http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29734380/jury-awards-14-9-million-oakland-crash-victim

If you read about this woman’s tragic case you’ll know that she suffered horrific injuries: a broken spine and several ribs with permanent partial paralysis and a brain injury just to mention the highlights.

No body wants this sort of case.  Yes, there’s a massive $15 million dollar verdict, but would you trade places with this woman to get $15 million?  I doubt it.

There’s a great saying in this business.  “It’s better to have your health than a good case.”  That couldn’t possibly be truer.  In order for your case to have massive value, you must suffer massive injuries.  Period.  There’s no two ways about it.  You can’t get a hang nail and get $1 million.  You show me a horrific injury that no amount of money can cure, and maybe I can show you a $1 million award or settlement.  Maybe.

Trust me.  You don’t want a high value case.  If you have one, I’m sorry.  I truly am.  I wouldn’t wish this sort of injury on anyone.  But if you do have a catastrophic injury, especially from an auto accident or trucking accident in NC,  then you almost certainly need an attorney, so please call now.

When people are involved in auto accidents, especially when it wasn’t their fault, they are primarily concerned with their health – as they should be.  But sometimes, right behind that concern (sometimes ahead of it!) is what the heck they’re supposed to do for transportation in the meantime.  The assumption is that the at-fault insurance company will always pay for and arrange their rental car.

“Don’t they have to give me a rental car?”

Well, when you ask the question that way, the answer is – surprisingly – “No.”

Here’s the skinny.  The at-fault carrier is on the hook for what their insured caused their victim to sustain in terms of foreseeable damages.  In our society, the cost of transportation is a foreseeable damage for certain, so yes, they are technically on the hook for that.

But no where in the law does it state that they have to go out and arrange a rental car for you and pay for it up front!  No where!

So, what you could be stuck with is having to go and get a rental car on your own, sucking up the costs, and then asking for them to pay you back later.  They will probably be on the hook for that, so you will likely get your money back.  Remember, you do have a duty to mitigate your damages, meaning you can’t make your damages greater when it’s not necessary, so no Lambos, OK!?

The reality, though, is that most insurance companies anticipate paying you something for rental costs, and because of their better bargaining power from their volume of rentals, they can get a better rate and save themselves a few bucks.  So, despite them not really having to, they often will pay for an arrange your rental up front.  That’s not because they’re nice, it’s in their self-interests.

But the real issue is your health!  Take care of that and make sure you don’t neglect your bodily injury claim while you’re worrying about your car.  Call me for help!  919-929-2992.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/port-of-bellingham-ordered-to-pay-16m-to-injured-ferry-worker/

Dang.  That’s a big ‘un.

Short version: Loading ramp falls on worker from Alaska ferry, worker suffers catastrophic injuries.  Turns out the Port where she was unloading a ferry knew of the dangers of this ramp as there had been a similar, yet not as horrific, accident a few years prior.  Interestingly, a report on the previous incident was commissioned, and the report states, “We point out that the result of this incident could have been much worse,” essentially predicting this subsequent incident.

That little bit of prophecy turned out to be all too accurate, and damning.  Because this report existed it was obvious that the Port knew of the danger and failed to act to remedy it.  This evidence is what allowed for the massive liability verdict.

The moral of this story is that notice is a big deal in premises liability cases.  When you can prove that someone had notice of a dangerous condition and failed to act it can be very powerful.  The difficulty in most cases is proving this notice.  To my knowledge, Food Lion has never commissioned a study on why their floors are always so slick.  Oh, but I wish they did.

Good luck out there, law fans.

http://nbc4i.com/2016/03/25/a-speeding-ticket-for-going-1mph-over-not-likely-in-nc/

I knew the second this stuff started going viral that it was complete nonsense.  This is the danger of living in the social media age.

NC is now a laughing stock across the nation for our ridiculous trans-bashing, moronic legislature.  It was very easy to believe we’d come up with some asinine Fascist speeding ticket policy, too.  So I am not surprised that this got traction with so many people.

But there are many, many reasons that law enforcement officers don’t write tickets for minimal amounts over the limit. I won’t bore you with the details, because most people don’t care, but suffice it to say that it’s just not really worth the effort most of the time.  And I mean it’s really not worth the effort, so for that and other reasons it was very unlikely to be something that was going to be a new blanket policy.

The whole point in the announcement of the new “policy” for lack of a better term is just to remind people that there is a limit there for a reason, and we should respect and obey those limits.  That has and always will be true.

Of course, if this had been a real thing, it might have been a huge windfall for those of us that handle traffic tickets.  Alas.

Still, I’m glad it’s not the case.  So go ahead and set your cruise control for 9 over the limit and rest assured that you are probably just as safe as you ever were from the po-po.

Now go get a ticket and call me!

http://annaleahmary.com/

Tractor trailers have to be equipped with underguards to help prevent vehicles from going underneath the trailers, which often results in tragedy.

Sadly, the current generation of underguards doesn’t always work.

The link above is dedicated to a girl who was killed because these guards need improvement.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to worry about dying every time we drive?

I was recently asked why, when attempting to settle a wrongful death claim in North Carolina, we would have to have the court approve the settlement before finalizing the matter.

The answer was easy:  That’s what the statute says we have to do.

But why does the statute say that?  The most compelling answer I can give is for transparency.  Anytime the court seeks to approve a settlement the motivation is to make it all as clear and above-board as possible.  This is most often seen in the settlement of cases for minors.  The law does not require court approval for minor settlements, but plaintiff and defendant attorneys generally see the benefit in doing so.

In the case of injuries to minors, especially when there is significant money involved, it makes sense to have the court give it a stamp of approval.  All sides want to make sure that the matter is finalized, and plaintiffs’ attorneys at least want to make sure that the settlement is deemed fair and reasonable by a court.

In wrongful death cases, it’s more about the potentially affected parties than anything else.  In death cases there might be heirs or others that were in some way harmed by this death as well, and the court approval gives them two things: It gives them a chance to speak up, and if it’s after the fact it gives them a chance to appeal to Superior Court to seek redress.

Court approval is just about transparency.  It only makes sense to make sure everyone knows how a case is resolved so no one is left in ignorance.

Most of the time I don’t handle property damages claims for clients.  They really generally don’t need an attorney for this and with the right poking and prodding (which I can easily tell them to do) things get taken care of by the at-fault carrier.  Most of the time.

But sometimes the at-fault insurance company doesn’t get to the property damage in a timely fashion.  This can be because of a liability investigation, which can be made more complicated by complicated facts or hesitant witnesses/parties.  Or it could also be just because the insurance company just sucks.  Or any other reason.  Regardless of the reason, the effect can be very disruptive for clients.  In North Carolina most of us don’t live in metropolitan areas where public transportation is convenient and affordable.  Getting to and from work, getting the kids to and from school, not to mention daily shopping , etc. are all almost impossible without a car in our area.

So what do you do when you’ve been in an accident that wasn’t your fault but the other side isn’t moving quickly enough to get your car fixed?

If you have collision coverage on your auto policy, that’s your answer.  Many people think that they can’t or should use their own policy when the accident wasn’t their fault.  That’s incorrect.  You can.  There’s no rule against it.  And there’s no penalty.  When you make a claim, as long as it didn’t arise from your own negligence, you can’t be assessed insurance points to raise your rates.  Sometimes you may have to eat your deductible, but as long as you have a good liability case there’s a great chance you’ll get that back from the at-fault company sooner or later; sometimes your own company won’t even make you pay it as they know they’ll get it back from the bad guys most of the time, too.  Moreover, you’ve been paying extra for collision coverage this whole time, so why not use the thing you’ve already paid for!?  It will make your life so much easier because more often than not your own company will treat you better than the at-fault company, who happens to owe you no duty whatsoever.

Accident claims are tricky and you can generate a lot of questions.  Call an attorney if you need help.  Call me. 919-929-2992.

BEWARE! I’ve seen a TON of these recently, so we know that Durham County is making a point of issuing as many Work Zone speeding tickets as they can.

How can you protect yourself?

First, don’t drive over the speed limit.  That’s technically a crime!  You might get a ticket!

Second, if you pass by a sign that reads, “Work Zone,” then definitely don’t drive over the speed limit.  That is also a crime, but it carries a big ole fine on top of it.  Very, very naughty!

Third, if you don’t follow rules 1 and 2, and you get popped, then call me!  There’s a good chance I can help.

The good news about Work Zone tickets is that the 9 over waiver still works, which means that if your record is clean within three years of this ticket and you get this new one reduced to a 9 over, you won’t get insurance points for this ticket. You’ll still have the big fine, but that’s better than paying extra insurance rates for three years.  Even better is that often times we can get it removed from the Work Zone AND reduced, so that not only can I save your insurance premium, but I can keep your fine down as well.  With particularly pristine records, sometimes I can get even better outcomes.  But nothing is guaranteed in this business!

Call me at 919-929-2992 if you get this kind of ticket, or any other one for that matter. Remember I handle tickets in Orange, Chatham, Durham, Wake, and Alamance Counties.  I hope you don’t need me, but if you do call me!

http://www.personalinjury.com/news/225m-settlement-reached-after-minnesota-truck-accident

This is a Minnesota case, so the jurisdiction is different, but the lesson is relevant.

A man was driving to work when he was recklessly and needless killed due to no fault of his own by a truck driver who just wasn’t paying attention and ran a stop sign.

This can happen anytime, anywhere, to any of us.  Hug your kids and your spouse and be on the lookout out there.

Adjusters.  What are we going to do with them?

The first thing you should know about adjusters is that they work for the insurance company, which means their job is to try to save their employer money.  As long as you approach every interaction with them with this knowledge in mind, you might be OK.

So let’s consider the question at hand: Should you give a statement to the adjuster after an auto accident?

My answer is a definitive “probably not.”  But allow me to go into more detail…

Generally speaking, giving a statement to the adjuster can be dangerous (remember the first thing above!).  Adjusters are trained to get you to say things in certain ways that harm your claim, so talking with them is perilous.  It is particularly perilous with regards to negligence (especially automobile accident) claims in NC since we still have contributory negligence; if they can trick you into saying something that shows you contributed to the cause of your accident, you can sink your own case very quickly.  Even if you get by that pitfall, you may do things to harm the value of your claim.  For example:

Adjuster: How are you?

Victim: I’m fine, how about you?

ALARM!  You’re not f’ing fine!  You were just in a car accident!  You are in a cervical collar and jacked up on Vicodin and Percocet!  BUT we fall into conversational patterns and say stuff that they’ll use against you later:  SMARMY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IN COURT: “…then why did you say to the adjuster, ‘I’m fine,’ the day after the accident, hmmmmm?”

Sometimes, though, the adjuster, for whatever reason, is reliant on your story and your story alone to determine if they’ll move forward with the claim.  In the auto accident context, this can mean getting your property damage claim moving, which can be an immediate and costly concern to people.  So then you are put between a rock and a hard place.  So what do you do if you really just want to get the claim moving?

First, you should probably speak to a lawyer.  If there are concerns about liability (are you partially at fault?) in your case, speaking to the adjuster may do more harm than good.

Second, after you consider your particular facts and IF you decide you REALLY want to just move forward with the statement (sigh) then follow these guidelines:

• Ask why the statement is necessary.  Ask him to help you explore ways to help him meet his goals to reach a liability decision without pinning you down on a recording like a criminal defendant. If you ask nicely it might work.
• Watch the small talk.  Just because he’s asking you about the football game doesn’t mean he’s your friend.  He’s taking notes on everything you say, and you can do lots of damage when you’re not thinking.  So avoid the small talk and cut to the chase.
• In NC, as long as one party is aware of the recording of a conversation, it’s OK.  But still, if you ask for the statement not to be recorded, they might agree, which might help you save yourself from dumb things you say.
• Keep it simple.  People, sadly, are normally pretty bad at this.  No more details than necessary.  “I was at the stop light and she hit me from behind.”  That’s a good example.  Don’t elaborate.
• Don’t talk about your injuries or treatment.  If you are injured, tell them you are injured and that’s all you’re telling them.  You will discuss injuries and treatment AFTER you’re done recovering.

Really, if you can avoid the statement, that’s the best thing.  But I know it’s hard to get your way every time.  The best thing you can do for your claim is speak to an attorney.  I know one that can help!  919-929-2992.