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Do you have a personal injury claim?
An Attorney For You is a free consumer service. We are not a law firm. We help consumers find the best representation for their legal needs. Our service allows the consumer to review responses by many law firms.
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September 10, 2007
The administering of medication is so commonplace today that few of us give any thought to the prescriptions that we fill on a weekly basis. One more prescription simply means one more trip to the drugstore and, hopefully, an end to the symptoms we’ve been experiencing, or the management of a condition or illness with which we’ve been suffering. We certainly rarely – if ever – give any thought whatsoever to the details of such a prescription; we take for granted that the medication has been prescribed correctly – with regard to dosage and the possibility of interaction with other drugs. But when mistakes are made because of negligence on the part of your medical caregiver or pharmacist, injuries can result. And in this case, many people choose to pursue the matter legally with the assistance of a personal injury attorney.
Medical negligence doesn’t just happen in the hospital; medical malpractice – a matter handled by a personal injury attorney – can extend outside the traditional doctor’s office setting. If you are injured or made ill by improperly prescribed or filled medication, then this is considered to be a viable personal injury case. The negligence could stem from the actions of your doctor who prescribed the wrong medication or the right medication at an improper dosage; or even, prescribed a medication that they should have known would negatively interact with a medication you were already taking.
Or the negligence may rest with the pharmacist – the person who filled the prescription. Perhaps, even though the doctor had the details correct, the pharmacist filled the wrong medication, or the right medication at the wrong dosage. If such actions result in a person’s injury, illness, or even death, this is considered to be medical negligence, and is a viable personal injury case.
A personal injury attorney will work with you to collect the details surrounding your particular case. Such materials may include the prescription itself, medical records, pharmacy records, and a detailing of the injuries that you sustained due to medical negligence. It is incumbent on the personal injury attorney to work on your behalf, representing you in a court of law, where he/she will present a jury with the facts of your case. If the jury is convinced – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that medical negligence did, in fact, contribute to your injuries, they will then decide if you are due financial restitution; and, if so, how much you are entitled to receive.
September 7, 2007
When we put our medical care into the hands of our medical professionals, we rarely give much thought to it; if we are sick, need surgery, or are undergoing routine medical treatment we are conditioned to trust our doctors, surgeons, and nurses. But medical professionals – while relegated with an enormous amount of responsibility – are only human; and when you are human, mistakes happen. However, when those mistakes stem from negligence or carelessness on their part – and result in our injury – it may warrant pursuing the matter legally. Such negligence in this case is referred to as medical malpractice, a legal matter that is handled by a personal injury attorney who can lead you through the process.
A personal injury attorney represents you through the legal process of a personal injury suit. As an advocate for the plaintiff in a medical malpractice case, the personal injury attorney will work on behalf of the injured party – or their family – to prove that injuries were sustained as a direct result of the medical professional’s negligence.
Medical malpractice is defined as occurring when there are injuries – or even death - sustained by a patient at the hands of their medical caregivers. Such occurrences could include injuries sustained during a surgical mistake, illness derived from infection in the hospital – often a result of poor sanitation methods, and even birth defects sustained during mistakes made in labor and delivery. In the case of any of these occurrences, a patient may choose to file a medical malpractice suit against their medical professional – or even the hospital at large. In order to pursue such a case, the patient – or their family – must engage the services of a personal injury attorney.
While we all sign waivers prior to undergoing any medical procedure, such waivers do not cover the medical professionals if their actions are considered to be negligent or careless. It is the job of the personal injury attorney – on your behalf – to establish such negligence through the examination of your medical records and other materials surrounding the case.
September 4, 2007
A Personal Injury Attorney And A Class Action Suit
Accidents sometimes happen that result in injury. But when those injuries occur because of someone else’s negligence or carelessness the “accident” becomes a personal injury case and can often be pursued legally. In such a case, if an injured party feels that they have sustained physical – and even emotional – injuries because someone else failed to do their due diligence or act with care, they may engage the services of a personal injury attorney. A personal injury attorney will then assist their plaintiff to gather evidence that will prove the defendant to be at fault in the circumstances surrounding the injuries. In most cases, personal injury is between one injured party and an opposing party. But in some cases, many people will step forward to bring a personal injury case against a person or entity that they believe caused their injuries. A personal injury attorney can then bring this case to court as a class action suit.
Class action suits can be filed by one personal injury attorney or a group of attorneys who are representing different plaintiffs against the same defendant. For instance, if a group of people were injured because of a faulty part on one particular vehicle that they all own, then a class action personal injury suit may be brought against the vehicle manufacturer. This is just an example of a class action personal injury suit. Other class action suits have been known to have been brought against toy or product manufacturers that have caused injuries, and even by employees of a company that have suffered unsafe working conditions and have resulting injuries.
Class action suits can help you pool your resources; plaintiffs strong in numbers generally have an advantage in proving fault in an injury case. Your personal injury attorney can help you determine if a class action suit is warranted in your particular case.
August 25, 2007
When it comes to a personal injury case, the burden of proof rests with the injured party, who must establish that their injury was sustained as a direct result of another party’s negligence. Whether your injury occurred in the workplace, in a public facility, or behind the wheel of a car, it is only viable as a personal injury case if the circumstances surrounding the event was caused by someone else’s wrongdoing. In order to navigate the system, the injured party will engage the services of a personal injury attorney who will gather the evidence surrounding the injury and build a case that may very well end up in court. It is incumbent upon the personal injury attorney working for the plaintiff to do their very best to prove liability on the part of the defendant.
Proving liability is clearly the crux of the plaintiff’s case, and most certainly the most challenging part for any attorney. But a personal injury attorney is experienced in gathering the evidence that will help prove liability. In order to prove such liability, however, the personal injury attorney must prove very specific things.
First and foremost, it must be proven that there was a duty incumbent upon the other party. For instance, if you slip and fall in a store because you stumbled upon damaged flooring, you must prove that there was a duty upon the store owner to repair the flooring on his premises. Once your personal injury attorney can establish that such a duty was present, it must be proven that the other party failed to perform this duty. Finally, it must be firmly established that the failure to perform this duty was responsible for the plaintiff’s injury.
A personal injury attorney will ask for damages to be awarded to the injured party; financial restitution that will cover medical expenses, lost wages, damaged property, and even pain and suffering. This is equally challenging for the attorney who will have to show a direct connection between the sustained injury and subsequent events, such as ongoing therapy, pain medication, and the like.
August 24, 2007
Getting hurt is never a choice; unfortunately, many of us will face an injury as the result of an accident. But if such an injury occurs as the result of another person’s negligence, you may decide to engage the services of a personal injury attorney. Often, the injured party decides to hire an attorney because of medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering caused by another party’s negligence. A personal injury – as defined by the law – can happen anywhere, in the workplace, while shopping, even while driving. All that is required of such an injury, in order for it to possibly have merit in a court of law, is that it occurs because someone else was negligent. A fall in a store because there was no sign warning you a wet floor, a car accident as the result of a drunken driver, and many other events can constitute a personal injury case and prompt the hiring of a personal injury attorney.
The job of a personal injury attorney is to first determine if your case has merit. If it is determined that your injury did, in fact, occur as the direct result of another person’s actions – or non-actions – then your attorney may choose to move ahead with the case. Often, a personal injury attorney will first attempt to settle the case out of court, asking the other party for a pre-determined sum of money that will cover medical expenses, property damage, lost wages that are a result of the injury, and anything else that you and your attorney feel should be included in the financial restitution. If such a settlement is not a success, then your personal injury attorney will bring the case to court where they will argue in front of a jury in order to prove your case and convince the jury to award you damages.
This process is by far the most difficult as you must convince the jury – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that you were injured as a direct result of someone else’s negligence. And this is where solid evidence comes into play. Your attorney will surely ask you to gather all evidence associated with your case; anything that will help to prove the circumstances surrounding your injury. Such evidence may include eyewitness accounts, still photography and video of the accident scene, injuries sustained, or even the accident itself, police reports - if any – that were filed, and any other materials that will help your case.
As it is incumbent upon the personal injury attorney to present your case to the best of their abilities, it is incumbent upon you as a responsible client to provide them with all of the evidence that they need to do their job.
August 23, 2007
Anyone who sustains an injury as the direct result of another person or party’s negligence will surely attest to the frustration in knowing that the suffering did not have to happen. Accidents occur every day; but when an injury happens that could have easily been avoided, the pain and distress is compounded. That is why many people, when faced with these circumstances, choose to engage the services of a personal injury attorney. It is the hope that with professional guidance, the injured will be provided financial restitution to help cover medical expenses, loss of wages, and other financial damage experienced as a result of the injury. Determining how much the case is worth, is reliant on several factors and will be thoroughly examined by your personal injury attorney. Frankly speaking, the more experienced the attorney, the better the plaintiff’s chances of receiving the greatest financial settlement in their particular case.
But ultimately, determining the worth of your case comes down to the amount of evidence you can gather in order to prove negligence on the part of the other party. But aside from the quantity of the evidence, the quality of the evidence is just as important. Your personal injury attorney will undoubtedly gather as much evidence surrounding your case as available. This will include still photographs, video, police reports, eyewitness accounts, medical records, professional testimony, and the like. All evidence – in order for it to be effective – should be enough to convince a jury of negligence on the part of the defendant.
If your personal injury attorney determines that you have enough quality evidence to effectively bring your case to court, they will begin to explore the possible financial compensation that you might expect from the negligent party. Such restitution will include medical expenses, lost wages due to the injury, attorney’s fees, and even pain and suffering.
Ultimately, if an effort to settle the case out of court proves unsuccessful, the burden falls on your personal injury attorney to effectively litigate your case in court. Receiving a financial award in such a case depends on convincing a jury, without a shadow of a doubt, that your injury was the direct result of the other party’s negligence. This is where the experience and skill of your attorney becomes so vital.
August 14, 2007
There are many different facets of the law; designed to protect, serve, and represent the public on a multitude of issues. One such segment of the law is that which is assigned to personal injury – defined by physical or psychological injury derived from negligible wrongdoing by another party. A personal injury attorney acts on behalf of the claimant in subsequent legal proceedings.
In order to best understand the role of a personal injury attorney, it is necessary to have a basic understanding of the complexities of personal injury law. Personal injury can be sustained anywhere, and as a result of many different circumstances; a traffic accident can just as easily result in personal injury as a job-related occurrence. What differentiates personal injury – a basis for a legal claim – from simply an accident is negligence or intent. Your injuries sustained from a vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver are considered to be personal injury and are therefore actionable in a court of law; your injures sustained at the workplace as a result of a broken stair that had been neglected to be fixed is more than just an accident – it is an actionable personal injury case.
It is incumbent upon a personal injury attorney to explore all the facts of a case before determining if it has merit as an actionable legal case. If the attorney feels that the case has merit they will work in the best interests of their client, gathering pertinent information to help build a case of negligence or intent. Such information may include the testimony of witnesses, video or still pictures of the scene of the injury, and a variety of other material specific to the case. A personal injury attorney will also work with their client to determine a financial figure that will cover the costs of the injury including medical and therapy bills, lost wages, damage to property, and, in some cases, punitive damages that is meant as penalization for proven negligence and compensation for the injured party’s pain and suffering.
At this point, the attorney may choose to first approach the defendant directly to attempt to expedite a financial settlement that allows them to avoid the courtroom but receive financial restitution. If such a settlement is not successful, it may become necessary to go to court. In the courtroom, the personal injury attorney strives to convince a jury of the defendant’s negligence – by far the most challenging part of the process as such negligence must be proven without a shadow of a doubt in order for restitution to be awarded.
In the case of a wrongful death suit, a personal injury attorney may be retained by the family of the deceased to bring their case to court.
August 12, 2007
It is surely the hope of most of us that we will never have to retain the services of an attorney as a result of injuries that we have received. Unfortunately, there may come a time when – as the result of someone else’s negligence – we sustain injuries and subsequent medical bills and lost wages. In such a case, it may often become necessary to seek out the services of a personal injury attorney.
The role of a personal injury attorney is to represent their client and act on their behalf to the best of their abilities. This initially requires determining if the client has a personal injury case at all; such a determination is made after examining all of the facts surrounding the case including the location of the injury, the factors that contributed to the injury, and the awareness of those factors by the opposing party. If it is determined that, in fact, all of the information suggests that such a case bears merit, then a personal injury attorney will proceed accordingly in an effort to recoup financial restitution for the injured party.
Of course, when seeking the expertise of a personal injury attorney, many prospective clients will worry about the fees associated with their services. Fee schedules differ dramatically within different sects of law practice. When it comes to personal injury law, most attorneys operate on a contingency basis. What this means is that rather than pay a retainer fee to an attorney in order to engage their services, or paying them on an hourly basis for the time they spend on your case, you only pay an attorney fee at the culmination of the case if you have been awarded restitution.
If financial restitution is awarded, the personal injury attorney receives a percentage of that money as their fee. Such contingency fees differ from state to state but generally range anywhere from one-third to forty percent of the money awarded by the court. Conversely, the personal injury attorney will receive no fee if no money is awarded in court; although the client may be responsible for some administrative costs associated with handling the case.
Ultimately, if you have been wrongly injured and have suffered the financial burden of medical bills and lost wages, it can be well worth pursing a legal case to recoup these costs. And with no upfront attorney fees, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
August 11, 2007
There are, unfortunately, many ways in which we can sustain injury. From accidents to intent, the circumstances surrounding injury can vary tremendously. Whether our injuries require medical intervention, long-term therapy, or even lost wages, they are, more often than not, the consequence of being at the wrong place at the wrong time – a result of circumstance. But in some cases, our injuries are sustained as the direct result of another entity’s negligence. We fall in a store as a result of a floor that is in disrepair; we receive injuries as a result of a careless driver; we become ill because of the negligence of a health care provider. In all of the scenarios we have suffered personal injury as result of negligence – an actionable offense that can be handled by a personal injury attorney.
In a society that seems to sue at the drop of a hat, many people are hesitant to think in terms of legalities when it comes to personal injury. But the truth is; while accidents sometimes happen, negligence should never just happen. If you sustain injuries that require you to seek – and even sustain – medical care, repair damage to personal property, lose wages, and cause you to sustain pain and psychological suffering, then a personal injury attorney will help you to recoup the damages to which you have every right.
First and foremost, a personal injury attorney will work closely with you to help you determine if your case has merit at all. This process will include the collection of information including physical evidence, eyewitness accounts, photographs, video, and your personal statement. If your attorney determines that you indeed have a case then you will move forward in the legal process.
At this time your personal injury attorney works as an advocate for your best interests, helping you craft the financial settlement that is most appropriate and that will thoroughly cover all of your medical bills and lost wages, as well as any punitive damages your attorney may feel are appropriate. From there, your attorney will represent you in any settlement discussions or courtroom proceedings that occur throughout the process.
Ultimately, if you have been hurt as the result of someone else’s negligence, you owe it to yourself to explore the expertise and support that a personal injury attorney can afford you.
August 10, 2007
Everyone’s heard the jokes about lawyers; but the truth is that we will all seek their expertise at least one time in our lives. There will be many reasons for engaging the services of an attorney and reputation and experience differ according to the particular sect of law. When it comes to choosing a personal injury attorney there are several things to consider.
First and foremost, reputation and experience are paramount in finding an appropriate personal injury attorney. In order to garner this information it’s all about research, research, research. Gather as much as you can about any attorney in whom you are interested, including education, career history, and experience with personal injury law; meet with a select few and interview them to determine their personal style how they would go about presenting your case; and determine their fee schedule. All of this information combined will give you an overall sense of each attorney.
Further, as its name suggests, personal injury law is a very personal sect of law. If you are seeking the services of such an attorney then chances are you have sustained bodily injury as a result of someone else’s negligence. This may have meant hospital stays, continued medical care, therapy, lost wages, pain, and psychological suffering. Such a case requires working closely with an attorney and sharing personal experiences in a sometimes difficult point in your life. So regardless of anything else, you must ensure that you feel comfortable and supported by any attorney that you choose. They will represent you, acting on your behalf; you having a comfort level in their personal character can assist them in doing so to the best of their abilities.
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