injury

What Is The Injury Claim Process?

Published on: February 14, 2023 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Personal-Injury-Claim-Process-scaled After being severely injured in an accident, you are likely feeling shocked and overwhelmed. If someone else’s negligence or recklessness caused your accident, you might be entitled to pursue a personal injury claim. However, litigation can be nerve-wracking, especially when you are still coping with devastating physical pain and emotional trauma. Even minor proceedings may seem complicated if you have never filed an insurance claim or pursued a lawsuit in court. Jed Dietrich, Esq., commended as a New York Super Lawyer, realizes that the legal system can be very intimidating. As such, he has dedicated this blog to helping you develop a deeper understanding of the injury claim process.

Steps In The Personal Injury Claim Process

Preliminary Interview: During a free, no-obligation case evaluation, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s seasoned attorneys will ask about the specifics of your case. It would be best if you were prepared to provide relevant information regarding your accident and subsequent injuries.

What Is A Bellwether Trial?

Published on: February 7, 2023 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Bellweather-Trial-scaled The word bellwether can be traced back to the 13th century when shepherds hung bells around the necks of some of their sheep to designate them as leaders. Similarly, bellwether trials are designed to track and monitor the potential results of a large group of lawsuits. They are test lawsuits that use individual claims originating from a group of widely contested lawsuits filed against the same party. When hundreds or even thousands of lawsuits are filed against one party, these trials allow a few select cases to go to court to predict how the remaining pending claims will turn out at trial.

What Is Multidistrict Litigation?

In recent years, the number of medical injuries and pharmaceutical claims that have developed into multidistrict litigations has significantly increased. Multidistrict litigation, also known as MDL, is a special judicial proceeding designed to help federal courts better manage a large group of related lawsuits filed in various jurisdictions by different plaintiffs with similar legal issues and the same defendant. These proceedings are contingent on getting a majority approval from 7 district court judges, known as the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Upon approval, the cases are temporarily transferred and consolidated at one or more district courts for pretrial coordination.

Personal Injury Cases And Strict Liability

Published on: January 31, 2023 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Strict-Liability-scaled Although most personal injury lawsuits depend on proving negligence, there are certain cases where plaintiffs do not need to show that the defendant was negligent. Strict liability, also called absolute liability, is a legal doctrine that holds a person or entity responsible for a victim’s injuries, even if that party was not negligent or at fault. In cases involving strict liability, defendants can still be held accountable even if they exercised reasonable care.

The most common types of personal injury lawsuits where strict liability may be applied include:

Product Liability: Designers, manufacturers, and wholesalers can be held strictly liable when their defective, faulty, or substandard product injures a consumer. For absolute liability to apply, the victim’s lawyer must establish that the product’s deficiency was the proximate cause of their injury. This type of claim also requires proof that when the accident occurred, the consumer was using the product as intended. In other words, if the victim misused the product, leading to injury, the defendant might not be held responsible.

How Do I Gather Evidence For My Personal Injury Case?

Published on: January 24, 2023 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Evidence-Blog-scaled Under New York law, victims carry the burden of proof in lawsuits. In other words, to hold the other party responsible for your damages, you must first prove that their negligence caused your injuries. This means that you will need to present evidence to support your claims. As a general rule, the more evidence your attorney has to support your claim, the better the result you can expect. However, collecting evidence can be overwhelming, especially if you need help knowing where to start. The first few hours and days after an accident are often the most significant regarding the assembly and preservation of proof. When evidence remains uncollected or preserved for too long, it can easily get lost, forgotten, or destroyed.

Types Of Evidence Used In Personal Injury Lawsuits

The outcome of a case is highly contingent on the quality of your evidence. Inadequate evidence can dramatically decrease settlement offers or even lose the case altogether. Since insurance adjusters and jurors did not witness the accident, your attorney must use evidence to tell your side of the story. Jed Dietrich, Esq. recommends collecting the following evidence:

What Is A Summons?

Published on: January 17, 2023 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

SUMMONS-scaled After being injured in an accident, knowing what to expect when pursuing your claim brings you peace of mind. Some of our most frequently asked questions are about the summons. At the beginning of a lawsuit, a summons and complaint are two legal documents served to all defendants. The summons informs the defendant of the plaintiff’s commencement of the legal action and demands that they answer the complaint. The complaint is a written document detailing the plaintiff’s reasons for pursuing the lawsuit. It states the plaintiff’s claims against the defendant and the damages they seek compensation for.

Serving A Summons

New York State law forbids any party to the legal action from serving the summons. The person who serves the summons must be at least 18 years old. Process servers are typically used to serve these legal documents. The three methods of delivering a summons are:

Slip And Fall Accidents On Ice

Published on: January 3, 2023 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Snow-and-Ice-SF-Blog-scaled Cold weather conditions typically hit the Buffalo area in November and linger until late March. During this time, ice often accumulates in parking lots, building entrances, stairs, sidewalks, and other outdoor surfaces. Ice can cause highly slippery conditions, making fall-related accidents common during the brutal Western New York winters.

Icy Hot Spots

Unfortunately, it is often challenging to detect ice-related threats. For example, a homeowner might shovel a sidewalk full of snow only to uncover a patch of black ice. Since black ice is transparent, it remains disguised by the surface below it. Victims may encounter these hazardous icy conditions outside offices, malls, grocery stores, hospitals, apartment buildings, and private homes. Temperatures usually warm up during the day and melt the snow, and freezing nights cause melted snow to freeze and turn into ice. Ice tends to form very quickly, especially in shaded areas of buildings, parking garages, gutters, and trees, where rain and melting snow do not evaporate.

How Does Joint And Several Liability Impact A Personal Injury Case?

Published on: December 27, 2022 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Joint-and-Several-Liability-scaled Personal injury accidents like car collisions often involve several parties. Whenever someone is partially to blame for a motor vehicle accident, they could be listed as a defendant and obligated to pay damages if found to be responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries. The rule of joint and several liability applies when there are multiple defendants. New York State’s joint and several liability law allows plaintiffs to hold defendants, individually or collectively, accountable for the total amount of their damages. In these cases, the plaintiff should consider how many defendants were involved, what percentage of fault can be allocated to each party, and each defendant’s automobile insurance policy coverage limits. Many drivers only carry New York’s minimum car insurance liability limits. While this may seem like enough coverage, the damages owed to victims in severe motor vehicle accidents often exceed these amounts.

Joint Liability Vs. Joint And Several Liability

Joint and joint and several liability legal principles allow victims to hold multiple defendants accountable for their actions. Joint liability differs from joint and several liability in that, in the first instance, the responsibility is spread equally among all of the defendants. In the latter, the responsibility shifts depending on the determined percentage of each defendant’s liability. A judge or a jury typically makes this determination. In New York State, defendants generally are held joint and severally responsible.

How To Obtain A Copy Of Your Police Accident Report

Published on: December 20, 2022 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

Request-Police-Report-scaled Suppose you were involved in a car crash and need to make an insurance claim or file a lawsuit. In that case, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s top rated attorneys recommend obtaining a copy of the corresponding police report, also referred to as a police accident report. You can do this by going to the responding officer’s precinct and asking for it in person. The police department should be located in the jurisdiction where the accident occurred. However, you may be able to save yourself a trip by calling in advance to confirm. A copy of the police report will usually be provided for free. While it may be available immediately, sometimes it can take up to 30 days.

You can also request a copy online if you cannot go in person. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) allows online requests for police reports. For electronically filed police reports, you should allow at least 14 days from the date of the accident. The DMV maintains accident reports for four years from the date of the incident. Although reports involving accidents where no one suffered injury or property damage exceeding $1,000 are not available online, you can obtain one by mailing in a Request for Copy of Accident Report (MV-198C).

What Will I Need To Retrieve My Police Report?

New York ATV Laws

Published on: December 13, 2022 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

ATV-BLOG-scaled New York State is home to some of the best All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) parks and trails in the United States. Whether you are considering purchasing a four-wheeler or already own one, it is imperative to familiarize yourself with some of the relevant laws and safety precautions. Below, the Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s battle-tested ATV accident injury lawyers have gathered some vital information.

General Requirements For ATV Owners

One of the most frequently asked questions regarding all-terrain vehicles is whether New York law permits riding on the street. Owners must register their ATVs with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if it is driven anywhere within the state, including their personal property. ATV operation, except for the owner’s property, is forbidden without the minimum liability insurance coverage of $50,000/$100,000 for death, $25,000/$50,000 for injury, and $10,000 for property damage in any single crash.

What Is A Subpoena?

Published on: November 29, 2022 | By Dietrich Law Firm P.C.

SUBPOENA-scaled A subpoena is a legal instrument commonly used to compel a person or company to comply with different requests. These documents can be used in any case, from murder trials to dog bite accident lawsuits.

What Are The Main Types Of Subpoenas?

When one party in a case wants to obtain documents or request testimony, they may attempt to do so by sending a subpoena. The two primary forms of subpoenas include: