| Types of Accidents | Types of Injuries | ||
| • Motorcycles |
• Fire or Electrical Burn Injury |
• RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOUR ATTORNEY
• WHAT IS A CONTINGENCY FEE?
If you are the victim of a serious or complicated
injury, you will want to contact an attorney to
help determine what your next steps should be.
As there are all types of attorneys who represent
all types of claims, you will want to find an
attorney whom you feel that you can trust, and
who has had experience and success in representing
people like yourself (called "plaintiffs")
who have suffered serious personal injury.
Howard Blau Law has a long and successful history representing clients
and winning maximum compensation for victims of
all types of personal injury. Regardless of the
type of injury you have suffered: Fire
or Electrical Burn Injury, Spinal
Cord and Fracture, Brain
and Neurological Injury, Wrongful
Death, Dog Bite Injuries
or Pedestrian Injuries
- Howard Blau Law can help you get the care and the compensation
you deserve.
TYPES OF SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY
Fire or Electrical Burn Injury:
Burns of any type can be highly variable in terms
of the tissue affected, the severity, and the
resultant complications. Muscle, bone, blood vessel,
and epidermal tissue can all be damaged with subsequent
pain due to injury to nerve endings. Depending
on the location affected and the degree of severity,
a burn victim may experience a wide number of
life threatening complications including shock,
infection, electrolyte imbalance and respiratory
distress. Beyond physical complications, burns
can also result in severe psychological and emotional
distress due to scarring and deformity.
The human body is such a good conductor of electricity
that while some electrical burns may look minor,
there still may be serious internal damage, especially
to the heart, muscles, or brain. The outcome of
an electric shock to an individual depends on
the intensity of the voltage to which the person
was exposed, the route of the current through
the body, the victim's state of health, and the
speed and adequacy of the treatment. Electric
current can cause injury in three main ways: (1)
Cardiac arrest due to the electrical effect on
the heart; (2) Muscle, nerve, and tissue destruction
from a current passing through the body; and (3)
Thermal burns from contact with the electrical
source.
Burns are grouped according to severity, each
with distinctive symptoms. First-degree burns
are mild and injure only the outer layer of skin.
The skin becomes red, but turns white when touched.
The area may also be painful to the touch. Second-degree
burns are deeper, more severe, and very painful.
Blisters may form on the burned area. This type
of burn takes about two weeks to heal. Third-degree
burns are the deepest and most serious kind.
The skin becomes white and leathery, but it does
not feel very tender when touched. Serious burns
may also be accompanied by headache, fever and
dizziness. - top^
Spinal
Cord and Fracture Injury:
The spinal cord consists of nerves that connect
the brain to other nerves in the body. It is like
a superhighway for messages passing between the
brain and the rest of the body. The spinal cord
is surrounded for most of its length by the bones
(vertebrae) that form the spine. If a vertebra
is broken and a piece of the broken bone presses
into the soft spinal cord (which has the consistency
of toothpaste), the cord will be injured. The
cord can also be injured if the vertebrae, which
are normally held in place by strong ligaments
and muscles, are pushed or pulled out of alignment
(called subluxation), even if the vertebrae
are not fractured.
When the spinal cord is injured, the ability of
the brain to communicate with the body below the
level of the injury may be reduced or lost altogether.
When that happens, the part of the body affected
will not function normally. The “higher”
(closer to the head) the spinal cord injury is,
the greater the area of the body that may be affected.
Spinal cord injuries are often descried as “complete”
or “incomplete.” A complete injury
means that there is complete loss of sensation
and muscle control below the level of the injury.
Almost half of all spinal cord injuries are complete.
Most spinal cord injuries, including complete
injuries, result from bruising of the spinal cord
or loss of blood flow to the cord, and not from
cutting of the cord. A complete injury does not
mean that there is no hope of any improvement.
An incomplete injury means that the person
has some function below the level of the injury,
even though that function is not normal. For example,
a person might have weakness of the arms but still
be able to move them. Another person may lose
the ability to use muscles below the level of
the injury only on one side of the body while
losing pain and temperature sensation on the other
side of the body.
Paraplegia is an impairment in motor
and/or sensory function of the lower extremities.
It is usually the result of spinal cord injury,
which affects the neural elements of the spinal
canal. The area of the spinal canal that is affected
in paraplegia is either the thoracic, lumbar,
or sacral regions. If both the arms and the legs
are also affected by paralysis, the condition
is called quadriplegia (or tetraplegia)
A fracture is a break in the continuity of the
bone. While some bone fractures heal relatively
quickly, others can require multiple corrective
surgeries that, even when successful, can still
cause adverse effects such as chronic pain or
limited mobility. In general, a bone fracture
results in pain, swelling, and, sometimes, bruising
from internal bleeding. The patient cannot bear
weight or pressure on the injured area, and may
be unable to move it without severe pain. The
soft tissues around the broken bone may also be
injured. The area around or below the fracture
may feel numb due to a loss of pulse in that area.
- top^
Brain and Neurological Injury:
Brain and Neurological Injury, oftentimes referred
to as “traumatic brain injury” (TBI)
occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the
brain. Trauma is defined as any body wound or
shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from
accident, injury, or impact. Such injuries can
result when the head suddenly and violently hits
an object, or when an object pierces the skull
and enters brain tissue.
Symptoms of a TBI can be mild or severe, depending
on the extent of the damage to the brain. A person
with a mild TBI may remain conscious
or may experience a loss of consciousness for
a few seconds or minutes. Other
symptoms of mild TBI include headache, confusion,
lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision or
tired eyes, ringing in the ears, bad taste in
the mouth, fatigue or lethargy, a change in sleep
patterns, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble
with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking.
A person with severe TBI may show these
same symptoms, but may also have a headache that
gets worse or does not go away, repeated vomiting
or nausea, convulsions or seizures, an inability
to awaken from sleep, dilation of one or both
pupils of the eyes, slurred speech, weakness or
numbness in the extremities, loss of coordination,
and increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.
Severe brain injury is associated with loss of
consciousness for more than thirty minutes and
memory loss after the injury or penetrating skull
injury longer than twenty-four hours. Survivors
may have limited function of arms or legs, abnormal
speech or language, loss of thinking ability or
emotional problems. The range of injuries and
degree of recovery is broad and varies on an individual
basis.
The effects of TBI can be profound. Individuals
with severe injuries can be left in long-term
unresponsive states. For many people with severe
TBI, long-term rehabilitation is often necessary
to maximize function and independence. Even with
mild TBI, the consequences to a person's life
can be dramatic. Change in brain function can
have a dramatic impact on family, job, social
and community interaction. - top^
Wrongful Death:
A wrongful death lawsuit is filed by the surviving
dependents or beneficiaries of the deceased seeking
monetary damages when it is determined that the
decedent was killed as a result of the negligence
or fault of the defendant. The dependents or beneficiaries
may sue in order to recover (1) immediate expenses
associated with the death (medical & funeral);
(2) loss of victim's anticipated earnings in the
future until time of retirement or death; (3)
loss of benefits caused by the victim's death
(pension, medical coverage, etc.); (4) loss of
inheritance caused by the untimely death; (5)
pain and suffering, or mental anguish to the survivors;
(6) loss of care, protection, companionship to
the survivors; (7) general damages and 8) punitive
damages.
Though both a wrongful death case and a criminal homicide
case involve the death of a person, in a wrongful
death case, the decedent's estate pursues the
claim in civil court to recover damages from the
death, while in a criminal homicide case, the
state prosecutes the case in a criminal court
and seeks a jail or prison sentence.
One case does not preclude the other—both
may occur. If a wrongful death case occurs first,
a defendant may assert a Fifth Amendment privilege
against self-incrimination during the civil suit
because the state may prosecute the defendant
and use the defendant's statement against him.
In addition, a wrongful death case and a criminal
prosecution for the same death may yield different
outcomes that are, nonetheless, consistent. In
the wrongful death case, the plaintiff must prove
by a preponderance of evidence—more likely
than not—that the defendant is liable. In
contrast, the prosecution in a criminal homicide
case must prove the elements of the criminal homicide
charge beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a higher
burden of proof than required in civil cases.
The varying burdens of proof explain why a defendant
may be civilly liable for wrongful death, but
not guilty of criminal liability. -
top^
Dog Bite Injuries:
Dog Bite Injuries are on the rise across the U.S.
A recent study showed that 1,000 Americans per
day are treated in emergency rooms as a result
of dog bites. That translates into one dog bite
every forty seconds requiring medical attention.
In 2007, there were thirty-three fatal dog attacks
in the U.S. That is up from an annual average
of seventeen through the 1990s. Most of the victims
who receive medical attention are children, half
of whom are bitten in the face. Dog bite losses
exceed $1 billion per year, with over $300 million
paid by homeowners insurance. In addition, over
50% of the bites occur on the dog owner's property,
with the vast majority of biting dogs (77%) belonging
to the victim's family or friends.
Special care must be taken around certain breeds. According
to an independent study published in 2007, Pit
Bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes
are responsible for 74% of attacks that were included
in their study. Most fatal dog attacks are by
Pit Bulls or Rottweilers. In more than two-thirds
of the surveyed cases, the life-threatening or
fatal attack was apparently the first known dangerous
behavior by the animal in question.
It is advisable to be extra careful when there
is more than one dog in it's own yard, and no
master is present. As a general rule, the larger
the number of dogs together, the greater the potential
threat. Even docile dogs can become uncharacteristically
violent and vicious when they are in a pack. Chained
or tethered dogs tend to be more dangerous as
well. In addition, male dogs (especially unneutered
ones) are several times more dangerous than female
dogs. There are three kinds of law that impose liability on
owners:
A dog-bite statute: where the dog owner
is liable (subject to certain exceptions) for
injury or property damage the dog causes without
provocation.
The one-bite rule: where the dog owner
is responsible for an injury caused by a dog if
the owner knew the dog was likely to cause that
type of injury—in this case, the victim
must prove the owner knew the dog was dangerous.
Negligence laws: where the dog owner
is liable if the injury occurred because the dog
owner was unreasonably careless (negligent) in
controlling the dog.
- top^
Pedestrian Injuries:
Lacking any protection whatsoever, a pedestrian
is completely vulnerable to serious injuries when
struck by a moving vehicle. Even a relatively
slow-moving vehicle can cause fractures and other
major injuries to a pedestrian due to the significant
momentum of the vehicle's hard mass. Leg fractures
are particularly common due to the position of
car bumpers at the moment of impact. The most
frequent driver-related factor is generally failure
to yield right-of-way to the pedestrian.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, “most pedestrian fatalities
in 2000 occurred in urban areas (71%), at non-intersection
locations (78%), in good weather conditions (91%),
and at night (64%).” Additionally, “more
than two-thirds (68%) of the 2000 pedestrian fatalities
were males.” While all age groups are more
likely to be killed at non-intersection locations,
the numbers are higher for children primarily
because of dart-outs into the street.
Older people tend to be struck by vehicles more often than younger people. Some older pedestrians have physical, visual, and/or hearing impairments that place greater demand on intersection design. Studies have shown that older pedestrians are particularly over-represented in crashes at intersections involving vehicles turning left and right. - top^
RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOUR ATTORNEY
Upon assuming responsibility for your case, your
attorney should immediately pursue the following:
- Obtain all existing evidence, information and reports. Investigate, interview witnesses, retain experts and photograph and videotape all persons, vehicles and the accident scene.
- Ensure that all clients have received all necessary medical diagnoses and treatment and that all of the relevant records and bills are procured and organized.
- Take charge of all case-related negotiations. Oftentimes in an unresolved dispute, there will be negotiations with a claim adjuster who is a professional negotiator. Your attorney should negotiate on your behalf and protect your interests.
- Your attorney should explain specifically what damages they intend to seek, but in general, the different kinds of damages that the law allows you to receive are: (1) Property Damage; (2) General Damages; (3) Medical Expenses; (4) Lost Earnings; (5) Punitive Damages; (6) Future Damages and (7) Special Damages
- Your attorney should handle all communications with the other party, including phone calls. This reduces your exposure to the risks and unpleasantness of dealing with the other party on your own. Similarly, good lawyers often extend each other professional courtesies and may be able to obtain, with a phone call, what would otherwise be a battle for you. A letter from your lawyer helps to establish your claim and puts the other party on notice that you are taking the matter seriously and are represented by a professional.
- Develop a “discovery” strategy which refers to the process of finding evidence, avoiding surprises, narrowing the issues and obtaining all necessary testimonies.
- Represent you in court. Having a skilled attorney
on your side can make all the difference
in the resolution of your case.
- top^
WHAT IS A CONTINGENCY FEE?
All personal injury cases at Howard
Blau Law are handled on a “contingency”
basis, which means there is no fee unless we win
your case. - top^