Logo

Call for a Free Consultation : 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT

Protecting Your Rights after a Car Accident

September 9, 2018 by

Protecting Your Rights after a Car AccidentIn the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident, there can be great confusion. You may not know the precise cause of the accident or the full extent of your injuries. However, if you have been hurt because of someone else’s carelessness or negligence, you have a right to pursue a monetary award to cover you losses. Here are specific measures to take to fully protect your rights:

Step One—Get the Medical Attention You Need

There’s nothing more important, after a car wreck, than ensuring you get all the medical care you need. Recognize up front that this is not the time to be stoic, tough or brave. You need to be willing to fully acknowledge the seriousness of your injuries. If you don’t, you may actually make things worse.

If you don’t feel like you can move under your own power, or you have any doubts about the nature of your injuries, stay put (as long as it’s safe to do so). Instead of diagnosing your own injuries, defer to the professionals. Wait until emergency medical technicians arrive and let them do what they are trained to do. If you need to leave the scene in an ambulance, be willing to do so.

Even if your injuries appear to minor, or you can move about under your own power, it’s still important to go to the hospital, an urgent care facility or to your family doctor as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the greater the risk that your injuries will get worse, or that you’ll have an intervening accident that makes it difficult to determine the source of all your injuries.

Be sure that you disclose all your injuries to medical personnel. Don’t focus on the obvious injury—the broken leg—and ignore the pain or stiffness in your back, neck or muscles. Often, those injuries can be more debilitating and take longer to heal.

Step Two—Gather Information

The more information you gather at the time of the accident, the easier it will typically be for your attorney when it comes time to resolve your case. Get contact information from everyone involved in the accident, as well as witnesses or bystanders. Take pictures of everything, from your injuries to the damage to all vehicles to weather conditions to any evidence on the roadway (skid marks, loose gravel, missing or blocked signage).

The most important thing to do, though, and as soon as possible—hire an experienced attorney to protect your rights. Even when liability seems obvious, a personal injury lawsuit can be time-consuming and complex.

 

Contact Attorney David J. Karbasian

Contact our office online or call us at 856-667-4666 to schedule an appointment. Your first consultation is without cost or obligation. The sooner you call, the sooner you can move forward with your claim. We can accommodate evening or weekend meeting requests and will come to your home, if necessary.

Filed Under: Car Accident, Personal Injury, Serious Injury Tagged With: ,

An Introduction to Personal Injury Litigation – The Standard of Care

August 21, 2017 by

an-introduction-to-personal-injury-litigation-the-standard-of-careWhen you’ve been hurt in an accident, one of the first things you’ll want to do is take an inventory of your losses and try to determine exactly what happened. If the accident was caused by the conduct of another person, you have a right to pursue reimbursement for past, present and future losses. Though you can always recover monetary compensation (also known as damages) for the intentional or reckless behavior of another person, most personal injury lawsuits are based on a legal theory of negligence.

In this three-part series, we’ll take a close look at what you must prove in court to succeed with a personal injury claim:

  • That the defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would (breach the duty of care)
  • That the failure to act reasonably caused an accident
  • That you suffered actual losses because of the accident

In this blog, we examine the standard of care in a negligence claim.

Breaching the Duty of Care

Under the law of negligence, as it has evolved over the last millennium, initially in England and then in the United States, all persons in society are under a duty to use a certain level of care in all daily activities, whether it’s driving a motor vehicle, operating machinery, maintaining property or designing/manufacturing a consumer product. That duty requires everyone to act “as a reasonable person” would. The failure to do so can make a person potentially liable for any physical injury, financial loss or property damage sustained by another person.

The law, however, has never been very specific about what qualifies as “reasonable.” Though some courts have construed “reasonable” to be what an “average person of ordinary prudence” would do, the reality is that the standard is determined by the jury on a case-by-case basis (though prior decisions are given consideration).

Contact Attorney David J. Karbasian

Contact our office online or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. Your first consultation is without cost or obligation. The sooner you call, the sooner you can move forward with your claim. We can accommodate evening or weekend meeting requests and will come to your home or the hospital, if necessary.

We handle all personal injury claims on a contingent fee basis. We won’t charge any attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your losses.

Filed Under: Personal Injury, Serious Injury Tagged With:

Pursuing Medical Expenses after a Car Accident in New Jersey

May 16, 2017 by

Pursuing Medical Expenses after a Car Accident in New JerseyIn the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident, one of the first steps you typically take is to contact your insurance company to seek reimbursement or payment of medical expenses. In the state of New Jersey, the type of automobile insurance policy you have will determine how the reimbursement is handled.

In New Jersey, as in all other states, there’s a no-fault option for motor vehicle insurance. With a no-fault approach, when you have been hurt in a motor vehicle accident, you turn to your own insurance company to compensate you for your losses, rather than the at-fault party’s insurer. Your insurer will typically pay your losses and then seek reimbursement through a legal process known as subrogation.

Unlike most other states, though, New Jersey gives you a choice—you can opt for no-fault coverage or you can purchase a “traditional” policy of motor vehicle insurance. If you select the latter, you retain the right to sue the other party and the other party’s insurance company.

Furthermore, New Jersey’s insurance law also allows victims of “serious injury” to bring a lawsuit against the at-fault driver and his/her insurer, even if the victim has selected the no-fault option. The law defines serious injury to include “dismemberment, significant disfigurement or scarring, displaced fractures or the loss of a fetus.”

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Don’t risk the loss of evidence or the disappearance of a witness. The sooner you retain legal counsel, the better! Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment.

We handle all personal injury claims on a contingent fee basis. We won’t charge any attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your losses.

Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We’ll come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary.

Filed Under: Personal Injury, Serious Injury Tagged With: ,

The Different Types of Product Liability Claims

November 28, 2016 by

Barista steaming milk at the coffee machine

When you purchase an appliance, a toy, a motor vehicle or any other consumer product, you expect that the manufacturers have taken reasonable care to ensure that the design and construction of the product are done in such a way that there’s not an unreasonable risk of injury when you use the product as intended. Unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the case. There are many dangerous and defective products readily available to consumers. If you or someone you love has been hurt after using a consumer product, here are the potential avenues for legal recovery.

Defective Design

A lawsuit alleging defective design of a product asserts that manufacturers and marketers failed to act reasonably when designing the product. Under this theory, the product is considered inherently unsafe, regardless of the care with which it was manufactured or assembled. In legal action based on defective design, you must show that a reasonable person would have recognized the defect and would have either fixed the problem or reasonably notified potential users of the risk of injury. For example, if you design a vehicle with a high center of gravity, making it susceptible to rollovers, you must either warn of the risk or redesign the vehicle to minimize the risk.

Defective Manufacture

A product may be considered defectively manufactured under a number of circumstances:

  • Substandard materials were used in the construction of the product
  • The product was carelessly or negligently assembled or fabricated
  • The manufacturer did not properly supervise the employees who were assembling or building the product

For example, if an appliance manufacturer knowingly uses substandard materials or fails to put procedures in place to ensure that products are correctly assembled, there may be liability.

Negligent Marketing

An allegation of negligent marketing essentially says that the manufacturer or marketer did not adequately warn potential users of known risks of injury. For example, the manufacturer of a coffee maker may have liability if the company knew that the product produced water hot enough to cause serious burns.

Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC

Don’t risk the loss of evidence or the disappearance of a witness. The sooner you retain legal counsel, the better! Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. We handle all mortgage foreclosure scam claims on a contingent fee basis. We won’t charge any attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your losses.

Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We’ll come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary.

Filed Under: Mortgage Foreclosure Scam, Product Liability Claims, Serious Injury Tagged With: , ,

The Most Common Types of Construction Accidents

October 12, 2016 by

construction-accidents

It’s common knowledge that working on a residential or commercial construction project is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. Statistics
indicate that one of every 25 construction workers in America will sustain a non-fatal injury this year. Though general contractors and owners are aware of the risks and have a duty to take steps to protect the safety of workers, the desire to maximize profits by cutting corners still pervades and has serious consequences. Here are the most common types of construction accidents.

Falls from Heights

Far and away the single greatest cause of injury on a construction site is falls from heights, including ladders and scaffolding, accounting for one of every three construction site injuries. Too often, contractors don’t supervise the erection of scaffolding or monitor employees to ensure that ladders or scaffolding are properly set up. In addition, it’s not unusual for job sites to lack safety barriers on upper levels.

Slips and Falls

The most common factor contributing to jobsite slips and falls is the accumulation of trash, refuse or debris on a site. This includes building materials, tools and other equipment.

Falling Items

Whether it’s a high-rise or a single family home, there are often tools, building materials or debris left on upper levels. When these items fall to the ground, they can cause serious injury to anyone below.

Dangerous or Defective Tools, Equipment or Machinery

Power tools that misfire or breakdown, or heavy equipment that’s not properly maintained can cause serious injury.

Contact Attorney David J. Karbasian

Contact our office online or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment. Your first consultation is without cost or obligation. The sooner you call, the sooner you can move forward with your claim. We can accommodate evening or weekend meeting requests and will come to your home or the hospital, if necessary.

We handle all personal injury claims on a contingent fee basis. We won’t charge any attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your losses.

Filed Under: Construction Accidents, Personal Injury, Serious Injury, Slips and Falls Tagged With: , , ,

© 2019 karbasianlaw All Rights Reserved.
Concept, Design & Hosting by GetLegal's Practice Builder Team Sitemap | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy