Wisconsin Personal Injury Legal Questions

You can sue for anything in this country, but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Medical malpractice cases are exceedingly difficult to pursue and win in Wisconsin. I wrote a blog about the difficulties at our law firm's web site under persoanl injury issues. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel wrtoe an excellent essay about it as well, perhaps one or two years ago that you can google and read. Most malpractice cases can cost up to $100,000 in costs and expert fees to litigate, so the damages have to be enormous to have a malpractice lawyer show interest. Further, 9/10 trials result in verdicts in favor of the doctor or hospital. There are caps in Wisconsin on non-economic damages, which again, curtails most attorneys interest in pursuing these cases anymore. That issue is actually on appeal before the WI supreme court. The statute of limitations to sue for medical malpractice in WI is 3 years from the date of the occurrence. Failure to file a lawsuit within 3 years would forever bar the claim. If you feel you were wronged, and have permanent damage as a result, gather up all of your mediical and hospital records and have them reviewed by a malpractice lawyer. If they think you possibly have a case, they will hire an outside medical expert to review your records to determine if you have a viable claim.... Read More

You shouldn't be negotiating an injury settlement while you are still treating. The value of your case is multi-faceted and includes how long you are under treatment, whether you miss time from work, how the accident happened, the nature of your medical treatment, the size of your medical bills and whether or not you make a complete recovery. I would also want to know that caused the double sliding door at Wal Mart to hit you. If an automatic door, did it fail?  Have you had the door inspeceted by an engineer to determine the cause of failure? Remember that more likely than not, Wal Mart has video surveillance of how the accident occured. Were there witnesses to the accident? Under Wisconsin law, an injury lawsuit must be brought within 3 years from the date of your accident. Failure to file a lawsuit within three years from the date of the accident would forever bar your claim.  On your last issue, when you do settle, any subrogated health insurance carriers, whether public or private, need to be reimbursed for payment of your medical bills. ... Read More

These cases can be difficult, but our office has handled them. If you can show that the owner of the bar knew that the bartender had a tendency for explosive behavior or that there have been prior incidents similar to yours at the bar involving this same bartender, you may have a viable claim. You should consider consulting with an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Since you have a serious injury, you could have a very significant case. The statute of limitations in Wisconsin for suing for intentional  tort and/or negligence is three years from the date of the occurrence. Failure to file a lawsuit within 3 years, would forever bar your claim.... Read More

If you were injured in the accident, you should consider hiring a lawyer to handle your case. They will hire a safety engineer to determine why your air bag failed and whether or not the failure either could have prevented your injuries or made them worse as a result of the failure. It is quite complicated and fairly expensive. They will need immediate access to your vehicle to inspect it.  The statute of limitations is 3 years to sue for your injuries from the accident or your claim will be forever barred.... Read More

I’m sorry to hear about this tragic set of facts. I do believe you have a strong case against both the school and possibly the other child’s parents, particularly in light of the heightened notice that you gave to the school prior to subsequent incidents. Contact counsel in your local jurisdiction for representation. Good luck and god speed... Read More

You have a viable claim against the school in behalf of your child. However, there are strict rules that need to be followed. You must provide written notice of the claim within 120 days of the occurrence by having the notice personally served on the correct governmental entity. Failure to do so results in a waiver of the claim. The general statute of limitations is 2 years past the age of majority for filing a lawsuit for a minor child on an injury case, but the time line can be shortened if after serving the notice of claim, the claim is formally disallowed and that notice is properly served on the claimant. It shortens the time line to file a lawsuit to 6 months after the disallowance. You will also need to document your child’s injury (allergic reaction) by taking the child for medical treatment. You should consider hiring a personal injury lawyer ASAP to help you with your child’s claim.... Read More

You need to immediately contact a lawyer who either represents people injured by the negligence of others, or who regularly represents insurance companies for people who are sued for personal injury damages. You need someone who is regularly involved in cases for personal injury, on one side or the other. The statute of limitations for personal injury cases in Wisconsin is three years, so the plaintiff must have filed the case within three years of the date of the accident. A lawyer can figure that out for you. If the case was timely filed, a lawyer can give you advice about what to do, including the possibility of filing a petition for bankruptcy, depending on how you are doing financially, and what the potential damages of the case are. The bottom line, though, is to contact a trial lawyer as soon as you can. For example, an answer to the complaint with which you were served must be timely filed, or the plaintiff might take a default judgment against you.... Read More

If you were injured on the job, which one would have to assume from your post, your remedy for your injury is to make a worker's compensation claim for your injury with your employer's WC carrier. If you were not on the job at the time and this is a third party claim, one would need more information from you to better understand how the accident happened, and whether the cargo van driver or the caro door was faulty or if they were negligent for your injury. ... Read More

These type of "bad food" cases or "foreign objects" in food are treated with great disdain and mistrust by insurance companies. They routinely deny the claim and force individuals to sue them. Unless  your child received some type of significant injury, there really isn't an injury case worth pursuing. Take pictures of the object and food product and write a stern but respectful letter to the company about what happened and your concern that your baby could have choked. Maybe they offer you some free food coupons or several hundred dollars for the incident. It is really not worth in my opinion, involving a personal injury attorney with. I'm certainly glad your child didn't choke and is o.k. That is really the most important thing. The statute of limitations for a minor pursuing a personal injury case in Wisconsin is 2 years past the age of majority, not the typical 3 years from the incident. Failure to file a lawsuit within 2 years of the child's 18th Birthday would forever bar the claim.... Read More

Does your lawyer offer you an explanation why any money needs to remain in escrow or trust more than a year later? The answer to your question is yes; you can consider hiring another lawyer to take over whatever is left of your case to secure the remaining funds for you. Another option would be sending your lawyer a written demand letter to release the funds within 10 days; if they refuse, and offer no explanation as to why those funds need to remain in trust, in writing to you, file a grievance with the office of lawyer regulation. (OLR).... Read More

Premises liability cases are exceedingly difficult to pursue and win in Wisconsin. Insurance companies routinely deny the claim and force injured persons to file a lawsuit and take the case to trial. To pursue such a case, as a starting point, you will need to have photographs of what made you fall or independent witnesses who would be able to come to court with you to testify as to the clutter conditions which you have described. The  statute of limitations is 3 years to sue for personal injury in Wisconsin. Failure to file a lawsuit within the 3 years  from the date of the occurrence, will forever bar your claim.... Read More

I don't think you mean 'retribution.' I think you mean 'damages.' Some items of damages are medical bills, lost wages, additional expense to have others do things for you which you would usually do for yourself, pain and suffering (past and future), loss of enjoyment of life (if you have been disabled from doing some things you liked), and there are others. Don't count on someone who punches you in a bar being able to pay a judgment.... Read More

How about a detailed letter set to your local postmaster, certified mail, return receipt requested. Explain the problem calmly, and ask him or her to straighten it out. If that will not work (although I suspect it will), write the Inspector General of the USPS, whose address you can probably find online.... Read More

I'm sure you know without my advice that you should contact his therapist for advice, and perhaps for further appointments. Lawyers are not necessarily very skilled at helping autistic people regain their calm and overcome their stress. In terms of the legal proceedings, again, the therapist can help. IF the school has an unequivocal obligation to escort and supervise your son, then you could perhaps sue them for failure to meet their responsibility. (There are often state laws limiting when and how you can sue a public employee, and perhaps especially a teacher. If his school is private, then the contract between the parents and the school likely defines everyone's duties and rights and obligations.) But would you want to sue a school to which he will return? In sum, get him to his therapist, and find a skilled lawyer with experience in special education matters.... Read More

You would have the right to sue your niece for the assault and battery but just because you can, doesn't mean you should. You have several problems to deal with; the first being that you weren't truthful about what happened when they asked you at the hospital as to what happened to you; the second being without any witnesses present its your word against hers and she will probably deny it and argue that you were the aggressor and she was only acting in self-defense. Don't expect her to admit it; the third issue is what is the point in suing her? Are you ever really going to collect anything from her? Does she have substantial assets or income to pay off any settlement or judgment that you might be able to get against her? Also, what kind of family rift will it cause with your brothers or sisters if you sue your own niece?  If you change your mind, the statute of limitations for intentional Tort in Wisconsin is 3 years from the occurrence. Failure to file the lawsuit within the 3 years would forever bar the claim.... Read More

I think it's pretty straightforward. Get all the relevant information at hand, such as his full name, address and date of birth. The police probably assigned an internal file number to the matter, which they may have put on a card they gave you. That makes things a little easier, but you can go ahead without it.... Read More

First, demand a copy of the recorded surveillance. Next straighten out the bank's perception by telling them exactly how the fraudster dies not resemble you or else tell them to look at the next people at that chillers place. Then notify the commissioner of banking, which in Wisconsin is part of the Department of financial institutions.... Read More