Monthly Archives

September 2010

Personal Injury
September 29, 2010

Are Personal Injury Settlements Taxable?

Personal injury cases can encompass a variety of injuries. Most of those injuries start with a physical injury such as a back injury from a car accident. Some personal injuries, however, can exist without a predicate physical injury. Take for example emotional distress. While emotional distress can be included as a non-economic damage in a personal injury case where there…
Personal Injury
September 29, 2010

Who Are the People on The Jury That Decide A Personal Injury Case If It Goes To Trial?

Many personal injury accident cases are settled through negotiations between the plaintiff and defendant long before an actual lawsuit is even prepared. There are times, however, when a personal injury accident case simply cannot be resolved through negotiations and therefore a trial becomes inevitable. When a personal injury accident goes to trial, the outcome is in the hands of 12…
Personal Injury
September 28, 2010

Understanding Negligence in Personal Injury Lawsuits

Most people have heard the term “negligence” before. The most basic definition for the term negligence is “fault” or “blame”. While these explanations are adequate for a simple and quick explanation, negligence is actually much more complicated and complex. Negligence is the basis of the majority of tort claims in the United States. A tort claim is a claim for…
Attorney-Lawyer
September 27, 2010

Government Entity Defendants and The Statute of Limitations in Personal Injury Accident Lawsuits

Personal injury accidents encompass much more than car accidents. Anytime a person is injured through the negligence of another person, or entity, they may be the victim of a personal injury accident. While car accidents are generally what people think about when they hear the term “persona injury accident”, there are an infinite number of scenarios that could become personal…
Personal Injury
September 23, 2010

Why Are Personal Injury Accident Settlements Usually Larger When an Attorney Is Involved?

A plaintiff in a personal injury accident case is certainly entitled to represent herself in her quest for compensation for her injuries. There is no law or rule that requires victims to hire counsel to represent them in a personal injury accident. For very minor accidents where the plaintiff received little or no injury, an attorney may truly not be…
Personal Injury
September 22, 2010

Should I Accept a Settlement in My Personal Injury Accident When Jury Awards Seem So High?

At some point or another you have undoubtedly heard about an astronomically high jury award for a personal injury case. Maybe it was the McDonald’s hot coffee case where the jury initially awarded the plaintiff $160,000 in actual damages and $2.7 million in punitive damages (the award was later reduced and the parties eventually came to a secret settlement amount…
Personal Injury
September 20, 2010

The Significance of Medical Liens in A Personal Injury Case

Frequently, when someone is injured in an accident, their injuries require medical attention. Sometimes the victim just requires and immediate evaluation while other times they require extensive and long-term medical treatment. If the victim has medical insurance then the issue of who will pay the bills-at least initially- is simple. If the victim is uninsured-as is the situation for millions…
Personal Injury
September 19, 2010

What Is the Burden of Proof In a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

The vast majority of personal injury lawsuits are settled without the need to go to trial. Most personal injury lawsuits are relatively straight forward with negligence clear and damages easily assessed. Additionally, the cost for an insurance company to take a case to trial can easily exceed the amount of monetary damages that the plaintiff was willing to settle for…