Articles & Resources of Interest
Personal Injury
1.What to Expect During Your Initial Attorney Interview After An Injury
2.Understanding Automobile Insurance
3.I've been hurt in an accident and I want to file a claim for my injuries. What's the first thing I should do?
4.Preventing Childhood Injuries
5.Glossary: Personal-Injury Damages
What to Expect During Your Initial Attorney Interview After An Injury
During the initial interview, your lawyer will, of course, want to hear about what happened to you and collect a variety of information from you. The length of the initial interview can vary a lot, depending on your injuries. In a simple negligence case it probably won't take too long, especially if you have prepared for the meeting, whereas a complex case or a case involving serious injuries could take much longer.
As you tell the lawyer about your accident, he or she may ask questions about it. Frequently, lawyers wait until you have told them everything before asking questions. Some of the questions may be difficult to hear, let alone answer. Be brave. Your lawyer needs to know the answers to help you find the best solution for your case. The lawyer will collect a variety of information from you that relates to the accident, your medical treatment, who else was involved in the accident, potential witnesses and the like. Here's the sort of thing you can expect:
- can obtain your medical records.
- The lawyer will want to know about all your insurance coverage.
- The lawyer will ask if you have talked to any insurance adjustors and if so, what you have said and whether you provided a recorded or written statement about the accident.
- The lawyer will ask you if anyone else has interviewed you about the accident or your injuries, and if so, whom you talked to and what you said.
- The lawyer may ask you, if it's not evident by looking at you, about the current status of your injuries, whether you are in pain, what your prognosis is, and so forth.
- The lawyer may advise you to see your doctor regularly if you have any physical problems or complaints. If you don't see your doctor, the defendant may argue that you aren't seriously hurt as no visits tends to indicate that there are no problems.
- The lawyer may tell you that your case will be considered and that you will hear later if he or she will take your case. This is a common practice in injury cases, so don't read anything into it.
- The lawyer may decline to take your case. He or she may do this for many reasons, such as his or her current case load, knowledge of his or her capabilities, economic reasons, or family responsibilities. You also may learn that in the lawyer's opinion, you might not have much of a case. This is valuable information, and it is better to know early. By all means seek a second opinion.
- The lawyer may refer you to another lawyer. This happens when the lawyer cannot take your case or thinks the other lawyer can do a better job for you.
- The lawyer may ask you to sign a retainer agreement or employment contract. Read the contract carefully and ask questions before you sign it. You should be able to take the contract home to study it before you sign.
- The lawyer will tell you what the next steps are. There may be a factual investigation before a lawsuit is filed. The lawyer may be able to give you a rough estimate of how long it will take to litigate the case.
- The lawyer will tell you not to talk about the case with others, and to refer questions to the lawyer. This is very important advice. Insurance companies are known to send investigators out to talk to your neighbors, and who knows what they'll say? Don't let that make you paranoid, but let it be a persuasive reason not to talk to people about the case. Just as loose lips sink ships, stray comments can ruin your case in the courtroom.
- The lawyer will probably give you an idea of how he or she intends to keep you informed of progress on your case. There is no single approach to this. Some lawyers provide periodic report letters; others call you on a periodic basis or when something happens; some ask you to call when you have questions.
Understanding Automobile Insurance
Trying to understand all the terms used in relation to automobiles, particularly automobile insurance, can be a daunting task. In many cases, terms relating to your automobile insurance may be defined within the policy itself. In other cases, words may come up in conversation with your insurance agent, or after you have been involved in a car accident, which are not defined in the policy. The following glossary of common terms related to automobile insurance may give you a better idea of what is being said. Be warned, however, your particular insurance policy may define these terms in a different manner, which may make a difference if you have to submit a claim.
Additional Insured. An individual or entity who is not specifically named as an insured within the policy itself, but for whom attachments, known as endorsements, to the policy provide a degree of protection. In some states, an additional insured can be treated differently from an additional named insured, who is an additional insured who is actually named within the policy itself and to whom all of the rights and responsibilities of the policy apply.
Bodily Injury Liability. Insurance coverage that applies when you are legally liable for injuring other people in an auto accident. Bodily injury liability provides payments to those injured individuals and pays your legal defense costs as well. Such coverage can be combined with property damage liability, as it often is, and be called "liability insurance."
Claim. The request that a policyholder makes to an insurance company to recover losses covered by an insurance policy.
Collision Insurance. Coverage under a policy that pays for damage to, or loss of, your own automobile from upset or collision with another object or vehicle. Collision insurance does notcover bodily or personal injury, and it may not cover other property damage liability arising out of the collision.
Comprehensive Insurance. Insurance coverage that reimburses you for damage to your own car from causes other than a collision, upset, or general wear and tear. Comprehensive insurance may provide coverage for hail, flood, theft, mischief, damage from animals, falling objects, explosions, earthquakes, and many other events.
Deductible. The amount of the loss that you must pay before the insurance company begins to pay under the policy. For example, if you have a $500 deductible and have been in an accident in which $3,500 in damage to your car occurred, you must pay the first $500 before the insurance company pays the remaining $3,000.
Drive-Other-Car Endorsement (DOC). Sometimes referred to only as an "other-car endorsement," this addition to the policy allows coverage to be added that will protect individuals named in the endorsement when they are driving cars not owned by those individuals and not named within the policy.
First-Party Coverage. Compensation you receive under your own insurance policy as opposed to receiving payment from someone else's insurance policy, such as the person who caused an accident. Examples of first-party coverage include collision insurance and comprehensive insurance, in which your own insurance company pays you for losses to your own car.
Liability Insurance. Insurance coverage that pays others who sustain bodily injury or experience property damage caused by you or someone else covered under your policy.
Loss. The root of an insurance claim. In order to have a claim, there must first be a loss, such as damage to a vehicle. Insurers may also refer to a loss as a payment made on behalf of an insured to cover such damage.
Motor Vehicle Record (MVR). The written record of a particular driver's accidents and traffic violations. An MVR may be reviewed when an insurance agent is giving a quote for automobileinsurance rates: the more accidents and violations you have in your MVR, the higher your premiums are likely to be.
No-Fault Protection. Coverage available in many states that pays you, or those people covered under your policy, for medical expenses or injuries that occur as the result of an accident, regardless of who was at fault in causing the accident.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP). That part of an insurance policy, in many cases a no-fault policy, which provides protection against personal injury and related losses, as opposed to damage to your vehicle, up to a specific per-person dollar amount. PIP may include benefits for medical expenses, loss of work income, and accidental death and funeral expenses.
Premium. The amount of money you pay, either monthly, quarterly, or yearly, to maintain your automobile insurance. If you fail to pay your premiums, your insurance policy can be cancelled.
Property Damage Liability. Insurance that protects you, and pays on your behalf, for automobile-related damage that you cause to another persons' property. If offered jointly with bodily injury liability, as it often is, it may be called "liability insurance."
UIM. Shorthand for "underinsured motorist," or those fellow motorists whose automobile insurance maximum is insufficient to cover a specific loss. UIM pays you, or those people covered under your policy, for bodily injury losses if the other driver is liable and has coverage that does not fully compensate you for your losses. The maximum of a UIM recovery is your policy limit.
UM. Shorthand for "uninsured motorist," or those motorists who do not have any automobile insurance. UM coverage protects insureds, up to the limit of their policies, against bodily injury losses caused by a negligent motorist who has not obtained insurance coverage.
Threshold. A term commonly used in conjunction with a modified no-fault plan. Most no-fault plans set a point at which the insured may bring a legal action to recover for losses such as pain and suffering. Before the threshold is reached, tort actions are not allowed. Typically the threshold will be reached if medical bills reach a certain expense level, or if disfigurement or death occurs.VIN. Shorthand for "vehicle identification number." Your VIN is also relevant to areas other than insurance, but may come up in the insurance field if there is a question as to the ownership of your car. A car's VIN is a unique number assigned to the car. The VIN can be found, usually, engraved on a metal plate affixed to the dashboard that is visible through the windshield.
I've been hurt in an accident and I want to file a claim for my injuries. What's the first thing I should do?
There are a number of things you can do in the first few days and weeks after an accident to protect your right to compensation should you want to file an injury claim. Except for filing a formal claim against a government entity, there's no single step that you absolutely must take to obtain a fair settlement, and no set order in whichyou must proceed. However, the more of the following suggestions you can follow, the more smoothly your claim process is likely to flow.
- Write down as much as you can about the accident itself, your injuries and any other losses (such as wages) you've suffered as a result of the accident.
- Make notes of conversations that you have with people involved in the accident or the injury claim.
- Preserve evidence of who caused the accident and what damage was done by collecting physical evidence and taking photographs.
- Locate people who witnessed the accident and who might be able to help you prove your case, and
- Notify anyone you think might be responsible for the accident of your intention to file a claim for your injuries.
How soon do I need to notify people about my intention to file a claim for my accident injuries?
Unless you're filing a claim against a government agency or employee, you need not notify the people you think are responsible for your injuries within a set number of days after an accident. But that doesn't mean you should drag your feet. On the contrary, acting right away -- within a few days, if possible -- will increase your chances of receiving a quick and fair resolution to your claim.
Giving notice doesn't obligate you to file a claim; it simply preserves your rights and prevents others from later saying that your claim is unfair because you waited too long to tell them about your injuries. If you promptly notify others that you intend to file a claim for your injuries, you can then move at your own pace in processing and negotiating the claim with the insurance company or government agency that winds up taking responsibility.
What is the deadline for filing an accident injury claim against a government entity?
If your accident might have been even partially caused by a government entity
or employee -- the city, county, state or federal government, or any public
agency or division (a city bus or a school district, for example) -- you must
file a formal claim within a short time after your accident. This period of
time usually ranges between 30 days and one year, depending on your state.
If you fail to file a claim within the time limit, or fail to include required
information in your claim, you may forever lose your right to collect compensation.
To find the time limit for your state, call your city or county attorney's
office and ask. Although they may be the ones defending against your claim
if you file it, they are under a legal obligation to give you correct filing
information. Copyright © 2002 Nolo
Preventing Childhood Injuries
- Accidental falls are a leading cause of injury-related emergency room visits. To reduce the chances of your child falling at home, make sure that you supervise your children's play, do not keep furniture near windows, bar or securely latch all windows and screens, block all stairways from younger children, keep stairs and halls free of toys and other items, and don't use baby walkers.
- Not all falls occur at home, however. In order to minimize the risk of injury from falls away from home, visit only playgrounds with safe surfaces like wood chips, pebbles, or rubberized pathways and closely monitor your child's play; use safety restraints in shopping carts and stay close to the cart at all times; hold your child's hand on stairways and escalators; make wearing helmets, pads, guards, and other protective gear mandatory when biking, in-line skating, and engaging in other activities likely to result in falls; and select age-appropriate activities for your children.
- For children under age fifteen, automobile accidents are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death. To minimize the risk of death and injury from motor vehicle crashes, infants should always ride in rear-facing car seats, older babies and toddlers should be restrained in a forward-facing car seat, older preschoolers and younger school-age children should be in booster seats with adequate restraint systems, and older children should be restrained by the vehicle's safety belts. In addition, children should never ride in the front seat, especially in cars with air bags.
- Although most parents are attentive when their children are swimming in lakes and pools, accidental drownings can occur in even a few inches of water in seemingly harmless containers, like cleaning buckets. To avoid the risk of drowning, supervise your children whenever they are in or near the water, don't leave your children alone in the bathtub, keep gates around back-yard pools locked, empty containers like buckets and wading pools when not in use, keep bathroom doors closed and use child-proof door knobs (a toddler can even drown in the toilet), and make sure your children (as well as you) wear life jackets when boating and engaging in other water sports.
- Poisoning is another common cause of childhood injury. To avoid the risk of injury from poisoning, keep all medicines, cleaning supplies, and chemicals out of children's reach; use child-proof door knobs and cabinet latches as necessary; avoid transferring potentially harmful substances to different receptacles, like soda bottles or food-storage containers, which could confuse a child and encourage ingestion; make sure that none of the plants in your home or garden are poisonous; don't call medicine "candy," which could encourage overdosing; post the telephone number for the local poison control center and other emergency numbers by every phone in the house; and keep syrup of ipecac handy to induce vomiting in case of accidental poisoning, but don't administer it without first checking with your local poison control center.
- Children have much more sensitive skin than adults and can easily get burned. Just three seconds' contact with tap water of 140*F can cause third-degree burns to a young child. In order to avoid burn injuries, set the thermostat on your home water heater to less than 120* Fahrenheit, and test the temperature of bath water on your wrist or elbow before placing your child in the bath. Don't attempt to carry a child and a hot liquid like a cup of coffee at the same time; use the back burners on your stove and keep all pot handles pointed away from the front edge of the stove; keep all lighters and matches out of children's reach; install smoke detectors in your home and change the batteries regularly; and don't allow children to play with dangerous objects like Fourth of July sparklers.
- Children under three years old are especially vulnerable to choking on small objects. One way to determine whether an object is capable of causing a child to choke is to see if it fits through an empty toilet paper tube. If it does, keep it out of a young child's reach. In addition, you can minimize the risk of childhood choking accidents. Do not feed toddlers round foods like grapes, nuts, hotdogs, and popcorn; store small items like coins, pins, jewelry, buttons, and beads out of the reach of small children; verify that toys have no removable small parts, like teddy bear eyes; don't allow children to wear clothing with drawstrings, which can cause strangulation; keep all window-treatment cords out of children's reach; and, in case your child does choke despite your best efforts, keep your CPR and Heimlich maneuver skills up to date.
- Guns can be found in about half of all American homes. Whether you own a gun or not, it is imperative that you teach your kids about gun safety. If you do own a firearm, in order to prevent accidental shootings you must store all guns, unloaded, in a locked compartment; employ trigger locks and other safety devices; store ammunition in a separate, locked compartment; and keep the keys in a place that only adults know about and that cannot be discovered by children.
- Even when all of these safety precautions are followed, accidents can still happen. If your child is injured, your first step must be to seek medical attention or call 911.
- If your child was injured as a result of someone else's negligence or intentional act, you may be entitled to recover money damages. A personal injury attorney can review the facts of your case to determine whether another individual or company should be held accountable and made to pay for your and your child's losses. If, for example, another driver's carelessness resulted in an accident that injured your child, or a defective toy caused your child to choke, you may be able to sue the responsible party. Seek the advice and counsel of an experienced personal injury lawyer to ensure that you and your child get the legal representation you deserve.
Glossary: Personal-Injury Damages
Diminished earning capacity. See "lost earning capacity."
Disfigurement. When the injury has left the plaintiff deformed or disfigured, e.g., by horrible scars or other insults on one's personal appearance, the plaintiff may be able to collect damages for his or her mental suffering caused by being conscious of the disfigurement. These damages are sometimes included as an element of other types of damages, such as mental anguish.
Emotional distress. See "mental anguish."
Future medical expenses. Recovery is permitted if the plaintiff proves that he or she will need continued medical care as a result of the defendant's wrongful act. The proof must be sufficient for the jury to make an approximate estimate of the cost.
Future profits. Recovery for projected profits that, because of the injury, will not be earned. Proof requires a showing that there is a reasonable basis for determining the amount; speculation is not proof.
General damages. Compensation for harm that ordinarily results from wrongful conduct, such as physical and mental pain, loss of enjoyment of life. These damages cannot be proved with monetary exactness.
Goodwill. An intangible value of a business based on the business's ability to provide customers with the services and goods they want, willingness to stand behind products and warranties, and the reputation of the product or the business.
Hedonic damages. See "loss of enjoyment of life."
Household services. The cost of hiring somebody to do things around the house while the plaintiff is recuperating, provided that the expense would not have been incurred had the plaintiff not been injured. It is sometimes included as a medical expense.
Loss of consortium. Deprivation of the benefits of married life, that is, the affection, solace, comfort, companionship, society, help and assistance, and the sexual relations between spouses. Usually the uninjured spouse makes the claim and his or her recovery will depend on whether the injured spouse recovers any damages. Sometimes the injured person will make the claim as well. A value is placed on this loss by considering the couple's individual life expectancies, whether the marriage was stable, how much care and companionship was bestowed upon the uninjured spouse (or vice versa), and the extent to which the benefits of married life have been lost.
Loss of consortium of a child. Parents may be able to recover damages when their child is injured when the injuries are severe enough that they interfere with the normal relationship between parents and their children.
Loss of enjoyment of life. A diminished ability to enjoy the day-to-day pleasures of life, it is an item of general damages, meaning there is no precise way to place a monetary value on it. Some states treat it as a form of pain and suffering, others treat it as a distinct kind of damage.Loss of past earnings. See "lost wages."
Loss of society and companionship. Damages awarded in cases involving wrongful death that represent the positive benefits flowing from the love, comfort, companionship, and society the plaintiff family members (as defined in your state's wrongful-death statute) would have enjoyed had the decedent lived. Jury considers evidence that a harmonious relationship existed between the plaintiff and the decedent, their living arrangements, common interests and activities, and whether the decedent and plaintiff were separated for extended periods. See "loss of consortium" and "loss of consortium of a child."
Lost earning capacity. May be recovered if the plaintiff proves that his or her ability to earn money in the future has been impaired or diminished by the injuries the defendant caused. Factors that help determine whether an award should be made include the plaintiff's age, health, life expectancy, occupation, talents, skill, experience, and training. One court described these damages as the "increased probability of unemployment"; past earnings are a factor to determine the amount, but the claim really focuses on what could have been.
Lost profits. Net profits the plaintiff would have earned in his or her business had the plaintiff not been injured by the defendant. The plaintiff usually must show that the business was profitable, that profits decreased since the plaintiff was injured, that the losses are not caused by something else such as a downturn in the economy, and the extent to which the business was the plaintiff's "baby," rather than dependent on the labor of others.
Lost wages. The amount of money the plaintiff would have earned from the time he or she was injured to the date of trial. An unemployed person may be permitted to recover lost wages if he or she can prove what he or she could have earned during the same period.
Medical expenses. Bills and expenses for doctors, hospital stays, emergency room treatment, ambulance fees, nursing services, and the like. The plaintiff must show that the expenses are related to medical conditions resulting from his or her injury. The total amount of medical expenses is sometimes used as a rough guide to decide whether the overall award of damages is reasonable. The cost of a medical examination for purposes of litigation is not recoverable as a medical expense.Medical surveillance. The cost of monitoring plaintiff's medical condition after the plaintiff was exposed to a hazardous substance so that disease is detected early.
Mental anguish. Any mental suffering or emotional distress such as fright, terror, apprehension, nervousness, anxiety, worry, humiliation, mortification, feeling of lost dignity, embarrassment, grief, shock, or ordeal.
Pain and suffering. An award for past and future physical pain. To place a monetary value on pain and suffering, the jury considers the nature of the injury, the certainty of future pain, its severity, and how long the plaintiff is likely to be in pain. Some states allow the jury to assume that if a bodily injury has occurred there has been some pain and suffering and some require that the plaintiff be conscious.
Permanent disability. Best proved by medical testimony; a doctor usually must examine the plaintiff. Some courts have concluded that it can include not only disabilities that are objectively determined, but also disabilities that the plaintiff perceives.
Present cash value. The current value of projected future earnings; the amount that, if invested wisely, will over time produce the amount the plaintiff would have earned had he or she not been injured.
Special damages. Monetary losses, such as medical expenses. Recovery requires detailed proof that the losses were sustained and how much money was involved.
Disclaimer
This publication and the information included in it are not intended to serve as a substitute for consultation with an attorney. Specific legal issues, concerns and conditions always require the advice of appropriate legal professionals.