Losing a loved one can be a terrible experience, when drowning was the cause, feelings of shock, confusion, and sadness might overwhelm you. Questions about whether or not the drowning could have been prevented, or if someone else contributed to the accident might fulfill your thoughts. You might want answers, but have no idea how to get them. This is when a wrongful death lawyer could help. If your loved one died in a drowning accident, it is important to take action as quickly as possible to ensure that any and all evidence is preserved.

My loved one died in a drowning accident. Can I file a wrongful death claim?

If you believe another person’s actions contributed to the drowning, you likely can file a wrongful death claim against the person or entity.

Drowning Deaths in a Swimming Pool – There are a few different ways someone could drown, such as the following:

• Inability to swim, and venturing into water that was too deep
• Someone holding the victim forcefully under the water
• The victim hit their head causing them to lose consciousness in the water
• Jumping into a pool from the side, a diving board, rope, or other object
• Jumping into water that was too shallow
• Malfunctioning pool drains or pumps
• Drains that are too strong
• Failure to warn swimmers about a dangerous condition
• Intoxication

If it is found that someone intentionally caused your loved one to drown, it is very likely that criminal charges will be brought against them. Filing a wrongful death claim against the person who caused the death, and also the property owner, might also be possible. People who could be held liable for a drowning include, but are not limited to:

• The property owner of the pool
• The manager of the pool
• The company of the pool
• The company of the pool grounds
• Lifeguards

Drowning While Boating – Many drownings are the result of boating or watercraft accidents. It is possible for the victim to be in or outside of the boat to be involved in a drowning accident. Examples of how a drowning accident while boating could occur include:

• The boat is going too fast causing a passenger to fall out and drown
• The boat capsizes
• The victim was swimming and struck by the boat or boat propeller
• The victim was engaged in a water sport activity (i.e. tube or wakeboard) and fell off or got caught in the rope line causing then to drown
• The boat driver or company did not provide life jackets to the passengers

People who could be held liable for a drowning accident by a boat include:

• The boat or watercraft driver
• The owner of the boat or watercraft
• The company offering rental or tour services of the boat or watercraft
• The manufacturer of the boat or watercraft (i.e. when a part malfunctioned)

Call a Wrongful Death Lawyer to Learn More

When a loved one dies, you may feel the emotional and financial effects. A lawyer can review your case and help you explore your legal options. A skilled wrongful death lawyer has been helping victims and family members. If you would like to learn about our firm, your case, and your options, please call  a lawyer today.

Wrongful deaths happen all too frequently, and it can happen to one of your loved ones as well. Though we want our family members to live a long and happy life, the tragedy is that it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s even more tragic when the death was avoidable. If you have lost a loved one because someone was negligent, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. Compensation from a lawsuit will never make up for your loss, but it can pay for the medical costs and other damages that you should not have to cover yourself.

What Is Considered a Wrongful Death?

Though they may vary by jurisdiction, there are laws regarding wrongful deaths in each state. The legal process can be complex and confusing in this area. A personal injury lawyer can provide the guidance you need. Most wrongful death attorneys will provide a victim’s family with a free case review. That review can be invaluable as you make the important decision of whether or not to pursue justice.

Proving Negligence

To satisfy a wrongful death suit, you as the plaintiff and your attorney must be able to prove several things.

• Someone died who was your significant other, dependent child, or a parent on whom you were financially dependent.
• The death of your loved one is a direct result of someone’s negligence or their intention to harm someone. An example is someone who chose to drive drunk and caused a deadly accident which killed your family member.
• You as the surviving family member must be financially impacted as a result of their death.

Common Types of Wrongful Death Cases

Some of the most common causes of wrongful death include the following.

• Criminal behavior such as murder
• Medical malpractice that results in the patient’s death
• Plane accident caused by negligence, such as an intoxicated pilot.
• Automobile accident caused by negligence, such as an enraged driver who intentionally ran over your loved one.
• Public transportation accident, such as one caused by a mechanic who neglected to fix the vehicle that crashed and killed the occupants.
• Occupational accidents caused by a known hazard that should have been addressed and mitigated but were not.

Who Can I Sue?

The person you sue as a result of a wrongful death is the person responsible either directly or indirectly for the loss of your loved one. Ultimately, though the negligent person or persons may be found responsible for the wrongful death, it will probably not ease the pain of losing someone you love. However, in addition to your loss you may be saddled with an enormous debt as result due to medical costs and loss of income. To discover if you have grounds for a wrongful death suit, talk to an attorney about your case as soon as possible.

The Arizona Department of Transportation has studied wrong-way crashes in Arizona, between 2004-2014, the report offers insights regarding why and how such crashes occur. The report looked at 268 wrong-way crashes, 68 had fatalities. A Phoenix personal injury attorney can assist injured victims or their families. Seven people have died in wrong-way collisions so far this year in Arizona. A double fatality on State Route 51 transition ramp recently occurred less than a week after authorities say a wrong-way driver was killed when his vehicle slammed head-on into a commercial truck on a ramp linking Interstates 10 and 17.

On April 14, three Grand Canyon University students died in a wrong-way collision on I-17. The ADOT report found that wrong-way crashes tend to be more destructive. A quarter of all wrong-way crashes are fatal, that number is 1 percent for other crashes on divided highways. Further findings include the following:

Wrong-way crashes are rare, one in 10,000 crashes involves a wrong-way driver.

Wrong-way drivers tend to be impaired. Two-thirds of the drivers caught consumed alcohol or drugs. More than 40 percent of those that were impaired had more than double the legal limit of alcohol in their system. The chances a wrong-way driver is impaired are 13 times greater than drivers in regular crashes.

A wrong-way driver is more likely at 2 a.m. than at any other time of day. ADOT recorded more than 35 crashes in the hour after bar closing time. The next closest was around 20 in the two hours just prior to closing time.

Wrong-way crashes peak on Saturday nights, to Sunday mornings.

There are three times as many wrong-way crashes in July as February.

Drivers between the ages of 26 and 35 make up the largest portion of wrong-way drivers.

Two-thirds of the drivers in wrong-way crashes were men, and this is more likely for men younger than 35.

Nationally, the number and rate of fatal crashes have steadily been falling for decades, while the number of fatal wrong-way crashes has been increasing.

National trends mirror Arizona data. The National Transportation Safety Board has reported that:

• Although they are relatively rare highway occurrences, wrong-way collisions tend to be severe events resulting in fatalities, and the number of fatalities, averaging over 300 per year, has remained essentially unchanged in recent years.

• Wrong-way collisions occur most often at night and during the weekends; they also tend to take place in the lane closest to the median.

• Driving while impaired by alcohol is the primary cause of wrong-way driving collisions.

• Alcohol impairment continues to be present in about one-third of all fatal highway accidents, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths per year.

If you or a family member suffers an injury or needs a skilled attorney like a Phoenix personal injury lawyer you can trust, contact one immediately.

Thanks to our friend and contributors from the Law Office of Paul Englander PLC for their insight into personal injury practice.

Thousands of people choose to use public transportation as their way to get around every day. When they board a bus or train, they do so with confidence that they will arrive at their destination safe and without incident. Unfortunately, no system is perfect and accidents can happen within the public transportation system of a city. When these accidents do happen, they can cause injuries ranging from minor to catastrophic. If you have been the victim of a public transportation accident, you may be left confused as to what actions you can take.

When these accidents occur, they are almost always due to negligence. As a legal term, negligence means that a person or entity had a duty to act a certain way, that they failed to properly act in this way, and this failure led to the injuries or damages of a victim. In the case of public transportation systems, the employees and agencies that run the trains and busses have a duty to their passengers to ensure that they get to their destination safely. When they fail in this duty, they can be sued by the victims of the accident for compensation for their injuries.

There are many things that can cause these accidents. To name a few, improper maintenance and bus or train operator error can lead to dangerous accidents that can claim lives. In both of these cases, the operators of the public transportation vehicles failed to properly protect their passengers and can be found negligent.

In most cases, the personal injury claim would be filed against the transportation authority responsible for the public transit system, not the individual operators of the vehicles. This is due to the legal concept of “vicarious liability,” which holds entities and businesses responsible for the actions of their employees.

If you have been injured in a public transportation accident, you should contact a skilled and experienced car accident attorney Dekalb County GA trusts. An attorney who is familiar with public transportation cases will be able to analyze the factors of your case and determine what path will be best for you. As the injuries that result from these accidents can be severe, you deserve the best representation to make sure that you are compensated for any medical bills or lost wages you incurred. With a skilled attorney, you can rest easy and heal knowing that your case is in good hands that are fighting for you.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Andrew R. Lynch, P.C. for their insight into public transportation accidents.

A class action lawsuit is a form of civil procedure in which a single plaintiff, or a small group of plaintiffs, files a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group in order to recover damages from a defendant. The central tenant of a class action lawsuit is the belief that the defendant has “unjustly” enriched themselves at the expense of the plaintiff class and should be compelled to return that enrichment to their victims.

What Makes a Class Action Lawsuit Different?

Unlike a traditional civil lawsuit in which there is usually a single plaintiff filing a claim for damages against a single defendant, a class action lawsuit is brought by a single plaintiff who acts on behalf of all potential plaintiffs who are alleged to have suffered the same damages due to the defendants’ actions. It is left to the court’s discretion to certify the transformation of a single-plaintiff lawsuit into a class action proceeding.

Practically all class action lawsuits are heard in federal court, as provided under federal law (Rule 23, FRCP and 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332(d)). Additionally, a federal court may claim original jurisdiction if the amount of damages is greater than $5 million.

The History of Class Action Lawsuits

Legal scholars and historians usually identify the 12th or 13th century as the first recorded instance of what we would call a class action lawsuit. Initially, such lawsuits were filed on behalf of a village or town against some political or social adversary. Over time, these “group” or “collective” lawsuits were replaced by individual liability actions where private individuals were allowed to “stand in” for plaintiffs who were unable to directly participate in the judicial process.

The English civil litigation traditions survived the American Revolution and first entered the statutory (“written”) law in the early to mid-19th century as Equity Rule 48, which held that a special type of group litigation, known as representative litigation, could proceed when a large number of similar, individual, cases had been filed. A decade later, the Supreme Court further defined class action lawsuits by holding that individual plaintiffs did not have to be present in court for their lawsuits to be heard.

Class action Lawsuit Procedure

A class action lawsuit may be the preferred course of action in situations where:

• There exists a group of plaintiffs who are alleged to have been harmed to the same general extent by a specific act of the defendant(s).
• There is a single defendant or, at most, only a few defendants who are alleged to be responsible for such harm.
• The degree of harm suffered by individual plaintiffs is not sufficient to justify the filing of individual lawsuits but is, collectively, large enough that a defendant’s behavior should not go unpunished.

Once the facts of the potential class action have been investigated and found to be grounds for a larger lawsuit, the original plaintiff’s attorney will usually notify all other potential individual plaintiffs of the intent to refile the lawsuit as a class action. If the judge hearing the case decides that there are sufficient grounds for the lawsuit to proceed as a group or class action, he or she will certify the lawsuit to be a valid cause for class action. From this point onward, a class action resembles a traditional single plaintiff lawsuit.

Who Wins in a Class Action Lawsuit?

Many lawyers have argued that class action lawsuits represent the ultimate “money for nothing” scenario: participants in class action cases can receive at least a minimal settlement in exchange for very little, if any, “upfront” costs. However, that the lead plaintiff and counsel will likely receive a greater directed share of any award as compensation for expenses. Thus, after the lead plaintiff’s and counsel’s settlement, the remaining plaintiffs will receive relatively little.

If you have questions or concerns about a possible class action lawsuit, contact an Harrisonburg VA personal injury lawyer who practices in the relevant area of law. He or she can discuss the possibility of pursuing legal recourse in order to recover your damages.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from MartinWren P.C. for their insight class action and personal injury practice.

Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that covers lost wages and pays medical expenses as a result of on-the-job injuries. There’s a good chance your employer is covered by workers’ compensation insurance since this coverage is a requirement in nearly every state.

However, states vary in how they apply this requirement, and in some states, smaller companies with few employees may be not be required to carry it. One major advantage of the workers’ compensation program is that when an employee is injured on the job, he or she can file a claim with the insurance company rather than going through the court system.

As a general rule, if your employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, you will have to go to court and file a complaint. The upside is:

• There is no cap on the amount of compensation you can receive, as there is with workers’ compensation. In fact, workers’ comp normally does not cover the full amount of an employee’s lost wages.
• In contrast, workers’ compensation claims are paid out based on fixed amounts set by law, unlike court cases.

Unfortunately, there are also downsides to going through the courts.

• Because you are suing your employer and not filing an insurance claim, it may take much longer for you to be compensated for your injuries.
• This is due to the fact that when you go to court, you have to prove that your employer was negligent in some way.

Workers’ compensation was created as a kind of trade-off, allowing workers to be compensated without having to prove negligence, and allowing employers to save on the cost of defending against lawsuits. On one hand, workers’ comp makes it much easier for employees to be compensated for their injuries. On the other hand, most workers’ comp claimants are not compensated for the full amount of their lost wages.

Some states also have funds that pay benefits to people who have been injured on the job while working for an uninsured employer. These funds may be able to help you with your medical bills as well as lost wages. There are also temporary disability programs in some states that may also pay out benefits to injured workers. In addition, the federal government has specific compensation funds for certain high-risk occupations that may also be of help.

You may need to wait months or even years to see any money from your workers’ comp lawyer New York, who can start the process and get your case handled as quickly as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to assert your legal rights, and the longer it will take to pay your bills.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from Polsky, Shouldice and Rosen P.C. for their insight into workers compensation practice.

What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common repetitive stress injury (RSI) that is becoming increasingly common, particularly in administrative roles where prolonged use of devices like a keyboard or mouse are frequent. There are, however, many other types of repetitive jobs that can (and do) lead to the development of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Common examples of repetitive workplace tasks include:

• Typing on a standard keyboard
• Using cash registers and POS stations
• Constant pushing, pressing or slicing of objects without regular or sufficient breaks
• Any kind of physical labor that puts pressure on the affected joints for prolonged periods

If you believe you have developed carpal tunnel or any other RSI due to your required work activities, you may want to hire a trusted and qualified Palm Beach County workers’ compensation lawyer to help you fight for compensation.

Filing a Workers’ Comp Claim

Before anything else, it is important to seek immediate medical attention, regardless of the extent of the injury. Doing so may help build a stronger case should complications arise. Once you have seen to your medical needs, you must then inform your employer that the injury occurred. This should be done as soon as possible after the accident.

The typical scenario involves your employer issuing you claim forms that, when completed, are then filed by the employer with the appropriate insurance carrier. If neither your employer nor the insurance company disputes your claim, the claim will be approved and an insurance company adjuster will contact you. At that time, you should receive instructions regarding how to submit your medical bills to be paid.

Workers’ Comp and Carpal Tunnel

What happens then when things do not go smoothly? This is where keeping good documentation on the injury and related treatments is vital, as is having competent, qualified representation in the dispute.

One of the most common debates in carpal tunnel cases is whether the injury was caused by work-related activities or other non-vocational factors. As the injured person, you are left with the responsibility of proving that your injury was work-related.

Another common problem is determining when the injury began. Unlike other types of workplace accidents, repetitive stress injuries can take weeks, months, or even years to develop. In these cases, it is even more important to keep track of medical records and doctor visits.

Our qualified, experienced attorneys are here to help you fight for the compensation you deserve. If you believe you have developed carpal tunnel at work, you might have a viable workers’ compensation claim.

Thanks to our friends and contributors from the Law Offices of Franks, Koenig & Neuwelt for their insight into workers’compensation cases.

In the United States, each individual state gets to decide for themselves what seat belt laws to put in place. Federal law only requires that all vehicles have seat belts located in every place that a person might reasonably be expected to sit. The only exception to this federal law is for buses. Unlike passenger vehicles and trucks, buses are not required to have seat belts for the passengers.

Development of American Seat Belt Laws

New York passed the country’s first state seat belt law in 1984. In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, all of the states except for New Hampshire followed suit with their own laws mandating seat belt use. The specifics of these laws vary from state to state. In some jurisdictions, passengers only need to wear seat belts when they ride in the front seat.

Many states have laws that create different sets of requirements for minors versus adults. In addition to seat belt laws, many states require minors to have booster seats and other restraints based on their age. Minors may also have restrictions about where they can ride in a vehicle.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts saved 13,941 lives in 2015 alone. Even though they’re effective, the NHTSA reports that approximately ninety percent of drivers and passengers consistently buckle up. Fines for a seat belt law violation can range from $10 to more than $100.

Primary and Secondary Enforcement
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Some states allow law enforcement officers to stop a vehicle when they see that someone isn’t wearing their seat belt. That’s called primary enforcement. In other states, the police have to observe a driver commit some other kind of traffic offense before they can stop a vehicle. That’s called secondary enforcement.

●      Most states allow for primary enforcement.

●      Some states allow for primary enforcement for minors and secondary enforcement for adults.

●      Some states only allow primary enforcement for front-seat occupants.

●      In addition to fines and fees, some states assess points to a person’s driving license if they’re caught operating a vehicle without wearing a seat belt.

Seat Belt Use in the United States

Whether or not the state requires it, most Americans choose to wear seat belts. New Hampshire does not require seat belt use for adults at all, and they have one of the lowest rates of seat belt use. Oregon has one of the highest rates of seat belt use, and they also have one of the highest fines for noncompliance.

Seat Belts and Civil Liability

When a person suffers an injury in a traffic crash, they might have the right to recover their damages from the driver, or even from a vehicle manufacturer or other person, who is responsible for causing the accident. Typically, the court looks at the behavior of each person involved in order to determine if they acted negligently. If their behavior falls below the standard of care of a reasonable person, they might owe the injured person compensation for their injury or accident losses.

This raises the question of whether a person acts negligently when they fail to wear a seat belt. In some states, the answer is yes. More than a dozen states allow the court to limit a person’s damages from a traffic crash when they’re involved in a traffic crash without wearing a seat belt.

Other states take the opposite approach. They think that the injured person shouldn’t suffer a penalty because they choose to not wear their seat belt. Most states take this stance even if the person breaks state law when they choose not to wear the seat belt.

While T.V. crime and legal dramas would have you believe otherwise, disputes often don’t begin with a trial, jury selection or even the filing of a legal action.  In reality, there are multiple ways to enforce your legal rights before proceeding to litigation.  In the event of an accident, making a claim is often the first, and sometimes necessary step to litigating your case in a court of law.  And in car wreck cases when you have underinsured motorist coverage, filing a claim and notifying your own auto insurance carrier early on can save you legal trouble later on. Here we break down the differences between claims and lawsuits and how they can impact your ability to be made whole after accident or injury.

What is a Claim?

When you file a claim, you are informing an insurer that you intend to seek compensation for injury or damage caused as a result of an accident or other event.  If you are represented by a personal injury lawyer, having them file the claim will also let the insurer know that you have legal counsel and that any contact or questions must first go through them.  Depending on your jurisdiction, you may not need to prove that the party whom the insurer covers was at fault to initiate the claim process.  Depending on the circumstances, you may also file a claim with your own insurance carrier.

The Claims Process

The claims process will begin with either yourself or your attorney contacting the insurer.  Typically, this is done via a certified letter.  The letter will state your intent to seek recovery of any damages incurred because of the incident and will also ask details such as policy limits and what documentation is required for the insurance agency to process the claim.  During the claim process, yourself or your attorney will correspond with the insurer providing proof of injury, details that lead up to the accident or injury, police reports and a dollar amount of damages occurred such as medical bills or estimated cost of repairs.  The insurer will gather this information and will often hire their own outside appraisers and other professionals to provide an independent analysis.

When Is a Lawsuit Filed?

In some cases, a claim will be settled to the mutual satisfaction of the insurer and claimant and a check will be issued for final payment.  In many cases you should file a lawsuit and skip the “claim negotiation” altogether.  Sometime when a settlement amount can’t be agreed upon, or when an insurer denies a claim altogether, a lawsuit will need to be filed.  In some jurisdictions, filing a claim is required before a lawsuit can proceed.

During a lawsuit, you engage in discovery.  Each side gets to ask questions, take depositions, examine evidence, and build a case.  This evidence will then be reviewed by a neutral party, either a 12 person jury or trial judge which is called a bench trial, who will then make a final decision regarding liability and damages, or money to be paid.  During the lawsuit, the parties may still come to an agreement and settle the dispute out of court.

During both the claim and lawsuit process you may have specific questions regarding the various proceedings or legal requirements.  Whether a claim or a lawsuit, if you have been injured or have incurred damage you have the right to speak to an attorney regarding your legal rights.

If you’re dealing with a personal injury case and you also make child support payments, it’s important to know that an injury settlement could affect your payment plan. There are several ways that an award could affect your payments, so it’s often recommended that you speak to a family law attorney about your situation. The following is some general information that may be helpful on this issue.

Personal Income and Settlements 

The majority of states consider a personal injury settlement to be personal income. Other states, such as Alabama, New York, and Pennsylvania, have restrictions on settlement amounts being considered personal income. For example, if a settlement exceeds $1,000, that money might be considered personal income; if a settlement is under $1,000, the state might decide that it’s not income.

Overdue Payments

If you’ve recently experienced a personal injury, you might have fallen behind on your child support payments. This is understandable — after all, a serious injury can be very stressful and a personal injury claim can be very time-consuming. However, you have a legal and financial obligation to make your payments on time or as soon as possible. If you’ve fallen behind on payments and then you receive an injury award, you might be required to use some or all of your settlement money for child support.

Loss of Wages and Child Support

Many injured victims find that they need to take time off from work to recover. This can lead to lost wages, which may affect a person’s income and therefore their child support payments. Personal injury settlements often compensate for lost wages, so it’s likely that some of this compensation will have to go toward child support payments. If this is relevant in your situation, a family law attorney can work with you to figure out how much of a settlement will likely be directed into child support payments.

Future Child Support Payments

Again, a personal injury settlement is typically considered personal income. This may affect child support payments in the future if your settlement is legally considered personal income. Even if your settlement has been negotiated outside the courtroom, you may still have to claim this as taxable income. A substantial settlement might result in higher child support payments in the future, especially if there is significant compensation for intangible pain and suffering. If your settlement focuses primarily on compensation for medical bills and daily living expenses, you might not see a major change in child support requirements.