Our personal injury legal representation covers a wide range of areas. You can depend on our personal injury expertise to obtain the results that you want.
A tort is a personal injury that was the result of the negligence of another party. Tort law is intended to obtain some form of remedy for the injured party. The multiple areas we cover are below.
As parents know, airbags can kill babies and small children, whose fragility and small stature puts them at great risk from airbags that inflate as fast as 200 miles per hour. That’s why state laws and experts recommend that children under age 13 never ride in the front seat. But adults and teens run risks from defective or improperly maintained airbags as well:
Medical devices give many patients a new lease on life, allowing them to retain their independence and live longer than might otherwise be possible. Unfortunately, there’s a growing list of medical devices that don’t work as intended – or don’t work at all. Some medical devices even malfunction within the body, exposing patients to severe pain or serious side effects that could seriously harm them in the long run. When companies make these devices defective out of carelessness or a cynical attempt to save a few dollars, patients have the right to strike back with a defective medical device lawsuit.
Like other consumer products, defective medical devices may be defective by design, by manufacture or by the manufacturer’s failure to warn customers of serious side effects. Unlike other consumer products, defective medical devices are used right next to the body, sometimes inside the body, which means fixing a problem is often harder than simply throwing the product away. In the case of one defective automatic defibrillator, patients were experiencing strong, unpredictable electrical shocks from a product implanted directly into their chests; many were shocked multiple times before they could remove the devices. Other types of potentially defective medical devices include:
Food poisoning occurs when an individual is sickened by spoiled or contaminated food. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year, one in six Americans or 48 million people, get sick as a result of food poisoning and 3,000 die as a result of foodborne illnesses. As a result of this staggering statistic, it is often necessary to contact a food poisoning lawyer to ensure reparations are paid. CDC officials estimate that reducing foodborne illnesses by just 10 percent would keep 5 million Americans from getting sick each year. Also, preventing a single fatal case of E. coli infection would save an estimated $7 million.
Common Types of Food Poisoning
Here are some of the most common types of food-borne illnesses that sicken millions of Americans every year:
Protecting Your Rights
Food manufacturers, processors and suppliers can be held liable for illnesses caused by their products. Restaurants whose employees are negligent while preparing, storing or serving food can also be held liable. Victims in food poisoning cases can seek compensation for damages including medical expenses, lost wages, hospitalization, diagnostic costs, pain and suffering and emotional distress. Because these business entities are often difficult to personally deal with, a food poisoning lawyer may be necessary.
If you or a loved one has suffered the consequences of a food-borne illness, please contact 800 Accident at (800) 222-4336 for a free consultation and case evaluation.
In a country that runs on consumer goods, it’s no surprise that mistakes happen. There are federal laws in place to regulate the production and distribution of goods, but it’s not always enough to ensure the safety of the products that reach consumers’ hands. Thousands of unsuspecting buyers have suffered serious injuries, illnesses, and wrongful death because of defective products. If you or a loved one has been injured because of a dangerous or defective product, come to 800 Accident for a free consultation.
What is Product Liability?
Product liability refers to holding a manufacturer or seller liable – or responsible – for placing a dangerous or defective product in the hands of consumers. The laws governing product liable are different than those of general personal injury law, so hiring a firm with experience in the area is key. There is no federal product liability law, therefore each state has their own set of consumer protections that cover negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty of manufacturers and sellers.
Suing a Manufacturer or Distributor
If you suffered an injury due to a defective household appliance, consumer good, children’s toy, vehicle part, medical device, or medication, you are not alone. There have been thousands of lawsuits against manufacturers over the years because of defective and dangerous items hitting the shelves. You may have the right to take legal action against the party that manufactured or sold the product that caused your injuries.
weight. There’s no such requirement for heavier light trucks or commercial big rigs, 18-wheelers or tractor-trailers. These vehicles’ heavy weight makes safety measures like roll bars and roof reinforcements vital — but adding them drives up manufacturers’ prices. Because there’s no federal law requiring these roof reinforcements, many manufacturers still don’t include them. As a result, Americans sustain more than 1,000 preventable deaths every year.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of our limbs. They support us, allow us to walk, work, and lead healthy active lives. What happens when an accidental amputation endangers that ability to lead a normal life? What rights do accidental amputees have? At 800 Accident we can answer these questions and assist you in litigation.
Amputation can be caused by a multitude of factors ranging from a car accident to the use of a dangerous product to a workplace accident. No matter what the cause, the fallout can be severe. An individual may need hospitalization and life-long medical care, including expensive prostheses, physical therapy, job training or retraining, transportation issues, and modifications to the home.
In addition, an amputation can have severe emotionally traumatic effects that necessitate psychiatric treatment. All too often, the party responsible for the amputation tries to shun off responsibility to the insurance company, who offers a paltry settlement that does not take the long-term effects of the amputation into account. This token settlement is meant to pacify and silence the victim, no matter how severe their suffering or the amputation’s impact on their daily life.
At 800 Accident, a token settlement is never enough. The law provides dismemberment injury victims the right to take legal action against the person whose negligence caused their injury, helping provide the care they need to continue life. This action doesn’t just help you it can protect others from future negligence and injury and bring vital attention to the cause of accidental amputees.
The birth of a new baby should be a joyous time. But for about five families out of 1,000, that happiness is overshadowed by an injury during birth. Cerebral palsy, which affects one in 500 babies, may be the most devastating because it stems from permanent, irreversible damage to the baby’s brain. If your family is facing a serious birth injury because of medical professionals’ bad decisions, you have the right to demand justice.
A birth injury isn’t the same as a birth defect, which is a problem the baby develops before birth. Birth injuries are injuries the baby sustains from physical trauma during the birthing process — which means they’re almost always preventable. They run the gamut from minor bruising to serious problems like permanent nerve damage, brain damage and broken bones.
More common birth injuries include:
Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is an especially serious birth injury that stems from oxygen deprivation during birth. This often happens if the baby gets stuck in the birth canal or behind the mother’s pelvis (shoulder dystocia), cutting off his or her oxygen supply. If the baby’s brain can’t get enough oxygen, brain cells literally die, and certain brain functions will never be entirely normal. The effects vary with each child, but usually include problems with movement involuntary movements, muscle spasms or tightness and trouble walking. Some children also have trouble with speech; sight, hearing and other senses; seizures; or even mild cognitive problems.
“Birth injuries are injuries the baby sustains from physical trauma during the birthing process – which means they’re almost always preventable.”
Doctors believe most cases of cerebral palsy start before birth, and a few starts afterward, but 10 to 25 percent are caused by injury during birth. These and other birth injuries may sometimes be unavoidable but often, they could have been prevented by different decisions from the doctors and other medical professionals attending the birth. When these decisions are so bad that they fall below the accepted standard of care for your community, they are medical malpractice. If you believe you or someone in your family sustained a birth injury because of this type of malpractice, you should speak with a — cerebral palsy attorney as you have the right to hold the negligent professionals and facilities responsible for the results.
Other Birth Injuries
Shoulder dystocia and cerebral Palsy only form a fraction of the possible injuries that can befall a child during the birthing process. Here are brief summaries of other birth injuries, most of which are preventable:
Bone Injury in Infants
Bones can be trapped within the birthing canal or subject to intense pressure, leading to breakage or bruising. The collarbone is the most common broken bone, but other bones have been known to break during childbirth. Fortunately, this injury almost always heals with time if treated immediately.
Child Brain Injury
When a child’s oxygen supply is cut off during childbirth, brain cells can be killed. Interruption to oxygen flow is known as birth hypoxia or birth asphyxia and can occur at any point during the birth. Potential dangers include mental disability, cognitive problems, and problems with nervous system and motor control. Contact us for more information about brain injuries.
Perinatal Stroke
In this little-known condition, a child experiences a stroke while in the womb. This condition nearly always occurs between the 28th week of gestation and childbirth; it can contribute to life-long mental and neurological disorders.
Caput Succedaneum
When a child’s scalp tissues press against the cervix during delivery, severe scalp swelling can occur. This condition is usually temporary but can lead to brain pressure and other complications.
Luckily, most birth injuries are preventable with proper diagnosis, treatment, and decision-making during the delivery. Unfortunately, for many children a doctor’s momentary mistake can mean a lifetime of disability, medical expenses, and stress. If your child was injured during birth, there is a good chance that a medical practitioner’s negligence or mistake led to that injury. The responsible party should be held accountable and forced to pay for the related costs of medical care and ongoing treatment.
At 800 Accident, we understand the heartbreak and misery birth injury can bring. We specialize in personal injury lawsuits, collecting a record number of large settlements and verdicts and garnering national attention for our representation of cases.
One of the most dangerous jobs a person can have is construction. With constant exposure to heavy equipment, dangerous work environments, and harmful toxic chemicals, these workers encounter serious hazards every day. The federal and state governments regulate these jobs to protect workers, but some employers choose to ignore these rules to cut costs and save time. Those choices often lead to deadly results.
Unlawful procedures and other circumstance put people at risk unfairly, and the construction accident team you want fighting at your side are at 800 Accident.
What Are Common Causes of Construction Site Accidents?
California workers could face danger in many ways. Some of these include:
Slip & Falls
Most onsite injuries are the result of falls. A large portion of work completed must occur at great heights, using scaffolding, cranes, roofs, ladders, bridges, and more. Inadequate safety gear, crane operator error, or other forms of negligence on site could lead to an injurious fall.
Falling Objects
With so much gear and equipment moving around, workers face risks of object hitting them – inflicting brain injuries and more. Workers or even clients may set down tools or construction materials down improperly or before they properly secure them.
Faulty or Poorly Maintained Equipment
Operation of large equipment requires extra precautions, especially in areas where people are working. Inadequate safety measures or unsatisfactory operation procedures put people at risk of injury or death.
Fire/Explosion
Construction sites involve many dangerous and explosive or combustible components, including exposed wiring, chemical storage, leaking pipes, and more. Some projects actually have explosives on site.
Structural Collapse
Workers digging trenches or tunnels face risk of the structure collapsing. New buildings under construction may have structural weaknesses that extreme weather could cause to fall. Demolition projects often place workers on a site where a known collapse is imminent. All of these factors increase the risk of injury.
Overexertion
Workers often must push their bodies to the limits to get work done. They also may have to do the same task over and over. Their work conditions could put them in extreme heat or cold. All of this requires heavy exertion on the body, exposing them to injury risk.
Respiratory Disease
Construction sites are home to dust and dirt, as well as chemicals and other materials. When workers inhale these substances, leading to minor infections or much more serious diseases; some are even fatal.
What are the Main Types of Injuries from Construction Accidents?
These dangers can lead to many medical conditions, including:
Because of these dangers, construction sites are heavily regulated by federal and state law. But in an effort to save money, some employers routinely ignore those safety regulations — with tragic results. Other construction accidents arise out of simple carelessness. But in either case, more responsible or careful behavior could prevent the vast majority of construction accidents. If you’ve lost someone or been seriously hurt at a construction site because of someone else’s carelessness, you’re facing a personal physical, emotional and financial catastrophe. You have the right to hold careless people and companies responsible for the results of their actions.
Serious accidents that can cause paralysis include:
These losses aren’t just physical — they’re severe emotional losses as well. They can also cost a lot of money to treat and accommodate. If you or someone you care about was paralyzed in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness, you have the right to sue that person.
Slip and falls are most frequent on premises where owners don’t take proper care to prevent fall hazards, such as:
Property owners are legally responsible to look out for these slips and fall risks and to repair them if noticed. Failure to fix a slip hazard, resulting in a preventable property visitor injury, is an act of negligence. If you believe the property owner or a business employee reasonably should have known about the hazard that caused your slip and fall, you could have grounds to file a premises liability lawsuit.
The majority of slip and fall accidents occur on same-level surfaces rather than elevated platforms. Same-level falls often don’t cause as severe injuries as those from an elevated surface. All harmful slip and fall accidents are serious, however, and deserve legal attention. Hiring a — slip and fall attorney from 800 Accident can help you get to the bottom of your recent incident. We can help you hold a property owner responsible.
What is Involved in a Premise Liability Case?
While each premise liability case is unique, litigating them requires four unique aspects:
Don’t try to manage a soft tissue injury insurance claim on your own. Since these injuries don’t show up in x-rays, like broken bones, they can be more difficult to prove to insurance claims adjusters. You will need to know the specific medical records and documentation the company seeks for a speedy and successful claim. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a battle with an insurance company in pursuit of the compensation you need to move on with your life.
Employers have an obligation to comply with all state, federal and local wage and hour laws and regulations that apply to their employees. Unfortunately, in many cases, this does not occur. Whether the violations are intentional or simply reflect an employer’s ignorance or misunderstanding of the law, employees are entitled to recover for unlawful pay practices.
Common examples of wage and hour violations include the following:
Although, in some cases, employers require employees to sign agreements accepting the practices set forth above, in most case, these agreements are void. Employees generally cannot waive the protections afforded by wage and hour laws and regulations.
If you have been misclassified as exempt from overtime pay or as an independent contractor, have been denied meal or rest breaks, have been forced to incur unreimbursed business expenses or otherwise have not been paid properly by your employer, you may entitled to any wages or expenses that were not properly paid, interest, penalties, and other relief.
When an employee is terminated for a reason that is not related to work performance or is not otherwise legitimate, the employee may have a claim for wrongful termination. Although in California and certain other states, employees without an employment contract generally can be terminated with or without cause at any time, employees cannot be terminated for any reason that violates a public policy or state and/or federal laws. Although not every unfair reason for firing is a wrongful termination, common reasons for a firing that may be unlawful include:
If you have been wrongfully and unlawfully terminated by your employer, you have the right to compensation for damages, lost wages and benefits and for emotional distress. In some cases, terminated employees may also be entitled to punitive damages.