Handling Accident

Today’s blog deals with the worker’s compensation platform and how that may affect your personal injury case. Let’s take an example that you are driving for a work related errand. While you are stopped for a red light, you are violently rear-ended by an inattentive driver. Due to the negligence of the at fault driver, you seek immediate medical attention. As a result of your injuries, you also miss time from work and have to get additional follow up medical care.  Since you were working at the time of the accident, you can make two claims. One claim would be for worker’s compensation benefits, to pay for your accident related medical care. The other claim would be against the at fault driver and their insurance. The claim against the at fault party can be for more than just getting your medical bills paid and instead can be for pain and suffering and other damages.  It is important to note that the worker’s compensation program gets a credit for any monies the at fault third ...

According to the American Burn Association [1] , in 2015, there were 486,000 burn injuries in the United States.   40,000 of those burn injuries required hospitalization. Burn injuries are the number two leading cause of all accidental deaths in the US, behind automobile accidents.   Fires and other accidents involving burn injuries can be tremendously painful and often leave behind permanent scars. Excision, skin grafts and physical therapy for burn patients can mean a long recovery and extensive pain. Personal injury claims involving fires and burns are often filed on behalf of people who have been burned as a result of another person’s negligence. Factors Causing Florida Burn injuries Burn injuries can be caused by a variety of factors including injuries from steam burns, contact burns, scalds and electrical burns which include lightening strikes, chemical and flash burns.   Common causes of Clearwater burn injuries include: •    ...

The Nevada Supreme Court delivers new case law every month. Some of that new case law may affect your personal injury case. Today’s blog covers a recent Nevada Supreme Court case discussing whether photos documenting the damage to cars after an accident are admissible evidence in a personal injury trial. In Rish v. Simao, the Nevada high court determined that if a defendant fails to hire a biomechanical expert to talk about the severity of the accident, evidence of whether the accident was “low-impact” can still come into evidence. See 132 Nev.Ad.Op. 17 (2016), clarifying  Hallmark v. Eldridge, 124 Nev. 492, 500-502 (2008). The Nevada Supreme Court held that whether a car accident actually caused an injured parties’ injuries, are factual issues that are for a jury to decide.   Notably, the high court did NOT decide whether the trial court is required to include photographs and car repair invoices in trial. But, the Nevada Supreme Court stated that other jurisdict...

When an individual is injured by a defective product [1] and they wish to sue to recover for their injuries, one of the first things they need to do is to identify which people and companies might be liable for those injuries.   Unfortunately, identifying all of the parties that may be liable for their damages and injuries can be complicated. Parties in the Chain of Distribution Resulting in Clearwater Injury As a general principle, it is important to identify and include any and all parties involved in the path that the product took from manufacture to distribution to the customers of the injury-causing product known as the chain of distribution. At any stage in that process, there can be one or more parties responsible for the defective product. Manufacturer of Clearwater Products The manufacturer is at the beginning of the chain of distribution. The manufacturer may range in size from a multinational company to an individual working by themselves.   If t...

Accidents that are caused by defective or dangerous property, either inside or outside a building, are called "premises liability" accidents. These accidents can take place at commercial buildings such as stores or offices, residences including both private homes and rental properties, or on public property including parks, streets, or public transportation.   A premises can be dangerous for many reasons including: •        Faulty design •        Improper construction •        Inappropriate building materials •        Poor maintenance •        Dangerous clutter A premises that is dangerous or defective can lead to a slip and fall accident, can cause an individual to trip or cause an object to fall or hit one or more individuals.   If a dangerous property condition has caused you or someone you love to become in...

Medical malpractice cases arise when a patient is harmed by a doctor, nurse, or other medical professionals who fail to provide proper health care treatment. Fortunately, doctors, nurses, and hospitals make mistakes in a small number of cases but within that small minority of cases, there are certain common errors that occur more often than others leading to medical malpractice.   Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis in Pinellas County Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis account for a large percentage of medical malpractice complaints. When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition or fails to diagnose a serious disease for some time, the patient might miss treatment opportunities or options that could have prevented serious harm or even death. The key in proving a medical malpractice claim based on misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis may be to compare what the treating doctor did or did not do to how other competent doctors within the same specialty would have handled the case. If a rea...