10/28/21 – Personal Injury – Truck – Boat – Car – Slip & Fall – Wrongful Death – gtg
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CHILDREN OF RETIRED POLICE OFFICER WERE AWARDED ONE MILLION ($1,000,000.00) DOLLARS AFTER THE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR THE OTHER SIDE ORIGINALLY DENIED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR CLAIM!
How can this happen to us? That’s just what Joe, Brenda, and Judy, the surviving teenage children of a retired police officer and his wife said to us when their parents were both killed in a terrible accident after being struck broadside by a large semi-tractor trailer on a rain-soaked highway. What was to be a day of family fun and snow skiing turned out to be the worst day of their lives.
To make matters worse, our initial telephone conversation with the insurance company representing the truck driver (who wasn’t even hurt) denied any responsibility at all for the accident. They said the accident was the entire fault of our clients’ parents! Even the police report cited our clients’ parents as being primarily at fault.
We then learned that although the other side wasn’t accepting responsibility for this accident, they had one of their insurance representatives go to the hospital and try to “convince” Joe (who was recovering from very serious injuries) that he should settle his case, right then and there, for $100,000! Joe told us that even though he told the insurance representative that he couldn’t remember a thing about the accident, had no idea what his injuries were and with all the medication in him couldn’t think clearly, the insurance representative continued to tell him that settling his claim was the smart thing to do. That if he didn’t accept the money right then and there, they wouldn’t offer it again to him in the future.
Joe didn’t settle his claim and frankly, after further investigation, the police report just didn’t make sense to us. Our review of the facts clearly led us to believe that the truck driver was operating his large semi unsafely on the day of this accident; especially after rain the night before had left the highway wet and slippery! We instantly filed a lawsuit and started going to work for our new young clients. They needed all the help they could get.
During our investigation, we discovered in several investigators’ notes the name of an off-duty paramedic who was also on his way up to the local ski area and who had seen the entire accident. For some reason, the police hadn’t taken his formal statement or included what he had seen in their final accident report. The paramedic testified under oath that before the fatal collision, the truck had been traveling at about 70 mph and was changing lanes unsafely.
We also checked out the driving record of the other driver. It was terrible. The defense attorneys for the other side didn’t even know of his poor driving history. This guy had tickets all over the place for speeding and other unsafe actions.
To make a very long story short, we were able to get the other insurance company to settle our clients’ claims for $1,000,000.00. The settlement funds were placed into annuities, which now provide each child with a safe long-term monthly non-taxable recovery. While their lives will never be the same, financially they’ll have sufficient funds to go to school and survive for the rest of their lives.
Call our office toll-free today for a free consultation.
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AFTER BEING OFFERED ONLY ONE DOLLAR ($1.00) BY THE OTHER SIDE’S INSURANCE COMPANY, CLIENTS WERE AWARDED A FAVORABLE GROSS FEDERAL JURY TRIAL VERDICT OF ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-THOUSAND ($1,250,000.00) DOLLARS
Tim and Judy lost their 16-year-old son in a tragic boating accident. Before this accident, this family was an active and fun-loving family that enjoyed participating together in outdoor activities, especially jet skiing and other water sports.
A reckless watercraft operator tried to negotiate a blind turn in a narrow reed-lined channel and struck a watercraft being operated by Tim’s 16-year-old son resulting in his almost instant death. Despite the fact that several witnesses told the investigating police officers that the other person caused the accident, the final investigative report, which came out 2 weeks later, incredibly cited Tim and Judy’s son as being entirely at fault in the accident. Tim, Judy, and the rest of their family were devastated by this news. They knew that the news was not true and frankly, extremely desperate when they came to my office to ask me to find out exactly what happened on this tragic day, which we did.
We immediately started to investigate what really did happen on the day of this accident and interviewed and took the statements of all of the important witnesses. Even after the other side’s insurance company only offered $1.00 to settle our clients’ wrongful death case, we advanced all the money and time it took to get this case ready for trial. We flew out of state several times to take depositions and hired experts to help us recreate the accident. We spent thousands of dollars of our own money to make sure that our client’s case was properly and thoroughly investigated and prepared.
After the reckless watercraft operator’s insurance company failed to properly step up to the plate and honor their obligations to compensate our clients for their untimely loss (and as they were obligated to do under State and Federal law), we took the responsible party and their insurance company to a jury trial in the U.S. Federal District Court. After 5 days of trial and almost 3 more days of deliberation, the jury accepted our contentions and returned a substantial “gross” jury verdict in the sum of $1,250,000.00. The verdict resulted in our clients’ family experiencing some level of closure, especially after the jury agreed with them, and the witnesses, that the other party was responsible for their son’s death.
Call our office toll-free today for a free consultation.
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PARENTS OF ADULT CHILDREN WERE AWARDED ONE MILLION ($1,000,000.00) DOLLARS AFTER THE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR THE OTHER SIDE ORIGINALLY DENIED THEIR CLAIM!
We represented Kati and Larry relative to the death of their 16-year-old son in an extremely tragic head-on collision. In the car was our clients’ son’s best friend who was also fatally injured. First, the insurance company for the other driver denied any responsibility for the accident (despite the fact that the police report said the other driver was at fault). Next, the same insurance company told us over the phone that even if their insured was at fault, it only had $100,000.00 in liability policy limits to cover the claim, which they were not offering.
We studied this company’s insurance policy and frankly, felt this nationally well-known insurance company was either mistaken in their policy representation to us or even worse, was intentionally trying to mislead our clients as to the amount of insurance that was available.
After filing a Superior Court lawsuit and exchanging interrogatories, we learned that in addition to the $100,000.00 liability automobile policy, there was also another liability “umbrella” policy in existence in the amount of $1,000,000.00.
We then continued with our legal efforts and spent the next 6 to 9 months getting the case ready for trial which included hiring experts and taking depositions. After 3-4 settlement conferences before the trial judge, the case was settled for $1,000,000.00. Remember, this settlement took place about 1 week before our jury trial was set to start and almost 1 year since the responsible party’s insurance company denied our claim in full!
Call our office toll-free today for a free consultation.
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BAD FAITH BY AN INSURANCE COMPANY RESULTS IN A TOTAL PAYOUT AND SETTLEMENT IN EXCESS OF THREE MILLION THREE HUNDRED FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND ($3,347,000.00) DOLLARS
Ben was a young man just in the process of finishing school when the vehicle he was in was struck head-on by another truck traveling at about 50 mph. The driver of the other truck was in the process of drag racing his friends on a narrow dirt road and according to witnesses and the police report, probably under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of this accident.
All of the vehicles in this accident were completely totaled and Ben was lucky to have survived. However, Ben’s injuries were extremely serious and resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills.
Because the negligent driver didn’t have liability insurance, we properly pursued a claim on Ben’s behalf with his own insurance company (one of the largest and most well known insurance companies in the United States) under his uninsured motorist coverage. After receiving a copy of Ben’s policy and making a demand for settlement in the range of several hundred thousand dollars, Ben’s own insurance company refused our settlement offer and incorrectly took the position that his uninsured motorist policy would only cover Ben for $30,000.00. This wouldn’t even come close to covering Ben’s current medical bills, much less what our experts were telling us his future medical bills would eventually grow to.
We knew the insurance company was incorrect in their interpretation of Ben’s insurance policy and hired medical and accident reconstruction experts to help us get this case ready for trial. We spent a week taking depositions out of state and subsequently obtained a binding arbitration verdict for Ben against his own insurance company for more than $865,000.00. Knowing that Ben’s insurance company was in “bad faith” and had tried to save money by refusing to take good care of its own insured, we then filed a “bad faith” lawsuit against the insurance company to not only hold them accountable to Ben for unnecessarily delaying his claim, but to also deter them from doing this to someone else.
After more depositions and discovery and with quite a bit of work and negotiations with the insurance company’s agents and lawyers, we forced the insurance company to pay out another $2,500,000.00 to settle the “bad faith” portion of Ben’s claim. Remember, that’s after already obtaining $865,000.00 for Ben during the earlier arbitration.
The best news for Ben is that these awards and settlements allowed him to pay all of his medical bills and start a new life. He was able to continue with his education and learn a new trade. Ben is back to work and has his entire life ahead of him.
Call our office toll-free today for a free consultation.
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OUR LAW FIRM OBTAINED A TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND ($250,000.00) DOLLAR POLICY LIMIT WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT OFFER ONLY 59 DAYS AFTER THE CLAIM WAS ORIGINALLY DENIED BY THE NEGLIGENT DRIVER’S INSURANCE COMPANY TO THE CLIENTS’ ORIGINAL ATTORNEY
After being told by the claims adjustor handling this file that liability issues would in all likelihood result in his prospective clients’ wrongful death claim being denied, a local attorney referred his out-of-state clients to our Law Firm for a second opinion. We promptly conducted a preliminary factual and liability investigation of the accident and were formally retained. We immediately rolled up its sleeves and went to work.
Although the case involved several “complicated issues,” we had dealt with them in the past and were prepared to take on this new challenge. Furthermore, we shifted the burden of proof to the defendant regarding liability, a burden they knew the defendant would not be able to overcome at the time of trial.
Prompt Policy Limits Settlement- Less than 60 days after being retained, our Law Firm confirmed, and then obtained, a liability insurance policy limits settlement offer in the amount of $250,000.00. In all fairness, the unusually fast settlement was probably a combination of our legal analysis of the claim and the solid reputation we have maintained with the settling insurance carrier. Over the years, we had successfully settled and/or taken to trial numerous large dollar cases against this particular carrier and they were aware that we would just as soon take this case to trial as we would settle it.
In any case and prior to accepting the actual settlement and with the clients’ best interest in mind, we required the settling insurance carrier to confirm via a specially prepared verification, signed and dated by the defendant, the extent of all liability coverage applicable to this claim and whether or not there were additional third-party benefits including, but not limited to, liability umbrella policies.
Call our office toll-free today for a free consultation.
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The Secret of Winning a Tort Lawsuit: Get an Experienced Injury Lawyer
Have you ever been bullied or taunted by other people? Has anybody tried to taint your reputation which led to your emotional breakdown and psychological depression? Have you been physically harmed by someone? Well, if your answer to all these questions is yes, then you need to learn more about tort law to protect yourself from further harm.
Tort law, which includes personal injury law, allows individuals who have been physically, emotionally, psychologically, and even financially harmed due to the negligence and wrongdoings of other people to be compensated by those that have inflicted damage on them. Therefore, these laws legally protect individuals from harm or torts. It is also a form of remedy for the harm that was inflicted. With the help of a good injury lawyer, a satisfying compensation may be available to the plaintiff or victims.
What is Tort Law?
Before hiring the best injury lawyer, you might want to know what Tort Law is about. This law actually provides remedies for wrongdoings, specifically civil wrongs that are recognized by the state. When these wrongdoings end up hurting and inflicting pain to an individual, the one who inflicted the pain, may it be intentionally or due to negligence, will be liable as long as the plaintiff is able to prove the damage.
There are two methods of compensation for the wrongdoings or negligence done; it is either by monetary compensation or injunctive relief. In case of an injunctive relief, the defendant will be ordered by a court decree to either refrain from doing a specific task or act, or he could be ordered to do something in order to compensate for the damage.
Tort law also emphasizes that everybody has the right to be free from any bodily, property, and reputational harm. Anything, whether due to negligence or intentional, can allow an individual to file a legal action against the one who has wronged him or her. Tort law, together with an injury lawyer, will be your weapon against anyone who wishes to harm you or any of your loved ones.
Which lawyer to choose
There are many injury attorneys, but here are some aspects of a good lawyer you should look at:
Versatility.
It may be true that there are a lot of other injury lawyers out there; however, the combined knowledge of these lawyers is their most powerful attribute. They have not only legally represented clients and won in the field of personal injury lawsuits, but have also won a lot of other lawsuits which includes the field of criminal law, family, and employment areas as well.
Experience.
The years of experience make a good lawyer assertive, tough, and wise. They will not settle until you get your compensation. They will try to give you the best compensation, and if they don’t, they promise not to ask for any fee. They have confronted a lot of different and complex issues before.
If you want to win a tort lawsuit, you need not only the best but also the most assertive and knowledgeable attorneys in town.
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3 Easy Steps To Understand How Slip And Fall Accidents Happen
“Slip and fall” accidents are pretty much self-explanatory but it is a good idea to know even more about this. Those accidents happen usually at work and the victims might be injured. If the injury is not severe then everything is ok but in some cases, slip and fall accidents can lead to bad consequences. The victim might break an arm or a rib and he or she might be unable to work.
This article will explain everything to you in detail and it is a good idea to continue reading especially if you have been involved in such an accident. Furthermore, you will find out how a slip and fall lawyer can help you in this case.
Bad working conditions
Usually, those are the main culprits of all slip and fall accidents. Also, another reason for those accidents is the carelessness of the employees, but in rare cases. If the employer doesn’t offer safe working conditions then the employees are more prone to various accidents. For example, if the light is not sufficient, if the space is not big enough to work, or if the equipment and working tools are of poor quality, sooner or later incidents will happen.
Bad consequences will follow
If someone has been involved in a slip and fall accident and the injury is serious, then he might be unable to work for a while and he might also need medications. In some cases, the employee is not guilty for this but the employer because he didn’t provide safe working conditions. If the employee cannot work he might be unable to pay the bills and this is how the situation develops into something dramatic. Usually, the insurance company can help in this case but there are situations when the amount of money paid by the insurance company is insufficient.
How slip and fall lawyers can help
In this case, the victim is advised to hire a professional lawyer to protect his rights. If he wins the cases then he will receive the deserved amount of money to sustain his family financially until he can work again. Those lawyers can uphold justice and it is your right to be treated fairly.
So, a simple slip and fall injury can lead to something very bad and that is why it is a good idea to provide great working conditions for your employees if you own a company. If you have been a victim, contact a lawyer and discuss your case at length.
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Different Aspects of a Wrongful Death Claim
When someone’s faulty or negligent behavior causes the death of another individual, the victim’s family or loved one may be able to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the responsible party. The purpose behind filing a wrongful death lawsuit is to seek compensation for the losses that the survivor has suffered because of the death of the victim. Some of these losses may include things like lost salary from the deceased, funeral expenses, and lost companionship.
If your loved one or someone from your family has died because of the fault of another individual/party, you must file a wrongful death lawsuit. Learning about the various factors related to wrongful death claims will help you understand your case a lot better.
What does wrongful death claim refer to?
A wrongful death claim occurs when an individual dies because of the legal fault of another party or person. As far as the law is concerned, the right to file wrongful death lawsuits is rather new. It was during the last century that the federal and state courts created the right of bringing a wrongful death claim. Every state, at present, has some sort of wrongful death law. All sorts of fatal accidents such as car accidents, medical malpractice as well as product liability cases may fall under the category of wrongful death if those accidents cause the death of another. Companies, individuals, or governmental agencies may be legally responsible for one’s death if they failed to act in a reasonable manner and their negligible attitude caused death to someone.
Who may file wrongful death lawsuits?
A representative may file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the survivors who have suffered damages from the deceased’s death. The executor of the deceased’s estate may act as the representative. The survivor may also be termed as “real parties in interest” and this may differ from one state to the other. Some of the examples of “real parties in interest” include:
Immediate members of the family: An immediate family member of the deceased will always get the upper hand as far as being the “real parties in interest” is concerned. Some of the examples of immediate family members may include, spouse, children, and that includes adopted children too, father or mother of unmarried individuals, and so on.
Life partners, putative spouse, and financial dependents: Some of the states would also give the right of recovery to any life or domestic partner that may have been financially dependent on the deceased. A putative spouse is someone who was in good faith that he/she was married to the decedent.
Distant family member: Some states often allow a distant family member to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Distant family members may include sisters, brothers, and grandparents.
Anyone who suffers financial losses: At large, some of the states may also allow anyone who suffers financial losses, make a wrongful death claim.
If anyone close to you has died an untimely death because of the fault of another individual, it is important for you to take legal action against the responsible person. Get in touch with a wrongful death lawyer if you are looking to file a death lawsuit.
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Who Is At Fault in a Truck-Car Accident
A truck-car collision can be extremely dangerous with severe consequences for the car passengers. There is a huge weight difference between the massive 18 wheeler trucks and small cars. That is why in such accidents, the car passenger’s chances of survival are almost zero. Even if the car passenger does survive, he/she will receive severe injuries. That individual may be entitled to an injury compensation claim.
The most important factor when filing a compensation claim is to figure out who is to be held responsible for the injuries you or your loved one has suffered. Trucking accidents are, in a lot of ways, different than the other types of accidents. For example, unlike a regular car accident (accident involving two cars) there are a number of parties involved in the truck accidents. Apart from the drivers of both the vehicles, other parties such as the truck owner, truck manufacturer, or the trucking company may also be involved.
Another factor that sets these accidents apart from the others is the regulations that commercial motor vehicles are governed by. Both state and federal government imposes strict regulations on commercial vehicles. In order to determine liability in a truck accident, parties will need to be aware of all these applicable regulations and also be able to determine if any of these regulations were not followed.
Since truck accidents involve numerous rules and regulations and different states have different laws regarding the matter, it is important to contact a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. As far as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA states, one of the common factors that cause truck accidents is driver fatigue and drug/alcohol use. Because of that, in some states, truck drivers need to drive slower than others. But how is it determined whether or not the driver was driving at the right speed or was under the influence? A competent truck accident lawyer will know all the right questions to ask when determining the fault.
What should you do after you have been involved in such an accident? The combination of the various laws and regulations and the number of potential claims (who you will sue and under what legal theory) all make the trucking accidents extremely complex. That is why they need to be handled with expertise that only an experienced lawyer can provide you. Texas 18 wheeler accident attorneys will be able to help you with making truck accident claims in Texas. It would be wise to consult one as soon as you can.
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10/4/21 – Personal Injury – Defective Drug – Insurance Dispute – gtg
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Your defective drug attorney at our Law Firm is here for you.
Recently there have been a series of major class-action lawsuits involving defective drugs, dangerous drugs, defective medical devices, and defective products. Our defective drug attorneys have represented clients all over Texas who were injured as a result of taking defective drugs, dangerous drugs, or defective products that were shown to be harmful.
Finding a drug attorney to help with your defective pharmaceutical product or defective medical device case is an important step to resolution. Your defective drug injury attorney usually specializes in pharmaceutical litigation and nothing else, which gives them exceptional experience with defective drug legal procedures, case history, and anything else related to dangerous drugs that a medical attorney should know. If you qualify, a drug defense lawyer will take your case on contingency. Your attorney will focus on your drug lawsuit issues, allowing you to take care of your health knowing that you will get through the process.
Your defective drug attorney may also have defective drug doctors referrals or resources for you. This will help with other situations related to your defective drugs, dangerous drugs, defective products, or defective medical device case and will assist you in any way he can. During your research process to find a defective drug attorney, you may talk to several before deciding on one that you feel comfortable with. You can shorten that process by coming to our defective drug attorney team first. Remember, a good defective drug attorney will have a track record of success in pharmaceutical law litigation.
If you have suffered any serious health risks due to dangerous drugs or defective products contact our Law Firm any time of day to speak with a personal injury attorney. Your defective drug attorney will handle your claim personally.
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An Insurance Dispute Lawyer can help with your claim.
If you’ve been involved in an auto accident and have a personal injury claim, you probably have had to deal with insurance companies. Insurance companies are in business to make money from personal injury claims after auto accidents and often use tactics such as denying and delaying valid personal injury claims in order to avoid paying what they should, causing insurance disputes. If you are involved in an insurance dispute and think you are not being treated fairly, your personal injury lawyer can represent your interests to the insurance company and make sure you get what you deserve.
The personal injury lawyers at our Law Firm are experienced in handling insurance disputes with insurance companies. We represent clients in a wide range of insurance disputes. Your personal injury lawyer can handle personal injury claims ranging from denial of claims under auto or health policies to cancellation of coverage on the basis of mistakes or false information in the application. For specific information about your rights and options in a dispute with your insurance company, contact an insurance claim attorney or car accident lawyer at our Law Firm.
Your insurance claim attorney or personal injury lawyer may tell you it is not uncommon for an insurer to offer a low settlement on a claim and then deny coverage on the basis of a condition, exclusion, or even a problem with the application, causing insurance disputes. Insurance companies have even been known on occasion to simply cancel the policy in the hopes that the injured party will not contend the decision and that is when insurance disputes occur. Your insurance dispute lawyer and a car accident lawyer can evaluate your bad faith insurance personal injury claim in cases where the insurance company’s denial of coverage or defense appears to be a tactical decision on its part, causing insurance disputes, rather than a legitimate exercise of its rights under the policy. With a good insurance dispute lawyer or personal injury lawyer, you can rest assured your rights are protected even from your own insurance company and avoid insurance disputes.
Your insurance dispute lawyer with our Law Firm is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call us or email us right now to speak with an insurance dispute attorney.
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Our personal injury law firm serves many locations across the state.
The personal injury attorneys of our Law Firm travel all across Texas to represent injured parties who need help and protection after their auto accident, slip and fall, or other personal injury accident. No area of this great state of Texas is too far away from us. If you can’t get to our office, we will come to you at home, at work, or wherever you are.
Your injury attorney will come to you. We understand that your life is busy and you may have work, school, or a family to handle. After your personal injury accident, you will also have doctor appointments, chiropractic visits, and other injuries to attain to. We will help you get the medical treatment you need after an auto accident or dog bite injury. As your personal injury attorney, we want to see you healed and back to normal. We understand that you need time to heal and rest before gallivanting around again getting back to your everyday schedule.
Did your auto accident ruin your car and do you need help getting a rental? Do you need help getting your car fixed? Our personal injury attorneys have contacts all across Texas to help get your car fixed after the auto accident. Not only can we help your car, but our personal injury attorneys will refer you to the top-of-the-line doctors, chiropractors, or massage therapists who know personal injuries and can help get you healed. The staff of personal injury legal assistants will set up the appointments for you in the city closest to you and pay for that treatment from the settlement. You won’t have medical insurance financial burden because your personal injury case settlement should take care of those costs and help with future medical bills.
With us representing you for your personal injury case, you can rest easy knowing we serve all of Texas. Our personal injury attorneys will be there for you and your family. Not sure if you have a personal injury case? Call our personal injury law firm and we can tell you. Don’t believe we serve all of Texas but you have a personal injury case and you need help? Call our office and we will come to you and help with your personal injury case.
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Doctor Referrals from our personal injury attorneys.
If you are in pain and need help with an attorney-doctor referral, the personal injury attorneys at our Law Firm are here to help you. The attorney-doctor referral section on our website contains a list of medical professionals we know and trust. We have met with each one personally and trust that they are qualified to get you the care you need. You may need a well-trained chiropractor, an experienced medical doctor, and/or a professional physical therapist on your team.
In an emergency situation like a personal injury accident, you need to depend on a well-trained medical doctor. Your medical doctor is qualified not only to handle issues related to family medicine but also to treat your personal injury. The personal injury attorneys at our Law Firm care about your health and want your recovery to be as smooth and hassle-free as possible.
Ignoring injuries at the time of accidents will not make them go away. Many thousands of injured people live with permanent damage, years after their accidents. At our Law Firm, we understand that back injuries affect every aspect of your life. It is important that you get the treatment your body needs to make a full recovery. The personal injury attorneys at our Law Firm will help you find a good chiropractor to get you back to work and back to your normal life. Listening to your back injury lawyer and following through with the recommendations of your physician, may save you untold suffering, medical costs, and future surgical procedures, later in life.
Physical therapy can help get you back to more normal life and back to work after the trauma of getting hurt. If your personal injury accident is a very serious one, you may need extensive rehabilitation, requiring a well-trained and experienced physical therapist.
Choose a health care professional your back injury lawyer knows and trusts. When you are injured, seek the help of a health care professional. If you are in pain and need help finding a health care professional, the personal injury attorneys at our Law Firm will help you find the best chiropractor, medical doctor, and/or physical therapist.
Call an accident lawyer at our Law Firm today and we will direct you to a trusted medical provider who will help you get the care you need.
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10/4/21 – Mediation – gtg
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Mediation Services
A mediator must be neutral, impartial, objective, flexible, intelligent, patient, persistent, empathetic, effective as a listener, imaginative, respected in the community, honest, reliable, non-defensive, persevering, persuasive, forceful, and optimistic.
Principles of negotiation and problem solving which emphasize the long-term interests of the parties are the primary ingredients of the process. The mediator acts as a catalyst and advocates for the resolution of the dispute by assisting in the definition of the issues; dissolving obstacles to communication; exploring alternatives, and facilitating the negotiators to reach an agreement.
What are the components of a good mediator?
Fair and impartial – it sounds obvious, but it is the critical starting point. It means considering all sides of a dispute with equal compassion and understanding the issues and needs of all parties. I don’t want to be seen as working especially hard for one side or the other. I want to be recognized as working hard for a fair compromise.
Understands the law – the attorneys involved in mediation can’t spend time explaining the law to the mediator. The mediator has to grasp the issues behind each case.
Involved in the process – a good mediator listens to the arguments to the parties’ needs, and a good mediator understands the motivations for all parties. There is always more to a case than just money. You don’t want to be in a hurry. You need to spend the time necessary to help develop a settlement. The parties don’t want to feel like they’re being rushed out the door.
Appropriately aggressive – a mediator is more than a courier taking offers and demands back and forth between parties, but a good mediator cannot force or coerce a settlement. The goal is to help the parties reach their own settlement.
A great mediator has outstanding interpersonal skills that facilitate mediation. Should be intelligent, articulate, passionate about the practice of law, and compassionate toward all litigants. They should also understand that litigation is always personal to the litigants and does their best to ensure that the mediation process is fair.
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legal 9/17/21 – Motorcycle – Spinal Cord – Distracted Drivers – How to find an Attorney – gtg
Motorcycle Accidents Overview
Over 4 million motorcycles are registered in the United States, and motorcycles are especially popular for recreation and transportation in Texas. Motorcycles are fun to drive, they offer excellent fuel efficiency, and can be less expensive to buy than a car. Motorcycles are also significantly more dangerous than cars, and motorcyclists may become seriously injured or killed in collisions with cars and trucks. Motorcyclists comprise just two percent of all registered vehicles in the United States, yet approximately five percent of all highway fatalities each year involve motorcyclists and their passengers.
A collision between a vehicle and a motorcycle driver is a gravely unequal contest. In contrast to cars and trucks, a motorcycle itself provides virtually no protection in a crash. In a motorcycle accident, the motorcyclist’s injuries are likely to be far more serious than those of the vehicle’s occupants.
Even when motorcyclists and their passengers use safety equipment such as a helmet and protective clothing, they may become injured as a result of faulty highway design, or because of defective safety equipment, or a malfunction of the motorcycle.
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Spinal Cord Injury Attorneys
In serious accidents, the spine can be injured, anywhere from the cervical area (the neck) down through the lumbar area (the lower back). The spinal cord transmits both feeling and control between the brain and all of the body. If the injury damages the spinal cord, the impact on an individual can be catastrophic. A spinal column injury is life-changing for the person who has suffered it and for those close to the person. You and your loved ones face major adjustments in every aspect of your life, and in planning for your future. Experienced spinal cord injury attorneys understand the gravity of these injuries and their impact on a person’s life.
An injury in the lower spine can result in paraplegia, the loss of use of the legs, imposing severe restrictions in a person’s life. If the paraplegia is permanent, a person must plan their entire life around the restrictions that come with the loss of use of their legs, including permanent use of wheelchairs. Injuries higher up the spinal cord can result in quadriplegia, a loss of use of both arms and legs. An individual with quadriplegia may need mechanical assistance to breathe, and 24-hour around-the-clock assistive care to survive. Our spinal cord injury attorneys know what this diagnosis means to you and your family and can help you think through your needs. Our spinal cord injury attorneys understand the realities of wheelchair use, and the need to redesign and rebuild a home so that a person can use their kitchen, their bathroom and can navigate other spaces.
Our spinal cord injury lawyers work with people who have been injured. They understand that a person with paraplegia or quadriplegia will face enormous costs for the rest of their life. Our spinal cord injury attorneys consult with a qualified life care planner who can anticipate all the challenges and needs that the injured person will face. It is important to compute what the cost will be not only next year or the next five years but 20, 30, or 40 years out. When our spinal cord injury attorneys represent an injured person they make sure all potential costs and expenses have been addressed. Only then can a realistic evaluation be made of the economic costs that should be factored into the case’s resolution.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a spinal cord injury caused by the negligence or irresponsibility of someone else, you have the right to correct the wrong that was inflicted upon you. One way to exercise this right is to pursue financial compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, medical bills, and all of the other mounting costs you must now cope with on a daily basis. The dedicated and experienced spinal cord injury attorneys at our Law Firm are the people that can help you pursue that right to fair and just compensation because they understand your worries, can answer your questions and can use every legal option available to relieve your burden and get you the justice you deserve for enduring such a traumatic, devastating, and life-changing injury. Fill out our free initial contact form, and let’s work together today to make a brighter future for you and your family tomorrow.
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Most people are well familiar with the dangers of driving while intoxicated but driving while distracted has potential consequences that are just as dangerous. And while you may be more likely to encounter a drunk driver during certain times of the day, a distracted driver can disrupt your life at any time.
Basically, distracted driving is inattentive driving, often as a result of talking on a cell phone, texting, engaging in conversations with passengers, “zoning out” while driving (a common problem with tired drivers or drivers who travel long distances without taking adequate breaks), or paying too much attention to onboard entertainment.
GHSA Report
The Governors Highway Safety Association (“GHSA”) released its report Distracted Driving: What Research Shows and What States Can Do. Among the findings:
Distractions affect driving performance.
Drivers frequently are distracted, perhaps as much as half the time.
Distractions are estimated to be associated with 15 to 25 percent of crashes at all levels.
Texting likely increases crash risk more than cell phone use.
Based on existing research, the report urges states to:
Use low-cost engineering solutions such as edge line and centerline rumble stripes to alert motorists who may drift.
Record distracted driving in crash reports.
Evaluate other distracted driving laws and programs.
The report further urges states to consider the following:
Enacting a texting ban for all drivers and a complete cell phone ban for new drivers; and/or
Enforcing all existing cell phone and texting laws.
Dangers of Texting While Driving
Generally, there are three broad categories of distracted driving:
Manual – taking your hands off the wheel;
Visual – taking your eyes off the road; and
Cognitive – taking your mind off driving.
TEXTING IS ALL THREE DISTRACTIONS TYPES IN ONE. The potential dangers cannot be overstated. A text message averages 4.6 seconds; at 55 miles per hour, that’s 100 yards (the length of a football field) of driving blind!
Survey of Current Cell Phone and Texting Laws
Texas currently has state laws in place that restrict cell phone use in certain circumstances. The following is a brief summary of the current laws:
You cannot send or receive electronic messages while driving in Texas.
Drivers with learner’s permits are prohibited from using cell phones in the first six months of driving.
Using any handheld device in your vehicle in a school zone is illegal.
Drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using handheld devices.
School bus drivers may not use cell phones at all while driving if children are present.
Cellphone laws can change from city to city.
Our Commitment
Our Law Office is dedicated to pursuing the rights of victims of distracted drivers. Towards that end, we bring a commitment to staying as current as possible on relevant authorities, including changes in the law and scientific studies on distracted driving. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of the negligence of a distracted driver, call us today for a free consultation with a dedicated Texas auto accident lawyer.
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Do I Need A Personal Injury Attorney?
If you happen to live or work in Texas, then there is going to be a strong possibility that you will need a personal injury attorney at some point in your life. So I’d like to present some potential scenarios where an attorney like this will come in very handy for you. Let’s take some time now to take a much closer look at some of the potential possibilities that you could end up facing.
The first scenario where you might need a personal injury attorney is if you happen to trip and fall and really hurt yourself while you are walking down the sidewalk. If you can prove that the sidewalk was damaged and you fell due to negligence, then you should certainly be entitled to money for your pain and suffering. An attorney would obviously be a major asset in this particular case, so it would certainly make sense to have one fighting for you if this were ever to happen.
Another area where you might need an attorney for personal injuries would be if you, unfortunately, found yourself in a car accident. You don’t even have to be the driver in order for this to become a potential situation. Maybe you unintentionally get into an accident with one of your friends and you are the passenger. Or maybe you even accidentally get hit by a car because the driver was too busy texting instead of paying attention to the road. There are many different automobile situations where an attorney like this could very well come in handy.
The last scenario that I’d like to mention regarding an attorney like this would be if you were unfortunately harmed while doing your job. Maybe you are a carpenter and you accidentally slipped while using a saw. You can suffer major damage if your arm were to get caught in a table saw. You could obviously even lose your limb. So this is another possibility that you can potentially have to live with.
These are some of the major situations where you might need a personal injury attorney. If any of these issues ever happen to you, you need to make sure you contact an attorney right away.
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How To Find The Best Personal Injury Attorney
Finding the best personal injury attorney does not have to be impossible but there are some considerations that should be examined. The first consideration is the attorney-client relationship. During the initial consultation, the attorney should be friendly and easy to talk to. Make sure the attorney chosen will provide personal attention to the case. If a law firm is chosen specifically, ask which attorney will be spending the most time on the case and will appear for court hearings and other scheduled appointments for the case.
Cost is a factor that should be discussed very early on, and this should be settled before any contracts or retainer agreement is signed by the injured individual. Some personal injury lawyers may take a case on a contingency basis, and this means the lawyer receives a percentage of the award rather than a flat fee or hourly rate. Others may have a set fee charged or charge on an hourly basis.
Finding a good personal injury attorney means evaluating what is available. Ask friends, family members, and coworkers if anyone has an attorney that they recommend. Look in the phone book and run a search online. Make a list of all the possibilities and then start evaluating and comparing the choices. Find out how much experience each lawyer has and look at their history of wins and losses. An attorney who loses most of the cases handled is usually not the right choice for a personal injury case.
Ask each possible attorney for a list of previous clients who can be contacted. This will help the individual find out whether previous clients were happy with the legal representation provided. Eliminate any attorneys from the list who are not willing to provide previous client references. Make sure that any lawyer listed is licensed to practice in the state.
Choosing the right personal injury attorney means researching any possible complaints. Check with the Better Business Bureau and the local Bar Association to see if there are any complaints or actions against a specific lawyer. This will help ensure that the attorney chosen is the best choice for the individual and the type of case involved.
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How Can A Personal Injury Attorney Help?
Anyone who has been injured through no fault of their own should seek legal advice. A personal injury attorney understands the law concerning personal injuries, and these legal professionals will represent their clients aggressively. Anyone who is injured may not understand their rights or even know the full scope of their injuries right away. Many insurance companies take advantage of this fact and may try to get the individual to settle quickly for a very low amount.
Personal injury laws can vary from one state to another, and a lawyer who specializes in personal injury cases in Texas will be very familiar with the Texas laws regarding personal injury. This experience and legal expertise can help ensure that the injured individual is treated fairly by the insurance company and court. Without legal representation, the individual may not know where to turn or who to turn to for help.
Many injuries may not be immediately apparent after an accident. A personal injury attorney will have medical resources to help identify all of the injuries suffered and the specific extent of these injuries. The individual may be scheduled for certain medical tests or appointments to determine the entire amount and severity of the injuries that were inflicted. These lawyers work closely with medical professionals so they are aware of the latest medical technology and testing.
An experienced lawyer will take care of dealing with medical professionals, gather important medical documentation, and help build a legal case for compensation. This attorney will offer advice and answer questions that may arise. Trying to handle any personal injury case without a qualified attorney is a big mistake, and these cases usually fail for a number of reasons. Make sure that the lawyer chosen is the right lawyer for the case. It is important that the individual and attorney develop a positive relationship for the best outcome from the case.
A personal injury attorney can provide assistance in many ways. These professionals provide legal answers and help, medical referrals and document procurement, and deal with the other parties involved in a case. This assistance can be invaluable, and the best results are usually seen when an experienced and highly qualified attorney is retained.
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Looking For A Good Personal Injury Attorney?
If you’ve been in an accident or some kind of a slip and fall then you’re obviously going to need a really good personal injury attorney to help you maximize your claim as good as you possibly can. So it’s important that you know where to look for an attorney like this and I’m going to fill you in on a very simple way to do just that if you’ll allow me to. So let’s take a much closer look at the process that I go through and the same process that you should use when you’re looking for an attorney like this too.
One of the main things you want to know about a personal injury attorney is if they are actually good at their job or not. So the best way to figure that out would be to go to some of the various websites online that will fill you in on information about a personal injury attorney like this. All people like to post about their experiences on different blogs and other information-sharing sites so you want to look for websites like this and see if the attorney you’re looking at has gotten a good rating from other people.
Another way to find a good personal injury attorney would be to contact somebody you know that has used one before. If they have gotten good results with that attorney then it only makes sense that you’d want to give that personal injury attorney a try as well. So talk to somebody you trust and get the contact details from them.
If you really don’t need reviews or any type of personal testimonial then you could obviously just look in your local phone book to find a personal injury attorney. This really isn’t all that difficult and you should just pick one that seems good to you and give them a call and see what they’re all about.
These are some of the ways that I go about locating a personal injury attorney. If you think about it you could probably come up with some other methods to try as well, so do that if you feel it’s necessary.
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What To Look For In A Personal Injury Attorney?
If you happen to be looking for a personal injury attorney then you’re obviously going to want to look for one that meets certain characteristics that are important to you. This is a big deal for you because this could mean whether or not you actually get a very large sum of money for your injuries or if you only end up getting a small sum of money or nothing at all. So you definitely want an attorney that knows his or her job and knows it well.
There’s a lot more that goes into being a personal injury attorney than just understanding the law. You actually want to have an attorney that is very charismatic working for you. The reason why you want somebody with charisma is that they may need to convince people that your personal situation is a certain way and you don’t want somebody who is dull and drab making your arguments for you because they just won’t do a very good job.
Another very important characteristic that you need from a personal injury attorney is confidence. You don’t want to have an attorney that walks into a courtroom with absolutely zero confidence working on your behalf. This kind of person is only going to fail the majority of the time because they will not believe in you, they will not believe in your case and they won’t believe in themselves as well so that is a major recipe for disaster that you should avoid at all costs.
The final quality that you want to see portrayed in your personal injury attorney is the quality of leadership. I know they are working in what is more of a one-on-one environment but there is also a jury involved in some cases and you want this person to be able to be convincing and have leadership qualities so that they can make other people follow the advice that they give and do the things that they want them to do. Because that’s the kind of thing that a leader does, and that’s what you want working for you.
So please look for all of these characteristics when you are seeking out a personal injury attorney. They are really that important and you need to know about this before you make any decisions.
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How To Find A Good Personal Injury Attorney
If you’ve been in some form of an accident or you’ve been injured in any way at all, then it would probably be a good idea for you to find yourself an excellent personal injury attorney.
There are a lot of different attorneys available to you in this section of the law, so you want to make sure that you find one that is good at what they do and someone that you feel comfortable with so that you know that you trust them.
One major thing you need to pay attention to when looking for a personal injury attorney is their fee to represent you.
Most of them will provide you with a free consultation, but there are few that do charge a small fee as well.
If you feel like your settlement is going to pay you a lot of money, then it might be worth it for you to meet with one of the attorneys that charge a consultation fee since these are usually the individuals that have the best track records.
But I’ll leave that up to you since only you know your financial situation.
A good place to look for a personal injury attorney is right here on the Internet.
There are so many websites dedicated to reviewing all kinds of things, and you’ll definitely be able to find a site that has reviews for personal injury lawyers as well.
So look at all the different reviews about the attorney you are considering and pay close attention to the people that weren’t happy because their words will probably be a good indicator of whether or not this is the perfect attorney for you.
Another great way to find a personal injury attorney is to check with your friends and family members and see if they have a good recommendation for you.
More often than not, somebody you know has been in an accident or a slip and fall and they’ve gone through the experience that you are about to go through yourself.
So they’ll probably have some really good advice for you and I can almost guarantee that they’ll be able to recommend a good personal injury attorney right away.
I hope you found this article regarding how to find a personal injury attorney very useful.
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Personal Injury – 9/16/21 – Car – Boat – Airplane – gtg III
A car accident insurance policy is a must-buy for every driver. It covers you and your passengers in the event that you get involved in a road crash. Getting into a car that does not have this type of insurance or even driving one yourself is a big risk.
Many times after an accident, there will be not just car repairs to sort but also medical expenses for bodily injuries. These can run into thousands of dollars which would be difficult to pay in cash. A car accident insurance policy takes care of such expenses, thus eliminating the financial burden an accident brings.
The rates and coverage given to a motorist differ from one insurance company to another. A number of factors influence this, from the car model to the motorist’s perceived risk.
Most of these factors are unique to each driver and insurance companies evaluate them differently, which explains the unique rates each driver gets from one company to another. For instance, drivers who have a tendency of getting into accidents generally get higher rates but the figure varies from company to company.
Should you get involved in an accident and the police are brought in, the effect on your rates will be more severe. If the accident is minor and both parties agree on a settlement, you can negotiate and pay the agreed amount. Such an incident may not require any police involvement, especially if the car suffers a few scratches or dents and no one is injured. In any case, it is very important that you inform the insurance company immediately, even before agreeing on any settlement.
Your insurer may increase your car accident rates if you are found to be at fault in an accident, the extent of the fault, how serious the accident is if you earn a ticket for a traffic violation, and the type of claim filed after the accident. If you have filed a claim following a car accident in the recent past, you will be given higher rates indefinitely. Many companies focus on the past 12 months. If your claim was made earlier than that, it may not affect your rates. However, if you have filed at least two or three claims in a span of five years or so, companies will be wary of dealing with you and when they do, they will give you much higher quotes.
To always be on the safe side, understand the company’s terms and conditions, and maintain all traffic rules.
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By far the most crucial concern that needs to be attended to, if you are involved in an auto accident is most often to see to any personal injuries that will have resulted. The next most important task is to speak to your insurance company representative. So let’s say you get hold of your agent to inform him you have been involved in a car accident, and he seems very helpful. He even suggests a body shop you could take your vehicle to and might refer to it as being a “preferred” repair shop.
“Terrific” you may think. That saves you the hassle of needing to find a body shop yourself. After all, you want to get your car repaired at the earliest opportunity. However, suppose you are already aware of a high-quality repair shop that does body repair and would prefer to take your vehicle there.
So you notify your insurance representative you wish to take your car to another body shop. But he responds with something similar to “We won’t warranty the repair in the event you go there” or “You’ll need to spend a lot more if you go to the shop that you picked” or some other statement intended to discourage you from going to your shop and encourage (or possibly attempt to coerce) you to go to the company’s “preferred” shop.
So what to make of all this? You might be wanting to know why he is wanting to discourage you from opting for your own shop?
To respond to this question, you need to know what the final goal of an insurer is: The answer has nothing to do with providing you the convenience of not having to find a good repair shop … the final target is to generate profits and as much money as possible! And that is accomplished by minimizing the amount they must pay back in insurance claims.
So the collision shop your agent suggests is “preferred” … preferred by the insurance carrier for THEIR advantage, not yours. Why is that? Because the recommended repairer is under contract to utilize components that are less costly than the original parts that were in the car when it was new. But regrettably, most of these parts are substandard in quality and could even result in a dangerous repair job! This can even mean that your car will be unsafe to drive after the fixes are concluded.
There are more reasons why choosing the wrong repair service can lead to dangerous fixes. There’s a method referred to as “Clipping”, and that means cutting off a complete half of your car (either the front or rear half) and affixing another (undamaged) half of a vehicle that has been wrecked.
This process actually entails cutting through the vehicle’s unibody or frame, and it affects its structural integrity. Does this sound risky to you? That’s because it IS unsafe! But sadly, it isn’t against the law! It’s a widespread incident.
So the bottom line is – if you were to be in a traffic accident – look out! Find out if the shop makes use of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) components or lesser quality “aftermarket” parts. And if the shop performs “clipping” … don’t even consider using them!
Next, learn the secrets the insurance industry doesn’t want you to know. An auto accident may be only the beginning of your troubles!
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Boat Accident Lawyer
Boat accidents are a leading cause of unnecessary deaths and therefore the number one source of personal injury. Many of the accidents occurred due to negligence on the part of one of the drivers involved. When a boat accident is caused by another party’s negligence, people who are harmed often reach settlements with the liable party which provides compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering as well as other damages. This requires the service of a boat accident attorney. Locating the best boat accident attorney is not that difficult a process under normal circumstances. However, finding one when you or a loved one have been seriously injured in a boat accident can be significantly more troublesome. There are qualified Personal Injury Attorneys that specialize in personal injury cases. They have the expertise and skills necessary to obtain a fair financial compensation for the damage to property caused by the accident, along with all physical injuries that the accident victims have had to endure.
Any driver that was not at fault for an accident should expect to be fully compensated, for all of his or her medical bills. In addition to that, the victimized driver should receive recompense for all the repairs necessary to bring their damaged boat back to the condition it was in before the accident.
However, the process of doing that can be extremely lengthy, with moments of frustration and anxiety, especially when an insurance company refuses to pay medical bills or send the funds to have the Boat repaired. This is why it is necessary to hire a competent Boat Accident Lawyer. He or she will represent their clients to achieve the compensation that every victim of the accident is entitled to
Settling the Case
A boat accident attorney will build the case strong enough to take it to trial in a court of law. However, long before the trial is scheduled, each represented party (the attorneys) usually will meet with the opposing side to discuss settling the case out of court. Both sides typically calculate the amount of pain and suffering that has been endured by the victim along with the seriousness of the damage inflicted on the vehicle or other property.
If a settlement can be reached, then both sides will avoid an expensive and lengthy process of trying the case in open court. However, if the plaintiff is dissatisfied with the amount offered during the settlement, he or she can always instruct the boat accident attorney to take the case to trial.
Before selecting the best boat Accident Attorney, it is important to consider the fee that will be extracted from the total amount awarded during the settlement phase, or after the case has been won in court. Typically, for a personal injury case, an attorney can charge anywhere between 25% and 40%, based on the specific circumstances of the case. While this number might appear to be high, research indicates that cases involving an attorney typically have much higher settlement amounts than those that are achieved without the skills of an attorney, or a law firm.
Any driver that has been in an accident where the other driver is at fault or he is at fault should seek out a competent and skilled boat accident attorney. They will handle all the details to represent him or her in the case.
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Plane Accident Lawyer
Do you need a plane accident lawyer? If your answer is yes, there is no doubt that you understand how an accident can affect you. Perhaps, what is more, daunting is your quest of finding the right plane accident attorney. That is where a plane accident lawyer comes to your aid.
At our Law Firm, we not only offer you that required legal representation but also stick with you until you achieve all that you desire from insurance adjusters. During this challenging moment in your life, our plane accident attorney will give you practical advice that will be of help in the future in case you plunge into such a nasty scenario. Why, though, choose our plane accident lawyers?
The Law Firm You Can Trust
Our Law Firm has been in operation for over 25 years of offering plane, bike, and train drivers legal representation. You can be assured of their vast experience in these areas.
With many years of practice, our attorneys have canvassed the entire state and beyond. What this translates to, it that our plane accident attorneys know virtually every area your plane may be involved in an accident. This will help you in the quest of explaining to them how it happened.
Our lawyers have had an exemplary legal representation record throughout the years of practice.
How Much Do We Charge?
Do not be worried about the amount it will cost you for our plane accident attorneys to represent you In fact, our mission is that you get what you deserve first! Our commission is solely based on the contingent fee.
What that simply means, is that until you settle on your award, our attorneys will be patiently waiting with you. Upon receiving your award, then our attorneys will deduct their commission for the services they have rendered to you
Why Should You Choose Us
There is no doubt that you will be impressed by our down-to-earth services that are aimed at helping you receive the award that you rightfully deserve. Our plane accident attorney will be willing to listen to you attentively when you explain what you recall about the accident before giving their opinion. Additionally, our promise under oath is to do whatever legal thing that can as long as it is within their reach.
Here are some of the notable reasons why many plane owners decide to contact us. You too will find that we emerge the top in service delivery:
We offer free consultations
We have experienced and dedicated plane accident attorneys
Apart from English, consultations are also done in Spanish (there is a full-time Spanish-speaking staff). We offer hassle-free and private parking to our clients
Our experience is well over 25 years
We work for long hours during weekdays to offer you the best services that you deserve (8:30 AM to 5:00 PM on most weekdays)
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legal 9/15/21 – Medical Error – gtg
The way we, as patients, view our medical providers has always been a source of amazement to me. If someone walks into a lawyer’s office with a serious tax problem and the lawyer says that he considers the problem serious enough to require several days of research by a team of attorneys in consultation with specialists in the field, the client walks out thinking “What a clever and careful attorney I have.” On the other hand, the same client when put in the situation of being a medical patient, who after being examined by his doctor, if told by the physician “Your problem is serious. I want to make sure that I come to the right diagnosis so I will spend some time researching the problem and consult with others” is apt to think “What a terrible doctor. Why doesn’t he know what is wrong with me?”
We have created a myth in our society that doctors are infallible, that they don’t make errors, don’t have to look things up, and have a compendium of knowledge that incorporates every disease, every treatment, and every consequence of treatment in their field and know it all by heart! Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. Doctors do make mistakes, do forget, and don’t know everything. How did the myth of infallibility have its inception? I believe it has been fostered by doctors themselves. Doctors are taught from their first day in medical school that they are supposed to be infallible and when they do not live up to this impossible goal they are so embarrassed and are shamed that errors are rarely reported and, therefore, even more rarely corrected. I am not the first one to come to this conclusion. An excellent article was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled Error in Medicine by Dr. Lucian L. Leape. Dr. Leape is a Harvard Medical Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management of the Harvard School of Public Health. The article is a reasoned approach to what causes errors in medicine and what can be done to reduce them. When the article was published in December of 1994 it gained little notice except for the notoriety which it produced by reporting about the 180,000 people who die each year as the result of doctor-induced injury and that that is the equivalent of three jumbo-jet crashes every two days. That statistic and characterization have been often quoted. The important part of the article is about what causes medical errors and what, if anything, is being done to prevent them. Dr. Leape’s hypothesis is that the infallibility myth fostered by medical training results in fear, guilt, anger, embarrassment, and humiliation when an error occurs. As a consequence, errors are rarely reported. When an error comes to light, usually because a serious injury has occurred, hospital and physician groups fail to correct the problem and instead punish or eliminate the perpetrator of the error rather than reviewing the underlying causes. When a resident cuts off the wrong appendage, the resident is disciplined, retrained, or drummed out of the program rather than analyzing why we have residents work for 36 hours in a row without sleep so they are prone to make those kinds of errors.
Most errors in medicine deal with medication errors. Yet the same safeguards exist with respect to the dispensing of medicine that has been in place since the time of Hippocrates. The ultimate end-user, in the form of a single nurse, is given the responsibility of making sure that the right medication in the right dosage goes to the right patient, hundreds if not thousands of times every day. There is no planned redundancy. A simple bar code mechanism could dispense the medications quicker and probably more economically with far fewer errors. Medicine is so steeped in tradition that it is as if it cannot get out of its own way to come up with imaginative solutions to problems such as these.
Comparing the error rate in medicine to that of almost any other industry where human life is at stake leaves medicine far back in the pack. If medical statistics are to be believed, somewhere between 1% and 20% of patients admitted to hospitals suffer a serious injury at the hands of a doctor or a nurse. If that statistic applied to the airline industry, no one would ever get on a flight. It isn’t that pilots are any smarter than doctors or that their job is any less complex, it is just that systems have been analyzed in the aviation industry on an institutional basis to prevent disasters. Every aviation accident is investigated by the National Transportation and Safety Board. Pilots are encouraged to report mistakes through a system of Aviation Safety Reporting which is both confidential and free of punishment. Pilots recognize that they are fallible and as a consequence have to follow routine checklists with the backup of a co-pilot. Airplanes are designed with multiple redundant systems. It is expected and anticipated that pilots will make errors. In fact, studies show that errors are made routinely on every flight. A system is in effect to absorb and respond to those errors instantaneously. Lights go off, horns sound, air traffic controllers correct the problem, co-pilots point out the mistake followed by a simple thank you on behalf of the pilot and a routine continuation of the flight without fear of punishment or social ostracism. Aviation recognizes that everyone makes mistakes and has built-in mechanisms necessary to anticipate them and correct them before harm is done. While pilots cannot start an aircraft or even shut it off without a complicated written checklist that has to be followed the same way every time, the most complex of brain or heart surgeries take place every day without a written protocol. Manufacturers of aircraft publish pilot operating handbooks which must be rigidly followed by every pilot who flies that make and model of aircraft regardless of whether it’s in Florida, Kentucky, or Timbuktu. Yet the same operation is performed dozens of different ways in different sequences even in the same hospital by different doctors and even by the same doctor at different times. It is as if we do not dare to question our physicians for fear of disrupting the myth of infallibility. Everyone thinks that their doctor is error-free. Only other people’s doctors make the kind of mistakes that end up in lawsuits. The reality is that all doctors make mistakes and by holding physicians to an impossible standard, which they themselves not only tolerate but insist upon, the system never changes and the same mistakes are made over and over again at different places at different times. Because they occur routinely at 5,000 hospitals across the country, they do not make the newspapers and there is no public outcry for reform as occurs when 300 people die at once when 747 crashes.
It is way past the time for all of us, including our medical providers, to realize that, the myth of infallibility is just that, a myth. People make mistakes, and doctors are people. If someone is injured or killed as a result, their family is entitled to be compensated. In addition, analysis ought to take place as to what caused the mistake in the first place. System errors ought to be corrected if they exist, and systems ought to be designed in advance to accept the inevitability of error, plan for it and, if possible, avoid its occurrence.
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