Lost wages are a vital part of an injury claim. One very difficult part of recovering these damages is proving what will happen to a victim’s ability to work far into the future. A recent case is a reminder of how important it is to provide sufficient evidence to a jury as to a victim’s inability to continue to work …
What Causes Falls by Nursing Home Residents?
When our loved ones in nursing homes are injured, the first question that many of us ask is how the accident that caused the injury was allowed to happen. In an institution with around the clock nursing care and therapists and medical personnel on staff, it can be hard to imagine how some patients end up injured. The fact that …
Victim Cannot Recover for Injuries Sustained in a “Freak” Accident
We wrote a while back about causation, and the difficulty in some cases of determining who is responsible for an accident when there are multiple people who may have acted negligently. A recent case reinforces the idea that victims must show that accidents are foreseeable, and more than just one-time, freak accidents in order to hold a defendant liable for …
Nursing Homes Have an Obligation to Care for Residents After a Storm
Natural disasters can sometimes bring out the best in people. Sadly, sometimes, they can also bring out the worst, or at least expose problems in the way that we protect our citizens. Such is the case with the tragic local South Florida nursing home story that made national news after Hurricane Irma hit. Nursing Home Loses Power After Storm Hurricane …
Drowsy Driving is Deadly but Largely Unrecognized
Everyone knows the best practices when it comes to avoiding serious car accidents. We have been educated about the dangers of drunk driving or driving while intoxicated, and laws have been passed making these very serious offenses. Even distracted driving has been brought to the public’s attention of late, with some states passing laws to try to curtail the behavior. …
Hold Harmless Agreements May Spread to Malpractice Cases
More and more it seems like we are being forced to sign exculpatory clauses in contracts and agreements. These are so-called “hold harmless” agreements, where businesses compel us to agree not to sue them if we are injured on their premises or by their negligent acts. These contracts are usually used for higher-risk businesses, like extreme sports vendors or facilities …
Exclusion of Expert Witness Testimony Causes Confusion in Injury Trial
We often talk about the role that experts play in personal injury cases, but experts can not just say anything in court, and when a judge allows or prohibits an expert from testifying as to an issue, or from answering a question, it can cause problems for the side presenting the expert. Recently, a case ended up being improperly decided …
Causation Seems Easy to Prove, But Can Be a Major Problem in Injury Cases
To recover for injuries sustained in an accident, it is vital to prove that the other side did something wrong—usually, some act or omission that was negligent. It is also vital to demonstrate how injured you are, or the “value” of your injuries in the eyes of the law. But there is a middle step that is often overlooked, that …
Sexual Assault is Common on Cruise Ships
Updated statistics on cruise ship safety have been published and they show a sad tale of how the industry is taking care of its passengers and taking appropriate safety precautions. The numbers are sobering reminders that cruises are enormous floating cities, but without many of the protections, both practical and legal, that one would expect from an actual city. Statistics …
Jurisdiction Can be a Problem in Product Liability Cases
If you are injured due to the fault of another, and the liable party is a company (that is, not an individual, as in a car accident), there are some key questions to answer. Who may be liable is the primary question. How they are liable is another key question. It is easy to overlook another question that can be …