Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains the Difference Between Medical Malpractice and Medical Negligence

We go to hospitals for treatment and to get well, so it is always devastating when that treatment results in further harm or even death. I have sat with many grieving families who are seeking answers regarding a loved one’s death or injury. Eventually, one question that arises regards the difference between medical malpractice and medical negligence. These are two different legal concepts and can be confused easily by laypeople or even inexperienced attorneys. I have drafted the following blog post to provide an overview of these two types of negligence claims and to answer basic questions about them.

If you or a loved one has been injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice or medical negligence, you must find experienced counsel immediately to help you attain your fair share of compensation.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Medical Malpractice vs. Medical Negligence

In the most general terms, negligence is when a person has a duty of care to another person and does not reasonably fulfil that duty, resulting in harm. “Medical negligence” means that a medical professional such as a doctor or nurse deviated from the accepted standard of care in their treatment of you or a loved one.  This deviation must be unreasonable, but it does not have to be intentional.  Rather, the medical professional simply has to act inappropriately under the circumstances due to his or her ignorance. Plaintiffs often bring medical negligence case in cases of “mistakes” or omissions.

In comparison, “medical malpractice” occurs when a medical professional intentionally deviates from the accepted standard of care. Intent is the key to a malpractice case; in this type of case, a plaintiff must show that the medical professional was aware of the appropriate standard of care and decided to treat his or her patient in a manner that fell below that standard. I need to be clear; I am not indicating a situation where the medical professional decided to harm a patient—that is an assault or wrongful death claim—but, instead, I am describing a situation where the medical professional intentionally deviates from the accepted standard of care and harm unintentionally results.

In essence, medical malpractice is a more severe subset of medical negligence. The added component of medical malpractice is that the medical professional intentionally deviated from the standard of care, while the medically negligent practitioner simply failed to meet it. In either case, you will need to carefully gather evidence, preserve medical records, and make sure that you follow care legal advice to preserve your claim.

 

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured or Killed by a Medical Professional?

 

If you have suffered an injury caused by the actions of a health care provider, you may be able to receive compensation for your losses. Winning a medical negligence or malpractice case is difficult. Filing the correct claim, against the proper party, with the appropriate evidence could mean the difference between being amply compensated and receiving nothing.  Let experienced counsel take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, and dealing with the doctors and hospital’s attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.

 

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to an injury related to medical care. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains the Difference Between a Personal Injury Claim and Workers’ Compensation

If you or a loved one were injured in the workplace, you will likely wonder whether you should file a worker’s compensation or personal injury claim. Another question that clients here in Mississippi frequently ask is whether they can file both types of claim simultaneously. Because there is so much confusion swirling around these types of claims and how to proceed in a manner that best protects your rights and family, you must find experienced counsel to help guide you through the process and protect your interests. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

What is the Difference Between Workers’ Compensation and a Personal Injury Claim?

Workers’ Compensation

All Mississippi employers must pay into our state’s workers’ compensation program. It is a mandatory insurance program that compensates employees for injuries occurring in the workplace. This program compensates employees regardless of who is at fault; an employee will even be compensated for a workplace injury that was the employee’s fault. This is a significant benefit of the workers’ compensation program, as it allows for compensation even when fault or negligence (explained further below) cannot be demonstrated.

Personal Injury

A personal injury case does not necessarily result in automatic payments to an injured employee. Instead, an employer will only have to pay for injuries if the employer was somehow negligent towards the injured employee.  In this context, negligence means that a party has a duty to care for another person, failed to meet that duty of care reasonably, and the hurt party has compensable injuries as a result of that failure. To prove negligence, your attorney will have to gather evidence showing that your employer failed to meet a reasonable standard to protect you; you do not have a claim just because you were injured at work.

Differences in Compensation Between Personal Injury and Workers’ Compensation

If a personal injury case is much more involved and more difficult to prove, why do people pursue them?  In one word—damages.  In a worker’s compensation case, you will receive a much smaller amount than you might if you prevail in a personal injury case.  In a workers’ compensation case you will only receive compensation for your medical expenses, weekly compensation, permanent impairment benefits, and vocational rehabilitation. When you hear about people recovering tremendous settlements for their injuries, those settlements are usually based on compensation for pain and suffering. You cannot obtain damages for pain and suffering in a workers’ compensation case. If you take workers’ compensation, you cannot also sue your employer for pain and suffering and other injuries outside of the workers’ compensation program.

Is Possible to Bring Both a Workers’ Compensation Case and a Personal Injury Case?

While you cannot both file a workers’ compensation case and file a personal injury case against your employer, you may be able to file both if you are injured in the workplace. Imagine a situation where you are injured by a third-party subcontractor’s negligence while on a worksite. In that scenario, you could seek worker’s compensation from your employer—you were injured while at work—and seek further compensation from the third-party if your injuries are a result of their negligence. Filing both a worker’s compensation and a personal injury case is frequently called a “combination case” as is not uncommon here in Mississippi.

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

If you or a family member were injured at work, you might have either a personal injury claim or a workers’ compensation claim, or both.  Let experienced personal injury and worker’s compensation counsel guide you through the distinctions between these two types of legal actions.  Having experienced counsel by your side can mean the difference between being adequately compensated for your pain and suffering and loss of employment and receiving nothing at all.

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

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains Underinsures/Uninsured Motorist Cases

I have seen so many people devastated by car accidents. I’ve unfortunately watched them be  devastated a second time when they learn that the other motorist involved in the accident lacks sufficient insurance to cover the damage he or she caused. Of all of the advice I give clients, perhaps the most common one is to carry uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your automotive insurance. Don’t just carry it, carry as much as you can afford. While it is called “uninsured motorist” insurance, the motorist you are really insuring is yourself. I receive many questions about uninsured motorists, so I have written the following blog post to provide an overview.

If you have sustained an injury in an automobile accident, you must find experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for your loss of income and injury; this is especially true if the other motorist lacked sufficient insurance coverage. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Insurance

There are many types of coverages on your automobile insurance policy; for example, you can be covered for towing expenses or for new windshield glass. Many of these coverages are optional and a matter of personal taste.  However, one optional coverage is absolutely vital is commonly referred to as “UM” or “UIM,” Bodily Injury Caused by An Uninsured Auto and Bodily Injury Caused by an Underinsured Motorist. These are essential coverages if your accident is caused a driver who lacks sufficient insurance to cover you for your injuries and vehicle damage. Most people purchase the minimum insurance coverage required by law, while others purchase no insurance at all. If the driver that hits you has no insurance or too little insurance, these UM/UIM coverages step in and replace the other party’s insurance to provide coverage.

Imagine that the motorist who hit you has “bodily injury” coverage of up to $20,000.  That means even if you have significant injuries and tremendous economic damages, the most that the driver’s insurance company will be able to offer you is $20,000.  If they have a 20/40 policy, which is quite common, that means that the most they can pay you and everyone else in your care is $40,000. As a result, if there are more than two people in your car, you will not even be offered $20,000. That is a pittance compared to what you will need if you are injured and your car is damaged.

How much UM coverage should you purchase? I encourage clients to attain as much UM coverage as they can afford. Sadly, the UM coverage you purchase may be the only way for you to receive any compensation if you are injured by a driver with insufficient or no insurance. I recommend at least 100/300 and suggest 250/500 or more, if you can afford it. That means that instead your policy will pay $100,000 or $250,000 for your injuries, or $300,000 or $500,000 if multiple parties are injured. Remember that this may be your only way to recover money if you are injured due to the negligence of another driver.

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

If you or loved one were injured an automobile accident, you are going to need the assistance of a personal injury attorney, especially if the other party has insufficient insurance coverage or no coverage at all.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have been injured in an accident. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains How “Pain and Suffering” is Calculated

The term “pain and suffering” rolls off peoples’ tongues as if everyone knows what it means. It is a legal term that represents a particular category of damage—it is the emotional distress endured as a result of a third party’s negligent acts. Emotional distress covers a wide range of adverse effects, including emotional or psychological trauma, loss of consortium (i.e. the ability to have sexual relations with your spouse or partner), actual pain, depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

If you have sustained an injury as a result of an accident, you must hire experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for your pain and suffering. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

There are Two Categories of Pain and Suffering:

The experience of pain and suffering depends on the individual experiencing it. The measuring stick for that experience is how the injuries affected the harmed person’s emotional well-being and lifestyle. Pain and suffering falls into two categories:

Current Pain and Suffering—this is the emotional pain that you endure beginning with the injury until some end point. Because it has an endpoint, it can be measured.

Current and Future Pain and Suffering—this is the emotional pain you endure beginning with the injury, through medical treatment and therapy, and into the future indefinitely.  Because its endpoint is undetermined, it more difficult to measure

When you and your attorney calculate your settlement demand for pain and suffering, you must determine the category of pain and suffering yours falls into. If your suffering was limited to the time between the injury and completion of treatment, your demand would be lower, as it is finite. If it continues into the indefinite future, your request will be higher because there is no definitive way of knowing when it will end.

How Attorneys and Insurance Adjusters Calculate Pain and Suffering

The standard method of calculating pain and suffering is to use a multiple of your actual costs. These actual costs include your therapy bills, medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, lost wages, and any property damage. Taken together, these knowable, actual costs are known as “special damages.” Less easy to define is pain and suffering, which is referred to as “general damages.”

Computing special damages is a straightforward task—you add up all your bills and receipts. That said, deriving a figure that fairly and accurately represents your pain and suffering always poses a challenge. This is particularly difficult because the insurance adjuster that is tasked with fighting your claim wants to minimize your pain and suffering.

Personal injury attorneys and insurance adjusters calculate pain and suffering reimbursement using the “multiple” method. To do this, they take the total dollar value of your special damages and multiply that amount by one to five times.  In severe, debilitating cases, the multiplier may be even higher.  A case’s multiplier will depend upon the severity of pain, the duration of pain, the type of pain and discomfort, and your attorney’s ability to persuade the adjuster.

I tell clients frequently that they cannot just demand a king’s ransom for their pain and suffering and expect the insurance adjuster to agree to it. The insurance adjuster’s job is to say “no.” Instead, with the help of a skilled personal injury attorney, you must provide evidence justifying the requested amount along with a reasonable argument. If you fail to provide both, the insurance adjuster will reject your demand.

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

If you or a loved one was injured, you will need the help of an experienced personal injury attorney to recover compensation for your pain and suffering, along with the other damages you are due. This is my specialty.  Let me take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, and dealing with the other party’s attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.

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

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains “Rear-End” Accident Causes and Injuries

The most common accident I see here in Mississippi is a “rear-end” car accident, where one automobile strikes another from behind.  A host of physical injuries ranging from whiplash to death can result from this sort of accident, some of them develop immediately while others take years to become a debilitating problem. Cars often suffer a range of damage as well, from a dented fender to a total loss. Clients come to me wondering whether they can be compensated for these damages and who will do the compensating. I have answers to those questions and strategies for helping you through this challenging time.

If you have sustained an injury as a result of a rear-end accident, you must hire experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for your pain, trauma, loss of income, and injuries. Our Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Rear-End Accident Causes

There is an endless variety of rear-end accident causes.  Here is a list of the ones I see most commonly:

Distracted Driving—with the rise of cell phones, it seems like fewer and fewer people are watching the road when they drive. Instead, they are checking texts, emails, or even watching movies. These distractions can result in an accident when a car stops in front of them while their eyes are looking at a device.

DUI—reduction in muscle reflex and response time is one effect of driving under the influence. If you are in a vehicle that stops with an impaired driver following you, it is likely that his or her ability to stop will be slowed, which can result in a rear-end accident.

Tailgating—driving too close to another car can result in a rear-end collision if the front vehicle slows or stops unexpectedly.

Unexpected Stops—sometimes a car must stop short, either due to a child or animal running out in the road or another car’s sudden stop.  A rear-end collision results if the following vehicles are traveling too fast to stop.

Weather—if the roads are unexpected icy or rainy, cars traveling too fast for the conditions can experience reduced or no breaking, resulting in rear-end accidents.

Rear-End Accident Injuries

Whiplash—this is a common term for stiffness and pain in the shoulders and neck occurring after the neck and head “whips” beyond their normal range. Remember, your head weighs as much as a bowling ball and is balanced on top of your spinal column.  When you are hit from behind, that weight moves back and forth so quickly that it strains the soft tissue—muscle and ligaments—that are meant to hold it in place.

Back Injuries—your spine is not a solid chord but is a stack of small bone discs separated by cartilage. Within that stack of bone discs is your spinal cord. The entire spine is held together with cartilage, ligaments, and muscle. Because the spine has so many moving parts, it does not take much of a car accident to shift one of those discs or strain one of the muscles supporting the spine. Any one of those small tweaks can result in long-term pain and discomfort. Any injury to the spinal cord itself can result in paralysis or death.

Face and Head Injuries— your face and head can be injured whether you are in a high-speed accident or a slow fender-bender. In a slow speed accident, your face and head may be injured because the airbags did not deploy, resulting in your head hitting the steering wheel or objects in the car. In a high-speed crash, your face and head may be injured by the airbag’s explosive force.

Seatbelts—while most people think of seatbelts as essential safety devices, they can also cause harm. In their effort to restrain your body’s forward movement when you are hit from behind, seatbelts can put extreme pressure on the shoulder, neck, torso, and internal organs.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured Due to a Rear-End Collision?

If you or a loved one was injured in a rear-end accident, you might have a viable personal injury claim for your injuries, for any damage to your car, for any time you have been out of work,  and the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation. This is my area of expertise.  Let me take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, and dealing with the other driver’s attorney. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.

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

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains Negligent Security Cases

In recent days, I have watched with interest as attorneys begin to file cases on behalf of people tragically gunned down in Las Vegas last year by a gunman firing from a window in the Mandalay Bay Casino. The theory of these cases that are now percolating up is that the casino was negligent in how it provided security. You may ask yourself whether that means that a hotel or landowner may be liable anytime something tragic happens on his or her property. No, negligence does not just mean that something terrible happened on a business owners or landowner’s property, it means that you failed to take adequate precautions to prevent or minimize a threat you reasonably should have anticipated. As I will discuss further below, the degree to which the landowner or business owner should have expected the danger is the key to a negligent security case.

If you have sustained an injury as a result of a landowner’s failure to provide adequate security, you must hire experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for your pain, trauma, loss of income ,and injuries. Barrett Law has the experience to help you if you have been injured.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

Negligent Security

A negligent security case in Mississippi means that a landowner invites you onto his property to conduct business, such as shopping or lodging, or as a guest.  Once you are on the property, the landowner fails to reasonably protect you from injury.  Reasonableness in this context means that he or she fails to protect you from a danger that he or she knew or should have known about. The responsibility to protect visitors includes creating an environment that deters criminal activity.

Negligent Security Examples

Property owners must take reasonable steps to prevent injuries to those they invite onto their property. This is true for homeowners with aggressive dogs that could harm someone entering their yard, and it is true for business owners with dangerous elements on their property. Business owners must protect anyone on their property, whether employee or customer, from preventable harm. Negligent security is when there are obvious risks that the business owner could have reduced by implementing proper safety and security measures, including poor lighting in parking lots, stairwells and other areas on the property; failing to install security cameras or other criminal deterrent devices; failing to install warning signs to alert customers of criminal or other dangerous behavior; lack of safety features like locking doors; failing to have a security presence in high-crime areas.

Again, not all crimes can be prevented. That said, to prove a negligent security case in court, your personal injury counsel will show that a business owner or landowner did not provide adequate protection for known risks. I mentioned the Mandalay Bay Casino case above. The reason I brought it up is that evidence may have emerged that before the 2017 shooting, another gunman brought an arsenal of weapons into the casino but was thwarted. As a result, victims’ counsel in that case will likely argue that Mandalay Bay knew or should have known that its casino was likely to be used for a shooting in the future. As a result, the casino’s failure to increase security in the face of known risk was unreasonable and negligent.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured Due to Negligent Security?

If you or a loved one was injured due to negligent security, you might have a viable personal injury claim for your injuries, any time you have been out of work, the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation, your pain and suffering, and other damages. This is my area of expertise.  Let me take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, and dealing with the other party’s attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered an injury. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.  Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney looks forward to making a difference for you!

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains the Risks of Forceps Deliveries

When a mother enters a Mississippi hospital to give birth to a child, she and the father always hope to leave with a happy, healthy child. Unfortunately, the process of giving birth can have complications that result in harm to the child. For many years, physicians’ use of forceps—long, metal tongs used to extract a child from the birth canal—was routine in hospitals. Now it is known that forceps deliveries can result in serious, preventable injuries to the child.  If your child was injured during a forceps delivery, you may be able to recover compensation to pay for any resulting costs associated with the injury.

If you or your child sustained an injury as a result of a forceps delivery, you must find experienced counsel to help you attain your fair share of compensation for his or her injuries. Barrett Law has the experience to help if you or your child was injured, and has experience helping families in similar circumstances here in Mississippi.  Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

What is a Forceps Delivery and Why is it a Problem?

Physicians do a forceps delivery when the mother is having a difficult labor.  “Difficult” can mean different things, but generally means pushing without progress or a situation where the baby’s heartbeat indicates that he or she is in some form of distress. In a forceps delivery, the doctor clamps down on your baby’s head using forceps to remove him or her from the birth canal.  Sometimes this procedure is a success and there are no ensuing injuries; however, in some cases forceps deliveries cause harm to the mother, the baby, or both.
Forceps deliveries can injure the mother’s bladder or urethra.  It can also cause uterine rupture, lower genital tract tears and weakening of the muscles supporting your pelvic region, among related risks. For the infant, forceps deliveries can cause facial injuries including eye trauma, skull fractures, or bleeding in the skull, among other possible injuries.

What is the Legal Standard for Negligence in a Forceps Delivery?

It is important to note that sometimes a forceps delivery is necessary and appropriate. Moreover, in those instances where the technique was necessary and appropriate, sometimes injuries result.  You do not have a viable personal injury claim just because you or your child was injured. Instead, you must prove that the doctor was negligent and that that negligence caused your or your child’s injuries.  In this context, negligence means that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care for the procedure and that failure caused your injuries.

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

If you or your child were injured in a forceps delivery, you might have a viable personal injury claim for any injuries or health problems that have subsequently developed.  Specifically, you may be due compensation for any time you have been out of work, the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation, your pain and suffering, and other damages. Your child may be due compensation for any injuries and/or suffering he or she has had to endure. Let experienced personal injury counsel take care of organizing your bills, attaining medical analysis from respected expert witnesses, and dealing with the hospital and physician’s attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing, getting back on your feet again, and caring for your child.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you or your child was injured as a result of a forceps delivery. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

 

 

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains Landowner or Premises Liability

One of the most common types of personal injury cases here in Mississippi is a “premises liability” case, or a case against a landowner for negligently maintaining his or her property. This can represent a tremendous diversity of incidents, from a grocery store slip-and-fall to a deck collapsing on an apartment building.  The magnitude of the negligence really does not matter; property owners have an obligation to protect their visitors and tenants from injury by removing or mitigating unsafe situations.  If the property owner or landlord fails to act reasonably in the construction or maintenance of their property and a tenant or visitor is injured as a result of that failure, they may be held responsible for the injuries, pain and suffering and other damages suffered by an injured party.  Those other damages can include medical bills and lost wages as well as the damages suffered by the spouse and other family members of the injured party who are negatively impacted by the incident.

If you have sustained an injury in as a result of an unsafe property, you need experienced counsel to 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.

Types of Premises Cases

There are a wide variety of accidents that may result in liability for a landowner. A common type of accident involves injuries related to the use of inadequate or faulty building materials, such as in the case of the collapsing deck I mentioned earlier. A similar type of accident can arise from adequate building materials that deteriorated over time due to a lack of maintenance. Another type of liability arises clutter or garbage causes a visitor to the land or a renter to trip and fall.  Another common type of accident is a slip and fall involving moisture in the form of a wet spot on the floor or ice on a walkway.

How a Premises Liability Case Works

Most people can easily imagine getting injured due to slipping and falling on ice, so it is a useful example to work through.  Imagine you were injured due to slipping and falling on ice on a third party’s property. You may have a claim against the owner of the property if they failed to reasonably remove the ice or warn visitors of its existence.

There are limits to what can be construed as negligence, obviously. If you slip on ice in the middle of a rapidly developing ice storm in Miami, you will likely have a hard time proving that the owner acted unreasonably if a reasonable shop owner in Miami would have not been prepared to deal with it. Similarly, if you slip on an icy sidewalk in Alaska in the winter, you may have a hard time proving that that you were not reasonably on notice that you should expect treacherous conditions.  Basically, the standard is one of “reasonableness” meaning that that landowner does not have to take superhuman steps to eradicate all risk, but must take reasonable steps to eliminate or reduce dangers that he or she knows or should know about.
If you have injuries as a result of a dangerous premises, you must prove that the unsafe condition actually caused your injury.  For example, if you have had a hip injury for ten years, you are unlikely to be compensated for that hip if you fell on it yesterday.  While you may be able to claim that your preexisting injury was worsened by the premises in question, you will have a much more challenging case than if you have an injury that was clearly caused by the dangerous condition.  In addition, you must also demonstrate that you were not more responsible for their injuries than the property owner or party in control of a property.  This often comes into play when alcohol, drugs, or cell phones are involved.  If you fall and are injured on a patch of ice, the landowner may claim that a reasonable person would not have fallen and that your fall was due to your intoxication or due to looking down at your phone.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been Injured on Another’s Premises?

If you were injured by a dangerous premises, you may have a personal injury claim for any time you have been out of work, the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation, your pain and suffering, and other damages.

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

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Loose Cargo Trucking Accidents

If you drive Mississippi’s roads, you likely see a tremendous number of trucks carrying cargo.  You will see tractor trailers with carefully strapped down loads and other trucks with their cargo unsecured and blowing out of the back of the truck behind them. I’ve even seen two men moving a mattress by holding it to the roof the car with just their arms out the window. With loose cargo comes accidents, some of them deadly.

If you or a loved one were injured as a result of loose cargo, you must find experienced counsel to 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.

The Complexity of Loose Cargo Accidents

A 2015 federal study estimated that as many as 400 deaths across the United States are the result of unsecured loads – not only from commercial trucks, but smaller pick-up trucks and other passenger vehicles as well. The most common type of accident is caused by a truck carrying a load that is insufficiently attached to the truck’s bed.  While the attachment may be sufficient when the truck is at rest or moving straight down a highway, it may be insufficient to deal with the extreme physics involved when the truck stops short or swerves quickly. Cargo that comes loose can hit trailing vehicles, often doing extreme damage.

Another type of accident occurs when cargo becomes loose and enters the road, causing other cars to swerve or otherwise rapidly change their lanes. An accident ensues from the rapid movement of the other cars.  While this sort of accident may not involve the cargo actually impacting with other motorists, the high speed collision with other cars can be just as harmful.

One problem with loose cargo accidents, and a primary reason that you will need an experienced personal injury lawyer if you are involved in one, is that it is rarely clear who is liable for the accident. You may be thinking, “the truck hauling the runaway cargo is liable, aren’t they?” That is a reasonable guess, but it is rarely that straightforward. Imagine an accident where a bulldozer breaks the chains holding it to the bed of tractor trailer and falls onto the roadway.  The car in front of you swerves, pushing you off the road into a steep ditch.  Your car rolls over and you have, thankfully, only soft tissue injuries to your neck—whiplash.  Your car is destroyed, you are out of work for two weeks, and you need to be compensated.

In that example, the trucking company likely hires an independent contractor to drive their truck.  They hire a third-party contractor to load the bulldozer onto the tractor trailer.  All of those parties will blame the other motorist for swerving and causing your accident, and everyone will say that the State caused your neck injury by making the ditch alongside the highway too steep. The State likely used a third-party contractor to dig the ditch, however, so this blame cycle just goes on and on.

The point of that story is that loose cargo accidents are never straightforward and require the expert help of an experienced personal injury lawyer to prevent all of the parties involved in causing your injury from shirking their responsibility.

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

If you or a family member were injured in a loose cargo trucking accident, you might have a viable personal injury claim for the time you have been out of work, the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation, your pain and suffering, and other damages. Let experienced counsel take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, and dealing with the other parties’ attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.

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

 

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Experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorney Explains Why Lane Splitting Is a Dangerous

I have recently seen a few cases involving motorcycles engaged in a practice called “lane splitting.”  Lane splitting is a dangerous practice that results in a significant number of motorcycle and automobile accidents here in Mississippi. I have written this blog post to explain lane splitting and what you should do if you are a motorist injured as a result of it.

But what is lane splitting? Lane splitting is when a motorcyclist rides between the two lanes of traffic between vehicles. If you have been startled when a motorcycle buzzed in between you and a moving car in another lane, you have experienced lane splitting but did not know its name. This applies to driving between two moving vehicles or two stationary vehicles.

If you have sustained an injury in as a result of lane splitting or any other unsafe driving, you must find experienced counsel to 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.

The Dangers of Lane Splitting

Like the vast majority of states, lane splitting is illegal here in Mississippi. In fact, it is only legal in California.  There is a good reason for its widespread prohibition, as lane splitting is both dangerous to motorcyclists themselves as well as the other motorists with whom they share the road.

Lane splitting is dangerous for many reasons, all of them having to do with the limited mobility and visibility it exacerbates. First, when a motorcycle occupies the same lane as another vehicle, they are very close. If either one has to swerve suddenly to avoid an obstacle or another vehicle, catastrophic collisions often occur.  Second, when a motorcycle shares a lane with an automobile, it often results in the motorcycle, which is usually already difficult for a driver to see, being in the automobile driver’s blind spot. As a result, the driver may change lanes without seeing the motorcycle and cause a collision. Third, when lane splitting occurs between stationary vehicles, such as in a stopped traffic scenario, the motorcycle has nowhere to go if a driver decides to open his or her door quickly. While usually, the motorcyclist could merely swerve to get away from the door, he or she is prohibited from doing that by a car parked in another lane of traffic.

What Should You Do If You or a Loved One Has Been in an Accident with a Motorcycle?

If you were injured in a motorcycle accident or an accident caused by a motorcycle, you might have a viable personal injury claim for any time you have been out of work, the costs of your treatment and rehabilitation, your pain and suffering, and other damages.  There was a time when few motorcycle riders carried insurance, but that is mostly no longer the case. As a result, recovering compensation for your injuries from an accident involving a motorcycle is not the challenge it once was.

Let experienced counsel take care of organizing your bills, attaining statements from expert witnesses, reviewing police reports, and dealing with the other parties’ attorneys. These are just a few of the critical, complex tasks that a personal injury attorney will handle for you while you concentrate on healing and getting back on your feet again.

Call Barrett Law now, an experienced Mississippi personal injury law firm, to represent you if you have suffered an injury due to lane splitting or any other unsafe condition caused by motorcycles. Contact us now at (601) 790-1505.

 

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