After the lawsuit is settled or a judgment is awarded, the liens must be paid. Dealing with the liens is usually the job of the victim’s attorney, but it may differ depending on the agreement between the victim and the attorney.

When our office recovers funds on behalf of our clients, we will negotiate with the insurers the amount of payment on the lien. Because various fees and costs must be factored into the client’s recovery, I will negotiate with the insurer so that it will usually accept only a portion of the bills as full repayment.

Each lien is different. Dealing with them is my job, not the victim.
 

A property owner must keep his property in a reasonably safe condition. He must discover any unsafe conditions and repair, replace or warn of any condition he could expect to harm others. 

His reasonableness will be measured by the following factors:

  • Location of the property
  • Likelihood that someone would come on to the property as the victim did
  • Likelihood of harm
  • Probable seriousness of such harm
  • Whether he knew or should have known of the condition that created the risk of harm
  • Difficulty of protecting against the risk of such harm
  • Extent of his control over the condition that created the risk of harm.

But if the city, state or the federal government owns the property, then the rules are different and getting compensation for an injury is more difficult.
 

When you lose a family member, the loss feels immeasurable. But for your family’s claim, it’s important to think about all of the ways your life has been affected. The law permits the family of a victim to be compensated for loss of support, services and companionship.

 

Loss of support (the amount that the victim would have provided to you after his death):

  • income
  • retirement benefits
  • gifts
  • rent
  • transportation
  • food
  • health care
  • tuition
  • entertainment

Loss of services:

  • household duties which may range from piano lessons to mowing the lawn
  • personal service, advice, training
  • Funeral and burial expenses

Loss of companionship

  • love
  • care
  • assistance
  • protection
  • affection
  • society
  • moral support
  • sexual relations

Unfortunately, you cannot be compensated for your . . .

  • grief
  • sorrow
  • mental anguish.

 

Doctors once believed that, whenever a blow to the head resulted in a brain injury, the victim would lose consciousness. Without a loss of consciousness, they would say, there could be no brain injury. That’s no longer the case. Now, medical professionals agree that a brain injury can result without the victim ever blacking out. Further, we now know that traumatic brain injury can result even without a blow to the head, such as in cases of "shaken baby syndrome" or, in adults, as a result of a whiplash-induced contrecoup injury.

An injury victim is considered to have suffered a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (frequently referred to as a "concussion") if a trauma has caused a disruption of brain function as evidenced by any of the following:

  • A loss of consciousness, however brief; OR
  • Inability to recall events immediately before or after the accident; OR
  • Any alteration of mental state (for example, feelings of being dazed or confused) right after the accident.

A concussion can result in a long list of symptoms. The symptoms are sometimes called "post concussive syndrome" and can include:

  • pain,
  • fatigue,
  • sleep problems,
  • mood changes,
  • headaches,
  • inability to concentrate,
  • word finding difficulties and other cognitive problems,
  • memory problems,
  • frustration,
  • loss of sense of smell,
  • nausea,
  • dizziness,
  • visual problems,
  • ringing in the ears,
  • frequently becoming lost or confused,
  • feelings of depression.

The symptoms may not appear until days or weeks after an injury. Fortunately, most victims of mild traumatic brain injury completely recover from their symptoms within a year. However, a minority of victims — perhaps up to 15% — do not.  For some of those people, "mild " traumatic brain injury can lead to a lifetime of problems. The problems can be devastating.  For example, the victim’s inability to concentrate can result in his losing his job and mood changes can place great stress on family relationships.

Only certain family members are allowed to sue for the death of a loved one. Under California law, the following are allowed to sue:

  • Victim’s spouse – Always
  • Victim’s registered domestic partner – Always
  • Victim’s parents – But if the victim was married, only when the victim left no children, or when the parents were finanically dependant on the victim
  • Victim’s stepchildren – Only when the stepchildren were financially dependant on the victim
  • Victim’s children – Always
  • Victim’s adopted children – Always
  • Unrelated children in victim’s care – Only if the child lived with the victim for the 180 days before the victim’s death and was financially dependant on the victim.
  • Victim’s brothers & sisters – Only when the victim left no other relatives with a right to sue.  

The following can never sue

  • Victim’s unregistered domestic partner
  • Victim’s ex spouse, even when dependant on the victim
  • The victim’s “common-law” spouse. 

An impact on one side of the head can cause the pudding-like substance of the brain to hit the inside of the skull and then bounce back and hit the inside of the skull on the opposite side of the head.  When the brain suffers two injuries from one impact, it is called a “coup contrecoup,” or “coup contra coup” injury. Sometimes,https://www.capersonalinjurycaselawnotes.com/files/contrecoup.swf the secondary (contrecoup) injury is more damaging than the primary (coup) injury. To complicate things, internal bleeding and swelling from the primary injury can mask the brain damage caused by the secondary injury.  One of my clients went weeks before sophisticated imaging of his brain and neuroevaluations showed that his cognitive problems were almost all due to a “contrecoup injury,” rather than the more obvious “coup” injury.

 

A Connecticut jury recently awarded $8,000,000 to a young man injured during warm ups for a USA Track and Field Junior Olympic Championship meet in 2002. High school senior pole vaulter Brandon White fractured his back at T5 and T10 levels and remains paralyzed from the chest down. Mr. White claimed that the beginning of the runway was obstructed by a batting cage. He sued the USA Track & Field Association/Connecticut for negligent supervision and for failing to provide a sufficient runway length. His sports and safety expert testified that the the usable runway was 25 feet short of the required USATFA length.

The USATFA defendant contended that Mr. White was instructed not to warm up until an official returned. It also claimed that Mr. White did not properly prepare for his vault attempt and should not have let go of the pole when he did. Mr. White’s waiver of all liability and express assumption of risk were excluded from evidence because Connecticut law disfavors these types of waivers.

The jury, without knowledge of the waiver and assumption of risk, determined that defendants were at fault for his injuries.  However, the jury determined that Mr. White was  nonetheless 20% to blame and so his award was reduced to $6,400,000. 

California law sets the bar higher for plaintiffs to prove their case.  California courts generally enforce waivers such as the one Mr. White signed.  Unless there were exceptional circumstances, he wouldn’t have been permitted to bring his case to trial. 

Full thickness (third and fourth degree) burn victims suffer pain: 

  • Nerves may partially function.  
  • Burns on arms and legs cause swelling and pressure on the nerves and tissues of the healthy sections of the burned limbs.
  • Repeated painful interventions to prevent infection and promote healing.

Burn pain worsens over time:

Unlike other types of trauma, in which pain over time plateaus or diminishes, the interventions necessary to prevent infection and promote healing actually worsen the pain of burn injury. 

Pain continues after scars heal:

  • Joint and skin stiffness 
  • Relentless itching
  • Emotional pain of scars and physical deformity

Because of the long, complicated, painful path to recovery, we advise family members of burn victims to photograph the various medical interventions necessary to promote recovery. Photographs of the stages of recovery may help the victims see their improvement and communicate the painful recovery process to a jury.

Most personal injury attorneys represent their clients under a contingency fee agreement.  The client pays nothing for attorneys’ fees or the costs of the lawsuit until the end of the case when there is a judgment or settlement. Then the attorney is paid a percentage of the compensation recovered — typically between 30 and 40%.  If there is no settlement and the case is lost, the client pays nothing to the attorney. 

Overview of burn depths

 Partial thickness burns:

 First degree burns (superficial):

  •  May blister and peel in a few days (ie. sunburn). 
  • Heals in 3-6 days
  • Generally no scarring
  • Topical creams provide relief
  • Antibiotics not needed
  • Drink water

Second degree burns (deeper partial thickness):

  • Blisters are typical.
  • Heals in 14-21 days.
  • Blisters provide biologic dressing and comfort. (Don’t be in a hurry to break the blisters.)
  • Once blisters break, red raw surface will be very painful.
  • Usually do not require surgery.

Full thickness burns:

Third degree burns (full thickness): 

  • Waxy, white, tan or charred and possibly blistered.  
  • Swelling and hair loss are always present. 
  • May have areas of no sensation because the nerve endings are damaged. 
  • The area surrounding the full thickness burn is usually painful.
  • Natural healing of small burns is possible but with risk of infection and scarring. 
  • Surgery is usually required. 

Fourth degree (deep full thickness):

  • Charred and hard to the touch.  
  • The burn extends past the dermis into the tissue, muscle and bone. 
  • Even after the skin is no longer in contact with the heat source, damage may continue in the remaining cells.