Personal Injury Legal Questions

In Virginia, if you have an accident at work, you have to file a claim with the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission within two (2) years of your accident. If you are unsure if a claim was filed, you can contact the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission at 1-877-664-2566. You indicated you were paid a few months of compensation for your concussion. If your eye damage and vision impairment is permanent, then you may be able to file for the permanent loss of your vision if this loss can be rated. This would be the case unless your claim is now barred by the statute of limitations. ... Read Answer

Ms. Tolson,  The Motel is responsible for the clenlilness of the room. You probably can get some compensation for your injuries and for your daughters injuries.   If you went to a doctor, it will help tie the injuries to the spider bites.  You can call me at 252-393-2235 and I will get more information from you.  John Tantum, Attorney... Read Answer

Absent a substantial injury, this is a case you will need to retain a PA lawyer to address as thats where the event occurred. Otherwise you could spend the money to start a Federal case based on "diiversity" juridiction. You could try to make an insurance claim but with the likelihood this is an excluded assualt event, and given the defendant, you may do better simply suing. The bigger issue is that most lawyers will not be interested in such a case on a contingent fee for a variety of reasons so you will liklely be paying oiut of pocket for the effort. ... Read Answer

Probably not.  Statute of Limitations in New York for personal injury cases is generally three (3) years from the date the cause of action accrued.  Although New York also has a "date of discovery" rule for exposure cases, such cases must be commenced from the date of discovery of the injury or from the date when the injury should have been discovered through the exercise of reasonable diligence, whichever is earlier.  Although you received a letter stating that the building was safe with no contaminants, you were arguably put on notice as far back as 2012 / 2013 that you had been exposed to mold (which started the proverbial clock).  Moreover, New York's courts have been pretty hostile towards mold cases with the State's highest court dismissing a mold case several years ago.... Read Answer

  Dear Joshua, I am sorry to hear about your injury and hope it is not serious.    Take/preserve photos of the receipt, the bag, the gummy bears and the nuts- and preserve all of these items as well. Seek appropriate medical care.   Contact a Personal Injury Attorney as soon as possible to review all facts and circumstances-especially details regarding the substance which caused your injury and prognosis for your teeth- and hopefully obtain representation, rather than pursuing the claim on your own.   However, you will have to reach out as attorneys are unable to directly solicit on this forum.  ... Read Answer

  Hello Crystal, I am sorry to hear about your injury and hope it is not serious and can be repaired simply without major procedure. Seek appropriate medical care.    Preserve glass/ take photos. Preserve proof of purchase receipt / container  / contents. Report incident.    Contact a Personal Injury Attorney as soon as possible to review all facts and circumstances-especially details regarding the dangerous condition which caused your injury- and hopefully obtain representation, rather than pursuing Publix on your own.     However, if you are interested in consulting with one of us, you will have to reach out, as attorneys are unable to directly solicit on this forum.  ... Read Answer

Medicaid has a right to recover benefits it paid on your behalf and which are related to medical treatment you received for your injury.  And because Medicaid has a statutory lien, it could seek to recover the money from your lawyer if he released the settlement proceeds to you without paying Medicaid first.  That said, two (2) years does sound like a long time, even for Medicaid.  You might want to schedule a meeting with your lawyer to discuss the amount of Medicaid's lien and what efforts, if any, he's made to resolve it.  There should be a contact person at HRA / Social Services with whom he can speak.  If not, he could bring an Order to Show Cause to have the Court resolve the issue. That usually getst their attention.... Read Answer

As someone with a similar condition, I sympathize with your husband's situation.  In California, an employer with 5 or more employees is required to make reasonable accommodations for an employee's disability or chronic medical condition unless doing so would pose an undue hardship for the employer. The employer is also required to engage in an "interactive good faith process" to determine an appropriate accommodation, and a failure to engage in this process can, itself, be grounds for a lawsuit. The duty to engage is an ongoing duty as well, meaning the employer cannot just engage once and then wash their hands of the situation.  From what you described, it does not sound like the employer is engaging in an interactive, good faith process. Having said that, degenerative conditions are tricky because it is often difficult to prove that the condition is worsening because of a specific cause or just getting worse on its own.  You would need expert testimony to establish this.  What is a more likely scenario, I am sorry to say and having handled many cases like this, is that the employer ignores the doctor's light-duty orders, falsely claims undue hardship, and your husband then suffers a more frank, serious injury such as a fall, etc.  If your husband's employer has an employee manual, review it and see what it says about requesting accommodations.  Request accommodations in writing.  Get the specifics of what to ask for from the doctor, but don't just rely on the employer communicating with the doctor while you are left on the sidelines.  Be proactive.   If the employer refuses, does not offer reasonable alternatives, strings this along, contact an attorney in person right away who can advise you about filing a complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, obtaining a right to sue letter, and filing a civil action.  Here's a good website about the reasonable accommodation process in California.... Read Answer

This sounds like a very scary situation.  However, it is a more common occurrence than you might think.  Homeowners across the country have reported "exploding" shower doors made by various manufacturers. There is an interesting article about this phenomenon here. There does not appear to be a specific, known cause for glass doors suddenly shattering, so liability may be difficult to establish. Most injuries from these events are relatively minor, and it sounds like that was the case with your daughter, thankfully.  If she has medical bills, the facility where this occurred likely has medical payments ("med-pay") coverage that would reimburse you for medical costs up to a certain dollar amount regardless of whether the facility is at fault or not.  You should open a premises liability claim with the facility/their insurance and ask what med pay coverage is available.... Read Answer

You are entitled to receive a copy of the fee agreement; however, just because you did not receive a copy after the first meeting does not necessarily mean you are not legally bound to pay for the lawyer's services if he does work for you.  You may not have intended this interpretation, but your message strikes me as interesting, to say the least.  You just visited with the lawyer on the same day as your message, and you are already questioning the legitimacy of the attorney-client relationship and your obligation to pay the lawyer should you prevail.  You also characterized the transaction as "he made me sign a paper," though you don't elaborate on how he "made" you sign it.  If you are uncomfortable with what transpired with this attorney, as the client, you are certainly free to terminate the relationship without giving any reason for doing so.  You are not free to engage the attorney to perform work for you and possibly advance his own funds as costs to settle or litigate your case, and then not pay him even though you prevail, just because you did not receive a copy of the fee agreement after the first meeting.  Have you asked for a copy?  If you plan on working with this attorney, you might want to start there.... Read Answer

Yes, you may have a case. From the facts you allege, it appears that Mcdonalds was negligent because the employee failed to properly secure the lid on the coffee cup, the contents of which were very hot, and it was forseeable that if she didnt do that, the lid could come off the cup, spill and seriously injure someone. I would seek immediate medical attention and take many pictures of the second degree burns throughout the healing process. Where was the restaurant located? In Alabama or Florida? ... Read Answer

Assuming your attorney is still alive and practicing law, your best best would be to report him or her to the Disciplinary Committee.  https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/ad1/Committees&Programs/DDC/index.shtml  As for suing your attorney, I believe the Statute of Limitations has long since expired for any such claim.... Read Answer

You can certainly go back to the Post Office to report your fall.  The longer you delay the less credible your claim becomes.  If you are considering legal action against the Post Office you might want to take photographs of the condition which you claim caused you to fall.  And keep in mind that claims against the U.S. Post Office must be filed within two (2) years of the date of incident.  An experienced personal injury lawyer should be able to help you file one.  You can find such an attorney in the Lawyers.com search bar.... Read Answer

Threatening to sue someone is not unethical per se.  If your attorney roommate has threatened you physically you can certainly report him to the local disciplinary committee (either the First or Second Department depending on where in NYC you live) or, more appropriately, to the police.  And you might strongly consider finding another roommate - they are not in short supply in NYC.... Read Answer

So sorry to hear this happened to you.  You should read the Infant Compromise Order and see if it identified the bank into which the settlement proceeds were to be deposited jointly with an officer / trustee of the bank (they usually do).  Assuming the Order in your case contained such a provision, Capital One would arguably be on the hook for the money's disappearance.  You should speak with the attorneys who represented you in the case against Bed, Bath & Beyond and see if they can help you or perhaps bring a lawsuit against Capital One for not safeguarding the funds.... Read Answer