If you’re planning on filing a lawsuit, you probably have what you believe to be evidence that you were wronged in some regard. Understanding evidence, however, does take some real legal knowledge. In fact, you may find that, upon meeting with your attorney, they don’t really believe that the things you consider to be evidence […]
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Police Sued Over Privacy Violations
CNN reported that a police department in Washington is facing a lawsuit over violating the rights of inmates. The reporting details that 11 women and 1 man are suing a police department over alleged instances where the inmates—who were all arrested on suspicion of drunk driving—were recorded while they were undressing and using the toilet. […]
Frivolous Lawsuits Get too Much Publicity
The idea behind a lawsuit is to give a person who was wronged because of another person’s negligence away to get compensated. This can include suing manufacturers for putting dangerous products out on the market when they should’ve known better, suing motorists who are prone to driving dangerously and end up hurting or killing someone […]
Dog Bites and Liability
Unfortunately, many dog owners are not responsible with their animals. In fact, it’s quite reasonable to argue that the biggest cause of dog bites has nothing to do with dogs, but with the people who are in charge of taking care of those dogs. There are differences on a state-by-state basis as to how much […]
Daycare Worker Arrested for Raping Children
For parents with children in daycare, a nightmare scenario seems to be unfolding in Ohio. According to NewsOK, a daycare worker has been arrested on two counts of rape. The woman, according to the article, had engaged in sexual conduct with an infant and made a video of herself doing it. Police claim that they […]
Class Action Against LinkedIn Reveals Importance of TOS
If you’ve gotten emails that appear to be from a friend of yours but that were actually from LinkedIn giving a pitch for the website, you’re not alone. In fact, a lawsuit has been filed against the business social networking website alleging that the company breaks into email accounts, uses the contact list to send […]
Can You Sue a Company for Mishandling Your Information?
Today, it’s not uncommon for companies with whom people do very casual business – cellular phone companies, Internet service providers, etc. – to have some very sensitive information about their clients. For example, Social Security numbers are routinely used as forms of identification and many companies require that information in order to open an account. […]
Why Do Personal Injury Attorneys Turn Down Cases?
There are instances when a personal injury attorney may turn down your claim. This may leave you wondering if there is any hope for justice but, keep in mind the fact that civil lawsuits are not really about justice; they’re about compensation. If you’ve been turned down as a client by an attorney, some or […]
How Do You Sue on Behalf of a Child
Some of the largest jury awards are actually handed out to children. These occur in cases involving medical malpractice during birth, car accidents that permanently damage a child and in other cases. Obviously, a child cannot enter into a contract or take any other legal action of their own accord. Parents are the ones who […]
Suing a Reckless Driver
There are certainly car wrecks in which people realize that nobody is really to blame and that both drivers did everything they could to prevent the crash from happening. These would be the classic car accident type of wrecks in which it was truly accidental; nobody could’ve seen it coming and nobody could have done anything to stop it. Then, there are the types of car crashes where somebody else is clearly responsible because of their reckless driving. If any of the following applies to you, you may wish to speak with an attorney about filing a lawsuit for negligence.
Accidents with Racers
There are individuals who get a thrill out of racing their cars down city streets. Houston has a lot of very wide streets that are, unfortunately, perfect for people who want to see how fast their vehicles can go. This type of driving is negligent in every single instance. If somebody injured you because they were racing down the road, be sure you talk to an attorney about the matter. You shouldn’t be footing the bill for the damage and medical costs that they saddled you with on your own.
Pedestrian Accidents
Whenever you are a pedestrian, you do have the right-of-way. Vehicles are required to yield to you in the vast majority of instances. It’s still up to you to be responsible and safe, of course, and if you run out in the middle of a street with high-speed traffic, you can’t really expect to be able to sue somebody for hitting you. If somebody strikes you with a vehicle, however, and it’s clearly a case where the person did not respect your right of way, talking to an attorney is something you should definitely consider. The attorney can at least let you know if it seems likely that a lawsuit would be a good idea.
Parking Lot Accidents
Many accidents happen in parking lots. Unfortunately, people tend to have a hard time judging how fast they’re going. This doesn’t let them off the hook; it is up to the vehicle’s driver to maintain a safe speed, no matter where they are. In parking lots, people tend to rush, to drive far too fast and sometimes cause horrible accidents. If somebody has destroyed your property or, worse yet, caused you a personal injury because of slamming into you in a parking lot set up a meeting with an attorney to explore your options.
Accidents involving Drunk Drivers
If a drunk driver strikes you, you should speak to a personal injury attorney. There is absolutely no reason why you should not speak to a personal injury attorney in these cases. The law will indeed make sure that they pay a fine, perhaps sit for a while in jail and suffer other consequences. None of that does you any good financially. Don’t pay for the expenses that the drunk driver cost you on your own: call an attorney.
The initial consultation with an attorney is generally free. A good Houston personal injury attorney can let you know whether or not your case merits filing a lawsuit for damages. Call us at 713-771-5453 if you have any questions.
Medical Malpractice and Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine is sometimes hard to define. Putting it in the strictest terms, it would include anything that does not actually require an M.D. to practice or any type of medicine that is not generally accepted by the overarching medical establishment as being based in science. By this definition, everything from homeopathy to acupuncture to therapeutic touch would be included. If you’re wondering if you can sue one of these practitioners for malpractice, the answer is oftentimes “yes”.
Increasing Frequency of Medical negligence Lawsuits
Practitioners of alternative therapies are increasingly finding themselves facing lawsuits for negligence and malpractice. The only way to figure out for sure whether or not any alternative practitioner who has wronged you is liable for being sued for malpractice is to speak with a Personal Injury Attorney. This is still an evolving area and your attorney will have to look at past precedent and current cases to see how you would go after somebody who wronged you. Overall, however, the criteria for filing a lawsuit against such an individual would be roughly the same as it is for filing a lawsuit against a mainstream doctor.
Medical malpractice and medical negligence, in a very broad sense, refer to instances where a healthcare practitioner took you on as a patient and failed to deliver competent care to you. It doesn’t precisely mean that the practitioner is actually incompetent in the general sense of that term. What it means is that, in the specific instance that applies to your case, they were negligent. Therefore, suing a chiropractor because they injured you in the course of adjusting your back isn’t the same as saying that they’re a quack and doesn’t require you to prove as much. It only requires that your attorney is able to prove that, in your case, they were negligent.
Awards and Settlements In Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Medical negligence claims tend to get an awful lot of press because of the very large settlements and jury awards that are sometimes involved. Remember that the people who get the settlements oftentimes suffered grievously. Many of them will endure a lower quality of life for the foreseeable future and some of them will never be able to work or support themselves again. Some of them end up with conditions that will never heal simply because a healthcare practitioner did not provide them with competent care.
If you’re not sure whether or not and alternative healthcare practitioner did something that could be classified as medical negligence, you need to speak with an attorney. Even if it’s not likely that you can sue them as a healthcare provider, the attorney may be able to sue them for negligence in some other fashion. This is a complicated area of the law but, overall, the laws that govern negligence are set up to protect people who are victimized by the negligence of others.
Texas has very specific laws regarding medical malpractice claims and there are limitations on how long you have to act. If you’re not sure whether or not you want to move forward with a lawsuit, speak with an attorney so they can tell you how long you have to think about the matter before your time expires.
Serious Injuries, Liability and Landlords
Most of the time, when people think of personal injury law, landlords or tenant law is probably not what comes to mind. There are ways that landlords are liable for their properties, and you may have a personal injury claim on your hands if the negligence of a particular landlord has caused you to come to harm.
Understanding Landlords and their Properties
There are great landlords out there to be sure. They’re the types of landlords that show up to fix things, who inspect their properties if something seems to have fallen out of repair and they keep up with you about the state of their property. Then there are the slumlords, and they sometimes end up causing their tenants real harm.
Landlords do have responsibility when their tenants come to harm, in some cases. A woman in New York City, for example, sued her landlord because she was the victim of a home invasion and an assault after her landlord had failed to repair a faulty lock. The landlord had been told about the problem several times but had failed to act.
If your landlord has shirked their responsibilities to you and you have come to harm, consider speaking with a personal injury attorney.
Corporate Landlords
In large cities like Houston, some corporate landlords may be negligent in their responsibilities. They may own properties all of the city, state or nation and not really take care of any of them. These are the slum lords of the world and unfortunately, it can pay very well. They fail to take care of structural and health hazards in the buildings, and don’t maintain the premises and fail to take care of pest problems. There are health standards that they have to maintain and, when they do not, it’s not rare for someone to be very seriously hurt as a result of their negligence.
Getting Help
Corporate landlords can be very hard to get ahold of, even if they’re located in the same city. Landlords who are just negligent but who don’t work for a corporation can be even worse sometimes. There are many techniques that a lawyer can use to get hold of them.
If you’ve been injured due to a negligent landlord, make sure you speak to an attorney. If they’re a corporate landlord, the attorney will still be able to handle them. Increasingly, people are getting tired of slum lords ruining their cities. City councils, law enforcement, fire departments and, especially, tenants have a lot to gain from holding these people and companies responsible for what they do. A good personal injury lawyer can help you do that.
If you were injured, the attorney will meet with you and try to determine if they can help you out. If they cannot, there’s no obligation. It’s a good idea to ask, however. For most people, the rent they pay is among their highest bills and, unfortunately, it sometimes goes to landlords who don’t maintain the property that everyday people often call home.
Car Accidents And Lawsuits
Car accidents quite frequently end up in lawsuits. There are several reasons for this. The reasons that people sue are oftentimes very good by most people’s judgment. Consider, for a moment, what a car wreck actually means.
Automobiles Are Expensive Property
Cars are expensive. When you get in a bad wreck, you’re likely taking a huge financial hit, possibly out of no fault of your own.
Cars Are Vital Transportation
Losing your car-or your ability to drive because of injury-can have significant consequences for your life. You cannot get to the store easily, cannot get to work easily and cannot take care of everyday needs. The loss of your car costs you much more in dollars than merely the cost of your car itself.
You May Have Medical Expenses
Medical expenses are among the most significant financial damages that people who are in wrecks suffer. These expenses can range into the tens of thousands of dollars or more. Your car accident attorney can help you get all of this together.
There May Be A Wrongful Death
Wrongful death lawsuits are designed to help the family of the deceased. Unfortunately, car wrecks end up causing far too many deaths every year. Wrongful death lawsuits usually involve pursuing sums for the loss of the deceased’s ability to earn, their contribution to the family and the pain and suffering that the family was put through.
There May Be Pain and Suffering Involved
Suing for pain and suffering is legitimate. The pain and suffering that people who are in car wrecks endure is legitimate and, because of that, it is possible to seek compensation for it. This category is one of the hardest to sue over because it’s hard to quantify this in dollars. Your injury lawyer can help you with this and will make sure that you seek enough.
Watch Out For Unfair Settlements
There are some cases where the defendant will approach you and want to you take a settlement rather than going after them in court. This is usually a pretty cynical calculation on their part, but it’s sometimes to your benefit, as well. The settlement will be calculated to be enough to get you not to pursue the lawsuit and to satisfy most of your claims but will save the defendant the cost of going to court. Talk to your attorney if you’re offered a settlement. The other party may try to go behind your attorney’s back but you get no benefit from this and the defendant may well end up taking advantage of you in this way.
Talk to an attorney right away if you believe that you could sue over a car wreck. There are limitations on how long you can wait. Your attorney will let you know how long you have to decide whether or not to file the lawsuit. If they take you on as a client, they can do a lot to make sure your case is represented as competently as possible. They may be able to reconstruct the accident and take other measures to get at the truth. There is a chance that you could get substantial compensation.
The Law Offices of Blaine A Tucker offers FREE consultations to victims of car accidents. Call us at 713-771-5453
How Lawuits Can Get Ruined
If you’re involved in an accident with a commercial trucking or similar company, there are ways that they can make it very difficult for you to win your claim. You need to be aware of this right away. It will be in the company’s interest to make certain that they take every measure possible to lessen your chance of winning a lawsuit against them for negligence. The best way to stop this is to contact an experienced personal injury attorney right away. If you move quickly, you can sometimes stop the trucking company from taking actions that could make it harder for you to win in court.
Supporting Evidence
Remember that, when you go up against the trucking company in a courtroom, you need to have evidence to support your claim. This is why you need to go with an attorney who has experience dealing with vehicle accidents and, specifically, trucking accidents. The trucking company will have legal representation who can reconstruct the accident in a way that makes it seem like it was entirely your fault or, at least, like the driver employed by the trucking company was not specifically at fault or negligent.
If you have a good attorney, they can do the same for you. They can reconstruct the accident and demonstrate to the jury using scientific evidence how the trucking company or the driver under the employ of the trucking company was negligent and how that led to your accident. The most important thing you’ll need, however, is all of the data from the crash. The trucking company may end up destroying valuable documentation that could bolster your case. They don’t do this illegally; they are allowed to destroy records on a regular basis just as is any other business. The problem is that some of those records that they are allowed to destroy may be important to your claim. Your attorney can stop them from doing this.
Multiple Car Wrecks
There are scenarios where it may not be readily apparent whose negligence led to your car wreck. For example, some people drive incredibly negligently around semis. They may, for example, tailgate you to such an egregious degree that they force you to merge into a freeway lane when you should have yielded, causing a wreck with a semi. In these cases, you need an attorney to help you determine who was negligent. Remember that, in these cases, it may be very easy for the trucking company to find a way to pin it on the other driver, ruining your case against them.
Remember that you’re up against a corporation when you take on a trucking company. What that means is that the entity that you are suing and the people who represent it aren’t spending their own money to defend themselves against the claim; they may have their insurance company’s backing as well. They can throw a great deal of money at their defense, which means that you need an attorney who can see through these types of tactics. Talk to a good Houston vehicle injury lawyer and they should be able to let you know whether or not you have a chance of winning a lawsuit and what you need to do to make certain that the trucking company doesn’t lessen your chances of winning.
The Law Offices of Blaine A Tucker offers FREE consultations to victims of Trucking and Vehicular accidents Call us at 713-771-5453
Suing Retail Establishments
Suing over injuries sustained at a retail establishment is sometimes the only option the victims have to move on with their lives. These lawsuits are sometimes cast as frivolous in the media; oftentimes by industry advocacy or tort reform groups that have an ulterior motive. The truth about these injuries is that they are sometimes very serious. When you consider how hard the floors are at most retail establishments, it’s easy to see how seriously someone could be injured in a slip and fall accident.
Recent Lawsuits involving retail establishments
There are always lawsuits going on over these situations. A woman in southeast Texas recently sued one of the largest retailers in the nation over such a situation. Her lawsuit alleges that there was a power outlet that was protruding from the floor, that she tripped on it and that she was injured. It is further alleged that the owner of the store knew about the problem, knew that it posed a real threat and failed to do anything about it. This is precisely negligence and that is why the woman is suing.
Liability and Risk
If you take a risk that makes you negligent, you cannot sue the retailer. For example, if you pulled the outlet out of the floor at the above-mentioned retailer’s establishment and tripped over it on your own, that’s really not their fault. If you run down a stairway and slip and fall, it’s likely not their fault, either; stairways are made for walking. You have to have been doing nothing that put you at undue risk to sue someone over one of these cases.
An attorney can help you to determine whether or not a lawsuit is appropriate in your circumstances. If it is, they may want to represent you if they think that they’re the right professional for the job.
What Do You Sue For?
Personal injury claims require that you break down your injuries and other ways that you came to harm, quantify how much they cost you in dollars and offer that amount as your desired jury award. Your attorney will help you do this. You could end up suing for, among other things:
- Pain and suffering
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Wrongful death
Your personal injury attorney will help you to determine what applies in your case. There are definitely a lot of factors that go into determining how much to seek in a lawsuit. Your attorney will have to give you guidance in this matter.
Getting Started with a slip and fall lawsuit
Contact an attorney right away. This ensures that you act in time and that you don’t miss your opportunity to file a lawsuit because of time limitations. Your injury attorney may want to meet with you right away, but this doesn’t mean that they’re taking your case. They’ll have to get all the facts before they can make this determination.
Remember that your attorney is there to help you. If the retailer offers a settlement to get you not to sue, be sure you contact your attorney and that you don’t take it before you consult with your lawyer.
The Law Offices of Blaine A Tucker offers FREE consultations to victims of slip and fall accidents. Call us at 713-771-5453
Motorcycles and Negligent Drivers
Motorcyclists are in a great deal of danger when they’re out on the road. Contrary to popular belief, they handle well, are much more agile than a car in many situations and, if the rider wears appropriate safety gear, most motorcycle wrecks do not result in death. What kills motorcyclists is the negligence of other drivers.
Wrongful Death and Negligence of Car Drivers
There are two very common types of wrecks that motorcyclists should be aware of. The first is having a car turn left in front of them, causing the rider to either have to evade the vehicle by crashing their own or causing them to go over the hood of the turning vehicle, potentially killing them. The second type of wreck that motorcyclists tend to get in are ones that involve vehicles not yielding the right-of-way at stop signs or yield signs because the driver didn’t notice the motorcyclist. Either of these scenarios can easily be pinned on the negligence of the driver behind the wheel of the car.
Motorcyclists have as much right to the road as any car. You’ve probably seen the popular bumper stickers that say, “start seeing motorcycles”. Those bumper stickers are designed to remind drivers that they’re not just looking for cars when they pull out into traffic, make a left turn, merge into a right lane or take any other action that could easily crowd a motorcyclist they don’t see off of the road. Not seeing other drivers on the road can easily be construed as negligence. When you are behind the wheel of a car, you are expected to behave in a safe and reasonable fashion to other drivers on the road. Those other drivers include motorcyclists.
Getting hit by a vehicle while you’re on a motorcycle can easily kill you. If you’ve lost somebody in your family or if you have suffered injury because a driver was negligent, contact an attorney.
What Can an Attorney Do?
The first thing that an attorney can do is take a look at the circumstances of the wreck and see what happened. If you’re dealing with a skilled personal injury attorney, they’ve probably seen the same kind of wreck you’ve been involved in before. There are some classic motorcycle/car wrecks that attorneys tend to see over and over and, when they see certain characteristics of the accident represented in the reconstruction, they can sometimes lock right on to where the negligence was a factor.
If somebody hasn’t respected your rights on the road, don’t let them disrespect your rights in court, either. Get an attorney. The medical expenses you’ve suffered, loss of property, potential loss of wages, pain and suffering, impacts upon your quality of life and, if the situation is as bad as it could possibly be, the loss of somebody you love, are all reasons to seek compensation in court. Speak with a good Houston personal injury lawyer right away; there are limitations on how long you have to take action in one of these cases.
The Law Offices of Blaine A Tucker offers FREE consultations to victims of motorcycle accidents. Call us today at 713-771-5753
Having An Attorney Help You Before You Decide To Sue
Personal injury attorneys can offer more than just their services in court. When you get into a situation where you’ve been harmed by someone else’s negligence, the first thing you need is an expert opinion on what happened and that is the first thing an attorney can do for you.
Consultations with an injury attorney
Attorneys will usually meet with you the first time for free. This isn’t really charity and attorneys who do this aren’t suffering for work. The reason that they do this is because they have to talk to you about your situation to see whether or not they can really help you. If they don’t think that they can offer you any useful services, they’ll tell you as much and won’t want your case. If they do, however, they’ll let you know that they are interested in representing you. This is where they can sometimes offer you another service.
Deciding to Sue in Court
There’s a lot to consider if you’re in a situation where you could sue someone. You have to consider whether or not you want to go through with the lawsuit. You have to consider whether or not the person you’re suing has any money that you could get in damages. You have to determine if you’re working with the right attorney, of course, as well.
A good personal injury lawyer will be willing to help you with this decision. What they can provide to help are facts. For instance, when people get hurt in some way where the negligence on the part of the party causing the injury was particularly egregious, they will sometimes think that they’re going to sue for millions and make sure the person’s negligence is punished. This isn’t always how lawsuits work. Attorneys can give you a healthy dose of realism about your situation and that’s sometimes the best service of all.
On the other hand, you may have been injured by a commercial trucking firm or another wealthy company and have been convinced by their representatives that taking a check from them and agreeing not to go to court is the best you could possibly due. A good personal injury attorney will let you know whether or not this is actually the case. Simply put, the attorney can help you to understand your situation in greater detail and empower you to make a sensible decision.
Consulting Soon after an accident
There are generally limitations on suing for damages in any situation, so you do need to talk to a good Houston personal injury attorney sooner rather than later. They may be able to give you a lot more information that you expected, so meeting with them to get a handle on what’s going on is always a good idea. They’ll be able to let you know the reality of your situation and, if it happens that you were injured and someone really was negligent in causing it, they might help you to go after that person in court for a jury settlement or help you to negotiate a settlement.
Call Texas Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, Blaine A Tucker at 713-771-5453 for a FREE Case Review
When Is Medical Malpractice Worth Investigating?
Personal injury attorneys can help you with medical malpractice claims. In Texas, the limitations on these cases are specific and somewhat severe, so you’ll need an attorney who understands how to navigate these laws. There are some basics you can go with to help you decide whether or not you should speak to an attorney.
Breach of Duty
Medical malpractice happens when a doctor breaches their duty to their patient. This can mean giving treatment that was incorrect or that should have been known to be ineffective, not giving treatment when it was obviously required or missing a diagnosis that should have been caught. There are other situations that constitute malpractice, as well, but they all have in common the fact that you must have been injured. You could have been injured physically, financially or otherwise before you can sue.
If you have been injured, you should talk to an attorney. Remember that there’s no risk in just talking with a personal injury attorney about the matter during a free consultation. They may not know after that consultation whether or not they want to take your case, but they can get the basics of it and investigate it further as they need to determine whether they think they could help you.
Wrongful Deaths
Medical malpractice causes far too many deaths. Wrongful death lawsuits are designed to help the family and other survivors of the deceased. They sometimes net large sums of money-into the millions is not uncommon-because of the trauma to the family, the horrible situation that the doctor’s negligence caused and, from a practical standpoint, because the family lost someone that provided support, financial or otherwise. If you’ve lost someone in your family and suspect that medical malpractice may have played a part in that loss, talking to an attorney is highly advisable.
Dentistal Malpractice
Dentists can commit acts of medical malpractice. If you’ve suffered because a dentist breached their duties to you, you should speak with an attorney. They may be able to help you go after the dentist for damages. Breach of Duty could include faulty surgery, excessive medication, permanent damage caused by dental surgery etc.
Alternative Practitioners
Alternative practitioners-including chiropractors-have been sued successfully for malpractice. There are limits to who can legitimately be called a healthcare professional and upon who can actually say that they’ve taken on a patient, of course, but you should speak with your attorney about any situation involving an alternative practitioner and possible malpractice.
A Texas personal injury attorney will be able to give you good advice. They’re not just going to tell you to sue in every situation. What they’ll do is take a look at your situation, get advice from experts and see if they think that they can render you effective legal services and help you get compensated. There’s no reason that patients should have to suffer when doctors are incompetent or negligent. Talk to an attorney and see if they can help you bring a lawsuit against a doctor who wronged you by incompetent action or inaction and that left you paying the cost of that negligence.