Posted on May 18, 2021 in Car Accident

When you get into a car accident, a variety of injuries can happen. Many people sustain whiplash, bruising, and sometimes even broken bones. Another fairly common injury that a car accident can produce is a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBIs can and often do range in severity, especially if you sustained the injury from a car accident. In severe cases, a brain injury could also lead to death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were more than 61,000 people who died from a TBI in 2019, with even more injured. If you suffered a TBI in a car accident, you should speak to an Illinois car accident injury lawyer to discuss your options to recover compensation.

What is a TBI?

A TBI is an injury that occurs to your brain after your head suffers a blow, bump, or jolt. Many TBIs occur from car accidents. The CDC estimates that about 25 percent of TBIs are caused by vehicle accidents. TBIs can also occur when something penetrates the brain, such as a bullet, projectile, or skull fragment.  Most TBIs only injure brain tissue and heal within a couple of weeks, but with more severe TBIs, the symptoms and effects of the injury may last for years or even a lifetime. 

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

Following the right steps after a car accident can help ensure everyone is safe, that laws are followed, and evidence is preserved in case filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit with a car accident lawyer becomes necessary.

Putting Safety First

After an accident, drivers should move the vehicle out of traffic if possible. Calling 911 can ensure injured victims get the medical help they need and the proper police reports are made.

Avoiding speculation when talking to the police helps protect victims’ right to recovery. Victims should avoid admitting fault. Insurance companies often take statements from accident reports and twist them to minimize or deny claims.

Collecting Information

Collecting information about the other driver(s), passengers, and witnesses help streamline the insurance claim. Victims should document the:

• Names and numbers of parties involved
• Location, date, and time of the crash
• Description of personal injuries and property damage

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Personal Injury

Accident victims should be mindful of post-collision head injuries like a skull fracture. The skull, commonly referred to as the cranial bone, protects the brain from injury. Skull fractures often cause swelling (edema), blood clots (subdural hematoma), and bleeding (hemorrhage), which create pressure on the brain tissue. Depending on the severity of head injury, brain damage is possible.

Seeking medical attention after a vehicle accident or another incident that may cause head injuries, like a slip and fall, can help reduce the risk of serious complications. A personal injury may also be able to help victims recover compensation when another party’s negligence led to the skull fracture.

Types of Skull Fractures

There are several types of fractures, including:

• Linear – break that occurs in a thin line (it’s the most common)

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Slip & Fall

In some cases, slip and fall lawsuits are resolved through a legal settlement process without proceeding to trial.

Understanding the Settlement Process

Many slip and fall injuries are settled out of court, if parties can agree on a fair payment amount to cover the injury victim’s damages. However, many slip and fall cases involve complex negotiations and injury liability issues, so court preparation is necessary in case a settlement agreement can’t be reached and the case proceeds to trial.

The settlement process goes through various stages of preparation. Depending on the complexity of the case and the timeline to complete each stage, the settlement process may take several months or years to complete.

Complaint and Summons

Filing a complaint is the first step in pursuing a slip and fall lawsuit. A complaint is an official document prepared by a slip and fall lawyer describing the nature of the legal claim. It states the names of the plaintiff and the defendant, a description of how personal injuries occurred, the allegedly responsible party, and the monetary amount requested for damages.

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

When the driver of an 80,000-pound commercial truck displays road rage, the results are often catastrophic injuries or fatalities. Approximately 1,500 people are seriously hurt or killed by aggressive driving every year.

Truck Drivers Prone to Road Rage

Semi-truck drivers have demanding and often stressful jobs. Many truckers work long hours, sometimes spending days struggling to meet deadlines as they transport goods hundreds of miles to their destination. As a result, truck drivers are prone to road-rage. These factors are no excuse for erratic, dangerous behavior like speeding, tailgating, unsafe lane changes, or trying to run other motorists off the road, however.

Since 2009, accidents involving commercial trucks have risen over 51%. Approximately 68% of all truck accident fatalities are passenger vehicle occupants.

Commercial trucks have greater ground clearance than the average passenger car and they can weigh up to 30 times more. Therefore, smaller vehicles colliding with large trucks already have the odds stacked against them. When a large truck collision involves aggressive behavior, the incident is all the more terrifying.

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Nursing Home Abuse

Corrupt nursing homes are prone to incidents of neglect and abuse. Improper supervision of nursing home staff, understaffing, negligent care, and irresponsible or even abusive actions of caregivers in these facilities can put elderly residents in danger.

Concealing Neglect and Abuse in Nursing Homes

The horror stories in the news regarding nursing home abuse and neglect are astounding. In October of 2019, 3 nursing home facility workers in North Carolina were charged with forcing residents to participate in a fighting ring with other residents. In some instances, staff members were recording the fights and encouraging nursing home residents, many of which had Alzheimer’s and dementia, to abuse one another.

The month prior to the North Carolina case, Philip Esformes, CEO of a chain of nursing home and assisted living facilities, was convicted of numerous schemes that involved bribing doctors to refer patients to Esformes’s facilities, inappropriately moving residents between facilities to keep ratios stable, and even bribing government officials to give facilities notice when a surprise inspection was about to take place. As a result, many residents received inadequate medical care, lived in poor or unsafe conditions, were charged for unnecessary services, or denied any services whatsoever. After years of investigations that began in 2016, multiple charges were admitted to, and a 20-year sentence along with a $44 million penalty was received. In addition to criminal charges, Esformes may face civil lawsuits from the victims’ families.

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Personal Injury

“We are seeing an increased amount of traumatic brain injuries in our cases. The popular press is discussing this more and more in relation to professional football. We asked our research clerk, Hannah Grace, to firm up our research in this area and the following is an article by Hannah summarizing her findings. As a caution to the public nothing herein is intended as medical advice and anything anyone can rely upon medically. Consult your physician.” — Charles E. Adler

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is defined as a severe, violent strike to the head that causes the brain to bump against the inside of the skull.  The injury can range from mild to severe. The degree of trauma depends on different factors including the force of impact and nature of the accident. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the leading causes of TBIs are falls, blunt trauma, and motor vehicle accidents. Violence, sports injuries, and explosive blasts are also common in causing TBIs. Symptoms for both mild and severe TBI can include some of the same symptoms. Intellectual and communication problems are also known to develop after a TBI. In 2014 an average of 155 people died each day from injuries that included a TBI. Deaths that were related to TBI were the highest among people 75 and older.  Emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths relating to TBI’s increased 53% from 2006 to 2014. Different tests are used to diagnose a TBI.

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Construction Accidents

Concrete workers face a variety of hazards that can cause serious injuries, disabilities, or death. As a result, OSHA mandated a number of safety standards geared towards keeping workers safe. Despite these standards, however, employers often fail to take precautionary measures to protect their workers. Unsafe conditions in the concrete industry continue to cause approximately 28,000 serious injuries and illnesses and about 40 deaths each year. By recognizing workplace hazards and following a few safety tips, concrete workers can reduce their risk of getting seriously injured, becoming permanently disabled, or dying. 

Hazards Concrete Workers Face

Some of the most common hazards that cause serious injuries or death to concrete workers include:

• Falls from cranes or other elevated workspaces
• Getting crushed or pinned by heavy slabs of concrete when partially constructed foundations collapse

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Car Accident

Forward-Collision Warning, Blind-Spot Monitoring, Automatic Emergency Braking, and other advanced safety systems are keeping drivers safe. These systems use radar, cameras, and other sensors to keep an eye on what’s happening on the roads around them. Using onboard computers, they process the collected information and respond when a crash appears imminent.

Forward-Collision Warning (FCW)

This safety feature uses cameras, radar, or lasers to watch the road ahead and monitor relative speed and distances between vehicles. It provides a visual, audible, and/or tactile warning of an impending collision with a pedestrian, car, or another object. These systems are sometimes accompanied by auto-braking features that will automatically hit the brakes if the driver fails to heed the warning.

Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)

Using radar and forward-facing cameras, the AEB system detects potential collisions and warns the driver of an impending forward crash with another car, object, or pedestrian. If the driver fails to react in time, the system automatically applies the brakes to prevent or reduce the severity of a crash.

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 Posted on April 12, 2021 in Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice cases usually involve complex legal terminology. To navigate the deep waters of medical malpractice claims, it’s important for a medical negligence victim to understand the legal terms and how they may apply to his or her case.

Common Medical Malpractice Terms to Know

Below are some common terms in medical malpractice cases.

Affidavit: A sworn statement that assures the merit of facts written down and confirmed by oath.

Allegation: A statement made against the defendant and dictating what the claimant intends to prove.

Arbitration: A process of coming up with a resolution without involving the court system.

Assumption of Risk: This is a defendant’s allegation that the plaintiff was aware of the danger of the actions taken but willingly chose to take the risk.

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