Articles Of Law

posted by Admin on Jun 25

Slip and fall accidents account for a vast majority of work related injuries, as well as many injuries outside the workplace. Whether one slips due to an unforeseen act of nature, such as excess rain, ice, or sludge, or because of personal carelessness such as tripping on a deep crack in a walking path or a wrinkle in the carpet, slip and fall accidents should never be taken lightly.

Weather Conditions

Primarily, slip and fall accidents occur because of uncontrollable weather conditions, like heavy rain, ice, and snow or sludge. These falls may result in a cracked tailbone or a condition that separates the vertebrae of the lower back, often requiring surgery. Although these are usually because of weather, they can sometimes be prevented from happening. By placing “slippery when wet” signs or salting and sanding areas where ice may accumulate, employers or landlords may greatly decrease the chance of someone hurting themselves.

Negligence of Maintenance

It is not uncommon to hear of slip and fall accidents occurring at one’s home, because of lack of routine maintenance, like filling cracks in the sidewalk with cement or repairing wrinkled carpet. These may also happen in the workplace or other public locations and may result in painful injuries that may require immediate surgery.

Fault of the Injured

Furthermore, often slip and fall accidents are the effect of one’s own careless working and living habits, like knowingly working in a warehouse or garage with condensation on the floors from humidity, choosing to go out in harsh weather conditions, or ignoring warnings of slippery floors. These types of slip and fall accidents are also common and are usually the fault of the injured.

Though slip and fall accidents may be the result of many variables, they are normally the outcome of poor responsibility on someone’s part, whether it be an employer, business, landlord, or the injured individual’s own negligence. In taking the time to notice and evaluate working, living, and business areas, one may limit the possibility of a slip and fall accident just by being aware. These accidents happen frequently and the only way to stop them is to take the area’s conditions into consideration and act accordingly.

This article is based solely on facts and is not meant as legal advice.

If you have an injury that you feel may have been caused by unsafe conditions, contact Wurtzel Law in New York. The attorneys will consult with you about the specifics of your case and help you.

posted by Admin on Mar 22

Personal Injury

The law entitles victims who suffered injuries because of car accidents to acquire compensation for the damages including the injuries acquired from the accident. If your case has the following conditions then you are legible of making a personal injury claim:

• Your injury/injuries are a consequence of the car accident.

• The accident happened because of the negligence or fault of another person.

The first step of making a valid personal injury claim is to prove the other offender’s negligence. The law does not give compensation for accidents due to your own fault therefore you need to establish that the accident was caused by someone else’s negligence. If you will succeed in proving the offender’s liability, then you can acquire compensation for the following damages:

• Medical bills acquired in the treatment of your injuries.

• Any future medical expenses.

• Recompense for actual loss of earnings.

• Loss of future earnings.

• Recompense for loss of enjoyment of life.

• Damages for psychological pain and anguish.

Wrongful Death Claim

If you lost someone in your family such as your parent, spouse or child because of a car accident, then you can file a wrongful death claim against the offending party. Most states impose limit on the number of people who can file a claim of wrongful death to those cited earlier. Furthermore, if you were dependent on someone in terms of monetary support, you can file a claim of wrongful death if that person was killed in a car accident, even though you are not directly related to the deceased.

Similarly in this case, you will also need to prove that the death was a result of the car accident caused by the negligence of the defendant. In a wrongful death claim, you are legible to recover damages for the following:

• Loss of company

• Loss of sexual relationships

• Actual financial losses (if the deceased was the provider of the household or you were financially dependent on the deceased)

• Psychological pain and suffering

If you think you are legible to make a personal injury or wrongful death claim, then you should immediately seek advice from a proficient car accident attorney.

This article is not giving legal advice.

For Legal Information: Attorney Kenneth J. Allen can help you understand more about the legal implications of wrongful death instances. Helping clients in Illinois and Indiana.

posted by Admin on Jan 30

Certain circumstances required that an employee take a certain amount of time off of work. However, the family and medical leave act has been put into place in order to protect employees from losing their jobs due to taking a leave under special circumstances. However, there are special guidelines that specify who is and who is not eligible for paid or unpaid leave.

What are the guidelines of the Family and Medical Leave Act?

An employee may take a leave of absence under certain circumstances without the risk of losing their job as long as they:

• Have been employed with the company for one year or more with a company consisting of 50 or more employees.

• Along with the one year of employment, the employee would have had to work a minimum of 1250 hours within that year.

What are the circumstances for family and medical leave?

Circumstances for which an employee and made take a leave of absence while still retaining their job include:

• Taking a leave in order to care for a newborn, or adopted, child of the employee.

• Taking a leave of absence in order to care for an immediate family member such as spouse, child, or a parent, who has been diagnosed with a “serious health condition”

• Taking a leave of absence due to the employee’s inability to perform their work because they have been diagnosed with a “serious health condition.”

What are the rights to the employee?

While every situation is different the family and medical leave act provides a certain level of benefits and security to those who need to take a leave of absence. If an employee who takes leave of absence qualifies under the FMLA’s guidelines the benefits they include are:

• When the employee returns they will be able to continue in the same position as when they left, if that position has already been filled, the employer has to provide the employee with a position that is as equal pay and benefits as the previous position.
• When the employee returns to work they are entitled to restoration of all benefits they had before going on leave.
• When the employee returns the employer does not have the right to denying or interfere with the employee’s rights under the Act.
• The employee is allowed to exercise their rights under the Act without any retaliation from the employer.

Further Related Legal Information: For more help related to Family and Medical Leave please visit the The Shavitz Law Group, P.A. Website.

posted by Admin on Oct 28

When someone is injured on someone else’s property, it falls under the category of premises liability claims. When a slip and fall injury occurs on someone else’s property, the owner may be found responsible for the injuries.

Determining Fault

Determining who was negligent in a slip and fall case depends on whether the property owner was careful to avoid injury to their guests, or whether the guest was simply acting recklessly.

Generally, the injured party must show that there was a dangerous condition on the property where the injury occurred, and that the owner was aware of the condition. To prove that the owner was aware of the condition, one of the following must be true:

• The owner created the condition
• The owner knew of the condition and didn’t act to correct the unsafe condition
• There was an extended period of time that the condition existed, and therefore the owner should have been aware of the condition and could have acted to correct it

Commercial Property

On commercial property, there are a number of people that might be found liable for any injuries that occur there. If the property is rented from the actual property owner to a business, both the business and the property owner may share responsibility for any unsafe conditions present.

Residential Property

On residential property, generally the homeowner will be found responsible for any unsafe conditions. In the cases of rented residential property, a landlord may be found to be responsible for injuries to their tenants or their tenant’s guests. For the injury to be caused by the landlord’s negligence, it must be shown that the landlord was responsible for the dangerous condition or responsible for correcting the dangerous condition. It must also be shown that the dangerous condition could have been remedied without too much difficulty, and that an injury was foreseeable given the dangerous condition. However, if the condition was caused by the tenant, and the landlord had no control over the dangerous condition, then the tenant is responsible for injuries that occur on their property.

In any slip and fall case, the injured person has a duty to exercise reasonable care for their own safety. In some cases, comparative fault will determine how much the injured person can recover when they are injured on someone else’s property. If the plaintiff is found to be 30% responsible for their own injuries, they will only receive 70% of the total damages.

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Please contact an attorney in your local area for more information about premises liability law.

Related Legal Site: For additional information on slip and fall injuries please visit Searcylaw.com