My Civil Advocate

Will I Get A Rental Car? In most cases, the insurance company for the at fault driver whom hit you will not provide you with a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired. However, if you have this benefit on your own policy, your insurance company will provide a rental car for a limited time while your car is being repaired. Will The Insurance Company For The Person Who Caused  My Accident Pay My Medical Bills Before I Settle The Case? The insurance company for the other person will almost never agree to pay any claims related to your personal injury claim “piecemeal.” Basically the insurance company looks at your medical bills as part of your total claim and they want to settle the claim all at once. Hopefully, you have medical insurance coverage or medical payments coverage on your own insurance policy to pay your medical bills. If not, you will need to make arrangements with the medical providers to halt collection efforts until you can get your claim settled....

A breast cancer diagnosis brings with it an array of burdens. Among them are frequent trips to the doctor, possible hospitalization, and any number of treatments which can have permanent repercussions. However, perhaps the worst of all is the emotional stress one feels upon hearing a cancer diagnosis. New technologies can detect breast cancer at stage 0, also known as carcinoma in situ. On the surface, this is a medical advancement which has the potential to save many lives moving forward. However, cancers detected at this early stage can easily be misdiagnosed. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) are two breast cancers detected at stage 0. While most woman think of biopsies as being infallible in terms of diagnosing breast cancer, some reports indicate that upwards of 17 percent of DCIS incidences diagnosed via fine-needle biopsy are misdiagnosed. That percentage has prompted the federal government to begin funding a national study to further evaluat...

Any individual who has been injured in an automobile accident may be able to seek monetary compensation for injuries and damages. Each case is fact specific and typically involves complex issues of proof and fault in a dispute. Compensation:            The injured party in a motor vehicle accident may be able to recover damages from the party or parties who caused the accident. Damages are monetary compensation for the victim’s injuries or losses. Compensable injuries include physical injuries such as broken bones, spinal cord injuries, head injuries and the pain and suffering caused by the physical injuries.

How companies classify persons that perform services for them carries tax, unemployment, workers compensation, liability and other implications. The two primary classifications are employees or independent contractors. Which of the two classifications a person falls under depends on several factors.   Determining the Legal Distinction: The key element in determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor is the amount of control the worker has over his or her job duties and what that person accomplishes or produces. A worker who performs services for a business is usually an employee if the business or organization can control what will be done and how it will be done. In determining whether a person providing service is an employee or is an independent contractor, any information that provides evidence of the degree of control or the independence of the worker must be considered.

It is unfortunate that we often hear of people who have been injured in a car wreck in which the other driver was driving without any insurance. But this bad situation can quickly turn into a disaster if the person who was injured was not carrying Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage (UM/UIM). Medical bills from serious injuries can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving you in financial ruin and unable to recover from your injuries through no fault of your own.

If you believe malnutrition is not a problem in today’s modern facilities you could not be further from the truth. Estimates are that at least one third, and possibly a much higher percentage, of nursing home residents suffer from malnutrition despite the fact that it can typically be prevented. This number is particularly troubling when you consider that approximately 1.5 million Americans reside in nursing homes. So why is malnutrition such a major problem in our nursing homes today?

As an attorney dedicated to helping car and truck accident victims, I am reminded every day of the terrible toll of motor vehicle wrecks on our nation. First and foremost is the human element, as many people struggle with serious injuries or even the loss of a loved one due to a crash. But there is also a very real economic impact as well.

The only thing worse than being involved in an automobile accident is being involved in an accident with some type of large commercial truck. Commercial trucks can often weigh up to 40 tons and can be 80 feet in length.  According to the  Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), deaths in 2010 due to accidents involving large trucks topped 3,000. Of those 3,000+ accidents, approximately 72% of those, or around 2,450  of the deaths, were passenger vehicle occupants.