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When a worker is injured on the job that person has a workers compensation case. Employers provide workers compensation insurance to protect employees who become injured at work. The only requirement for this type of case is a job related injury. It doesn't matter who is at fault, as the concept of negligence does not enter into the picture. The injured worker is entitled to, among other things, payment of medical bills, disability payments while they are off work, and a settlement i...

The words free initial consultation are literally trumpeted in virtually all San Diego personal injury lawyer advertising, as well as in personal injury lawyer advertising in virtually all parts of the nation. While it is true that many lawyers see this as an effective marketing tool for their prospective injury clients who may be somewhat reticent about speaking with an attorney about their personal injury case lest they incur significant attorneys fees, the fact remains that the free ...

If you have suffered personal injury in a car accident that was not your fault you are entitled to be compensated for your medical bills, lost wages, and any other "out of pocket" expenses you had as well as a sum of money for pain and suffering and emotional distress. These latter two elements of damages are referred to in the legal profession as general damages.

Some years back Californians, weary of the effects of uninsured drivers upon the system as a whole, enacted ...

In the practice of personal injury law it is very common for us to see clients who have been injured in an accident yet have no health insurance in order to pay for medical bills. Having been in the practice of accident/injury law for almost 30 years we have developed relationships with doctors in virtually all medical specialties who will render medical care to our injured clients on a lien basis.

A lien is a formal written agreement between the patient and doctor. The doctor agrees to ...

Since by far the vast majority of personal injury cases in San Diego, as well as nationwide, arise as a result of car accidents it is worth examining the subject of Medical Payments benefits. Commonly referred to simply as
"med-pay", medical benefits are a coverage that many people have elected to have under their car insurance policies. These benefits will have a specific coverage limit, i.e. $1,000, $2,000, $5,000, etc.

If you are injured in a car accident, whether it is your ...

From time to time prospective clients will consult with me on their personal injury case and ask if, in fact, they really need a personal injury attorney to handle their personal injury case?. After all, the insurance adjustor who contacted them the day after the accident "seemed so nice." The answer to this question, in a nutshell, is YES, absolutely you need an attorney if you have been injured in an accident!!! As an injury victim you are entitled to collect for reasonable and ...

Let's examine some important issues that greatly impact car accident victims and, in turn, their personal injury attorney.

The insurance company that will be settling the property damage claim to the damaged car has the right to choose whether to fix the car or to pay it off. After a car accident the insurance company will inspect the damaged vehicle to estimate the property damage done to the car. Once they have an estimate they will make a final decision on whether or not it pays to hav...

The typical personal injury lawyer in San Diego, or most anywhere in the United States for that matter, deals in a variety of types of injury cases. Most commonly, personal injuries result from automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, defective products, medical malpractice, or slip and fall situations.

The latter category, slip and falls (or trip and falls), can often be the most difficult type of case to establish negligence, or fault, on the part of the prospective defendant...

San Diego is fortunate to have an active and respected Better Business Bureau . The San Diego BBB according to the mission statement on their website states that their primary goal is to advance trust in the marketplace. They do this by: "creating a community of trustworthy businesses, setting standards for marketplace trust, encouraging and supporting best practices, celebrating marketplace role models, and denouncing substandard marketplace practices."

As a San ...

As any personal injury attorney in San Diego or anywhere else for that matter can tell you, low impact cases resulting in soft tissue types of injuries are specifically "red flagged" by the insurance industry as cases meriting special attention. Such cases are given the code word "Mist" for Minor Impact Soft Tissue.

Mist cases are typically either denied in their entirety by the defendants insurance company or else the defendants insurance company will make an extrem...

The site of a personal injury lawsuit generally lies either where the accident took place or where the defendant (i.e. the person who caused the accident) lives. This holds true even if the injured party lives in a different city or even state.

Does it matter if your personal injury attorney is located in San Diego yet your case occurred in San Francisco? Can a San Diego personal injury attorney represent an injury case in, say, Massachusetts? Remember the choice of an injury lawyer is a p...

Ok, let's face facts...lawyers are not held in the highest regard by the public at large! Although I think that this is largely a "bum rap" based upon misinformation, a fact that is also true is that many clients are dissatisfied with the representation they are receiving from their personal injury attorney. Part of this dissatisfaction with their personal injury lawyer is due in part, I think, to the fact that injury victims are largely dissatisfied with their general life situat...

Pardon my borrowing and modifying the term "speedy trial" from the world of criminal law, but I thought it would be a catchy title for an entry really about personal injury law involving motor vehicle (car accidents, motorcycle accidents, etc.)accidents, products liability, and wrongful death law!

Historically in most jurisdictions around the country civil cases are famous for dragging out at a snails pace. It is not uncommon for cases to last many years from the date of first f...

As anyone with even a passing knowledge of the legal system knows, going to trial is time consuming, expensive, and risky. This holds true for both sides in the dispute. Consequently, alternative dispute resolution, or ADR, has become an increasingly popular and effective means for the parties to a lawsuit to attempt to resolve their grievances. ADR typically takes the form of either an arbitration or mediation hearing. The arbitration hearing, in my experience with San Diego personal inju...

At some point in the lifespan of most personal injury cases of merit the personal injury plaintiffs lawyer will make a demand of a certain amount of money to the defendant. If the case is a meritorious one(and sometimes even if it isn't a meritorious case!!!)the defendant will make a counter offer. Typically a certain amount of negotiation will take place. When the plaintiffs attorney is convinced that the "top dollar" has been offered for that case at that point in time the...

In speaking with other personal injury attorneys and clients, as well as reading professional legal publications, it's clear that the biggest complaints clients have with their personal injury attorney is their lawyers failure to keep them informed about progress in the case as well as the personal injury attorney failing to return the clients telephone calls.

I can recall having a prospective personal injury client in my San Diego office some years back who wanted to drop her cu...

A common bit of wisdom we personal injury attorney's hear is that in the case of most large personal injury settlements the client has spent all of their money within 6 months of receipt. While I know of no personal injury attorney who has actually seen statistics verifying this claim, I can attest from personal experience with my own clients in San Diego that this claim, if not actually true, is not too far wide of the mark either.

Especially in the case of the large net settle...

In just about any personal injury attorney advertisement the words "no recovery, no fee" is usually prominently displayed. This fee arrangement is called a "contingent fee." This type of attorney fee agreement is a unique one. Typically, when one hires an attorney to perform legal work the client pays the attorney on an hourly basis. The client would give the attorney a "retainer" i.e. a certain sum to be billed against. With a contingent fee the attorney sha...

From time to time personal injury clients of mine will inquire as to precisely how we arrive at the value of their case. Personal injury cases generally fall into certain categories, specifically automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, slip and fall accidents, products liability, and also medical malpractice cases. Although there are other ways personal injury victims can be hurt the foregoing list covers the most typical situations the personal injury attorney in San...

Following on the heels of my prior post discussing the financial hardships personal injury victims have after their accident, but prior to their case being resolved, I think it an appropriate time to discuss those personal injury clients who are in need of emergency funds to get them through significant financial problems. People who have been involved in an accident wherein they are hurt due to the negligence of a 3rd party or parties often incur large medical bills. Further, their persona...

The manner and number of ways in which innocent people can suffer personal injury are virtually infinite. That being said, the most common type of personal injury case which most personal injury attorneys see is the one involving a motor vehicle accident. When I speak of a motor vehicle collision, of course, I am talking about a car accident, motorcycle accident, bicycle accident, or even a train, boat, or bus accident situation. Other means by which people are commonly injured are from a ...

By way of introduction to those of you who have not yet had the opportunity to review my website, my name is Jeffrey R. Frank. I'm an attorney in San Diego, California and my practice is devoted almost exclusively to the practice of personal injury law. I have had this blog as a part of my website for an extended length of time and have finally decided to begin to use it! I hope this blog is both informative but informal. My vision for these pages is to publish my thoughts on recent devel...