Accidents can result in life-changing injuries and even death. Understanding your rights and responsibilities as a victim is important, but working with an experienced Alabama personal injury lawyer can guide you through a complicated legal system and ensure that you see the best possible outcome to your claim.
At Mama Justice, we defend victims’ rights and are willing to stand up to even the most formidable opponents to ensure that our clients receive full financial compensation for their medical bills, lost wages, pain, suffering, emotional anguish, and more.
Although in some personal injury cases a defendant’s liability is obvious, there are plenty of instances where the contributory negligence principle will apply. Contributory negligence refers to circumstances where the victims is found to share some of the responsibility for their injuries.
It is important to work with a personal injury attorney to determine the exact cause of your accident with respect to Alabama negligence laws and to show that you were not at fault since that could reduce your compensation or even prohibit you from collecting any recovery at all from the other party.
Personal injuries and accidents can happen in a countless number of ways, including drunk drivers, medical errors, unsafe premises, and defective products.
Common causes of Florence, AL personal injury cases include:
Car accidents are the number one cause of personal injury claims in the United States and they take place every day throughout the state. If you are injured in an accident, you may not know what steps to take next, especially if you sustained a serious injury.
Unfortunately, being injured in a vehicle collision does not automatically mean that you will receive financial compensation.
Alabama law says that a victim may not recover damages from another person if their own negligent actions also contributed to their injuries. This is true even if their own negligence was not the immediate cause of the crash.
This is just one of the many reasons why it is essential to seek prompt legal guidance from a knowledgeable Florence car accident lawyer regarding your specific situation.
If you were injured in an Alabama car accident, reach out to the personal injury lawyers at Mama Justice for a free review of your potential claim and to learn what legal options are open to you.
The Consumer Product Safety Administration reported that 28,000 US citizens are killed and an additional 33,000 sustain varying degrees of injury due to defective consumer products.
It used to be the responsibility of the consumer to ensure that a product was safe, this is no longer the case. In today’s world, manufacturers have to guarantee that their products are safe and will not cause injuries to those who use them.
Defective products range from a basic child’s toy to heavy industrial machinery. No matter what type of product you are using, injuries can happen as a result of design defects, manufacturing defects, or failing to provide proper consumer warnings regarding potential dangers.
A defective product can cause serious injuries to its users and victims need to know that there are legal options available to them.
Property owners have a duty of care to take reasonable precautions to prevent injury to anybody invited onto their property. This applies to both business properties and personal residences.
If you were injured due to the negligence of a property manager or owner, such as during a slip and fall, you could be entitled to financial compensation for the damages caused by that injury.
Some common premises liability accidents that cause injuries include:
If you sustained a personal injury while on another person’s property, you will undoubtedly have to deal with the insurance carrier. An industry-wide practice among these companies is attempting to place the blame on the victim. You should never sign any documents given to you by the homeowner’s or businesses insurance company until you have spoken with a premises liability lawyer in Florence.
Work-related accidents can impact not just your physical well-being but they can rob you of your ability to make a living as well. According to Alabama law, however, employers who have five or more employees are required to have workers’ compensation insurance. If you were injured while on the job, you could have a valid claim for workers’ comp benefits. Under this coverage, workers who are injured are entitled to three specific benefits:
If you were hurt on the job, you must report the incident to your supervisor immediately. Your employer should then provide you with a formal workers’ comp report of the accident and your injury which will allow your benefits to begin.
In some cases, insurance carriers try to deny valid workers’ comp claims. They may also try to say that your injury did not occur at work, that it was caused by a pre-existing condition, or that your injury is not as serious as you claim and it doesn’t need medical attention.
Never try to go up against the workers’ comp system by yourself. You run the risk of not receiving the benefits that the law entitles you to. Always consult with an Alabama workplace injury lawyer and make sure that you understand your legal rights before you do anything else.
If you or a family member have been injured in an accident involving a tractor-trailer or other oversized commercial vehicle, it is vital that you do not sign anything that an insurance company, even your own, gives you. After you have obtained proper medical treatment, you should speak with an experienced Florence tractor-trailer accident lawyer about representing you.
Any accident is scary. When a huge tractor-trailer is involved, however, those in the smaller vehicle are in much greater danger. Combining a vehicle that weighs about 80,000 pounds and is traveling at a high rate of speed with a single error in judgment made by its operator can produce catastrophic results.
In 2012, the Department of Transportation reported that, in Alabama, more than 1,500 victims were injured and almost 100 victims were killed in accidents involving tractor-trailers. If you or someone you love has been involved in a trucking accident, it is vital that you reach out to an Alabama truck accident attorney to assist you in pursuing full and fair compensation.
Catastrophic injuries are typically life-changing for victims as well as their families. Injuries such as paralysis, brain damage, serious burns, loss of a limb, or loss of hearing and/or vision can have an adverse impact on their financial future. If you or a relative has endured a catastrophic injury caused by an accident, you might be eligible to seek economic recovery for your losses and damages. Hiring a Florence catastrophic accident attorney who specializes in these kinds of cases will give you your best shot at collecting full and fair financial compensation.
Any personal injury that is permanent or long-term is considered catastrophic. The American Medical Association defines a catastrophic injury as any injury that results in serious damage to the brain, spinal cord, or spine. This can also include fractures or breaks to the spine or skull. These kinds of injuries often make victims unable to work and support themselves and the family members who rely on them.
Some of the more frequent kinds of catastrophic injuries include:
Lawsuits involving wrongful deaths can be extremely complicated. In order to see results, it is crucial that your Florence wrongful death attorney has the experience and knowledge to effectively compose a compelling argument that is supported by facts, tangible evidence of those facts, eyewitnesses, and expert testimony. If you lost a family member in an accident that was caused by another’s negligent actions, we strongly urge you to reach out to a wrongful death attorney in Alabama at the law firm of Mama Justice.
In Alabama, the statute of limitations on personal injury claims is two years, meaning you have two years from the day of your accident to file a suit or you could lose your right to do so. Hiring an experienced attorney will ensure you do not miss any of the state’s strict deadlines on these kinds of cases.
Every legal proceeding, whether criminal or civil, is unique and laws or statutes that were applicable in one case may be entirely irrelevant in another. Due to this, it is challenging to value a claim without first conducting a complete investigation. There are some basic guiding principles, however, that can help victims understand what kinds of compensation may be available like liabilities, damage types, and caps on personal injury awards.
Personal injury damages will mainly fall under one of two classifications:
The law in Alabama does not set limits on the amount of personal injury compensation that may be awarded in personal injury cases except where punitive damages are concerned. Punitive damages are designed to monetarily punish the defendant for their behavior and act as a deterrent to others.
Punitive damages are subjective and, therefore, imprecise. The terms that characterize punitive damages include malice, fraud, oppression, bad faith, wickedness, and situations where the at-fault party acted without any regard for the rights of the victim.
Alabama law requires clear and convincing proof that the defendant behaved with conscious or deliberate malice. This can be hard to prove, but if you are found eligible to collect punitive damages or are suing for emotional trauma, recovery is capped at three times the financial compensation you were awarded or $1.5 million, whichever is greater.
Other restrictions on personal injury awards in Alabama apply to municipal liability. The limitation in these cases is $100,000.
If you or a member of your family has sustained an injury, our reputable Florence, AL, personal injury lawyers are ready to advocate on your behalf. We know what your rights are and we know the law. More importantly, we make sure that our clients understand what is going on every step of the way.