Sadly, car accidents happen every day in the United States. Even when they are minor and cause little if any damage and no apparent injuries, you may replay the accident in your mind again and again.

A car accident that you are involved in can be a disconcerting event. A car accident can leave you shaken, not thinking clearly, acting irrationally and/or not knowing what to do.

Failing to stop

You may have been involved in a car accident and failed to stop. The stress and shock of the car accident may have resulted in you not thinking clearly. You may have failed to stop because you thought no one was hurt and neither car was damaged. You may have failed to stop because you did not realize that the law says you must stop after a car accident that you are involved in.

Now, you realize that you should have stopped. You wonder what you may face. What laws have you broken? What is going to happen now? What is next?

The laws in regard to having failed to stop after being involved in a car accident vary from state to state. What you face and what you could be charged with also varies from state to state. However, in most cases, it depends on the extent of property damage and how serious the injuries are that result from the car accident.

Facing charges

Even if the car accident was not your fault and the accident was minor, you could leave yourself open to criminal prosecution. You could face charges of failure to stop, failure to report the accident, a traffic ticket and/or a misdemeanor.

If a car accident where you failed to stop is determined to be your fault, you face even more serious charges. This is especially true if the other driver was seriously injured and/or their vehicle was damaged extensively. In this event, you could face criminal felony charges for what may be called “hit and run”.

Your car insurance company

Another important thing to consider is that your car insurance company will learn about the car accident. They will also find out about any criminal charges that are made against you in regard to the car accident. This will probably result in your car insurance rates being raised. Your car insurance company may even cancel your insurance.

Being involved in a car accident and failing to stop is a serious matter that can result in severe criminal charges being made against you. You are going to need a personal injury lawyer on your side. You need a personal injury lawyer who will be fighting for you.

A personal injury lawyer may be able to get the charges against you reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. A personal injury lawyer will work just for you and your best interests.

You may have many questions that you need to ask. You may want and need someone who will listen to your side of how things happened. You need someone who will give you the best representation and fight to make sure that your rights are protected. A personal injury lawyer is who you need. They are the ones to turn to in your time of need.

Related articles

• Giving a Recorded Statement After a Car Accident to an Insurance Company? (personalinjuryplace.com)
• Giving a Deposition for a Personal Injury Lawsuit (personalinjuryplace.com)
• How do I get compensation for my car accident injuries? (personalinjuryplace.com)

If have been injured from the actions of another person or if someone in your family has been killed from the negligent actions of another person, you may be able to file a personal injury claim and win compensation for your injuries.

But what if you have been injured, you hired a personal injury lawyer but they are not doing the work you are paying them to do? Do you have the legal right to fire a personal injury lawyer? Yes, you do, but nothing should be done without careful consideration.

Steps to Firing a Personal Injury Lawyer

Clearly evaluate why you are unhappy with your current personal injury lawyer. Make sure you do not blame them for something they cannot control, like the amount of time it may take for you to get your settlement. Is your injury lawyer not performing their duties or is the process simply taking a long time? Set up a meeting and discuss your concerns.

If you do decide to fire your personal injury lawyer, there are some steps that need to be followed:

1. First, review your legal agreement.

Does it give you instructions for terminating the agreement? Although your personal injury lawyer generally only gets paid if they win your claim, even if you fire your first personal injury lawyer, they may be entitled to compensation you win from your personal injury claim. If you hire a new personal injury lawyer this award may have to be split with your old lawyer.

State laws vary, but in some states if the personal injury lawyer is terminated “without cause” or by your personal injury lawyer with justification you may have to compensate your lawyer for certain legal services before you can terminate the legal agreement.

2. Talk to another personal injury attorney.

Make sure you outline why you were unhappy with your first lawyer. Make sure you feel comfortable with the skills and expertise of your new injury attorney. Be leery of any injury lawyer who has attempted to get you to fire your previous lawyer so they can represent you. This could be a violation of specific state laws against solicitation.

3. Finally, all termination agreements should be made in writing and should clearly state why you are ending the legal agreement.

You should also request your legal file, although in some states there may be parts of the file that may not have to be turned over, such as the personal injury lawyer’s assumptions and theories about the case. Do not be punitive in your actions against the lawyer unless they have acted unethically toward you or taken illegal actions in your case.

Keep in mind, it is generally better to make an attempt to work with your current lawyer. Many problems are a result of miscommunication and can be cleared up with a meeting.

If you have fired your personal injury lawyer and are looking for another one, the lawyers at www.personalinjuryplace.com will not disappoint you. The lawyers at www.personalinjuryplace.com will handle your case in the right way.

Senior citizens represent some of society’s most vulnerable people. Senior citizens in a nursing home are often most commonly abused, neglected or injured because they are unable to easily defend themselves.

Nursing home or assisted living facility abuse can be physical, financial or emotional. No matter what form the abuse or neglect may take, it is always hurtful or damaging.

Unfortunately, nursing home or assisted living facility neglect often goes unnoticed. Even though repeated visits are made to a nursing home or assisted living facility, signs of neglect may remain hidden.

There are several reasons why your loved one may suffer abuse in a nursing home or assisted living facility. A nursing home or assisted living facility owner may try and cut corners by skimping on training or staff.

In many instances, workers in these facilities are overworked, poorly trained and receive low pay. However, some of the worst cases of abuse may occur in nursing home or assisted living facilities which appear well run, professional and clean.

Common types of nursing home abuse

There are many different forms of abuse and/or negligence that may take place. Some of these include:

 Being given the wrong medication or overmedication
 Poor hygiene
 Malnourishment and dehydration
 Bedsores
 Falls

You may have a loved one who has suffered some type of abuse, neglect and/or injury in a nursing home or assisted living facility. You may be outraged, angry or upset that this happened. You also may be trying to decide what to do. You may wonder whether it would do any good to contact a personal injury attorney.

Can an injury attorney help in this situation?

Personal injury lawyers can protect your loved one’s legal rights. An attorney can assist you in getting proper documentation before a nursing home or assisted living facility misplaces it or covers it up. An attorney will also be knowledgeable about the statute of limitations and other unforeseen issues which may prevent you from receiving a just remedy for the abuse, neglect or injury.

If your loved one has been injured in a nursing home it is time to talk to a personal injury lawyer. Do not delay. Fill out the FREE evaluation form and a personal injury lawyer will contact you to discuss your nursing home abuse claim.

After you are involved in an auto accident, you are more than likely confused and a little scared. You probably aren’t contemplating a personal injury lawsuit at the scene, but there are certain immediate actions you should take to protect yourself.

Immediately After the Accident, What do I do?

Once the accident occurs, stop your car, but do not get out immediately if you are still in the roadway. Wait for a safe time to exit and make contact with the other driver. Exchange insurance information and write down their license plate number in case they decide to leave the scene. If you are too hurt to exchange information with the other driver, ask someone to do it for you.

Call the police. You should always make a police report. If the police will not come to the scene, then you need to go to the police station to see that the report gets done.

If you have been injured, then you must get medical attention immediately. If you feel symptoms shortly after the car accident, you must seek medical help as soon as you can. It is crucial that you do not delay.

Notify your insurance company that you have been in an accident within 24 hours. If you fail to do this, they could void some of your coverage.

As soon as you can, you should consult with a personal injury attorney in your area. In the meantime, do not make any statements to anyone concerning the specifics of the accident.

Remember, this is probably your first experience with a personal injury case; the insurance company has probably dealt with thousands of claims. Any information you give them could be used to reduce or deny your recovery. Also, do not sign any medical documents that insurance agents may offer to you.

Do I Have A Personal Injury Case?

You may have a personal injury claim if you were seriously injured due to the negligence of someone else. The best way to know for sure is to consult with a personal injury lawyer. Many attorneys will offer a short, free consultation to listen to your situation and then determine the best course of action for you.

What Information Will My Attorney Need?

The following is a short list of items that most attorneys will ask for when evaluating your claim.
* Names and addresses of everyone involved in the accident
* Names and addresses of all witnesses who saw the accident happen
* Name of the investigating police officer and the number of the police report
* Obtain as much information as you can of the details that were given to police at the scene of the accident.
* Your written description of how the accident transpired
* Copies of all medical bills
* Photographs of the vehicle involved, injuries and scene of accident. If you did not take pictures at the scene, take them before your car is repaired or your injuries heal.
* Your insurance coverage information relating to your health and vehicle
* Precise records of lost wages or time lost due to medical appointments

The most important thing you can do after a car accident is to follow your doctor’s instructions carefully. And, if you feel like you were injured due to another person’s negligence, contact a personal injury attorney in your area to recover financial and/or other types of personal injury compensation.

How much is my personal injury claim worth? For most people, it isn’t about greed, just compensation for losses they have suffered.

Compensatory Damages

Most damages in a personal injury case are compensatory. This means they are meant to reimburse the plaintiff for costs related to the injury. This type of award is intended to make the plaintiff “whole,” or restore them financially. The more common types of compensatory damages in a personal injury claim include:

Loss of income:

You may be entitled to collect not just the income you lost, but also the income you would have been able to earn in the future if it hadn’t been for the accident.

Medical bills:

A personal injury award regularly includes the costs associated with your medical treatment (repayment for out of pocket expenses you have already paid and the anticipated costs of care you will need in the future).

Property damage:

Property damages costs can include the costs associated with either fixing or replacing your car or any other property which was damaged. Clothing and other personal items can also be replaced. Money awarded is generally at the market value of the property at the time of loss.

Pain and suffering:

You could be awarded monetary compensation for physical pain and discomfort you suffered during and after the accident.

Emotional anguish:

If the accident was particularly serious and you suffer from psychological distress such as trepidation, anxiety and/or sleep loss, you could collect for this condition.

Loss of enjoyment:

When an injury you suffered in the accident prevents you from enjoying things such as hobbies, exercise, recreation or even the inability to maintain a sexual relationship with your spouse, you could be entitled to receive damages.

Punitive Damages after a Personal Injury

Punitive damages are different than compensatory damages. If the defendant’s actions were especially negligent the plaintiff could be awarded additional damages on top of any other compensatory damages. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish the defendant and hopefully deter others from similarly depraved actions.

It is common for punitive damage awards to run into the millions, so some states have placed a cap on how much a jury can award in punitive damages.

Can my actions affect the personal injury award?

States use four different systems for allocating damages after a personal injury: pure contributory negligence, pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence – 50% bar rule, and modified comparative negligence – 51% bar rule.

Personal injury awards will be allocated according to the laws of your state. There are even a few states that do not allow you to recover any compensation if you are found to be even partially to blame for the accident (Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C.).

Additionally, most states require those who are injured through the negligence of someone else to mitigate or minimize their financial damages. For example, if a person does not see a doctor until weeks after an accident and therefore makes their injuries worse and increases their medical bills, he will see the award greatly reduced.

If you have been seriously injured in an accident, it would benefit you to talk with an experienced personal injury attorney and see what value he can bring to your case.

When a personal injury claim is filed, the jury or judge will determine which person or person(s) caused the accident. The court generally requires the person who caused the accident to pay for the resulting damages or the cost of the injuries.

What if more than one person caused the accident? State laws determine how the negligence is distributed between each party. For instance, the court may decide both the defendant and the plaintiff were negligent and will allocate damages according to state laws.

States use four different systems for allocating damages: pure contributory negligence, pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence – 50% bar rule, and modified comparative negligence – 51% bar rule.

Contributory Negligence

• Pure Contributory Negligence

Traditionally, contributory negligence laws were the standard throughout the United States. These laws stated that a person could only recover damages in a personal injury lawsuit if their actions did not contribute to the accident in any way. Most states have moved away from this method of allocating damages due to the harshness of the law.

Contributory negligence has gradually been replaced by a system of comparative negligence which parties are awarded damages based on the percentage of their fault. Currently, only five (5) states, including the District of Columbia, follow the pure contributory negligence rule (Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C.

Comparative Negligence

States which use a comparative negligence system allow the parties in a personal injury claim to recover compensation for their losses even if their actions contributed to the accident. There are three separate types of comparative negligence variations: pure comparative negligence, modified comparative negligence – 51% rule, or modified comparative negligence – 50% rule.

• Pure Comparative Negligence

Pure comparative negligence systems allow the parties in a personal injury claim to receive compensation even if they were 99% at-fault for the accident, but the amount awarded is reduced by their level of fault. Currently, 13 states follow this method of allocating compensation in a personal injury claim: Alaska, Arizona pure comparative negligence, California, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington.

• Modified Comparative Fault (50% Rule)

This system allows parties in a personal injury claim to recover compensation for their personal injuries only if their level of fault does not reach 50%. If the party is determined to be more than 50% at fault, they are barred from receiving damages for their losses. Twelve states use the modified comparative negligence (50% rule) to allocate damages: Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia.

• Modified comparative negligence (51% rule)

This system allows the injured parties to recover damages if they are determined to be 50% or less at-fault for the accident. Damages are awarded according to the degree of guilt of each party. Currently, twenty-one states use this method to allocate damages in a personal injury lawsuit: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are considering filing a personal injury claim there are fundamental elements of your case which must be proven. If you cannot prove that the defendant owed you a duty, that they breached their duty, that you have suffered actual harm or loss or that the defendant was the “proximate cause” or your harm or loss, you will not win your personal injury claim.

Talk to a personal injury lawyer immediately if you have been injured. They can review your case and outline the types of damages that you can expect to receive if you win your injury lawsuit.

Personal injury claims can cover a wide array of injuries. For example, if you have been injured from the intentional, unintentional or negligent actions of another person and you can prove you have suffered injury or loss, you may be entitled to compensation.

Consider all the ways that the negligence or the intentional actions of another person can hurt others: medical malpractice, car accident injuries, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, nursing home injuries, birth injuries, premise liability cases, trucking accidents, prescription medications and product liability claims.

For each of these different types of injury claims, assuming you can prove the elements of your claim, you may win compensation for your personal injuries including the cost of medical care, lost wage compensation, property replacement costs and compensation for pain and suffering.

How Can I win my Personal Injury Claim?

Not all injuries are personal injury cases. Compensation for a personal injury case can only be won by proving certain elements of your injury case. Talk to a personal injury lawyer for more information, but generally, you must prove the following:

• First you must prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care.
• Next you must prove that the defendant failed to meet their duty and it was this failure of duty or negligence which was the proximate cause of your personal.
• Finally, you must prove that you have suffered actual loss from your personal injuries. Actual loss can be pain and suffering, but more often it is the cost of medical care or property replacement costs.

Most injury cases can be settled with the defendant’s insurance company, in fact, for car accident injuries some states do not allow the plaintiff to file a car accident claim unless either the seriousness of the injury or the cost of the personal injury reaches a minimum pre-established threshold.

Other claims such as a premise liability claim may be negotiated with the property owner’s homeowner’s insurance company. Consider, however, that the goal of the insurance company may be to settle the claim as quickly and as cheaply as possible. Large insurance companies also have lawyers who work to negotiate claims.

If you have been severely injured or the cost of the claim is high, talk to a personal injury lawyer prior to negotiating a personal injury settlement.

What types of claims do personal injury attorneys fight?

There are a variety of personal injury cases that a personal injury lawyer can review. Many personal injury lawyers specialize in certain types of cases. Find a personal injury lawyer who is familiar with negotiating your specific type of claim. Personal injuries can help with the following cases:

• Wrongful death
• Car accidents
• Airplane crashes
• Product liability
• Slips and falls
• Animal attacks
• Brain injuries
• Bike and pedestrian collisions
• Trucking accidents
• Head and brain injuries
• Pedestrian accidents
• Neck and spinal cord injuries
• Medical malpractice
• Boat accidents
• Construction accidents and OSHA violations
• Blindness

Pilot Paul Dudley, an experienced commercial pilot who manages a local airport, lifted off near midtown Manhattan and began experiencing mechanical difficulties moments later. Dudley radioed that he was having problems with the helicopter and shortly thereafter, the Bell 206 Jet Ranger lost altitude and plunged into the East River.