Birmingham Injury Blog

Alabama Car Wreck: Should I go to ER or Doctor?

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 07:30:01 -0600

Yes -- if you have been injured in a car wreck, get checked out. Make sure that you are physically ok. Sometimes right after a wreck you may feel fine but once the adrenaline wears off, you feel the pain. It may just be pain that will go away or it may be a sign of something serious.

Look, here's the deal. Car wrecks and accidents never happen at convenient times. None of us want to go to an emergency room or to our doctor. But we need to if we have been in anything but the most minor of wrecks.

Get checked out -- make sure you are ok.

From a lawsuit standpoint -- which is not as important as your health -- if you don't go right away, the insurance company and defense lawyer will argue you must not have been hurt.

"If you were really hurt, you would have gone to the doctor the same day or gone to the ER."

It is an unfair argument but sometimes it is effective with juries so don't give them the chance.

For the sake of your health and to preserve your credibility, get proper medical attention after a car wreck.

Feel free to give us a call at 205-879-2447 if you have any questions about your rights and options after a car wreck in Alabama.

Alabama Car Wreck: What is Medical Payment (MedPay)?

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:29:33 -0600

If you have been in a wreck in Alabama, you should have "Medical Payment" (Medpay) insurance with State Farm or Allstate or whoever you have your policy with. This is a very valuable but often unknown benefit that you have been paying for and that you are entitled to use.

Normally this benefit is available in $5,000 or $25,000 amounts -- you can read your policy or call your agent to find out the exact amount you have.

This covers medical bills when you have been in a wreck -- regardless of who is at fault. You simply show you were in a wreck and have medical bills that are related to the wreck.

In handling Alabama car wreck cases for over 17 years, I don't recall one time having to fight with an insurance company over medical payments.

So if you have been in a wreck, keep up with all of your out of pocket expenses. Mileage to doctors. Pharmacy bills -- get a printout from your pharmacist. Copays. Deductibles. Physical therapy bills. Etc.

Send them into the adjuster of your insurance company and let him or her know you are making a claim for your med pay.

If you live in Alabama and have a question about your Alabama car wreck (and you don't have a lawyer), feel free to call us at 205-879-2447 and we'll be glad to set up a meeting in person or by phone.

Alabama Car Wreck: Do I Have to Notify UM Before Settling?

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 07:28:58 -0600

In Alabama, if you are considering settling with the person at fault (called the "tort-feasor"), you should consider letting your uninsured or "under-insured" insurance company know about the potential settlement.

Your UM (uninsured or UIM under-insured) carrier is your own insurance company. The one you have been paying premiums to.

If you don't let them know about a settlement, it can jeopardize your ability to recover any UM or UIM from your company.

Basically (and there are exceptions) your insurance company has to give you permission to settle or must "front' the money that you could have received from the tort feasor.

If you are trying to settle a personal injury case on your own in Alabama and think you might want to go after the UM or UIM money, then you need to sit down with a lawyer to make sure you are doing this correctly.

If you have a lawyer, then your lawyer should understand this process and be able to guide you through it pretty easily.

Interesting Story On Progressive's Handling Of UIM Claim

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 20:20:42 -0600

In most states if an uninsured, or underinsured, driver causes harm or death, the victim can sue his or her own insurance company to recover damages under "uninsured" or "underinsured" motorist benefits.

In essence, your insurance company steps into the shoes of the negligent driver. There is nothing wrong with this as you have paid premiums for just this event -- the same as you pay homeowner's insurance in the event of a fire, etc.

In an interesting case that has caused quite a stir in the media and social networks, Progressive has finally agreed to pay benefits to the family of a woman killed by a driver who ran a red light. Do keep in mind the laws in the state in this story are different than in Alabama but we think the story will still be helpful to you.

Will An Alabama Jury Know I Had Medical Insurance?

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:58:45 -0600

Yes a jury in Alabama will normally know that you had medical insurance such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.

A number of years ago the opposite was true but now the Alabama Supreme Court has said that having the jury know you have medical insurance is required.

Oddly, the court says that it is absolutely wrong for the jury to know that the defendant who hit you in the wreck has State Farm or Allstate or some other type of liability insurance. The court holds that if the jury knew the defendant had insurance, that it might award higher damages but knowing that you had medical insurance won't lead to lower verdicts.

It is a bit absurd to have this distinction but that is the law so we operate within it. If you live in Alabama and need a personal injury lawyer, feel free to contact us at 205-879-2447 to learn more about your rights so you can make the best decision for you and for your family.

Why Are My Medical Records Relevant In An Alabama Car Wreck Case?

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:20:17 -0600

Why do you need to give your medical records to your attorney when you file suit for an Alabama car wreck case?

Clients often wonder why we will need to get their medical records when they hire us to either file suit for a car wreck case or they want for us to negotiate with the insurance company.

We understand the questions about this because our medical records are private and in everyday life we understand that we do not have to give out our medical records.

The reason that the medical records are needed in a car wreck case in Alabama is that if you are making a claim for personal injuries, then your medical records are relevant.

You might think of it this way. I recently applied for some additional life insurance and the life insurance company asked me a series of medical questions. The life insurance company also wanted me to have somebody come by and take blood to check for cholesterol and other similar items.

Now nobody has the right to just come by my office and demand that I give them a blood sample. But when I voluntarily decide to apply for insurance, then my medical condition may become relevant.

In the same way, when we say that somebody’s negligence caused us personal injury – hurt our back, or neck, broke our leg, broke our ribs, etc., - then we have made the issue of our medical condition relevant.

The insurance company who is representing the negligent person, has a right to look at our medical records to see if this an injury we complained about before, to see if the doctor believes that the injury that we say we suffered in the wreck actually came from the wreck, or did we see the doctor about this very injury two weeks before, etc.

Now this does not mean that every medical record from the beginning of time is open to the insurance company. But it does mean that when we make a claim for personal injury, we are “opening the door” for at least some of our medical records to be obtained by the insurance company.

Normally what we do is to have our client sign a medical release form and we go ahead a gather all the records and then we can send that to the insurance company. The releases that the insurance companies typically want to use are too broad and would cover everything including psychological and psychiatric-type records which normally they may not be entitled to receive.

So it’s not a matter of trying to pry unnecessarily but instead it’s that by claiming personal injuries we have said, in effect, to the insurance company and to the court and the jury that we do not have anything to hide and they can look at our medical records to see what we were like before the wreck and then to see how we are now which will assist everybody in determining the appropriate amount of compensation that we should receive.

If you have any questions about this article and you live in Alabama, please pick up the phone and call us at (205) 879 2447 or you can fill out the contact form on this web site to the left.

Should You Hire A Lawyer Who Illegally Solicits Your Injury Case?

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:18:34 -0600

One unfortunate reality in Alabama is if you have a potential personal injury or wrongful death claim due to someone else's negligence, you will likely be solicited in an unethical manner by lawyers.

The typical way is an "investigator" will contact you to say he has some wonderful information from the police officer, from the paramedic, etc. and he wants to share this with you. But you will need to meet with his lawyer, who is the greatest Alabama car wreck/truck wreck/train wreck lawyer around.

In one case, someone claiming to be a paramedic called our client after her mother died when a Fed Ex truck ran a red light and killed her. This "paramedic" said he held our client's mother's hand and she whispered some last words, just for her daughter. He felt "duty bound" to tell her the last words of her dying mother.

Very nice, eh?

Oh yeah, and he wanted to meet our client and he would just so happen to have the greatest lawyer in Alabama who handles Fed Ex trucking death cases.

Wow, an amazing coincidence.

To solicit you in person (as opposed to a TV ad) is illegal and unethical.

A lawyer risks losing his law license to do this.

Why would he or she do this?

Seems to me they must be desperate enough for business that they will lose their entire career.

I can't tell you who you should hire or not hire. But if someone is so desperate for cases that they will risk their career, perhaps you should question how they can be so good (remember they are "the best lawyer in Alabama!") but they don't have any cases.

My suggestion is you check people out. See what information they will offer you. See if they pressure you. I think you'll find that the unethical lawyers have the same type of reputation with the insurance companies and the judges.

If you have been injured or a family member has suffered a wrongful death, then take your time and be wise in your decision on who will represent you.

We wish you the best in your difficult time.

Secondhand Smoke Raises Kindergartners' Blood Pressure

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:34:23 -0600

Time Magazine has posted an article that discusses a recent study that explored how secondhand smoking affects children. Dr. Giacomo Simonetti, an assistant professor at the Children's Hospital of University of Bern, conducted a study on the effects of parental smoking children. Going into the study he and his team already knew that about half of adults who had hypertension also had high blood pressure as children, and he and his team decided to research how high blood pressure as children turned into hypertension in adulthood.

The research showed that secondhand smoke in preschool age children significantly raised the probability of high blood pressure, even after factors like height and weight were adjusted. Preschoolers exposed to cigarette smoke had a 21% greater risk of high blood pressure compared to children not exposed to the smoke.

That's particularly concerning among five- and six-year olds, since their elevated blood pressure at such a young age primes them for maintaining this hazardous state into adulthood, and for chronic disease as well. “We know that blood pressure during childhood determines blood pressure in adulthood, so if a child has high blood pressure, it is likely to remain high in adulthood,” says Simonetti.

Taco Bell's Interesting Response To Lawsuit

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:07:09 -0600

Bloomberg.com has posted an article about Taco Bell's interesting response to a particular lawsuit. The fast food chain has been sued for allegedly not having enough beef in their seasoned beef filling for it to be listed as beef.

Taco Bell is insisted that their taco filling is 88% beef and not 35% like the lawsuit claims. They also took out full page advertisements that said "Thank you for suing us" and waged a social media support campaign.

Taco Bell has been giving away coupons for 1 free taco on their Facebook fan page for consumers showing their support by 'liking' the page.

This is certainly a unique way to deal with being sued!

Maryland Hospital Bans Birth Videos

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:50:57 -0600

STLToday.com has posted an interesting article about a Maryland hospital's ban on photographing or videotaping of births. Meritus Medical Center, in Hagerstown, MD, even requires cell phones and cameras be turned off and only allows photographing to begin after the medical staff have given the okay.

The hospital is trying to protect both its patients and staff. The medical staff won't be distracted by electronics and can better focus their attention on the safety and health of the mother and baby. Also, hospital staff really don't want to be popping up on Facebook and YouTube videos, so their privacy is being protected as well.

This hospital's reasoning is backed by a variety of lawsuits, of which video can be used as evidence. For example, in 2007 a baby was born in the University of Illinois Hospital with permanent shoulder injuries. The video the baby's father took in the delivery room showed the midwife using "excessive force" and the family was paid $2.3 million in damages.

Many hospitals allow and even encourage recording because modern cameras, particularly those taking video, are so unobtrusive. But that same technology has introduced a wild card into a fraught scene that could shock a jury — with the mother screaming and staff responding (or not) to what may look like an emergency — all of which can be edited to misrepresent what actually took place.
The restrictions at Meritus went into effect in November, after the hospital began reviewing all of its policies because it was moving to a new facility and learned that six other hospitals in the region had barred photography and videography during births. Georgetown University Hospital in Washington has a similar policy.

Obstetricians are actually sued more frequently than other specialty doctors, and are also more wary than other doctors because their actions are usually caught on film. Videos are a particular worry for obstetricians, as the noises can make the situation seem worse, or can show something that a still camera photograph would have missed.

"The first consideration for a trial attorney is how this plays to a jury," said Paul Myre, a lawyer in St. Louis who has defended doctors and hospitals in malpractice cases for 25 years.
In one case in which he was involved, a man on the jury fainted when a simple instructional video of a birth was shown. "Just a normal childbirth can look fairly traumatic to a layperson," Myre said. He said he defended a doctor in another case in which the video showed that his client "had done everything right," but the jury still felt "the child needed to be taken care of."

Supreme Court Allows Lawsuit Against Automaker Even Though Saftey Regulations Were Met

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:02:11 -0600

USA Today has posted an article about a recent Supreme Court ruling that says car company Mazda can be sued for not having certain safety equipment in some of their vehicles, even though the vehicles met the government's safety standards. The decision allows a lawsuit over a woman's death in 2002 to progress forward.

Ms. Than Williamson was sitting in the middle seat of the second row of a 1993 Mazda MPV and was wearing her seatbelt, but it was only a lap belt. Upon collision, Williamson's body "jackknifed" around the lap belt, killing her. Her family is suing Mazda because the middle seat was not equipped with the standard 3 point seatbelt that is required for the outboard seats, even though the lap belt met federal safety requirements.

Mazda argued it was immune from lawsuits because the government in 1989 gave it a choice of a lap or three-point belts in the middle rear seat. A suit forcing them to use lap-and-shoulder belts, it argued, would invalidate the choice offered by regulators.
The ruling means the lawsuit by Than Williamson's family now can proceed in California. The lawsuit says Williamson, who was from Utah, died in the 2002 accident when her body jackknifed around the lap belt causing fatal internal injuries.

Mazda insists that it is immune from this lawsuit because the government allowed the company to use lap belts in middle seats in 1989. California state courts agreed with Mazda and threw out the case, citing a 2000 Supreme Court ruling that required automakers to install more airbags instead of passenger restraints.

Justice Stephen Breyer, writing the High Court opinion majority judgment, said the only way that Mazda would be immune is if the "significant objective" of the federal regulation was to give auto manufacturers a choice of which seat belts to install.
The Transportation Department "gave no indication that its safety goals required the mixture of seat-belt types that resulted from manufacturers' ability to choose different options," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a concurring opinion.

Added Breyer: "The more important reason why DOT did not require lap-and-shoulder belts for rear inner seats was that it thought that this requirement would not be cost-effective. The agency explained that it would be significantly more expensive for manufacturers to install lap-and shoulder belts in rear middle and aisle seats than in seats next to the car doors. But that fact -- the fact that DOT made a negative judgment about cost effectiveness -- cannot by itself show that DOT sought to forbid common law tort lawsuits in which a judge or jury might reach a different conclusion."

Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the judgment, but said the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 made coming to that conclusion even easier: "Congress has instructed that 'compliance with a motor vehicle safety standard prescribed under this chapter does not exempt a person from liability at common law," Thomas said.

Study Shows Alabama Drivers At Higher Risk For Fatal DUI And Speeding Crashes

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:36:47 -0600

The Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article that discusses a recent traffic study.

In this study, Alabama ranked as the #1 state in traffic fatalities involving speeding and is #9 for alcohol related traffic fatalities. This means that Alabama has roughly 0.75 speeding related fatalities per every million vehicles miles traveled. The national average is 0.39 crashes per million vehicle miles.

There were 0.53 DUI-related fatal crashes in Alabama per million vehicle miles traveled. This is lower than the number speeding-related fatalities yet still above the national average of 0.40 alcohol-related traffic fatalities per million vehicle miles.

Recovering from a car accident can be very costly- both financially and physically. This study should serve as a reminder that it never hurts to be extra careful on the road.

Social Networking Profiles Can Help Or Hurt Your Case

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:55:24 -0600

The LaBovick Injury Law Blog has posted an article on how social networking websites has impacted how personal injury litigation works.

If someone has sustained personal injury in an accident, their social networking profile should reflect it, if their case is to be taken seriously. The article mentions a specific lawsuit, Romano vs. Steelcase, which was an important case in how it changed the way information someone puts on their social networking profile can be used by the law.

According to motions that were filed in the Suffolk County, New York case, Kathleen Romano's MySpace and Facebook profiles included pictures that showed the plaintiff - who had supposedly sustained neck and back injuries due to a fall from her office chair at Steelcase - smiling happily outside and doing other things that should have been impossible due to her injuries. The defendant, her employer, subpoenaed Facebook and MySpace for full access to her profiles, included deleted content. Facebook refused, citing the Stored Communications Act. Romano refused to consent, and the matter went before the court.
Ultimately, the courts ruled in favor of Steelcase and granted it access to Romano's online profiles. Part of the reason for that decision lied in the fact that several of the public portions of Romano's profiles showed evidence that contradicted with her supposedly bed-bound state.

This is just one example of several times that social networking profiles have hurt someone's personal injury case. It's important to remember that no matter what your privacy settings are, nothing is truly private once you put it on the internet. Social networking is still a new type of evidence to use in court cases; however, as the websites continue to explode in popularity, profiles being used as evidence will surely increase as well.

"US Chamber of Commerce Loves Lawsuits! (Except, of course…)"

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 18:49:54 -0600

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog has posted an article that discusses how the US Chamber of Commerce is planning to spend $10 million for advertising in the upcoming election to ensure tort "reformers" get elected. The only expenditure larger than this one is from the Democratic and Republican parties.

The article cites an ABC news story that says:

As the chamber increased its efforts in this year’s midterm elections, chamber CEO and President Thomas Donohue on Thursday issued a tough denunciation of government regulations, threatening to use the courts to block new rules that affect business and setting the chamber up as a major adversary of the Obama administration.
“Litigation is one of our most powerful tools for making sure that federal agencies follow the law and are held accountable,” he said in prepared remarks to the Des Moines Rotary Club. “Today, we are issuing a clarion call for Americans and lawmakers to stop the encroachment of a government by the regulators before it’s too late.”

Interestingly, the first line of the second paragraph actually admits that litigation is the most powerful "tool" that corporations use to hold people accountable. However, the same isn't true when it's a consumer trying to hold the corporation accountable.

End of Daylight Savings Could Mean More Accidents

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 23:11:48 -0600

The Georgia Injury Law Blog has posted an interesting article that discusses how the number of auto accidents, including fatalities involving pedestrians, can rise with the end of daylight savings time.

According to a report released by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 25% of the 4,092 pedestrian fatalities happened between 4pm and 8pm and 13% happened between 4am and 8am. These hours seem to be some of the most dangerous for pedestrians because drivers are still getting used to losing an hour of daylight and the low-light driving conditions and not see pedestrians.

The article provides several tips for drivers and pedestrians.

Drivers should be extra careful to look for pedestrians at cross walks and intersections and slow down. Also, pedestrians should wear brightly colored or reflective clothing to ensure visibility to approaching drivers. If walking in the early morning or evening, carry a flashlight. You should try to avoid distractions, such as an iPod, cell phone, or anything that would make it difficult to hear an approaching car.