Everyone knows that they want to get their medical bills paid for after an auto accident or after sustaining some other injury that wasn’t their fault.

Almost as many people know that they might deserve something for “pain and suffering.”

Others might realize that they may have a right to recover lost wages from the at-fault party.  But remember that as always, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, so you, as the victim, have to prove your lost wages.  So how do you do that?

The first step is justifying your absence from work.  Do you have a doctor’s note for the time period?  That’s best.  The law doesn’t require one exactly but if you’re arguing to a jury, it would be helpful to show that you missing work was due to more than you just not feeling like going.  Don’t get me wrong, not feeling like going can be a legitimate reason; who would feel like going to work after breaking a leg? Why would you need a note?  But in these situations, more is better, so if you can get a doctor’s note, that’s best.

Next we have to show what that loss was exactly.  Most of the time I ask clients to have their employers provide a note indicating BOTH a) how much time was lost, AND b) what that time was worth. 

**If any HR folks or Managers or Bosses are reading this, please, for the love of all things holy, provide lost wage letters with BOTH of those bits of info.  Having one without the other is absolutely #$%^&*&^%$%^ useless to your employee.  Please.**

For example, if you missed 10 hours and make $10/hour, you’ll want the letter to state those two things. Anyone can do the math once those variables are provided, so it doesn’t have to complete the equation.  But it darn well better have BOTH of those variables.

Short of that documentation, you can still get lost wages.  If you provide tax info, pay stubs, and a doctor’s note (or maybe no note in the case of short time periods) then we still might be able to extrapolate the value of the loss.  But once again, more is better, so don’t count on this method if you don’t have to.

What if you didn’t actually lose money, but spent vacation, sick leave, etc.?  Well, that’s still a loss, so you should still be able to recover the value. You’ll still need some documentation, but the fact that you had sick leave shouldn’t be a bar to recovery.

When you’re self-employed this whole process is more difficult because there is no independent third party to provide documentation.  You might be able to do the tax/pay stub method, but sometimes this doesn’t work quite as well for the self-employed.  Impossible?  No.  But this complicates things a bit and may need some expert assistance.

Sometimes insurance companies will automatically deduct about 1/3 of the lost wage number on the premise that you would have paid taxes on that money if you’d gotten it, so they don’t have to pay you any more than you would net.  I am of the position that this is erroneous, but it becomes a cost/benefit analysis as to whether it is worth fighting or not.

There ya go.  Now you know how to document your lost wage claim.  If you’ve been hurt badly enough to miss work, you might be better served to hire an attorney to help you.  I know a good one!  919-929-2992.

Greetings, faithful readers.  You are of course aware by now that I handle auto accident claims.  Generally, there will be a property damage component to these claims.  In other words, your car needs to get fixed.  For the most part, you don’t need help with that; you can use your own collision coverage to take care of that, or normally, with a little poking, the bad guys will get your car repaired.  There are a few tips I can give you to help that move along, but that’s for another post.

But can you do anything about the value lost on a repaired vehicle?  Yes, you can.  Obviously, when a vehicle undergoes considerable repairs from an accident that information is going to follow the vehicle for the rest of its life.  If you have a newer car with limited mileage, this can result in a significant loss of value in the re-sale value of your vehicle.  So what do you do?

As part of your claim you can raise a diminished value claim.  This kind of claim is what I call a “pay to play” type of claim.  You have to spend some money to get a positive result. In other words it normally won’t help you to just say, “Hey, my car is worth $3000 less.  Write me a check.”  You will want to hire an appraiser to give an educated opinion in a report as to the loss of value and then present that to the adjuster.  Often times this can help cushion the blow of making your new car a little less shiny and new.

Probably the most important thing to remember on diminished value claims is the timing.  The regulations state that you must make that sort of claim in a “reasonable” time frame.  They don’t say what time frame isn’t reasonable, but they do say that 30 days is reasonable.  Is after 30 days OK?  Maybe, but let’s not be the test case.  Do it right after it gets repaired.

Of course, as with virtually all aspects of these auto claims, having an attorney will help that go more smoothly.  How?  Well, we can give you a good idea as to when it might make sense to make this sort of claim and when it might be best to punt (we know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em, for the most part). We can also give you an idea as to the type of appraisal you want in your particular situation (does it merit a super fancy one, or should you go cheap?).  We are professional negotiators, too, so that helps.

So, if you’ve been in an auto accident and want to talk about your injuries and maybe your car’s injuries too, let me know.  919-929-2992.

Everyone knows that in our system of justice, when someone injures you due to their negligence, you may have a right to collect from them the damages you incur.  This would probably include medical treatment costs, pain and suffering, lost wages, and maybe some other stuff.

But what most people don’t appreciate until they’re in the position of a victim is that the victim initially bears the costs of their treatment.  In other words, we don’t have a “pay you as you go” sort of system, but more of an “all at the end (if you’re lucky)” kind of system.  What that means is that the person responsible for your care isn’t going to pay your bills as you incur them, but at best will reimburse you for them when it’s all said and done (future care can be different, when applicable, but that’s for another post).

So when you’re an accident victim, you have to take care of your bills until the time is right to collect from the bad guy.  That could be years and thousands of dollars later, so what do you do in the meantime?

Well, if you’re lucky you will have health insurance to bear the brunt of your treatment costs.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/ more people than ever are covered by health insurance.  In that situation, you will have co-pays and deductibles to deal with, but more often than not that is better than paying for everything as you go.  But what about people that don’t have health insurance?

That’s a problem.  When you are catastrophically injured, the reality is that you are likely to go into debt.  There are some safety net programs (Medicaid) that might help, and many hospitals will have charity programs that can help as well.  In addition, if you’re disabled you might qualify for Medicare, though that could be a long time in the making.

When you are not catastrophically injured and have soft tissue neck and back pain, and maybe all you need is some PT or chiropractic (which describes the overwhelming majority of auto accident victims), then you won’t likely qualify for charity, but you may still be able to get the treatment you need.

Most chiropractors in North Carolina will treat you on a lien basis, meaning they will follow the law to perfect a claim on your settlement money so that all or part of their bill will have to be paid from your settlement.  For them it’s a win/win – they have faith that they will get paid in the long term, and in the meantime you get the treatment you need to help get you better.  Some Physical Therapists do this, but I don’t know of many, myself.  And I do know of one diagnostic company (X-rays, MRIs, etc.) that treats on a lien basis.

So if you’re injured in an accident and aren’t sure how to pay for treatment, call an attorney and talk to them about what options you may have.  I know one, and he’s pretty awesome.

http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/statutes/StatutesTOC.pl?bPrintable=true&Chapter=0044

One issue we encounter in almost all personal injury settlements is figuring out what we have to pay back to health care providers when we are disbursing the settlement funds.

The answer depends on what your definition of “have to” is (credit to Slick Willy for that).

Technically, a patient owes what he owes, so regardless of what we pay or don’t, the bill is his to deal with.

But having said that, there are some protections built in to the law for accident victims, particularly when the settlement is not quite sufficient to take care of everything (and by the way, that insufficiency occurs often because of a dispute regarding the liability and/or damages on the claim).  Particularly, the General Statutes starting with 44-49 and going through 44-51.  This is the main part of the lien statutes that we have to deal with in the personal injury context.

There is a HUGE misconception as to what “lien” means.  Many providers think that patients create a lien by agreement.  That is not exactly true.  A lien is a statutorily created mechanism to create a right of recovery on behalf of a third party to an identifiable set of funds.  In order for the lien to be valid, or be “perfected” as they say, the provider has to do TWO THINGS to perfect their lien:  They have to provide the records/bills FREE OF CHARGE and they have to give NOTICE of the lien.

Free is easy.  If they charge, that ain’t free, so they don’t have a lien.  Notice is a little more tricky, but a very low bar to pass; all they have to do is write “lien” on the bill and that’s sufficient.

So if there is no perfected lien, we don’t have to pay the bill from the disbursement.  That doesn’t mean the client doesn’t still owe the bill, it just means that there’s no right of recovery on behalf of that provider on the settlement funds.

If there is a lien, then we have to pay SOMETHING from the settlement.  That means either all of the bill, or less.  Well how much is less?

The statutes allow for a pro rata disbursement when there isn’t enough to go around.  What does that mean?  Well, after attorney’s fees are taken out, the victim gets 1/2 of what’s left over in pocket.  The other half is divided, proportional to the percentage of the total lien debt, amongst each provider.  That last bit is what “pro rata” means.

As with a lot of what we do, this can be very complicated and overwhelming, so it’s just one more reason that you don’t want to handle your injury claim on your own.  Take my advice, and take my advice – see what I did there?  Get a professional to help.  Call me. 919-929-2992.

http://news.yahoo.com/device-manufacturer-sued-again-superbug-outbreak-l-hospital-234742835–finance.html
In this case, a man was treated using a device that was infected by a “superbug” that then infected the patient and caused a great amount of harm to him.

I get these calls more often than you think, and it raises an interesting question:  Is there always negligence when someone gets sicker after they get treatment?

The answer is “no.”

Negligence is defined in these contexts as a failure to meet the standard of care.  So in situations where health care providers do everything that the local standard of care requires – like cleaning and using instruments per guidelines – and someone still gets sick, injured, or infected, that doesn’t mean there was negligence.  It just means stuff happens.

But sometimes there is negligence.  When providers re-use instruments or don’t clean them properly and injuries occur, that’s more like negligence.  But it can be hard to prove.  Will they write in their notes, “And then I wiped that scalpel with my dirty handkerchief and proceeded to cut the patient with it” ?  Probably not.

These cases can be complex and difficult to prove.  If you have a situation like this you should talk to an attorney.  I’m willing to talk, so call: 919-929-2992.

Please let me know what thoughts you have on this:  Twitter: @jahatty; Facebook: Jeffrey Allen Howard, Attorney at Law, PLLC.

http://www.wral.com/unc-chapel-hill-former-adviser-willingham-settle-lawsuit/14468630/

Tar Heel born, Tar Heel bred…so I’m a homer for sure.

But what is this all about?  She calls out the University for lax standards, gets demoted and slandered, and they say they didn’t do anything wrong?  THEN they give her money and maybe with a confidentiality agreement?  In my business, I know that payment on a claim doesn’t count as an admission.  But in this case…

What do people think about this stuff?  I’d like to hear from everyone.  Yes, Duke fans and State fans will kill us on this, but shouldn’t we be held accountable?  And be careful, folks…I would be willing to bet the same shenanigans are going on at your school, too.

I have represented many, many UPS employees in workers’ compensation claims.  Like many, I had always heard about how awesome the pay was for UPS workers, but it wasn’t until I started handling these on-the-job injury claims that I realized what a dangerous job these folks have.

The drivers have a reputation for being very well paid, but there’s a reason.  They are under extreme pressure to be on time and they are doing a myriad of tasks:  driving, navigating, getting in the truck, getting out of the truck, opening the door/closing the door, picking up little boxes, picking up big boxes, walking up stairs, dodging dogs…you name it.  There’s no end to the way they can get hurt.  What I see most are back injuries and dog bites.  It’s very likely that a back injury will end your career in that business.

The guys in the warehouses slinging boxes are normally waiting for a driver position to open up so they can get a piece of that pie.  But in a way they are trading up for a more dangerous job.  The repetitive lifting leads to many injuries in their warehouse duties and puts a lot of wear and tear on their bodies.  Then when they get on a truck, they are more likely to be injured.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-court-pregnant-ups-20150325-story.html

Here is a story about a pregnant woman who wasn’t accommodated during her pregnancy during her time at UPS.  It’s a California case that went to the Supreme Court.  Without weighing in too much on the legal analysis, this is an example of how UPS often treats its employees.  If they won’t take it easy on a pregnant lady, how do you think they treat the other workers? I know from personal experience how unfairly they treat their workers, regardless of pay.  It would be nice if they would recognize how much money they are making on the backs of these hard workers, but like many businesses, they see these workers as just another commodity, and when one falls, there’s another one waiting to take his or her place.

If you are injured at work, you should seek an attorney’s advice immediately.

Call me: 919-929-2992.

http://news.yahoo.com/amtrak-train-truck-collide-north-carolina-several-hurt-180638852.html

Quick Summary:  Gigantic truck carrying modular building, escorted by State Troopers, got stuck at a rail crossing.  Train smashed into it.  Many injured.

How in the heck does this happen in this day and age?  Normally, the way this works is there’s some knucklehead in a pick-up who just can’t quite figure out that it’s the pedal on the right that needs stomping.

But in this situation, there seemed to have been several ways to avoid this.  Let’s discuss:

First, if you’ve got a Trooper escort, then you realize already that this is a special situation.  That being the case, why didn’t they route this over a clearer highway route?  Why were they at this intersection, particularly given the difficulty of the turn described in the article and the mega-trailer involved?

Second, when the truck appears to be stuck, shouldn’t the Trooper be able to communicate to the rail folks that there’s a dangerous situation and any trains need to be diverted or stopped?  We need to know the time-line a little better, but it seems plausible that there was time to warn the train with sufficient notice to stop to avoid the collision.

Third, sometimes these crossings are just poorly designed, and the State is to blame.  But from these facts it seems like it’s more likely the crossing and turn in relation to the size of the vehicle involved, so I’m not sure that the crossing design is to blame.

Fourth, what about Amtrak?  Couldn’t they have a better system for spotting these sorts of troubles?  If we can have cell phones connected to our home alarms, can’t they monitor crossings better?

Finally, the driver…shouldn’t he have been able to see that his truck wasn’t going to be able to do this in the first place?

There’s plenty of blame to spread around here and I hope the people on this train that were injured get a fair award for their injuries.

If you know of any of them, tell them to call me!

919-929-2992

http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/feb/10/lawsuit-injured-teen-gymnast-evergreen-schools/

I don’t know all of the details on this case, but in a nutshell a girl was practicing her uneven bars routine at a school gymnastics practice and injured her neck, requiring several surgeries and future care.  Parents filed a lawsuit based on the negligent supervision of the school faculty.

What are your thoughts on school sports injury lawsuits?  Are they a good thing?  A bad thing?

I think like everything else, it all depends on the details.  Many sports are inherently dangerous, as many physical activities can be.  As I like to say, “Physics is a b!#$%.” Even with the most diligent supervision, accidents can happen.  So parents and students have to make informed decisions as to how much they are willing to risk to engage in these activities.

Let’s say there was a fencing class, and there’s a coach teaching technique, everyone is wearing the proper masks and vests, but a brand new foil fails, snaps, and the jagged end pierces a students arm.  Should the school be held responsible for that?  Or is that just a “stuff happens” moment?  Clearly, there may be a products liability case against the sword manufacturer, but then we get back to this issue:  Shouldn’t you expect to possibly get stabbed if you are playing with swords?

In the case of the gymnast, I’m not sure what the proper supervision would have been, if it was there, or if it had been there this could have been avoided.  I just don’t know enough to form an opinion.

What are your thoughts on these sorts of claims?  Should they be allowed at all?  Should there be an automatic waiver for school sports injury claims?  Let me know what you think.