No one expects a person seriously injured in an accident to run a marathon or to bench press 500 pounds soon after the injury. At the same time, the legal concept of mitigation of damages requires those injured to make reasonable best efforts to get back on their feet. Mitigation of Damages Mitigation of [...]
Discovery in Civil Litigation
A “search for the truth” is the idea behind the discovery phase of civil law suits. Hollywood keeps movie viewers in suspense, telling a tale but holding back on a final nugget of truth until a secret witness shows up in court at the end revealing “the truth”. Forget all that. In the real word, [...]
Dog Bite Cases in Personal Injury Law
Dog bite cases present a shocking sudden trauma and long term damages. Man’s best friend turns into a monster. Permanent scarring results in many cases. Strict Liability The only good news in dog bite cases comes in strict liability. Most, not all, states impose strict liability on the owner or keeper of a dog for [...]
Notice Requirements in Personal Injury Cases
Notice requirements compel those injured in an accident to notify proper authorities within a certain time frame. Otherwise, they lose the ability to make a claim. Many people understand statutes of limitation. Such laws give an injured person a certain number of years after an accident to file a proper complaint in a court with [...]
PREMISES LIABILITY LAW AND INJURIES
Premises liability cases address the legal duty of property owners. Many scenarios fall under premises liability. A store customer opens a cooling unit to reach for an item and a heavy door slams into her head. A shopping cart speeds along the floor, striking a customer. A homeowner, legally burning brush, walks away and a [...]
Products Liability: Personal Injuries Caused by Defective Products
Products liability cases present horrifying facts: A power wrench explodes throwing metal pieces into an auto mechanics face, causing partial blindness. The transformer block on a new telephone answering device short circuits, sparking a home fire. A breast implant ruptures, leaking fluid into a woman’s body, causing cancer. These actual product defects provide a few examples [...]
Minor Settlements: Why is Court Approval Required?
Minor settlements, personal injury settlements for those under the age of minority, often need court approval before funds are released. Here’s the problem: minors lack legal capacity to make binding decisions. Minors in most cases can’t sign enforceable contracts. So, an insurance release cannot bind a minor. This contradicts the basic purpose of insurance company releases seeking [...]
Fools In The Law 2013
I write a biweekly newspaper column in New Hampshire’s Derry News. Once a year I abandon efforts to answer reader questions or to review major legal cases. Every April Fools Day, I review truly foolish occurrences in the law I’ve been saving up since the last April 1. ‘Fools In The Law 2013’, highlighted below, reaches new lows: Salem, NH. Witnesses call police reporting a woman [...]
BANKRUPTCY PETITION PREPARERS
Bankruptcy petition preparers offer an option sort of like a guy in a trench coat selling wrist watches. Bankruptcy petition preparers are not attorneys but offer ‘document preparation services’. With a word processor and a computer, pretty much anyone can create a pile of paper. But a troublesome issue looms where bankruptcy petition preparers create [...]
Life Expectancy Tables In Personal Injury Cases
Life expectancy tables provide key information in evaluating some personal injury cases. The tables give a statistical perspective, a number, telling us how long any given human being can be expected to live. One of the most often overlooked elements of a personal injury case calculates long term potential damages beyond the date a release [...]
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Bankruptcy: What Address Do You Use For Creditors
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Name Wrong on Marriage Certificate
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AUTO INSURANCE IN MASSACHUSETTS
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LIENS ON PERSONAL INJURY CASES
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PERSONAL INJURY: Do-It-Yourself Follies
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MITIGATION OF DAMAGES IN PERSONAL INJURY
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Discovery in Civil Litigation
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Dog Bite Cases in Personal Injury Law
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Notice Requirements in Personal Injury Cases
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PREMISES LIABILITY LAW AND INJURIES
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