Posted on April 18, 2012 by Fast Lawsuit Team
For you to be able to file a personal injury case, you need to show the “smoking gun” – to put the fault and responsibility of the injuries and damages you sustained squarely on the court of the party you are suing. Proving the other party’s liability is the very foundation of a personal injury lawsuit. If you and your lawyer can’t prove how the other person is responsible for the pain, suffering and damages, then you can’t expect to claim for personal injuries.
What is liability?
For someone to be considered liable, it must be proven that:
- There was a duty of care that the party owes you, the complainant
- That duty was violated/breached by the other party
- There is a direct relationship to this breach of duty and injuries suffered by the complainant
- You suffered from damages and loss because of the injuries
Legal Duty to Use Care. The relationship between the complainant and the defendant must be that the defendant has the responsibility to ensure the safety of the complainant by virtue of their “relationship”. For instance, a doctor has an oath to do his patients no harm – the medical world has stringent standards of service and a doctor can lose his license for serious breaches of duty of care. A manufacturer has the obligation to ensure that products sold will not cause injure its buyers. A driver has the responsibility to ensure that passengers and pedestrians will not suffer harm from his driving. A property owner/mall manager has the duty to ensure shoppers are safe inside the mall. A homeowner who has a pool should make sure no one drowns in the pool.
Breach of Duty of Care. Simply put, the breach would be something that the other party should do and did not do or something that the other party should not have done but did. This is if it can be shown that another person who is reasonable could have foreseen the risk and done something to prevent it. Because of either an act or an omission of an act, this party put you at risk and subsequently injured you.
Causation. Of course, there can be no personal injury lawsuit based simply on the possibility or risk of injury. You can’t sue because conditions have been made risky by the other party. An actual injury must occur. And this injury must be caused by the other party’s acts or lack thereof. For instance, you can’t sue because there is a puddle in the floor, causing it to be slippery. You can’t sue the mall owner because of the slippery floor. However, if you slipped on the floor while walking along the mall and you can prove that the owner should have done something about it, you can sue for personal injury. Finally, an injury must actually occur. If a duty is breached and no injury occurs, there is no negligence claim. Furthermore, the breach must be the actual and proximate cause of the injury. If, for example, the person operating the chainsaw is using it in an unsafe manner, but you are injured by something unrelated to his or her unsafe actions, the claim of negligence would not be valid.
Damages. You need to show actual damages. This includes monetary damages due to medical treatment, the necessity to hire housekeeping or child care, lost income and so on.
Other considerations:
- Placement of warnings. This is especially true for product liability cases. If there is a reasonable risk or safety issue in a toy or product and the manufacturer did not provide the proper warning about the risk and a person is injured, that person can sue for personal injury claims.
- Your own acts. Duty of care may not exist, depending on your own acts as well. For instance, if you were careless or were actually trespassing, duty of care will be seen in a different light.
- Levels of liability:
Strict liability. The other party can be held strictly liable if it can be proven that he could have prevented the injury and damages but did not do so. This is regardless of whether you had some part in the accident. For instance, if a dog owner already knew that his dog has a history of attacking other people but did not restrain the dog properly, he is liable.
Comparative negligence. It may be that both you and the other party have their share in causing the accident. Comparative negligence may result in a smaller amount of compensation, since you were partly to blame for your injuries.
Proving Liability
Proving that the other party is liable may be a complicated matter, depending on the type of case you have. Even when you hire a lawyer to help with the lawsuit, it may take time and considerable expense. It’s best to ensure that you have sufficient resources to battle it out. You may need lawsuit settlement funding so that you have funds to pay for medical expenses, your family’s everyday needs, as well as costs related to the lawsuit.
If you are in need of lawsuit funding, you can come to FastLawsuitMoney.com. Often called lawsuit loans, this kind of funding provides cash without requiring you to present employment records or credit ratings. Plus, it is the kind of funding that you only need to pay back when the lawsuit settles. In case, the lawsuit fails to settle, you are under no obligation to repay the funds.
Posted on March 10, 2012 by Fast Lawsuit Team
The death of a loved one is a tragic event. It is even more tragic if it was caused by another person’s negligence or willful, malicious act. There is a mixture of unbelief and anger. There is grief, knowing that you can never enjoy the lost loved one’s presence and companionship. There may even be worries about the future, especially if the one who passed away was the family’s breadwinner, or at least, contributed to the household income.
What is Wrongful Death?
A wrongful death usually results from an accident, defective product or medical malpractice. The person or entity that is guilty of the death is called a tortfeasor and is liable to pay monetary damages to the victim’s survivors. Tortfeasors may be a negligent shopkeeper, an employer, the driver involved in the car accident, the maker of a faulty product, a doctor, or someone who committed a crime that resulted in the victim’s death.
Wrongful death lawsuits can be brought against a wide variety of people, such as the driver at fault in an automobile accident, a negligent employer, the manufacturer of a faulty or dangerous product, or a violent criminal.
The elements of a wrongful death suit include:
- The death was caused by an act of negligence or an unjust action of another (either partly or wholly)
- There is liability on the part of the erring party
- The victim is survived by dependents who suffer a financial and emotional as a result of the death. The survivors must show a clear relationship to the victim.
- There is financial loss that resulted from the death (lost income, the value of lost services, lost medical benefits, etc.)
Who can file a wrongful death claim?
It is important to understand that the persons allowed to file a wrongful death claim against a loved one will vary from state to state. Usually, it is only the spouse that can claim. In some states, this can extend further to children, parents and siblings.
Here are some people who may file a wrongful death claim (depending on the state where he will file the claim):
- A parent or appointed guardian of a minor. He may sue for compensation as guardian ad litem. However, most states specify that the child should first be born alive and then died. This means that in some states, there is no wrongful death suit to be filed for the death of a fetus.
- Extended members of the family. This may be allowed depending on the situation (i.e. the case of a child’s death, where parents are no longer living and the grandparents are the ones who are raising the child). On the other hand, the death of the elderly may not warrant a claim against the loss of nurturing, guidance, parental care or financial support since most family members have already been grown up at that time and are self-supporting. However, the family members may claim for loss of future inheritance if the elderly relative is still working at the time of his death.
- Legal dependents (i.e. aged parents/grandparents) who receive support or care from the lost loved one.
Family members cannot file against another family member. There may be criminal charges filed but no wrongful death suits. For example, if a spouse died as a result of being battered by the other spouse, the children cannot claim for damages for wrongful death. Only those who are not related to the defendant may file a claim.
What is included in a wrongful death claim?
Survivors can claim for:
- Medical bills (while the victim was living)
- Funeral expenses
- Loss of future income or wages (this is computed from the time of the victim’s death up to his expected retirement)
- Loss of retirement or pension benefits
- Loss of medical coverage
- Loss of inheritance
- Pain and anguish for the survivors
- Loss of consortium (i.e. the enjoyment of the victim’s companionship, care and protection)
- Monetary value of the victim’s contribution to the household (maintenance work, childcare or housekeeping, cooking or driving the kids around).
- Punitive damages (in some cases)
When deciding about the damages, some considerations are given towards the victim’s person – his lifestyle, character, health condition and earning history.
Lawsuit Funding for Wrongful Death Claims
A wrongful death claim can be a long and drawn-out affair. There will be discussions about future earnings, the victim’s history and personality and other details that will be included in the claim. It may take a while for the lawsuit to finally provide the victim’s family the funds they need. Meanwhile, bills are mounting and the family still has to pay for the mortgage, the daily expenses and the children’s education.
The good news is that a family can turn to lawsuit funding to help tide them over and provide for their needs. A family’s needs can’t wait for the lawsuit to settle. And they certainly don’t need the financial worries on top of the grief they are experiencing. The settlement loan can be used to pay off medical bills, funeral expenses and so on.
FastLawsuitMoney.com provides families and individuals with a lawsuit settlement advance during a trying time of their lives. FastLawsuitMoney.com is committed to provide a streamlined applications process. The funding is also non-recourse, meaning you don’t have to pay it back in the event that the lawsuit fails to settle. The applications also require very little legwork and paperwork on your part. Once the application is reviewed and approved, you can expect to receive your funds within the day.
Posted on November 27, 2011 by Fast Lawsuit Team
You are riding on a bus when, crash and boom, your bus gets into an accident and you are injured. Or, take the case of the Colorado man who rode in a car driven by someone who felt like racing, lost control of the car. The passenger suffered from severe injuries to his hand that needed several surgeries.
The thing about being a passenger is that you have very little control over what happens since you don’t hold the steering wheel. However, the results of the accident may be just as serious, just as painful. Injuries incurred by passengers include broken or fractured bones, soft tissue injuries, a broken shoulder, broken ribs, head injuries and so on.
As a passenger, you have the right to demand for compensation for the injuries you have sustained, as well as the emotional trauma and stress that you may suffer.
If the driver at fault is the driver of the vehicle where the passenger is riding, then the passenger can file a claim against that driver and his insurance carrier. If the driver of the other car caused the accident, then the passenger can file a claim against the erring driver and also against is insurance carrier.
The Passenger Accident Claim
What can you claim for?
- Medical expenses. This does not only include your doctor’s professional fees and the bills in the hospital. This includes the cost of medicine, physical therapy, laboratory fees and other fees related to your recovery and treatment. Medical expenses also pertain not just to expenses now but to future medical expenses.
- Related expenses. This includes expenses that arise out of your injury. For instance, if your caregiver needs to take time off from work to tend to you at the hospital, this should be included in your claim. This also includes the need to pay for childcare or housekeeping services, the expenses for traveling to and from your doctor’s clinic or the therapy center, recovery costs for counseling and so on.
- Loss of income. Even if you have filed sick leave for the days you are in the hospital or for the days you are recovering, you are entitled to compensation for loss of income. If, eventually, you lose your job as a result of your injury, this should also be compensated.
- Pain and suffering. Although it is hard to place a price tag on the trauma and pain you will endure due to your injuries, a judge or a jury will try to set a certain amount to compensate you for your suffering.
As you can see, it is important for you to carefully consider how much you stand to receive as fair and just compensation. Do not be attracted to a settlement offer that seems big at the onset. It is highly possible that when you sit down and take a careful look at what the personal injury has caused you, the offer may not actually fully compensate you.
Lawsuit Funding
However, when you do decide to file a lawsuit for your claim, you must have resources backing you up. This is what the other side may be counting on. When you see your medical bills, household expenses and debt piling up, you may be forced to settle for a lesser amount than what the lawsuit is actually worth. And, once you sign off on the claim, you do not have any right to pursue your claim further if you discover that you need additional compensation down the line.
This is where lawsuit funding can be helpful. This allows you more “rope” to continue with your passenger accident lawsuit while still keeping free from financial pressure. This way, you can see your lawsuit through to the end. Or, you can negotiate with the insurance company for the compensation you deserve.
When you apply for a lawsuit settlement advance, you do not need to present your employment or credit records. You will need to present the details of your case to help the lawsuit funding company to evaluate whether you are eligible for funding or not. For some companies like FastLawsuitMoney.com, once your application is approved, you can have your cash in as quickly as 24 hours!
The good thing about lawsuit settlement funding is that it is non-recourse funding, meaning, the funds are only payable if your lawsuit is successful. You don’t have to pay the lawsuit funding company back if your lawsuit fails to settle.
Posted on November 24, 2011 by Fast Lawsuit Team
Accidents involving trucks (including tractor-trailers, delivery trucks, semis, light trucks and large trucks) result in around 3 million accidents every year. The sheer size of the trucks results in a high number of fatalities every year, yielding some 5,000 deaths. This may involve cars being rear ended by trucks that lost their brake, vehicular accidents where the driver failed to see the other vehicle or pedestrians being run over. Other cases involve a truck turning into a driver’s path even if that driver had the right of way, being hit by cargo or tire parts that get detached from the truck or a truck jackknifing or rolling over the other vehicle. Recently, a tragic accident happened in Michigan where a boy was killed when an ice cream truck reversed and the driver was not aware that two boys were still playing at the back of the truck.
Truck accidents happen due to several factors, which include:
- Loss or failure of brakes or wheels
- Driver fatigue or inattention, as most truck drivers travel long distances
- Improper loading or overloading of the truck
- Over speeding
- Tailgating
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
- Steering wheel problems
- Poor truck maintenance
- Driving under difficult conditions (slippery roads, heavy traffic)
- Reckless driving on the truck driver’s part (including driving while texting and disregarding traffic signs)
When truck meets car or pedestrian, the usual result is that the truck usually wins. The weight of the truck (and its cargo) causes the higher impact on the other party during a collision. There is a higher risk of injury or death for the driver and passengers of the other vehicle. The injuries resulting from the truck accident may include soft tissue injuries (i.e. whiplash), bone fractures, damage resulting to the loss of a limb, herniated spinal disks, serious head injuries, head and brain injuries and in worst cases, death.
The impact of a truck accident can create a serious financial burden for the family, not to mention the pain and suffering that is inflicted upon the truck accident victims. The medical expenses can be quite substantial, especially if the accident necessitated surgery. There are also related expenses, such as the need to pay for housekeeping or childcare services, transportation costs of going to and from the hospital and so on. The victim will also have to miss work while getting treated and during the recovery period.
Filing a truck accident lawsuit
When it is clearly the truck driver’s fault, the injured party can file a personal injury lawsuit against the driver and his insurance company. Please note that you may not sue for damages when you are the one who caused the accident.
The lawsuit will demand for compensation that includes:
- Medical and doctor bills
- Recovery and physical therapy costs
- Loss of income and/or loss of job
- Counseling and therapy costs
- Compensation for trauma, pain and suffering
When filing for a truck accident lawsuit (as well as applying for lawsuit funding), be sure to get the following information or documents:
- Police report, including statements of witnesses
- Photographs of the scene of the accident, including photographs of the surrounding scene for reference purposes
- Medical reports (doctor’s report, diagnostic reports such as X-rays, CAT Scan and MRI reports)
- Records of medical and related expenses
The issue is that, often, the truck accident lawsuit can take months or years to get settled. This can make things financially difficult for the injured individual and his family, particularly when they are living from paycheck to paycheck. The medical bills will make a serious dent on the finances of the family. This is where lawsuit settlement funding can help.
Lawsuit funding (or lawsuit loans, as some call it) can provide a victim and his family with a stopgap. The proceeds can ensure that the victim gets the medical care he needs while his family is provided for in terms of food, shelter and other basic needs. One can also use the proceeds from the lawsuit funding to pay for debts.
When you are applying for a lawsuit loan, it is important to work with a reputable lawsuit funding company with a fast turnaround time such as FastLawsuitMoney.com. FastLawsuitMoney.com can do the legwork, evaluate your lawsuit and once you are approved, you can get your cash in as quickly as one day.
Posted on September 7, 2011 by Fast Lawsuit Team
So you were involved in a car accident where someone bumped into your rear fender while he was on the phone. You were jostled a bit but did not feel worse for the wear. He hands you his car insurance information where you claim for damages for your dented bumper. Your doctor prescribed some pain relievers and the pain was gone. And that ends your misadventures with that careless driver – or does it?
Later on, you may discover that your back is hurting something fierce. What you may be suffering from are hidden injuries caused by the car accident.
Soft Tissue Injuries
These are caused by soft tissue injuries in your back, neck and spinal area. Generally, there is some bruising and damage to the tendons, muscles and ligaments of your body. The pain may subside over time or it may continue to cause you suffering and be detrimental to your quality of life or your ability to do your work.
The most common of these injuries is whiplash. This usually results from rear-end collisions and is marked by pains in the neck, shoulder and head, dizziness, stiffness in the neck and burning sensations. Other kinds of soft tissue injuries include tendonitis, bursitis, deep muscle contusions or bruises, overstretched ligaments and joint dislocations.
Soft Tissue Injuries and Car Accident Lawsuits
The problem with soft tissue injuries is that they often go unnoticed and untreated, or, the doctor prescribes some pain killers and once the pain goes away you stop thinking about it.
When it comes to car accidents, it is much easier to detect “hard” injuries – wounds or broken bones. You are able to act accordingly and file a lawsuit to get you compensation for these more obvious injuries. It is also harder to prove soft tissue injuries, as these don’t show in x-rays, CT scans, MRIs and other diagnostic tests usually done after a car accident. These tests usually do not indicate abnormality but that does not necessarily mean that the injury does not exist.
It is important that you remain on the lookout for possible soft tissue injuries following a car accident. Please note that the symptoms may not show immediately – it may take a few days for you to see the symptoms, even for an injury that may prove significant. You will also need to see a medical specialist to ensure that no such injury has occurred.
When filing for a personal injury lawsuit for soft injuries due to a car accident, you can claim for medical costs, as well as financial losses and psychological trauma caused by the soft tissue injury. The claim may include loss of income due to your inability to perform tasks you previously were able to do, as well as how the injury has made a negative impact on your day-to-day living.
When filing for a personal injury lawsuit, you should keep records of the following:
- Police reports and pictures of the car accident and your injuries
- Doctors’ reports and hospital bills, this includes the diagnosis of the injury, as well as the length the treatment is expected to take
- Documentation of how the injury has affected your daily life
- Details of the treatment
Also, you should have gotten medical help immediately after the car accident. That way, the other party cannot assert that the injury was not caused by the car accident but by other incidents unrelated to the accident. It is important to be able to show that the other party is liable for your injuries and loss.
And as you are awaiting the results of the lawsuit and for it to settle, you can consider getting what is called a lawsuit funding or a lawsuit settlement advance.
Lawsuit Funding for Soft Tissue Injury Cases
Lawsuit funding may help in ensuring that you have the necessary funds while you await the settlement of the lawsuit. While you have filed your lawsuit, you may need deeper pockets to fund the lawsuit – the court costs, the cost to hire expert witnesses and other related costs. At the same time, you will have to cover the cost of your treatment and other non-medical expenses (costs of childcare or housekeeping while you are unable to work). This is why applying for litigation funding may be a good idea.
Depending on the state where you filed the claim, there may be considerable lawsuit settlements given, especially to those who suffer from acute pain and will need prolonged medical treatment.
However, due to the challenges posted by filing a car accident lawsuit claiming for soft tissue injury, you must have realistic expectations of getting a lawsuit settlement funding. Remember, lawsuit settlement funding will be based mostly on the merits of the case. It is also helpful to note that laws covering soft tissue injuries may vary from state to state. It is best to consult a lawyer for your best option.