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.

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.

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.

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.

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!