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 […]
Handling Harassment and Lawsuits
Sometimes, you may end up suffering an injury that was the result of someone else’s negligence and the person responsible might start harassing you. It may be a driver who keeps calling you and asking you to accept cash in lieu of not suing them or it may be somebody who threatens you outright about filing a lawsuit. As is the case with any other aspect of a lawsuit, you need to speak with your attorney about these situations.
Don’t Talk
One of the most important things that any Houston personal injury attorney will tell you is that any communication related to your case should be handled through them. The defendant you’re going after may start trying to contact you or try to have their attorney or another representative contact you. Never take these communications. Refuse to say anything, hang up or walk away and contact your attorney right away and let them know what happened.
A personal injury attorney is there to represent your interests. They will do whatever they have to do that falls under the scope of their job to protect those interests. If this means having to deal with a situation where you are being harassed, they will most certainly know what to do to help you through it. Once you engage the services of an attorney, remember that it’s up to you to use them correctly.
Right After the Accident
One of the scariest times to go through after suffering a car accident or an accident with another type of vehicle is the first week or so that follows it. This will be the time when you’re not sure what you should do about it, and when you’re still assessing the damages you suffered. You may even be in the hospital from injuries that you suffered.
If you’re relatively certain from the start that it was negligence that led you to end up in this situation, you should start working with an attorney immediately. You don’t have to deal with the other driver or their insurance company at all if you don’t want to. Your attorney will handle all of this for you and, if you are already sure that you want to file a lawsuit over the matter, there’s no reason to not contact an attorney immediately. The period of time immediately following the accident is the one in which you are most likely to say something that goes against your interests out of anger or other emotions. Let an attorney handle this for you.
Tough Cases
Depending on who caused your accident, you may find yourself being intimidated by somebody’s wealth or power. Neither will impress your accident attorney. No matter how powerful somebody is, they are not above the law and an attorney knows it.
Contact an attorney for any difficult situation you find yourself in. Once you have one, follow their advice to the letter.
Call us for a FREE consultation at 713-771-5453
TxDOT Asks Houston Drivers to Be Attentive
A report in KUHF detailed that the Texas Department of Transportation is asking drivers to pay attention while they’re on the highway. According to the article, TxDOT statistics reveal that more than 180 people were hit while riding bicycles, 44 pedestrians were killed, 450 pedestrians were hit by vehicles in 2011 and 600 accidents occurred in work zones during the course of 2011. The article also features a DPS state trooper revealing an important fact about car crashes.
Crashes vs. Accidents
A state trooper quoted in the article says that the word “accident” doesn’t describe many of the car crashes that occur every day. Accidents, according to the trooper, involve situations where a driver has no control over their vehicle or where something unexpected and unavoidable happened. Crashes, conversely, involve situations where something may well have been done to avoid the entire ordeal.
Crashes frequently occur because of people not paying attention when they’re driving. They may pay attention most of the time, but, when the crash actually happens, they’ll be looking somewhere other than the direction the car is headed or otherwise distracted from what’s going on. This has become a more severe problem because of how much cellphones permeate our culture. People quite often send text massages, emails, answer phone calls without a headset and engage in other dangerous behaviors with their cellular devices when they’re driving.
When something really is an accident, no one is to blame. Many car crashes, however, never have to happen. If someone had been paying attention when they were not or if someone had exercised reasonable caution when they did not, quite a few car crashes would have been close calls and others would have never even been realistic possibilities. Too often, people are simply not paying attention and someone ends up injured, dead or having their property destroyed because of a crash.
Heed the Advice
When you’re on the road, pay attention. If you’re travelling at freeway or highway speeds, you go a long distance in a second. If you look down at your cellular phone for a couple of seconds to read a text, you can end up hurting someone or killing them quite easily. Slow down in construction zones. The workers there are frequently within 100 feet of the roadway and, if you lost control at freeway speeds, you’d be on top of them in less than a second.
If someone injures you because they were driving negligently, speak with an attorney about the matter to see if you have a good reason to sue. The attorney may be able to help you at least get compensated in a monetary sense. Some losses can’t really be compensated, but no one should suffer economic hardship on top of other hardships because of someone else’s negligence.
Call us for a FREE consultation at 713-771-5453
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.
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
Drunk Driving Accidents
Is a Drunk Driver Negligent?
One of the things that sometimes confuses drivers who are debating filing a lawsuit is whether or not they can sue someone who has been convicted of a crime. You can, in fact. It’s possible to be a convicted drunk driver and to still be sued for negligence. A personal injury attorney can help you to determine whether or not this is an option for you.
Suing for Damages In a Drunk Driving Accident
When you sue someone in a personal injury claim, your first concern should be getting the money back that the injury caused you. This will involve your attorney determining how much you can realistically ask for. Your lost wages, property damage, medical expenses and other expenses are all calculated into this equation. The thing to remember is that, even though the drunk driver may be facing jail for what they did, that doesn’t really do anything to help you recover from the financial damages that they did to you.
Pain and suffering will usually be added to these claims. This is calculated to compensate the victim for what they’ve been put through as a result of the wreck on a personal level. Presumably, whatever suffering the victim endured may have not even happened if the driver that struck them hadn’t been negligent. Your injury attorney will help you to determine how much to seek for pain and suffering that resulted from the drunk driving accident.
What About Negligence?
Negligence has to do with taking reasonable care to preserve the safety of others. When you’re on the road, being drunk behind the wheel is most certainly negligent. Other drivers on the road should be able to expect that everyone else adheres to the law and that they do not willingly and unnecessarily endanger other drivers by doing things such as driving drunk. When drivers do end up taking to the road under the influence and hurt someone, they may be held liable for negligence, in some cases.
Getting Started
Even if the driver that injured you is already in jail, you should speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer about your options. There may be more options for you than you’d imagined. In the case of some claims, the other driver will actually offer to settle because they want to avoid court costs and because they’re convinced that they’re going to lose the claim, anyway.
Your personal injury attorney may be able to get started on your case right away or they may need some time to review it to determine whether or not you have a good justification for filing a lawsuit. If they believe that you do have reason to file a lawsuit, you’ll want to make the decision without delay. There are limitations on how long after the fact that you can actually seek compensation.
For a FREE case review, call Houston Personal Injury Lawyer, Blaine A. (Bat) Tucker at 713-771-5453
Understanding Unsolicited Settlement Offers
People who get into car wrecks with commercial firms sometimes find themselves on the receiving end of what seems like a generous check. This is because the commercial firm is protecting itself, not because they’re filled with regret and concern about your situation. Understanding settlement offers should make it apparent why you need to talk to a personal injury lawyer in these cases.
What Is a Settlement?
The word “settle”, in the legal sense, has several meanings. Basically, a settlement means that you put a conflict to rest permanently. This can be done in various ways, but, where lawsuits are concerned, it’s usually done out of court. This makes clear a few things about taking a settlement offer from a commercial trucking or driving firm or from anyone else, for that matter:
- You’re entering into a legally-binding arrangement
- You’re likely giving up the right to sue
- You’re signing a legal document without an attorney to advise you
The settlements that these firms hand out are not designed to make your life easier. The people that figured out how much to offer work for the commercial firm, not for you. They’ll try to figure out how much they have to pay you to get you to go away and not make any legal trouble for them over the incident in the future. There are ways that settlements can work, however.
Making a Settlement Work
Rather than taking whatever check that a trucking company or other commercial firm hands you and heading off to the bank, speak to a personal injury attorney. They’ll be able to advise you on the matter. If they think that the settlement is all you’re going to get from the case, they’ll just advise you to take it and be grateful. If they don’t, however, and if they feel that the trucking company is just trying to buy you off, then they may advise you to go ahead and sue or to negotiate the settlement further.
Negotiating a Settlement
If you negotiate a settlement, you’re likely to get more. A injury attorney might be able to negotiate more than enough to pay for their fees and still allow you to go home with a bigger check. Consider the advantages that an attorney has in these situations:
- They know the legal risks to the person offering the check
- They know how much similar cases pay out
- They know how much court fees would be, giving them leverage with the party offering
- They know how much other people in your situation end up paying in expenses related to the injury
Talk to a personal injury attorney if you’re offered a check. They may feel that the company offering you the check is being generous and tell you to take it or they may want you a client, if they feel that you’re being treated unfairly by the company in question. Either way, at least you’ll know whether or not the settlement is a good one and whether it’s worth taking it or not or if you should file a lawsuit, instead.
If you are in doubt, or need a FREE case review, contact Houston Personal Injury Lawyer, Blaine A. (Bat) Tucker at 713-771-5453
What Can a Personal Injury Attorney Do To Help Your Case?
If you’re involved in a very bad car wreck, there are likely some things that you have in common with other people who have been in wrecks. First, there’s a good chance that you remember sensations, being afraid, noise and the other chaos associated with car wrecks, but your recollection of specific details is probably not that clear. Second, you probably remember the terror more than anything else. So, what can a personal injury attorney do for you if you end up in a car wreck and aren’t even sure what happened beyond believing that it wasn’t your fault? The answer is: a lot.
Reconstructions and Experts Assist a Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury lawyers deal with people who have been traumatized by accidents all the time. Just as your emotional and mnemonic conditions following the accident likely took predictable forms, your car probably behaved in a predictable way during the accident, as well. After all, our brains may react with utter chaos when we see someone careening at us in the other lane or flying toward us at an intersection, but our vehicles are bound by the laws of physics.
Car Accident attorneys can reconstruct accidents. Using the accumulated knowledge of how cars behave in accidents, what you know, the condition of the cars and the site of the wreck after the fact and other data, along with the help of experts, they can reconstruct what happened and find out whether or not negligence was an issue. For drivers, this can mean a lot of things, aside from a chance to win compensation. It can mean:
- Knowing for sure that it wasn’t your fault
- Knowing that there was nothing you could have done to have prevented it
- Having the confidence that the other driver was negligent
How Does this Help My Injury Case?
Personal Injury Attorneys can help you to fill in the blanks where your memory isn’t clear. More importantly, however, they can present empirical evidence to a jury that demonstrates the circumstances of your wreck and how it was an unavoidable consequence of the other driver’s negligent behavior. When this is established, the jury awards can be very large. One motorcyclist in California won over $800,000 after his attorney explained to the jury how the accident was not at all his fault and how the other driver was negligent.
Trust Your Personal Injury Attorney
There are some situations where you have to have someone with expertise help you through reconstructing what happened to you. Your attorney will do everything they can to determine what happened during your wreck and whether or not it was your fault. They don’t do this to just win money; they do it to get at the facts of what happened. If the facts are that negligence on the part of the other driver caused you injury-financial, physical, emotional or otherwise – they may be able to argue for you in court and win you compensation that could pay for your injuries, your medical expenses and your lost wages. Trust your attorney and you may be surprised what they can find out!
For trusted advice, contact Texas Personal Injury Lawyer, Blaine A. (Bat) Tucker at 713-773-5453
When You Have A Car Accident: Don’t Speak Too Soon
Did you know that human memory is not reliable at all? Most people feel that they can remember very minute details, particularly of major events, but this usually proves not to be the case when it’s put to the test. For people who have been in an accident, this can become a real problem.
Your Settlement Compensation is On The Line
If you’re involved in a car wreck, there are going to be all kinds of people who are going to want you to recall that wreck in the way most advantageous to them. The other driver will want you to forget their negligence and the part it played in your wreck. Your insurance company will want you to remember some minute detail that lets them off of the hook. The only person you can trust in these situations, as far as not trying to get you to say something against your own interests is concerned, is your own personal injury attorney.
How A Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
First, you can tell your attorney anything and they’re not going to show up in court and explain how it makes your claim invalid, even if you misspoke. Your attorney is there to represent your interests and your interests alone. This means that they’re not looking to harm your case when they ask you questions. Tell them anything; they’re there to help you.
Second, they have experts that they can contact and they tend to have a great deal of expertise on their own. This means that they’ve probably seen whatever type of accident you’ve been in before and they’re going to know how anyone responsible for paying you compensation is going to try to get out of it. This means that they’re wary for the same old schemes and that they can keep you safe from falling prey to them.
Third, they know the tricks that the defendants will try use on you. For instance, if you have a very strong case, there’s a good chance that the defendant’s counsel will recommend that they settle to avoid court costs. Sometimes, they’ll approach you directly with what seems like a generous offer and try to get you to go for it without going through your attorney. Don’t do this. If it’s a generous offer and it’s worth it, your attorney isn’t going to try to get you to go to court, instead, just for the sake of going to court. Always talk to your auto accident attorney.
Let your personal injury attorney do the talking for you. The last thing you want to do is be on your own when you should be paid compensation for someone else’s negligence. Your attorney will take care of all of the negotiating and other aspects involved with taking a legal action against someone and will see to it that you’re involved from the start. Like your doctor, however, your attorney has the advantage of being emotionally calm, which allows them to think clearly, intelligently and strategically in ways that put you at the advantage and that represent your interests.
If you have been involved in a car accident, contact the Law Offices of Blaine A. (Bat) Tucker, a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer for a FREE case review
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