Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Discusses Nursing Home Understaffing

There is a shortage of trained, qualified nursing home staff in the United States. There are federal staffing requirements for nursing homes that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding, requirements of which are rarely met. Here in Mississippi, I frequently see the tragic effects of this understaffing—neglect, medication errors, injuries, poor hygiene, falls, and more. No one should spend the end of their life suffering these indignities, and if you have discovered that a loved one has, you should speak to a personal injury attorney immediately.

If you fear that an elderly loved one is being neglected, you must contact an attorney experienced in representing families in nursing home negligence situations immediately.  Your loved one’s health, finances, and well-being are at stake. Barrett Law has the experience to help you during this difficult time.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

How Understaffing Affects the Elderly

Federally, the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendations are that nursing home residents spend two hours each day with a nursing aide and twelve minutes each day with a registered nurse. In my experience, many nursing homes fail to meet this standard. In understaffed nursing homes, residents’ needs go unnoticed because staff do not have sufficient time with each resident to identify them. At a minimum, this lack of attention can lead to emotional and intellectual decline. At worst, it can lead to life-ending neglect. That is a wide spectrum, so I listed various ill-effects below:

Problems Commonly Caused by Understaffed Nursing Homes

Medication Errors—short-staffed nursing homes have to ask more from their staff.  That means staff must work without breaks and distribute a tremendous number of medications daily to residents they barely know, a recipe for mistakes. If an elderly person receives the wrong medication, it can be life-threatening.

Dehydration—nursing home residents are often unable to get themselves a drink and are dependent on staff for hydration. But because residents are not moving vigorously or sweating, attention to hydration can be lacking, leading to serious health consequences and even death.

Malnutrition—like hydration, nursing home residents are often unable to feed themselves. Even if they are given adequate food, careful monitoring must occur to assure that they are consuming enough food to maintain their health.  Over time, inadequate food intake can have serious, negative health consequences.

Problems Related to Immobility—if nursing home residents are incapable of standing or moving easily, they often spend a lot of time either in bed or sitting. Prolonged periods sitting or lying in bed can lead to life-threatening bed sores, infections, and muscle atrophy.

Falls—low staffing means that nursing home residents have to do more for themselves, without help. The more often residents try to walk or move in instances when they require assistance, the more likely they are to have a fall. Given some residents’ fragility, these falls can be traumatic and life-ending.

Poor Hygiene—like many other aspects of life, the elderly often rely on nursing home staff for basic hygiene. Understaffed nursing homes are less able to provide the sort of personalized attention that residents require, sometimes resulting in serious infections, soiled clothing, dirty bedding, and other basic hygiene deficiencies that threaten residents’ health and sense of self-worth.

What Should You Do If You Believe Your Loved One is Being Neglected?

If you believe a loved one is being subjected to neglect in his or her nursing home, contact experienced personal injury counsel immediately. Collecting evidence of the abuse, seeking expert medical opinions, and getting answers from the nursing home are essential tasks that a personal injury attorney can handle for you while you concentrate on making sure your parent or relative is safe, happy, and healthy.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if your loved one has experienced negligent care at his or her nursing home. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Discusses Elder Abuse

Most of us are horrified by the thought of elder abuse. Our parents took care of us as we grew from babies to children to adults, and we all went the best for them in their twilight years. But as the Baby Boomer generation grows older and more and more of them enter nursing home and in-home care, instances of elder abuse are on the rise.

I see clients whose elderly parents have been abused. That is always a sad conversation, but it is often made sadder by the fact that other family members are commonly the source of the abuse. People are often familiar with physical elder abuse, but are frequently less familiar with emotional abuse, and financial abuse. These are all common, often overlap, and require skilled legal intervention to stop.

If you fear that an elderly loved one is being abused or taken advantage of, you must contact an attorney experienced in representing families in elder abuse situations immediately.  Your loved one’s health, finances, and well-being are at stake. Barrett Law has the experience to help you during this difficult time.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Types of Elder Abuse that I Frequently See

Emotional Abuse—emotional abuse occurs when a caregiver threatens, mocks, belittles, or ignores an elderly person in his or her care. Emotional abuse is often the initial form of abuse that a person is subjected to, as if there is little or no evidence that it occurred and is a way of testing whether the elderly victim will report the behavior. This sort of abuse can be particularly difficult to spot when a family member is a caregiver, as longstanding relationships and family history can sometimes what is appropriate communication between the caregiver and the elderly person in his or her care. It may be clear when a nurse in a nursing home is cruel to your parent, but not as clear when your sibling lashes out at your parent in frustration.

Financial Abuse—financial abuse is stealing money from an elderly person as well as manipulating the elderly person to extract money from them. Again, this situation, like emotional abuse, is often much easier to spot in a nursing home environment when the caregiver clearly has no right to the elderly person’s money. It is less clear when family members pay the elderly person’s bills, buy groceries, and have legitimate access to his or her finances. This situation is exacerbated when the elderly person’s family has limited funds, and ongoing care is straining their finances. Careful tracking of bills and finances is key to catching and stopping this sort of exploitation.

Physical Abuse—hitting, pushing, or any other type of physical assault of an elderly person is deplorable and likely criminal. Nursing home staff are trained to differentiate sometimes necessary contact with an elderly person from assault. But family members acting as caregivers likely do not have that training and can also often be swept up in extremely complex emotions surrounding challenging care giving situations. Be on the lookout for unusual or unexplained bruises or a parent that becomes withdrawn or fearful when a particular caregiver is present.

What Should You Do If You Believe Your Loved One is Being Abused?

If you believe a loved one is being abused, contact experienced personal injury counsel immediately. Collecting evidence of the abuse, dealing with opposing counsel, and attaining expert opinions are essential tasks that a personal injury attorney can handle for you while you concentrate on making sure your parent or relative is safe and healthy.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if your loved one has experienced elder abuse. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

 

 

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Experienced Mississippi Trucking Accident Attorney Explains Tractor Trailer Accident Evidence Issues

Being injured in a trucking accident can be a life-altering or, worse, a life-ending event. Receiving the full compensation you deserve for your loved one’s death, or your injuries, loss of work, and loss of lifestyle will depend in large part on what evidence you can preserve that shows that the trucking company was at fault for your accident. There are many ways a company can be liable, ranging from improperly trained drivers, distracted or sleepy drivers, or poorly maintained trucks. Regardless of the reason for your accident, being made whole will depend on accessing evidence regarding the accident’s cause. The problem is that the evidence in your case—the truck itself, the truck’s black box, and important records—can either be destroyed in the normal course of business or intentionally to weaken your case.

If you have been injured in a trucking accident, you will need to have experienced counsel help you attain your fair share of compensation for your loss of income and injury. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured and knows how to prevent important evidence from being destroyed after a truck accident.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Types of Evidence in a Trucking Accident

There are a wide variety of sources of evidence in a trucking accident, all of them important:

The Truck—after a crash occurs, it is understandable that the truck that hit you is one of the most important pieces of evidence in your case. However, if it was only lightly damaged, it may be repaired and quickly returned to the road, losing its evidentiary value completely. On the other hand, if it was badly damaged in the accident, it may be scrapped, also ruining its evidentiary value. As a result, it is vital that your team photographs the truck, an effort that must be directed by an experienced trucking accident attorney.

Trucking Company Records—the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration mandates that trucking companies keep detailed records of post-accident drug test results, driver logs, personnel files, maintenance logs, and other vital documents. It is crucial that these records be requested immediately after an accident to prevent their destruction or loss.

Truck Data—modern trucks have “black boxes” that record their location, speed, and other data regarding their travel. This is vital to establish how long the driver had been driving without sleep, what speed it was going before impact, and breaking. As you can imagine, this data is vital to proving negligence, the legal standard in this sort of accident case.  Negligence is established when it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that a truck driver did not reasonably meet the industry or legal standards for safety at the time of the crash.

In the end, it does not matter what the truck driver or trucking company says happened—the evidence your lawyer attains will tell the true story. For a person severely injured in an accident, an attorney’s ability to attain that evidence and understand its technical aspects is critical. Only experienced trucking accident counsel will suffice.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured in a Trucking Accident?

If you or a loved one was injured in a truck accident, you deserve compensation for your loss—loss of life, injuries, loss of work, and other pain and suffering. Let experienced counsel take care of preserving trucking company records, attaining expert reports, and dealing with the trucking company’s attorneys. These are important tasks that a personal injury attorney can handle for you while you concentrate on healing.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered a truck-related injury. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

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Experienced Mississippi Trucking Accident Attorney Explains Common Tractor Trailer Accident Injuries

Anyone who spends any time on Mississippi’s highways knows that they are filled with trucks. Whatever you call them—big rigs, long-haulers, eighteen wheelers—they are large, moving fast, and, unfortunately, prone to devastating accidents. Unfortunately, I frequently meet clients who have been injured or had a loved one killed in an accident with one of these trucks. I am often asked what sort of injuries result from these accidents. The answer is that injuries range considerably, from cuts and scratches to death.  That said, I created the following blog post to describe the most common injuries I see.

If you have been injured in a trucking accident, you will need to have experienced counsel help you attain your fair share of compensation for your loss of income and injury. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Head Injuries

Head injuries are both the most common and the most misunderstood truck accident injuries.  Because there is no blood or broken bone involved, people often treat concussions lightly and do not think of them as particularly severe. We now know, however, that concussions and other brain trauma have far-reaching, devastating effects on a person. But concussions are only one type of head injuries. Bleeding on the brain, nerve damage, and traumatic brain injuries can all be life-altering. Even if you do not feel that your head was injured in a crash, I advise seeking a medical professional’s assessment immediately after the accident to attain a professional assessment, and baseline data in case problems develop later.

Neck and Spine Injuries

A big rig weighs 70,000 to 80,000 pounds, while an average car weighs about 4,000. That difference in weight can mean incredible force on a car passenger’s body in an accident with a truck. That trauma and force often wreak havoc on the passenger’s neck and spine.

The neck and spine are a series of vertebrae, bones stacked from the buttocks to the bottom of the skull.  Inside the vertebrae is the spinal cord, a thread-like nerve that communicates messages between the brain and the nervous system. The vertebrae are held in place by muscles and ligaments that keep the “stack” of vertebrae in line.

Injuries to the spine can vary greatly in severity but are almost always debilitating for a period. Even minor injuries such as whiplash and strains to the back’s ligaments can mean soreness, loss of sleep, and missed work. More serious injuries, such as cracked or crushed vertebrae can mean years of recovery and even permanent disability. Severing the spinal cord can result in paralysis and death. 

Broken Bones

The force generated by a tractor-trailer accident often results in broken bones.  Breaks can be minor, such as simple breaks in the fingers, nose, or other extremities, or significant, such as skull fractures, broken bones in the back, or bones that are crushed to the point that they cannot heal with time. Compound fractures that break the skin are common and particularly dangerous, as they can result in dangerous bleeding and, later, infection.

Lacerations

Because of the force of a truck hitting your car, there is often broken glass and metal being quickly compressed around the car’s passengers. Those sharp metal or glass pieces can cause significant injury. Lacerations are all varieties of cuts, from minor scrapes or abrasions requiring only a bandage, to large lacerations requiring stitches, to life threatening injuries that sometimes require plastic surgery to repair.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured in a Trucking Accident?

If you or a loved one was injured in a truck accident, you might have a claim for compensation for your injuries, loss of work, and other losses. Let experienced counsel take care of preserving medical records, attaining expert diagnoses, and dealing with your employer’s attorneys. These are important tasks that a personal injury attorney can handle for you while you concentrate on healing.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered a truck-related injury. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

 

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Experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer Explains How the Recent Digital Reality Supreme Court Case

Without a rich bounty program for whistleblowers and robust legal prohibitions against retaliation, it is unlikely that anyone would take the risks of reporting fraud—luckily, most whistleblower programs offer both. Clients here in Mississippi often ask me to walk them through a whistleblower claim, a process that usually begins with a description the definition of a whistleblower.

The United States Supreme Court issued a decision, Digital Reality v. Paul Somers, in February that has a dramatic effect on who qualifies as a whistleblower for the purposes of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. I have discussed Dodd-Frank on this blog before; it is a law passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis aimed at reforming the finance industry. Interested in incentivizing whistleblowing Wall Street insiders, it offers a 10% to 30% reward to whistleblowers who report fraud and broad protections against retaliation.

The issue in Digital Reality was similar to questions many of my clients bring to me, specifically, “do I qualify as a whistleblower?” Paul Somers, the plaintiff in the case, alerted his supervisors to financial fraud and was subsequently fired. Normally, this sort of clear retaliation would be prohibited against whistleblowers. The question was whether Somers qualified as a whistleblower under Dodd-Frank.

Which Definition of “Whistleblower” Applies Under Dodd-Frank?

Dodd-Frank prohibits “retaliation based on the whistleblower’s attempts to report her concerns.”  Somers’ report to his supervisors would seem to fall neatly under this provision. However, Dodd-Frank goes on to state, that the prohibition against retaliation only applies to whistleblowers who:

  1. Provide information to the SEC,
  2. Who assist or testify in SEC investigations, and
  3. Who report (even internally) suspected violations of securities laws or regulations.

Even when the definition of “whistleblower” is further narrowed by the three categories above, it still seems like Somers’ internal report of suspected violations of securities laws should have satisfied category three.

Remember what I said earlier, that Dodd-Frank has two important parts, one pertaining to the reward program and the other pertaining to retaliation. Somers’ actions seem to meet the definition of a “whistleblower” in the above retaliation section. However, in the reward section of Dodd-Frank, the term is defined much more narrowly. Instead of three different ways to qualify as a whistleblower, it only has one.  This narrow definition states that a whistleblower is a person who provides information to the SEC regarding a securities fraud violation. Somers never did that.

The question before the Supreme Court in the Digital Reality case was which definition of whistleblower should apply—the three-pronged version or the single-pronged one. The court found that the narrowest definition applied, and because Paul Somers did not report his suspicions of fraud to the SEC, he could not enjoy Dodd-Frank’s protections from retaliation.

Dangerous Precedent for All

The Digital Reality decision is bad for whistleblowers, bad for the finance industry, and bad for the SEC.  The decision is clear—if you want a considerable reward, you must report fraud to the SEC, and if you do anything less, you will not have any retaliation protection. For the finance industry, this decision means that employees will now be incentivized to go the SEC to attain protections against retaliation, and the decision creates a disincentive to try to report and fix problems within a company before reporting problems externally. Because the SEC lacks the capacity to investigate every tip it gets, this decision means that a tremendous amount of fraud will go unregulated. In the end, the purpose of Dodd-Frank was to incentivize fraud whistleblowing—Mr. Somers should not be penalized for doing just that.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Do you know about fraud in the finance industry? Are you considering filing a whistleblower case?

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be a whistleblower.

Experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer Barrett can provide you with the advice you will need to file a successful False Claims Act case. Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower reward and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

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Experienced Mississippi BP Oil Spill Attorney Discusses Unpaid Oil Spill Medical Claims

Eight years after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill devastated the Gulf region, over 14,000 medical claims are still unpaid. That’s over a third of the over 37,000 medical claims made in the aftermath of the spill, response, and recovery. While that statistic itself is troubling, it’s also alarming that many of the payouts have been lump sum payments ranging from $900 to $1300. While I understand the Gulf region’s poverty and know that folks need money, accepting these pocket-change settlements without the advice of legal counsel is ill-advised. Simply put, if you were affected by the spill, you deserve full compensation.

Were you affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill? Did you participate in the cleanup effort or come into contact with dispersants? Did you rent out your boat to those participating in the cleanup effort? Any of those activities may entitle you to a portion of settlement funds. If you think you are entitled to some of the BP Deepwater Horizon settlement, having experienced counsel help you attain your fair share is critical. Barrett Law has expertise in Gulf oil spill litigation and has the experience to help you through this process.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Spill Related Settlements Vary Widely

A look at medical payments to victims of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is a tale of haves and have-nots. The Spill’s medical benefits claims administrator has received over 37,000 claims but has only approved about 23,000. These are claims on behalf of individuals who came into contact with the spilled oil and dispersants and who participated in the cleanup. Most of these claims are for acute symptoms such as shortness of breath, headaches, and nosebleeds.

Of the 23,000 approved claims, the vast majority of payouts have been tiny, under $1,500. In my experience, that is a paltry amount that fails to compensate people for the stress, pain, and ongoing medical problems that plague many people who were affected by the spill. More specifically, Gulf residents who came into contact with the spill or dispersants received $900 lump sum payment and those who worked on the cleanup received $1,300. A “lump sum” payment means that this is the total compensation that the person will receive and that it does not take into account actual expenses that the injured party experienced.

Here is an even more shocking statistic—of the 23,000 approved medical claims, only 40 large settlements have been approved for individuals who have suffered significant negative health consequences. Forty. That is a tiny percentage. However, it underscores the fact that if you have experienced health effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill or the cleanup, you need cannot trust either BP or the medical claim benefits administrator to help you attain the reimbursement you deserve.

What Should You Do If You Were Injured or Harmed By the 2010 BP Oil Spill?

If you were harmed as a result of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill or its cleanup, you might be due compensation for your losses. Hiring a general practitioner to handle a claim related to the spill is a serious mistake, as only an attorney with extensive experience in getting BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill claims paid will represent your interests adequately.

Call the seasoned Mississippi BO Oil Spill Attorney at Barrett Law now if you were harmed as a result of the spill.

Barrett Law has the experience to take on oil spill defense attorneys that are focused on denying your compensation for the harm you experienced.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

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Experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer Explains How HIPAA Affects Healthcare Industry Whistleblower Claims

Many of the whistleblower claims I see here in Mississippi involve the healthcare industry, especially referrals for unnecessary procedures and kickbacks for client referrals. Exposing this sort of fraud can be worth it to the whistleblower, but a question often arises, “how do you expose fraud involving medical patients without simultaneously violating HIPAA?” In simpler terms, how do you show that your employer defrauded a patient without violating their right to privacy regarding their medical records? Luckily, with the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney, you can find “safe harbors” in HIPAA that allow for some disclosure of patients’ records, so long as the disclosure is limited and only occurs in an effort to report fraud.

The Federal False Claims Act

The claim in this $111 million recover was brought under the Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733), a law that penalizes individuals and companies that are convicted of defrauding the government. The False Claims Act created during the Civil War and signed by Lincoln to root out companies that were taking financial advantage of the war effort.

HIPAA

Most people here know it as “HIPAA” and not it’s full name, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPAA is a privacy law for entities that handle patient’s medical information, generally prohibiting using “protected health information” such as bills, medical files, or notes for anything other than treatment. Protected health information cannot be shared publicly. This is a problem in whistleblower cases, as the whistleblower often wants to use patients’ files or bills as evidence of fraud. Whistleblowers cannot move forward with a case on general allegations, specific instances of fraud must be provided, often with evidence. But patients’ bills and files normally cannot leave a medical institution and should not be shared publicly. So how does a whistleblower prove their case?

HIPAA’s “Safe Harbors”

In law, a “safe harbor” is a term describing an act that would normally violate the law but is instead allowed because of some higher purpose being achieved. Under federal regulation 45 C.F.R. sec. 164.502(j) linked below, a person may release protected health information if the person believes that his or her employer “has engaged in conduct that is unlawful or otherwise violates professional or clinical standards” or “that the care, services, or conditions . . . potentially [endanger] one or more patients, workers, or the public.” Thus, HIPAA protected health information may be shared in a False Claims Act case by an employee who believes that his or her employer is engaging in fraud.

HIPAA establishes another safe harbor at 45 C.F.R. sec. 164.514(a) & (b), also linked below, for releases of protected health information that is de-identified. To use this safe harbor, an employee must de-identify the protected health information in a way that blacks our or redacts any identifying information. This is not just names and addresses, but also information such as dates of discharge that could be used to deduce the patient’s identity.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Do you know about fraud or other serious financial misconduct occurring in a health care context like the one described above? Are you considering filing a whistleblower case? The handling of protected health information under HIPAA is only one complexity to being a healthcare industry whistleblower.

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be a whistleblower.

Experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer Jonathan Barrett can provide you with the advice you will need to file a successful False Claims Act case. Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

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Experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer Discusses Massive Settlement Matter

Clients here in Mississippi often ask whether it is worth it financially to be a whistleblower. There certainly are risks involved, but in return for taking the substantial risks sometimes required to expose fraud, the whistleblower may receive a significant percentage of any funds the government recovers.  In May, the government recovered $111 million in a whistleblower case and the four individuals who bravely exposed that fraud are entitled to up to a third of that amount. Because of the significant size of this recovery, I am going to use it as an example in the following blog post.

The Federal False Claims Act

The claim in this $111 million recover was brought under the Federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733), a law that penalizes individuals and companies that are convicted of defrauding the government. The False Claims Act created during the Civil War and signed by Lincoln to root out companies that were taking financial advantage of the war effort.

Health Care Fraud at the Center of this False Claims Act Case

The health care industry is increasingly at the center of False Claims Act cases, as the government, through programs such as Medicare and Tricare (health programs for low income and military individuals, respectively) are often paying the lion’s share of payments to healthcare companies. That was the case here, as the allegation was that a medical testing lab called Health Diagnostics Laboratory and a consulting company called Blue Wave Healthcare paid a kickback to doctors who sent patients to them for unnecessary testing. A “kickback” occurs when a private party, here a doctor, receives some payment or gift in exchange for steering a client or patient towards another provider. Kickbacks are prohibited under the False Claims Act; that federal law comes into play when the federal government is paying for patient’s care through a program such as Medicare or Tricare. In essence, the kickback defrauds the government by steering a patient towards a certain provider without regard to quality or price. Here, the fraud was made more serious by the fact that the treatments were not even necessary.

Four different whistleblowers brought claims against the companies regarding different illegal practices. This is also a bit unusual, as usually only the “first to file” is entitled to any settlement, not those who bring claims later. However, each whistleblower in this case brought unique claims to the government’s attention. The named plaintiff, or “relator” in whistleblower terms, was Scarlet Lutz, and her story is a good example of how someone can inadvertently become a whistleblower. Ms.Lutz was not looking for fraud and simply ran a billing company associated with the defendants. However, due to an anonymous tip, she became aware of billing practices suggesting that fraud was occurring. Like Ms. Lutz, all of the relators in this matter were external; the other three ran competing testing labs that lost business because they were not paying kickbacks.

What Should You Do if You are Considering a Whistleblower Claim?

Do you know about fraud or other serious financial misconduct occurring in a health care context like the one described above? Are you considering filing a whistleblower case? To protect your career and family and to attain your compensation, you will require the help of an experienced whistleblower attorney.

Call Barrett Law now at (601) 790-1505 if you think you may be a whistleblower.

The experienced Mississippi Whistleblower Lawyer at Barrett Law can provide you with the advice you will need to file a successful False Claims Act case. Having expert legal advice by your side can mean the difference between receiving your share of a whistleblower judgment and losing your career and livelihood. Call us today.

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Experienced Mississippi Trucking Accident Attorney Explains How Wind Causes Trucking Accidents

Long haul trucks weigh 70,000 to 80,000 pounds and can move down the highway at high rates of speed. With those factors at play, accidents can be sudden and devastating. One factor in crashes that I commonly see is wind. Given trucks’ incredible weight, many of my clients here do not suspect that wind can play a significant role in trucking accidents, leading to roll-overs, loss of control and loads breaking loose.

If you have been injured in a trucking accident, you will need to have experienced Mississippi counsel help you attain your fair share of compensation for your loss of income and injury. Barrett Law has the trucking accident experience that can mean the difference between attaining your compensation and receiving nothing at all.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Wind’s Role in Trucking Accidents

It is just plain physics. As Archimedes said, “give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand and I will move the Earth.” The same forces are at play as eighteen-wheelers roll down Mississippi highways. While the truck’s weight is great, so is their trailer’s surface area. As a result, when crosswinds start blowing at 40 miles per hour or greater, the wind catches the trailer like a sail.  The wind uses the trailer as a lever, pushing the heavy mass from side to side. Once a vehicle starts moving from side to side, the oscillation can increase in frequency, causing the vehicle to fishtail. With tractor trailers, the truck’s extreme length compounds this oscillation. Once the truck’s back end starts moving from side to side, it can become incredibly difficult to control. And once a driver loses control, rollovers can cause extreme collisions with much smaller passenger cars.

Are Wind-Related Accidents Preventable?

Wind cannot be prevented, but a driver and company can reduce the odds of a wind-related accident. In a trucking accident, the injured party or plaintiff has to prove that the truck driver or trucking company’s negligence. To establish negligence, the plaintiff has to show that the defendant driver or company failed to take reasonable steps to meet the industry standards for safety. Regarding wind, there are several steps that a driver and company can be expected to take to prevent wind-related accidents.

When I represent a client in a wind-related trucking accident, I always carefully look through the driver and trucking company’s logs to determine several important facts:

Speed—slowing down is the easiest way to prevent wind-related accidents and is also likely to reduce any accident’s magnitude.  I analyze the truck’s black box data to determine whether the trucker was speeding at the time of the crash.

Weather Forecast—did the driver check the weather forecast prior to driving? Did the trucking company send out a weather advisory as wind speed climbed into the 40 mile per hour range?

Pre-Trip Inspection—did the driver conduct a pre-trip inspection? Wind that would normally not cause an accident can wreak havoc on a trailer with loose tarps or an open door. When wind catches open doors or tarps, they act as a sail, pushing the truck dangerously from side to side.

Empty Trailers—usually, heavy trucks are more dangerous than lighter ones, but that is not true in the case of wind. In high wind situations, the empty trailer’s high surface-area-to-weight ratio makes for a particularly dangerous situation. In periods of high winds, truckers should not take empty trailers onto the highway.

These factors may not individually cause a tragic accident, but they often combine and act in concert to cause a tragedy. Similarly, traditional factors in truck accidents—poor truck maintenance, distracted driving, and drowsy driving—can all be exacerbated by wind, when responsiveness is even more critical.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured in a Trucking Accident?

If you or a loved one was injured in a truck accident, you deserve compensation for your injuries, loss of work, and pain and suffering. Let an experienced trucking accident attorney take care of preserving truck records, attaining expert opinions, and dealing with the trucking company’s attorneys. These are important tasks that a personal injury attorney can handle for you while you concentrate on healing.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered a truck-related injury. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

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Experienced Mississippi Worker’s Compensation Attorney Explains: How to Get Approved for Social Security Disability Benefits

Injured workers here in Mississippi often come to me with questions about social security disability benefits, which are available to those whose injuries are so debilitating that they are unable to work. Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits provide a monthly payment to help with the injured worker’s living costs.

If you have been severely injured at work and are unable to return to work, you may be eligible for SSD benefits, but you will need to have experienced counsel help you attain your fair share of compensation for your loss of income and injury. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Necessary Steps When Applying for SSD

The first step to attaining SSD is to determine whether you are eligible. Imagine the year is broken into four quarters. You must have worked in a social security covered position for 40 quarters—a total of ten years—to be eligible for SSD benefits. The quarters do not have to be consecutive, and there are exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, you need your “40 quarters” of work to apply for the program. Working “under the table,” for cash, or in a position where you did not pay into the social security system does not count towards your quarters.

Second, you must make your application for SSD within five years of when you stopped working within the social security system. This generally means that your application must be made within five years of your last working “quarter.”  The last day of your last quarter is called your “date last insured.”

Finally, if you have your forty quarters and are applying for benefits within five years of your date last insured, you still have to clear the most challenging obstacle to attaining SSD benefits. The final obstacle is proving that your injury prevents you from being gainfully employed. There is no black and white standard for establishing the severity of your injury; instead, it is based on the subjective analysis by a social security administration employee. It is impossible to say who will and will not be granted SSD; however, several factors are relied upon routinely.

Factors most often coming into play for SSD determinations are age, education level, and work history.  The older you are, the more likely you are to be declared unable to work. The government is very hesitant to provide benefits for someone in their 30’s, as that means the government will be making payments for decades and decades into the future. The less educated you are, the more likely you are to receive SSD benefits. An injury can permanently sideline a blue-collar worker who uses his or her hands to work but is less likely to keep a white college employee who sits at a desk from being re-employed. For similar reasons, your work history is also important. If you have fished the Gulf commercially for thirty years, you may lack the training to transition to a new field quickly. The inverse is true for a manager with a business degree who has worked in a number of fields over two decades.

What Should You Do If Your Injury Prevents You from Working?

If your injury prevents you from working, you may be eligible for SSD benefits. However, as described above, this is a multi-step process with subjective standards. You will need an experienced worker’s compensation attorney to prove that your injury truly prohibits your re-employment. Let experienced counsel take care of essential tasks that a personal injury attorney can handle for you while you concentrate on healing.

Contact the experienced Mississippi Worker’s Compensation Attorney at Barrett Law if you have a serious injury preventing you from working. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

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