Virginia Personal Injury Legal Questions

Please, get a lawyer to work with you on this case. The percentage fee you will pay will, in most cases, be more than offset by a higher settlement or verdict. Insurance companies know that they are dealing with an inexperienced person and will take advantage of that fact. If you have two herniated disks, that is a serious injury and you need a lawyer working on your behalf.... Read More

Generally, if you are the victim of medical malpractice, you only have 1 year from the date you knew or should have known of the malpractice. If you believe you are a victim of such actions, I would recommend contacting an attorney sooner rather than later. It may help the attorney if you have documentation of before and after photographs of the areas.... Read More

Please see: http://www.lawyers.com/All-Areas-of-Law/Virginia/All-Cities/attorneys-and-law-firms.html?s=Prisoners%20Rights&ns=y&st=q&form=LHOM This is not intended to be legal advice, and is general in its nature. No attorney-client relationship exists or is formed by this information. Furthermore, this does not represent the views or opinions of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.... Read More

The only way to shield yourself from all potential liability for these "random" children playing on your play set is to completely prevent these children from playing on the play set, either by removing it or putting up a fence that would keep these children out. The fence would have to taller than these children and not easily climbable. Other than these two options there is no way to 100% protect yourself from liability if a child was injured. Your liability if someone is injured depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited: what caused the child's injury; the age of the child; was there something wrong with the play set that caused the child to be injured or did the child cause his or her own injury.... Read More

If you are served in person or by posting service on your front door, you should turn all legal papers into the insurance carrier you had at the time of the occurrence. Incidentally, send any such documentation by certified mail and keep a copy for your file. then call your insurance carrier to confirm their working on it. You always have to follow up because they don't give a damn about you. All insurance companies care about is their bottom line.... Read More

The answer to your question depends on many factors. Generally, the law provides that you are entitled to 1) all of your related medical bills being paid; 2) wages lost due to doctor "do not work" orders; and 3) compensation for disruption of your life, pain, suffering, inconvenience, aggravation. The fact that you were in someone else's car means nothing.... Read More

John Bisnar You are right, you need advice.  Get a consultation with a local personal injury attorney that will review the facts, analyze the law and discuss with you your options. To find a good, local personal injury attorney, that will provide you a free consultation, start by looking in the upper left hand corner of this page.  Click on the button entitled "Find a Lawyer".  This tab will guide you through finding attorneys appropriate for you situation. John Bisnar BISNAR|CHASE, Personal Injury Attorneys Trusted Professionals.  Proven Results www.BestAttorney.com 800-956-0123... Read More

The monetary value of a judgment is not an easy thing to estimate with complete certainty.  If the case does not settle, then usually (certainly if it were my case) the case would be taken before a jury who would have to determine your "damages."  Your damages are the total amount of money you get for everything that is proven caused by the accident.  This is generally done by proving the accident caused your injuries, and then proving the cost of medical care, lost wages, and showing the jury the affects those injuries have had on your life. A civil jury in Virginia is made up of seven people.  They will hear the case, hear arguments, and then pick an amount to award you for your total damages.  You get both specific and general damages.  Specific damages are the medical charges for all medical care proven needed as a result of the accident, and all lost wages that occurred because of the accident.  These are easy, definite numbers.  General damages are much more difficult to estimate.  They are for your "pain, suffering and incontinence" - that is physical and mental or emotional pain, and you get an amount for any of that experienced in the past, and for any that are reasonably likely to be experienced in the future.   Basically, a jury is asked to pull this number out of the air, to determine an amount that is fair after hearing everything you have gone through, and will likely go through in the future.  Usually we must wait until the injury has healed fully before we determine what to even demand, or to ask a jury for if a lawsuit is filed in court, because until we know the extent of your damages, and if it is permanent or not (all proven by medical experts), we do not know what to demand.  Often an expert (medical doctor) is needed to show your damages, especially any future damages from a permanent injury. In trying to settle the case, both sides and their counsel have to try to predict what a jury would do with the case when presented to them.  It is not easy, because one jury of seven people might give $10,000 for pain and suffering while another jury could give $100,000 for the same pain and suffering.  In many ways it is a throw of the dice, but since both sides know this, often cases can settle.  It is up to the client whether to settle or not, with the advice of counsel. This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case.  If you need further information or assistance, please feel free to contact my office for a consultation. ... Read More

I think you are all responsible. It was your tree. You hired an agent to remove the tree. At all times while removing the tree the tree cutter was under a contract to perform the removal service for you. His negligent acts damaged the property of a 3rd party. I hope you both have insurance coverage because I'd sure both of you.... Read More

There aren't a lot of facts here, but the broad, general answer is probably not.  If the lawyer has acted either negligently or fraudulently and ruined your case, then you might be able to sue him or her and seek the same damages that you would have sought in the underlying case.  You usually won't be able to get a do-over in the case the lawyer messed up.  You clearly need to speak with a lawyer near you soon. Good luck.  ... Read More

You asked if your case can be dismissed. From the information you provided, it doesn't sound like there is any case. A case is when they file a lawsuit against you. Yes, you can be sued, but it is unlikely based on what you've said. If you hear from them, require that they give you two estimates of the damages, then, if they are reasonable, pay the lower one. Or, you can give them your insurance company information and let your insurance company handle it. There may be a financial decision though, if your deductible is about the same as the damage costs, you'd probably be better off just paying them without involving your insurance. Best to you.... Read More

First of all, you should turn the lawsuit over to your insurance company, regardless of whether the other company should have covered it or not. Your insurance company will then be obligated to hire an attorney to defend you and they may also fight the other insurance company to pick up the case. However, at least in Indiana, if you were driving the other person's vehicle with their permission, you would be considered a permissive user under the other person's insurance, and they should be covering you.... Read More

In Indiana, a keeper of an animal has a duty to keep it confined.  If the keeper of the animal is negligent then he can be found liable for injuries which were proximately caused by that negligence.  Indiana is also a comparative fault state, meaning that the fault of the driver would be compared with that of the animal's owner in determining whether there would be an award of damages.  If the driver (in this case you) were more than 51% at fault for the accident, you would not recover.  From your question, however, it sounds as if Virginia may be a state that still uses the law of contributory negligence, thus a finding of any fault on you, the driver, would result in no recovery.  The best advice I can give you would be to contact a personal injury attorney in your jurisdiction and describe your situation.  It will cost you nothing, and will give you the piece of mind of knowing whether or not you have a viable claim.  Best of luck! Chip Clark is an Indianapolis injury attorney with over 15 years of experience in personal injury litigation.... Read More

It is difficult to answer your question given the lack of information about the injuries that you sustained. If your daughter had a superficial reaction to the chemicals, then while a PI attorney might get you more, its not a very valuable case. Just make sure that before you settle any claims you have a full understanding of the quantum of your daughter's injuries. (Get a doctor to tell you that there will be no lasting problems). ... Read More

You may very well have a claim against your own insurance company for uninsured motorist coverage.  Every state has unique laws regarding uninsured motorist insurance and when the coverage will apply.  If you had an umbrella policy, it is possible that you have coverage for your injuries under that policy if the driver who was at fault either did not have insurance, or was underinsured.  I would instruct you to contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your jurisdiction to assist you in this determination.  Keep in mind that there are deadlines for making claims, so you should act quickly. Chip Clark is an Indianapolis injury attorney, who practices throughout the state of Indiana.... Read More