May 28, 2020
An Absolutely Critical Step to Take if You Have Been in an Automobile Accident
If you are in an automobile accident, there are certain steps that you absolutely must take. One of these steps is to notify the insurer for the at-fault driver, whether that is you or the other driver. Every insurance policy contains a notice provision, which requires that notice be provided to the insurance company of any possible claim very quickly. Most standard insurers will require notice “as soon as practicable,” while substandard insurers will often require notice “within thirty days.” We recommend that you provide notice immediately by certified mail with return receipt requested.
A form letter similar to the one that we use in our practice is shown below:
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL – RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
[Insurer Address]
Re: Car Accident Claim
Name of Insured: [NAME]
Company: [INSURANCE COMPANY NAME]
Policy #: [POLICY NUMBER]
Date: [OCCURRENCE DATE]
Dear Claims Representative:
On date [DATE] I was involved in an accident with [NAME OF OTHER DRIVER] at [LOCATION OF ACCIDENT]. I contend that you have an obligation to provide coverage in this case.
This letter is intended to provide notice to you of the above incident. It has been sent immediately after the accident.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Very truly yours,
[YOUR NAME]
[ENCLOSE ANY POLICE REPORT]
May 12, 2020
How Do I Find a Doctor After a Shooting at a Restaurant?
Wrongful Death Lawyer
Restaurants should be a place where families and friends can gather to celebrate their companionship. On occasion, however, an angry customer will engage in an act of violence.
Victims of shootings in restaurants may be the target of that anger or innocent bystanders. In either case, they suffer injuries that could have been prevented if the restaurant had provided adequate security.
Adequate security begins in the parking lot. Lighting should be sufficient to deter robberies and other violent crimes. Restaurants can be held responsible for shootings in parking lots that would have been deterred by better lighting or security measures.
When owners should foresee the significant risk that a shooting might occur inside the restaurant, they have a duty to protect their patrons from harm. Hiring security staff to remove customers when they become threatening is often the best way to assure the safety of other customers.
When restaurants negligently fail to protect their patrons, they can be held liable. A security negligence lawyer can advise shooting victims about their right to seek compensation from the restaurant where the crime occurred.
Finding a Doctor for Emergency Treatment After a Shooting at a Restaurant
All shooting wounds require immediate medical attention. Serious injuries should be treated at an Emergency Room. Someone should call 911 immediately to report the shooting and to request an ambulance.
Paramedics can evaluate the wound and decide whether emergency treatment is required. If a paramedic recommends an ambulance ride to the emergency room, a crime victim should always agree to receive immediate treatment. Internal bleeding and organ damage can be fatal if prompt treatment is not rendered.
Emergency rooms have an obligation to treat uninsured patients if a wound is life-threatening or if it might seriously impair the function of any part of the body. That treatment must continue until the injury is stabilized.
Continuing Treatment After Emergency Care for a Shooting at a Restaurant
It is important for crime victims to follow treatment recommendations after emergency care ends. Wounds can become infected, causing a life-threatening condition known as sepsis, if they do not receive proper care. Muscles and other soft tissues can develop scar tissue that limits mobility and causes constant pain.
Treatment often includes physical therapy to exercise muscles and promote healing. Since physical therapy tends to be painful and time-consuming, however, patients often neglect to follow through on appointments. Healing stalls and conditions worsen when patients do not follow a healthcare professional’s advice.
It is also more difficult for the crime victim’s lawyer to settle a case for fair compensation when the victim ignores treatment recommendations. Insurance companies assume that the injuries must have healed when the victim stops treatment.
When treatment resumes, the insurance company argues that the treatment was for a new injury. Shooting victims take compensation out of their own pockets when their medical records indicate that the victim did not follow a doctor’s orders.
Finding a Doctor for Continuing Treatment After a Shooting at a Restaurant
Shooting victims who have health insurance can contact their insurer to learn how to find a doctor for continuing care. Many insurance companies assign a primary care physician who then recommends specialists within the patient’s network.
Victims who have the option to choose their own physician can ask for referrals from friends or relatives. Online reviews can also be helpful.
Uninsured victims may qualify for treatment under Medicare or Medicaid. Veterans might qualify for treatment at a VA Hospital, particularly if the shooting aggravated a service-related injury.
Some doctors will agree to treat a patient in exchange for a lien against settlement proceeds. The victim’s security negligence lawyer may be able to recommend a doctor who has agreed to treat uninsured patients in the past.
If you have questions about a wrongful death case, please contact a wrongful death attorney, like a wrongful death lawyer in Atlanta, GA, today.
Thank you to the experts at Butler Law Firm for their information and insight into wrongful death cases and the law.
May 11, 2020
Common Employer Strategies to Combat Workplace Fraud
Employers are particularly cautious about fraud in the workplace, and it’s not hard to see why. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reports that organizations lose about 5 percent of their revenue to fraud each year, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars on average (https://acfepublic.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/2020-Report-to-the-Nations.pdf).
To cut down on these losses, companies across many states are stepping up their fraud prevention programs. Many are using one or more of the following six common employer fraud-prevention strategies.
Background Checks
Any time you apply for a job, it’s likely the employer will conduct a background check on you to look for any criminal history. While Colorado does have a “ban the box” law that prevents employers from asking about someone’s criminal history on a job application, employers are still allowed to ask for a background check and use the results in their decision on whether to offer someone a position.
Reference Verification
Many employers will check references to help weed out the high-risk applicants. Keep in mind that past employers may be hesitant to give out information about negative employee behavior if they fear it will open them up to legal action by that former employee.
Role Separation
These days, many organizations have approval and reconciliation duties assigned to different employees to help prevent fraud. For example, the person who reconciles the accounting records may not be the person allowed to sign the checks. One employee may be responsible for asking for company purchases while another employee has to approve those purchases.
Regular Auditing
To catch theft, fraud and other undesirable behaviors, an employer may do regular audits. Your employer may go through sick and vacation day records, sales reports, expense reports and other documentation regularly to try to pick up on any issues. Some employers even monitor company email and social media to determine whether people are breaching company policy.
Sign Vigilance
Company fraud-prevention employees and supervisors are often told to be on the lookout for fraud red flags, such as those listed below.
- Sudden attitude or behavior changes
- Frequent overtime
- Protective behavior over workspace
- Preference for working after hours or alone
- Unexplained gains or losses in records
Anonymous Reporting Encouragement
Your work may have a dedicated phone line or email that enables workers to make reports anonymous if they suspect any fraud. To encourage them to do so, your employer may have a firm no-retaliation policy in place for whistleblowers.
Workplace Fraud Penalties
When your employer believes you have committed fraud, they can terminate your employment and file criminal charges against you. Law enforcement takes the investigation from there. If you are found guilty, you can be facing jail time, fines, restitution to your employer and a criminal record that will follow you for life.
If you believe you are the target of a workplace fraud investigation or have been charged, consult with a criminal lawyer in Denver, CO as soon as you can so they can begin working on your defense and protect your rights.
Thanks to Richard J. Banta, P.C. for their insight into criminal law and workplace fraud.
May 9, 2020
Auto Accident Injury Lawyer
Getting into a car accident can mean many things. It may mean that you miss that important meeting at work, that you are late going to dinner with your spouse, or that you have to take time off to recover. However, when a car accident causes you to have a brain injury, you may not understand how serious this is. Attorneys have helped many car accident victims who have suffered from a brain injury as a result of someone else’s negligence and we want to help get you the compensation you deserve. You may be living a completely different life now that doesn’t allow you to work at your same job or even walk or talk like you used to. Call a law firm today.
Why do I need an attorney?
You may be wondering if an attorney is even necessary. After all, you got something as serious as a brain injury from this car accident, won’t that be obvious when you speak with insurance or file a claim? Unfortunately, the answer to this is not always a “yes.” It may be obvious to you that your brain injury was the result of the car accident you were in, but the burden of proof is on you to show that someone else’s negligence directly caused the car accident that gave you a brain injury. You will have a better chance of doing this when you have a car accident attorney you can rely on helping you every step of the way.
What do I need for this kind of lawsuit to be successful?
If you are planning on filing a lawsuit because of your brain injury after a car accident, there are a few elements you should expect to have in your suit. As with any kind of personal injury case, you will want to prove that the other driver was acting in a way that was negligent and this negligence caused your brain injury. Thus, you (the plaintiff) must show:
- The other driver owed you a duty of care as required by the law (they should have been driving safely).
- The other driver did not live up to their duty of care and drove dangerously or negligently.
- By being negligent behind the wheel, the other driver caused the accident to occur.
- This accident caused your brain injury and you are suffering from losses as a result.
If you are interested in seeing how an auto accident lawyer in Des Moines, IA can help you after the accident caused you to have a brain injury, schedule an appointment now.
Thanks to Johnston Matineau, LLP for their insight into personal injury claims and auto accident injuries.
April 30, 2020
How Long Is the Statute of Limitations for a Shooting at a Restaurant?
Personal Injury Lawyer
A statute of limitations is a law that limits the time for filing a lawsuit. The time in which the suit can be filed is known as the limitations period. After the limitations period ends, an injury victim loses the legal right to recover compensation from the person who was responsible for the injury.
A statute of limitations serves a couple of purposes. Having a deadline for filing suit encourages people not to “sit on their rights.” Nobody should have to spend years wondering whether they are going to be sued by someone they arguably harmed.
Going to court promptly also helps the legal system achieve correct results. The passage of time causes memories to fade and makes evidence more difficult to find. The outcome of a lawsuit becomes less reliable when an injury victim waits a long time to start it.
States establish different limitations periods for different kinds of legal claims. They typically allow longer limitations periods when a claim is based on documents (such as a lawsuit for breach of a written contract). Witnesses might forget what happened in the past, but documents do not suffer from memory loss.
A shooting at a restaurant depends on witnesses who must testify about what happened. For that reason, lawsuits involving shootings usually have a shorter limitations period than some other kinds of lawsuits. A Georgia security negligence lawyer can help victims understand the limitations period that applies to a potential lawsuit against a restaurant where a shooting occurred.
Liability for a Shooting at a Restaurant
Victims of a shooting can sue the person who shot them. Limitations periods based on intentionally violent conduct tend to be relatively short.
When a restaurant owner should have foreseen the risk that a patron might be injured in a violent confrontation, a legal claim can be based on the owner’s failure to take reasonable precautions to protect patrons from harm. Restaurants have a duty to provide security when the circumstances (such as being located in a high crime area) would place reasonable restaurant owners on notice that patrons are at risk of being harmed by violence.
Restaurants also have a duty to make their premises safe for patrons. Owners are negligent when they fail to install adequate lighting if they should realize that criminals might take advantage of poor lighting to rob or sexually assault patrons. When a shooting death occurs under those circumstances, crime victims can bring a lawsuit to hold the restaurant liable.
Statute of Limitations for a Shooting at a Restaurant
Each state establishes its own limitations period for negligence and wrongful death. The statute of limitations for a lawsuit alleging a restaurant’s negligence might be as short as one year or as long as six years. The most common limitations periods for negligence lawsuits are two or three years.
When a crime victim dies in a shooting, the victim’s family or estate can bring a wrongful death lawsuit. The statute of limitations for a wrongful death caused by negligence is typically, but not always, the same as the limitations period for bringing an injury claim based on negligence.
State laws may also establish exceptions to the limitations period. A common exception applies when a minor survives a shooting. Most states allow more time for minors to bring lawsuits. Disabled victims who are mentally incapable of bringing a lawsuit on their own might also have more time to sue.
If the victim’s estate must bring the wrongful death claim, the limitations period might not begin to run until the estate enters probate. Not all states follow that rule. A personal injury lawyer can advise shooting victims and their families about the limitations period that applies to their claim.
Thanks to Butler Tobin for their insight into personal injury claims and statute of limitations for shootings.