyd protest has sued the city.

Douna Zayer, the woman who was shoved to the floor by a police officer, was recorded on a widely-shared video at the height of the protests. Having opened up the lawsuit officially, Zayer said that she was “brutally struck” by a law enforcement officer when attending a Brooklyn protest on May 29^th. Saying that she was using her constitutional right to protest, the video of Zayer being shoved was shared millions of times across various social media platforms. It led to mass outrage among officials, members of the public, and the press.

Zayer was rushed to hospital with a head injury, having hit her head on the ground upon landing. She says that she has suffered from a concussion and back pain as a result of the push. However, she also noted that despite the presence of “hundreds of officers”, “not a single officer” offered support or assistance. As such, the officer involved, Vincent D’Andraia, has been charged with assault and has since been suspended without pay. A supervisor who was there on the day has also been transferred to a new unit as a result of an in-house investigation.

The lawsuit has been pushed forward with unspecified damages being sought. The city legal department has said that it will now review the case. The lawyer for Zayer, Thanie Aboushi, said that officers should be held responsible for their conduct, saying: “Dounya is suffering immensely from the assault by Officer D’Andraia that was witnessed by Commander Edlemen and dozens of other officers that walked by as she lay injured in the street …We must protect protesters and our right to protest.”

More news as the case evolves and more details are provided on the next steps intended.

Arches National Park Service Sued for Decapitation

Negligence Comments Off

Dec 092020

Arches National Park

Lawsuits can often run to astronomical sums, but it is rare that a sum will reach a nine-figure settlement. However, this is the aim in a lawsuit opened up against the National Park Service. The suit is aimed at the Arches National Park in Utah. The family of Esther Nakajjigo, 25, is looking to begin a suit for more than $270 million in a wrongful death and personal injury claim. The claim is made after Esther and newlywed husband Ludovic Michaud, 26, were driving to pick up ice cream on a 13^th June camping trip.

During the trip, though, a metal gate they encountered was blown at them thanks to a strong gale. The gate sliced into the car, tearing through the vehicle and narrowly missed Michaud. According to the claim, filed in October, the gate sliced through the car “like a hot knife through butter”. Michaud, a Parisian now residing in Denver, said that “we just don’t want this to ever happen again.”

Tragically, Esther was killed in the incident. Her parents are seeking a sum of around $30m, while Michaud is searching for around $240m in damages. According to the claim that was put forward: “For want of an $8.00 basic padlock, our world lost an extraordinary warrior for good; a young woman influencer who was destined to become our society’s future Princess Diana, Philanthropist Melinda Gates or Oprah Winfrey,”

The National Park Service put out a statement from Vanessa Lacayo, spokeswoman for the NPS, and expressed deep regret at the loss of Nakajjigo. However, the claim of wrongful death was not addressed in the statement.

The suit itself is being taken forward by Deborah Chang, who has filed the claim on behalf of Michaud and Nakajjigo’s parents. She said that the NPS has used entrance and exit gates which have “spear-like sharp ends” and have been shown to swing into the path of roadways when incorrectly secured in the past. Chang aims to push forward with a formal lawsuit should the claim be rejected.

The NPS, and Arches National Park, stand accused of not securing the gate which was installed to swing in the incorrect direction. The attorneys also suggest that local government was aware of the dangers of the fences following an incident in 1980 when a man was impaled by a gate that was not correctly secured.

Michaud has stated that his reasoning for the sum is to try and continue the numerous humanitarian and charitable programs that Nakajjigo had started in her life.

Citation

https://www.fox6now.com/news/national-park-service-faces-270m-wrongful-death-injury-claim

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