Posted on April 12, 2022 in Personal Injury

If you are like many adults who take pride in their car, truck, or SUV, you probably make vehicle maintenance a top priority.  Checking the oil and other fluid levels, ensuring that your tires are aired up and the tread is not too worn, and taking your vehicle in for regular tune ups may be a standard part of your routine. However, when defective design or manufacture of an auto part is to blame for a malfunctioning vehicle, there may be nothing the driver could have done to prevent it. If you or a loved one were injured in an accident, and you believe that defective tires were to blame, you may have a valid product liability case.  

History of Faulty Auto Parts

Many people still remember when the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was forced to conduct one of the largest recalls in U.S. history. Defective tires installed on Ford pickup trucks and SUVs were associated with accidents causing over 800 injuries and 270 deaths. Firestone eventually recalled a staggering 6.5 million tires and the Ford Motor Company recalled and replaced approximately 13 million of the defective tires. Ford faced over $600 million in lawsuits as a result. Unfortunately, tire recalls are not limited to just these companies. Just recently, Alliance Tire Americas issued a tire recall after it was discovered that the tread may separate from the casing during use. Flaws in the design and manufacture of tires can cause the tires to malfunction and put the lives of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians at risk.  

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 Posted on March 29, 2022 in Car Accidents

Serious car accidents are typically associated with high speeds. When cars are driving at normal highway speeds, it is easy to see how crashing could result in serious harm. Of course, everyone who has spent any time in L.A. traffic knows that “normal highway speeds” are about one mile per hour most of the time. However, even in bumper-to-bumper traffic, car accidents can still lead to serious injuries. Injuries in this type of traffic can be dangerous - ambulances cannot always get through as quickly as they could if traffic was less congested. If you were injured in a car accident that occurred in heavy traffic, a lawyer may be able to help you recover compensation. 

What Types of Serious Accidents Occur in Congested Traffic?

Cars do not need to be moving very fast at all to cause serious harm to a person. Common types of dangerous crashes that occur in heavy, slow-moving, traffic include: 

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 Posted on March 16, 2022 in Premises Liability

 Dog attacks - even a single bite - can cause serious bodily harm. The puncture wounds can easily get infected and send you to the hospital. Tendons, ligaments, nerves, and even bones can be severed or damaged, requiring surgery. It is important to seek urgent medical attention after any dog bite to help mitigate these risks. Of course, medical care and the time you spend seeking it are valuable. A dog’s owner can be held liable for injuries caused by the dog. In California, we have what is called the strict liability rule when it comes to dog and other animal bites. This term is easily misunderstood. In order to recover the compensation you deserve after being attacked or bitten by a dog, you may need to enlist a skilled attorney. 

Does “Strict Liability” Mean the Dog Owner is Liable No Matter What?

Not quite. What “strict liability” actually means is that the dog owner cannot defend themselves by arguing that they had no idea their dog was aggressive and would bite. Even if the dog that bit you had never so much as growled at anyone before, let alone bitten someone in the past, the owner can be held liable to a bite victim. 

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 Posted on February 05, 2022 in Personal Injury

Anyone putting a product on the market has a responsibility to make sure that the product is reasonably safe. Unfortunately, unreasonably dangerous products do still sometimes end up in the hands of consumers. There are a number of reasons this can happen. Sometimes the product is badly designed in the first place. Other times, there was an error in the manufacturing process that rendered the product unsafe. Finally, sometimes it is the lack of instructions or a warning label that makes a product dangerous. 

Whatever may have gone wrong and caused you to get hurt, there are a few steps you can take right away. An attorney may be able to help you recover financial compensation. 

What Should I Do if a Dangerous Product Hurts Me?

If a product you are using seems unreasonably unsafe and you get hurt as a result, you will want to contact a lawyer sooner rather than later. Products liability cases can be quite complicated, with a lot of disputed facts and multiple legal issues. Here are some steps you can take right after the accident: 

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 Posted on January 26, 2022 in Personal Injury

From high-rise, luxury condos to downtown studios, apartment buildings are supposed to be reasonably safe for their occupants and guests. Unfortunately, not all landlords or property managers make safety a priority. From failing to repair an obvious source of danger, to failing to warn tenants about a hazard, to simply ignoring a housing code violation, negligence by a building manager can put a lot of people at risk for injury. If you were injured due to an unsafe condition in an apartment, you may want to speak to a qualified premises liability attorney to determine whether you could be eligible to receive financial compensation. 

What Common Dangers Can Injure People in Apartment Complexes?

Renters have limited control over the safety of the premises. They are not able or expected to make most repairs, especially in common areas. The landlord or property manager has a much higher degree of responsibility to maintain safe conditions. Look out for:

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 Posted on January 12, 2022 in Car Accidents

Rarely is a car accident 100% the fault of one individual. While there are certainly some cases where the blame is clearly only on one driver, it is more common for multiple drivers to have contributed to the accident in some way. Luckily, in California, you may still be able to recover from a car accident even if you are partially responsible. California law is more laid back compared to many other states in this regard. California uses what is known as the pure comparative negligence system, which generally allows people to win compensation proportionate to their share of fault. 

Dividing blame in a car accident can be technically and legally challenging. It is important to consult an attorney before attempting to bring a claim for a motor vehicle accident you may be assigned some level of fault for. 

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 Posted on December 10, 2021 in Car Accidents

Right after a car crash, it may feel as if there are an overwhelming number of things you need to do. Seeking emergency medical care where needed is always the first priority, but much needs to happen after an accident. You will need to exchange information with the other driver, flag down witnesses, take pictures, and perhaps more importantly, file a police report. Calling the police from the accident scene and having them come take a report builds valuable evidence that can be used to prove your claim later. Your next step would be contacting an attorney. 

Why Should I File a Police Report After a Car Accident?

A police report creates an objective account of the accident from a neutral, third-party viewpoint. This valuable record can later be used as evidence to prove who and what caused the crash. It is critical that you do not skip this step. Reasons to file a police report after a crash include: 

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 Posted on November 24, 2021 in Personal Injury

Hospitals are supposed to be safe places where people go to get better. Unfortunately, some inpatients wind up in worse shape after they are injured in a fall. People fall in hospitals for a variety of reasons, ranging from medication to physical therapy equipment failure. Many of these falls can be prevented by a careful hospital. Some causes of falls fall under premises liability, but others can amount to other legal matters if the fall was directly related to the patient’s care. The law there is nuanced, and a lawyer will need to evaluate the facts of your case. Either way, if the hospital’s carelessness caused your fall, you may be entitled to receive compensation.

What Are Some Common Causes of Preventable Falls in Hospitals?

Sadly, the patients who are most vulnerable and most likely to suffer serious injury from a simple fall tend to be the most likely to fall. Elderly patients are at particularly high risk of being admitted to a hospital and then suffering a major injury, like a broken hip, after falling. Reasons patients may fall include: 

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 Posted on October 27, 2021 in Personal Injury

Many Californians trust nursing homes to care for their elderly family members professionally. It is always tragic when a nursing home resident faces any kind of abuse. The dangers of physical abuse or neglect are clear, but verbal abuse is less understood. More elderly persons in nursing homes face verbal abuse than outright physical abuse, and verbal abuse can lead to physical dangers. If you suspect that your loved one is being verbally abused in a nursing home, you should contact an attorney as quickly. An attorney may be able to help you get your loved one to a safer situation and recover financial compensation. 

What Counts as Verbal Abuse of a Nursing Home Resident? 

Verbal abuse coming from a caregiver at a nursing home can be particularly damaging because the caregiver is in a position of authority, and the resident is in a position of reliance. What counts as verbal abuse includes: 

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 Posted on October 12, 2021 in Personal Injury

Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have a monumental responsibility: They keep our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other loved ones safe. Unfortunately, some nursing homes do not meet the high expectations required of them. One way that nursing homes fall short is not properly supervising residents. Nursing home residents, especially those with cognitive decline, can be severely or fatally injured when they wander into unsafe areas or elope from the property.  Nursing home residents and their loved ones may be able to hold a negligent nursing home responsible through a nursing home lawsuit.

Nursing Home Neglect Can Be Fatal

Nursing home abuse, including physical violence against a resident, often receives the lion’s share of news coverage and attention. However, nursing home neglect is often just as harmful as abuse. In many cases, nursing home neglect is fatal. Nursing home staff have a duty to supervise residents and keep track of their whereabouts. When nursing home residents are not properly supervised, they can wander into dangerous areas or become lost. Wandering and elopement can lead to terrible injuries and fatalities.

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