Do I Have a Case?
Whether you have a legal claim for compensation depends upon a large number of facts and circumstances that are determined by the law that governs the particular forms of conduct involved in your case. Examples of conduct that are governed by law include driving motor vehicles, employing others to perform work, providing medical care and treatment, or manufacturing products. In each instance, the law requires individuals and corporations to be accountable for their conduct.
Accountability is one of the basic principles upon which the American civil justice system is founded. Under American law, both individuals and corporations are held accountable for their conduct. When the conduct of an individual or corporation injures another person, and the injured person can prove to a jury that the injury was caused by the negligent conduct of an individual or corporation, then the law holds the negligent person or corporation to be liable, or responsible, for the injuries and damages caused by that negligent conduct.
Under the American civil justice system, accountability is determined by a jury following a trial in a court of law. The jury listens to the evidence presented by the injured party – the Plaintiff – and the individual or corporation whose conduct is claimed to be negligent – the Defendant – and the jury determines who is responsible for the injury or death in that case.
The outcome in any personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit depends upon how the jury decides the facts under the definitions of negligence and reasonable care. “Negligence” is usually defined in jury trials as follows:
“Negligence” is the doing of some act which a reasonably prudent person would not do, or the failure to do something which a reasonably prudent person would do, when prompted by considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs. It is, in other words, the failure to use ordinary care under the circumstances in the management of one's person or property.
“Ordinary care,” in turn, is usually defined in jury trials as follows:
"Ordinary care" is that care which reasonably prudent persons exercise in the management of their own affairs, in order to avoid injury to themselves or their property, or the persons or property of others.
In every American trial involving personal injury or wrongful death, the jury decides whether the Defendant was negligent and, if so the amount of damages the Defendant must pay to the Plaintiff in order to fully and fairly compensate for the injuries and damages caused by the negligent conduct. In this way, the American civil justice system strives to hold individual and corporations accountable for their conduct.
The hallmark of our American Constitution is that all individuals and corporations are equal under the law. The U.S. Constitution demands nothing less, and nothing more; that individuals and corporations be held accountable for their wrongful conduct.
Whether you have a case that is compensable depends upon the facts and circumstances of your situation in light of the type of law that applies to your situation. If you or a family member has been injured, or if you have a family member who has died, as the result of the negligence of another person or corporation, you should consult with an experienced personal injury attorney without delay. Knowing your rights is the key to protecting your rights.
The Bremseth Law Firm has successfully represented many individuals who have been injured or lost a family member as the result of the negligence of others.
Personal Injury and Wrongful Death in General
If a person has suffered an injury or death due to the negligence of another person or corporation, that person or that person’s survivors may have a claim for compensation. The most common types of personal injury and wrongful death claims include motor vehicle collisions, workplace injuries, medical negligence, and product liability. If death results, then the decedent’s survivors may have wrongful death claims.
In all of these situations, the law allows the injured person or his or her survivors to bring a legal claim to recover for the losses that were caused by the negligence of another person or corporation. Generally, the law typically allows for recovery for economic losses such as lost wages as well as medical expenses, and general damages for pain and suffering. In appropriate circumstances, there may be claims for punitive damages.
Each type of case has specific legal requirements that must be met in order to recover, and all injury and wrongful death claims have time limitations – known as “statutes of limitation” – that require a lawsuit to be started within a specific time period or the lawsuit will be dismissed without any recovery. If you or a family member has been injured, or if you have lost a family member caused by the negligence of another person or corporation, an experienced personal injury attorney should be consulted without delay. Knowing your rights is the key to protecting your rights.
The Bremseth Law Firm has successfully represented many individuals in a wide variety of personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries and Death
National statistics show that a motor vehicle collision occurs every few seconds. Each year millions of people are injured on our nation’s highways. If a person is injured because of another driver’s negligence, the injured person may have a claim. Negligence in this setting usually involves failing to keep a proper look out, failing to obey traffic lights, stop signs, or other traffic signals, failing to keep a vehicle under control, speeding, failing to yield the right of way, and other negligent conduct. If a person is injured or killed due to the negligence of another driver, they have the right to bring a claim for damages.
Generally, automobile collision injuries and deaths are governed by the laws of the state in which the collision occurs. But determining which state’s laws govern can become complicated when the collision that occurs in one involves drivers and passengers who reside one or more different states. In some instances, the law governing an automobile collision may even be controlled by “choice of law” provisions in insurance policies.
Determining which state’s law governs a particular motor vehicle collision is critically important, because the law in regard to the type, and even the amount, of damages vary from state to state. The statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit arising out of a motor vehicle collision injuries and deaths also varies from state to state; some states require that a lawsuit arising out of a motor vehicle collision must be filed within a year of the collision. Other states allow longer periods of time, some up to as long as six years. Failure to start a lawsuit within the appropriate limitations period that applies to the collision will result in dismissal of the lawsuit without recovery of any compensation.
If you or a family member has suffered an injury as the result of a motor vehicle collision, or if you have lost a family member who died as the result of a motor vehicle collision, you may have a right to recover compensation. In either instance, you should consult an attorney with experience in handing injuries and deaths caused by motor vehicle collisions without delay. Knowing your rights is the key to protecting your rights.
The Bremseth Law Firm has successfully represented many individuals who have been injured or lost a family member as the result of a motor vehicle collision.
Railroad Injuries and Deaths
If you have been injured on the job during your employment with an interstate railroad, or if you have a railroad-related illness or condition, you may have rights under a special federal law called the Federal Employers Liability Act, commonly referred to as FELA. The FELA is the sole method for an injured railroad employee to recover compensation for all injuries, losses and damages caused by any negligence of the railroad corporation; railroad employees are not covered under state workers’ compensation laws, which provide compensation to injured workers in other industries.
This is a unique Federal law, and all interstate railroad employees across the country are covered under the FELA. The FELA is a negligence-based law, which requires the railroad to provide safe equipment, tools, work practices and sufficient manpower for its employees to perform their work safely.
This means that if the railroad was negligent – in other words the railroad failed to provide a safe work place, provide properly maintained tools or equipment, provide safe work practices, and/or failed to provide a safe number of workers – and you are injured, you may have a case for compensation under the FELA. But in order to recover compensation, an employee must show that the railroad’s negligence was a cause, at least in part, of the injury.
Similarly, the survivors of a railroad employee who is killed on the job, or dies as the result of railroad work-related injuries or diseases, may also have a wrongful death claim under the FELA. Just as in FELA injury cases, survivors must show that the railroad’s negligence was a cause, at least in part, in order for the survivors to recover compensation.
The FELA allows an injured employee to recover all losses caused by the negligence of the railroad, including: all lost wages and loss of future earning capacity, all past and future medical expenses, and money damages for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of living. In the case of death, the FELA allows the railroad employee’s estate to recover these damages. On the job injuries may be caused by a specific event, or be the result of cumulative trauma, exposures over time, or other occupational illnesses. The FELA allows for a jury trial, and the jury determines the amount of the award for full and fair damages.
The FELA has a three-year statute of limitations. This means that an injured employee, or the estate of a railroad employee killed on the job, must start a lawsuit within three years of the injury or death, or else the lawsuit will be dismissed without any recovery of compensation. In some cases, it is fairly easy to determine when an employee’s the three year period begins. For example, if the employee suffers a one-time trauma on a specific date, this will usually start the three year period.
In other situations, however, such as gradual hearing loss, cumulative trauma injuries, whole body vibration injuries, or slow developing illnesses such as cancer, brain damage, lung disease, or asbestos related illnesses, which can be cause by long-term on-the-job exposure to harmful chemicals or substances, determining when the three-year period begins is much more complicated. In these types of cases, the three-year statute of limitations begins from the time the symptoms of the injury or illness first became known to the employee, and when the employee knew or should have known the injury or illness was caused by the employee’s railroad job.
If you or a family member has suffered a railroad-related injury or illness, or if you have lost a family member while he or she was working for a railroad or died as the result of a railroad-related exposure, you may have a right to recover damages under the FELA. The FELA is a highly specialized area of the law, and you should consult an attorney experienced in FELA law without delay. Knowing your rights is the key to protecting your rights.
The Bremseth Law Firm has successfully represented many individuals in a wide variety of railroad injury and wrongful death cases under the FELA.
Medical Malpractice (Negligence) Injuries and Death
National statistics should that some 72,000 persons die every year from medical mistakes made in hospitals and clinics. Even more are injured every year from medical misstates made in hospitals and clinics. Most of these deaths and injuries would not occur if professional medical standards and procedures had been followed.
Like other types of the law governing personal injury and death cases, the law requires hospitals, clinics, doctors and other health care providers to meet certain standards of professional medical care. If a person is injured or dies because a hospital, clinic, doctor or other health care provider failed to follow the appropriate professional medical standard and/or procedure, such a person, or that person’s survivors, may have claims for medical malpractice based on negligence.
Medical malpractice (negligence) claims are governed by the state in which the injury or death occurs. While all states generally allow recovery of medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering, some states have “caps” that limit the amount of some types of damages. Some states allow punitive damages without limit; other states regulate the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded.
Not every injury or death that occurs in a medical setting is caused by negligence. In recognition of that fact, most states require expert medical testimony in order to prove that the failure to follow professional medical standards or procedures caused an injury or death.
Because medical negligence lawsuits are governed by the state in which the injury or death occurs, the statute of limitations that applies to a particular case varies from state to state. Some states have a statute of limitations that range from as short as one year to as long as four years. You must start a medical malpractice lawsuit within the applicable limitations period, or the lawsuit will be dismissed without any recover of compensation.
Medical negligence cases are often very technical and can be very challenging to prove. If you or a family member has been injured, or a member of your family has died, because a hospital, clinic, doctor or other healthcare provider negligently failed to follow the appropriate professional medical standards or procedures, you should consult with an experienced attorney in medical negligence law without delay. Knowing your rights is the key to protecting your rights.
The Bremseth Law Firm has successfully represented many individuals who have been injured or who have lost a family member as the result of medical negligence.
Injuries and Death from Products
Corporations that manufacture drugs, medical devices, motor vehicles, and even household appliances are all held to standards of designing and manufacturing products that are not defective or unreasonably dangerous. If a person is injured or killed by a product, and such an injury or death was caused by a corporation’s failure to adhere to the appropriate design or production for a particular product, that corporation may be held responsible for the resulting injury or death. This is what is known as “products liability” law.
These types of cases can be brought on the basis of one or more different legal theories: negligence, breach of warranty, or strict liability. Defective products can be caused by a design defect, a manufacturing defect, or other causes. These cases often involve consumer protection issues. Users and consumers of products generally expect the products they purchase and use will be free from hidden dangers and are safe to use. When injuries occur due to product defects, manufacturers can be held accountable for the consequences and injuries.
Generally, claims for products liability injuries or deaths are governed by the law of the state in which the injury or death occurs, but there can be exceptions. Some state laws look to the law of the state where the product was designed and/or produced. Still other products may be governed by Federal law. All states have statutes of limitations that require that a products liability lawsuit must start within a certain period of time, or the lawsuit will be dismissed without any compensation. The length of these limitation periods vary greatly from state to state. If you or a family member has been injured by an unsafe product, or if you have lost a family member due to an unsafe product, you should consult an attorney who is experienced in products liability law without delay. Knowing your rights is the key to protecting your rights.
The Bremseth Law Firm has successfully represented many individuals who have been injured or who have lost a family member as the result of a defective product.
