Thompson Law Firm: Overcoming Obstacles & Providing Solutions

The recent report by the WHO (World Health Organization) that potentially links cancer to cell phone use has been all over the news and become a hot topic of conversation. While the study didn’t state that negative health effects have been categorically linked to cell phone usage, it has made us think about how central this small electronic device has become to most of our daily lives.

The idea that cell phones are somehow bad for us, and at the worst end of the scale of speculation, might actually cause brain cancer is not a new theory. Many studies have been commissioned in the last thirty years to try and find information connecting cell phone to adverse health issues but so far no concrete evidence has been offered to support such a theory.

As consumers it’s hardly surprising  that we find this conversation troubling. Look at how ubiquitous cell phones have become in our lives. Walk down the street and see how many people are ‘walking and talking’ … it’s a common sight in 21st century American living. Indeed we’re now at the point now where it’s not uncommon to wonder how we ever coped with life before texting, emailing, checking the web on smart phones and yes, talking on our cell phones.

This is why WHO headlines telling us that cell phones are ‘possibly carcinogenic’ make us uneasy. So is there is a way to stay connected but remain safe? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Communications Commission have issued 4 easy steps to reduce any potential health risks of cell phone use:

• Restrict use to short conversations
• Switch to a hands free device
• Text rather than talk
• Reduce usage by children because their lifetime exposure to cell phones will likely be greater

At this stage without any concrete evidence that cell phone use can have adverse affects on your health it’s difficult to make a concrete case for necessary action. That said using the tips above are certainly going to be a positive step while allowing you the same convenient benefits you have become accustomed to. What we think people should really be concentrating on is putting cell phones down when they’re driving and remembering to never ‘Text & Drive’!

Be safe and have a great week.

As Personal Injury attorneys it’s always a relief to see positive statistics such as those released by the U.S Department of Transportation last month. According to the report the number of traffic fatalities dropped by 3% in 2010 which is the lowest level since 1949. What’s more encouraging is that the figure represents a 25% decrease in traffic fatalities since 2005.

Last year a total of 32,788 people died in traffic accidents, a drop from the previous year’s number of 33,808 and a significant reduction from the 2005 total of 43,510.  So we can hopefully conclude that it’s getting safer on America’s roads and highways but what’s the reason for the drop in traffic fatalities?

In a CNN article various reasons are attributed to the dropping numbers. There are the changes car makers have made such as vehicle rollover protection as well as an increased number of programs to reduce drunk driving, distracted driving and seat belt use. New laws targeting young people are likely to have also helped such as notably older minimum drinking ages and graduated drivers’ licenses.

The worst year in our history for fatal auto accidents was 1972 when 54,589 people were killed in traffic accidents according to DOT figures. In more recent times 2008 was the last time we saw a notable change in these grim statistics when there was a 9.7% drop in traffic fatalities accredited to various DOT safety programs. This particular drop can also be connected to the recession of recent years which took a large number of younger drivers off the road.

There is particular cause to celebrate this latest drop due to the fact that the decline comes despite an increase in the number of miles driven.

(Souce: CNN)

If you sustain a personal injury in a trucking accident it’s often more complicated than a car accident to decide on who is responsible and what actually caused the accident. If you are considering hiring us as your personal injury attorneys you should first understand the common reasons for trucking accidents, and the relationships among the people and entities connected to the truck, trailer and the load.

If we pause for a moment to look at a few statistics we discover a worrying trend. Over the last twenty years the number of truck accidents has increased by 20% with over 100,000 people each year getting injured in crashes that involved a large truck. It’s a sad but very real fact that trucks typically cause much greater harm than cars due to the large size and weight of most trucks.

Federal laws and regulations govern the trucking industry. These laws establish certain standards that trucking companies, owners, and drivers must meet, and often determine who is responsible for a trucking accident.

Agencies that regulate truck driving include the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Arizona has it’s own department of transportation with its own set of trucking regulations.

Who Is Responsible? When it comes to truck accidents, there is a web of players who may be responsible for a victim’s injuries, including:

• the truck’s driver
• the owner of the truck or trailer
• the person or company that leased the truck or trailer from the owner
• the manufacturer of the vehicle, tires, or other parts that may have contributed to the cause or severity of the accident
• the shipper or loader of the truck’s cargo (in cases involving improper loading).

The trucking, hauling, and leasing companies often argue among themselves over whose insurance will compensate the victim. For example, the truck company might claim that the accident was caused by defective brakes. In turn, the brake company might then point the finger at the leasing company, claiming that it failed to maintain the brakes in good working order.

Can Trucking Companies Avoid Liability? In the past, trucking companies often tried to avoid liability for trucking accidents by creating distance between themselves and the driver, the vehicle, and the equipment. Here’s how they did this … The trucking company obtains the necessary permits to operate the truck. However, the company often does not own the tractor, trailer, or equipment used to haul the goods. Instead it leases (rents) the equipment, tractors, and trailers from the “owner/operator.” The trucking company also does not directly employee the drivers. Instead, it hires them as independent contractors from the owner/operator.

• The trucking company gives the owner/operator a “placard,” which includes the name of the trucking company and its permit numbers. The placard is then affixed to the door of the tractor — which makes it seem like the truck is owned by the named trucking company and the driver is an employee of the named trucking company.

If the truck is in an accident, and the trucking company is sued, it would argue that:

• the driver was not the trucking company’s employee, so the trucking company is not liable for driver error
• the trucking company does not own the equipment, so it is not responsible for the operation, maintenance, repair, and inspections of the equipment

Luckily, federal laws and regulations have put an end to these arguments. Under current federal law, any company owning a trucking permit is responsible for all accidents involving a truck that has its placard or name displayed on the vehicle. It doesn’t matter what the lease says with the owner/operator or whether the driver is an employee or independent contractor.

If you have any questions about an truck or other vehicle accident call our Personal Injury attorneys today at 480 634 7480.

(Source: Nolo)

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since the terrible BP Oil Spill in the Gulf. It was a disaster on so many fronts that there has been a huge amount of legal action surrounding every aspect of the event. Today we will take a look at a few types of lawsuits that came out of the disaster. These include ones that have been filed by individuals and families who worry about the health hazards posed by the chemicals not only in the oil that washed up on shore, but also those used to disperse and clean up the oil.

If you have sustained an injury in an accident you must try to protect evidence to help you prove your claim to an insurance company.

1. Return to the Scene

If the accident took place somewhere other than your home return to the scene as soon as possible to locate any evidence, and take photographs of conditions you believe may have contributed to the accident. Sometimes you can find unexpected evidence such as a worn or torn spot on which you fell, or even a defective traffic light. When you are there you may also find someone who witnessed the accident or has seen similar injuries sustained at that location.

Remember to take photgraphs from various angles – particularly your view just before the accident – to keep a good picture in your mind and to give to the insurance company later on. Always photograph the scene at the same time of the day as your accident occured, and for vehicle accidents, the same day of the week to reflect the same amount of traffic.

2. Protect Physical Evidence

Sometimes defining who was at fault for your accident can come down to a piece of ‘physical’ evidence  - something you can see or touch, as opposed to a description of what happened. Examples can include a broken stair that caused a fall, the dent in a car showing where it was hit or an overhanging branch that blocked visibility on a bike path.

Physical evidence can help prove the extent of your injury: Damage to the car can demonstrate how hard a collision was, for example, and torn or bloodied clothing can show your physical injuries dramatically. Try to preserve any physical evidence exactly as it was at the accident. If you can’t preserve the actual object, take photographs of it. You can later show your evidence to an insurance company as proof of what happened.

3. Take Good Photographs

One of the key services we offer our personal injury clients is assessing how much their accident injuries are worth and it’s often the hardest part of any claim to determine. The reason figuring this out is so challenging is because the amount varies depending on very particular circumstances. So let’s take you through an overview of how insurance companies determine the value of a personal injury claim.

1. Insurance companies are obligated to offer certain compensation

Understanding the types of damages for which you may be compensated is the first step in determining what your particular claim is worth. In most personal injury cases a person who is liable for an accident (and therefore his or her liability company) must pay an injured person for the following:

2. The ‘Damages Formula’ of insurance companies

How do you put a dollar figure on pain and suffering? Well as you might have guessed it’s not at all simple. When determining compensation, insurance companies can’t add up money spent and money lost and make a decision, they have to take into account complex variables that will also often include missed experiences and lost opportunities.

So at the beginning of claim negotiations, the insurance company will look at the total medical expenses related to your injury. These are known as ‘medical special damages’. So that’s the base figure the insurance adjuster uses to go on and work out how much the injured party is then due for pain, suffering and other non-monetary expenses which are known as ‘general damages’.

If your injuries can be considered minor the insurance company will multiply the amount of special damages by 1.5 or 2. However if you have sustained more serious injuries the insurance adjuster can multiply the special damages by up to 5. After that calculation any lost income lost as a result of your injuries is added.

It’s worth noting that this formula is not the end of the story but instead a calculation made by insurance companies at the very beginning of negotiations.

3. Percentage of fault

To what extent an individual involved in an accident is at fault is really the key factor affecting how much an insurance company is likely to payout. The damages formula will give you a range of how much your injuries might be worth, but it’s only after the issue of fault is agreed upon that you will know the true compensation value of your claim.

Of course as you might have guessed determining fault in any accident is not an exact science. However, in the majority of cases both you and the insurance company will have a pretty good idea of whether the insured person was entirely at fault, or if you were at fault to a certain degree. The rough percentage of fault – 10%,50%, 75% – is the amount by which the damages formula total will be reduced to arrive at a final number.

If you have any questions contact our personal injury attorneys today at (480) 634-7480.

It’s a question many people ask our personal injury attorneys and one that sadly makes headlines on a regular basis around the country including here in Arizona. In most instances (but not all), dog owners are financially liable for any injury or property damage that their dogs cause. You can generally separate dog owners legal liability into three areas:

1. Dog-Bite Statutes – More than half of US states have laws that pass liability to the dog owner in the case of a biting injury including here in Arizona. These statutes are commonly referred to as ‘dog-bite statutes’ but they actually cover all kinds of dog-inflicted injuries. These statutes are known as ‘strict liability’ statutes because they impose liability without fault. This means an injured person doesn’t have to prove that the dog owner did anything wrong, simply that the dog caused the injury in question.

2. The One-Bite Rule – This rule makes a dog owner legally responsible for an injury caused by their pet only if the owner knew that the dog was likely to cause that type of injury. Here in Arizona the law states that, ” the owner of a dog which bites a person when the person is in or on a public place or lawfully in or on a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, is liable for damages suffered by the person bitten, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of its viciousness”.

3. Negligence Laws – This is the third legal doctrine under which a dog owner might be found liable for injuries caused by his or her pet. Any dog owner that is found to be negligent or unreasonably careless in handling their animal may be legally responsible if their dog bites someone and a reasonable owner would have foreseen the possibility of injury. Defining negligence isn’t always easy and each case must be assessed on the individual circumstances surrounding the dog bite. For example it’s possible that an owner of a certain breed of dog can be found negligent for not taking special precautions to prevent the dog from causing the injury.

Unfortunately as Arizona medical malpractice attorneys we often see cases where people have been injured when receiving treatment in a Phoenix area hospital. Hospitals are often liable for medical mistakes made by their employees such as paramedics, nurses, and medical technicians, but they are often not responsible for medical malpractice at the hands of a doctor.

If someone is an employee of a hospital and that employee hurts a patient through negligence by not using reasonable caution, the hospital is then on the hook for any resulting injuries to the patient. However it’s worth noting that not every mistake or negative event can be legally defined as negligence. If hospital employees such as nurses, paramedics and medical technicians are doing something job related when they injure a patient, the patient can sue the hospital, an example would be when a paramedic employed by the hospital injects the wrong solution into the patient on the way to the hospital. Where this differs from a doctor’s liability is when a doctor makes a mistake and injures a patient while working in the hospital, they would only be liable for medical malpractice if they are employed by the hospital, which is often not the case.

In addition, if a hospital employee commits malpractice while under a doctor’s supervision, the patient can sue the doctor, but the hospital may not be liable. How the law defines whether or not a hospital employee is under a doctor’s supervision at the time a mistake is made depends on:

• whether the doctor is present
• whether the doctor was in control enough to prevent the employee’s negligent error

So how do you know if a doctor is a hospital employee? This depends on the nature of their relationship with the hospital in question. There are some doctors employed by hospitals but most are not. The majority of doctors working at your local Arizona hospital are independent contractors, meaning that the hospital cannot be held responsible for the doctor’s medical malpractice, even when it occurs in the hospital. However there are exceptions to this rule and in some instances a hospital may indeed be held liable.

If the hospital didn’t make it clear to a patient that the doctor is not an employee the patient can sue the hospital for medical malpractice. If you have been hospitalized in the past you will have likely seen how hospitals attempt to avoid this problem by informing patients in admission forms that the doctor is not a hospital employee. This changes a little when you consider an ER admittance,  because often there is no opportunity to complete a form informing the patients of the doctor’s status as employee or independent contractor. This means that ER patients may be able to sue a hospital for medical malpractice that occurs in an emergency room environment.

Another example of when a hospital can be sued for a doctor’s negligence is when a hospital should have known that a previously safe doctor has become incompetent or dangerous through something like drug use. If the doctor is found to be incompetent or proved dangerous, their status as independent contractor wouldn’t stop a hospital from being sued.

If you believe you have reason to sue a hospital for medical malpractice or would like to set up a free consultation with our personal injury attorneys contact us today at 480 634 7480. You can also ask us any questions you may have on our new Facebook page by clicking here.

(Source: Nolo)

With the weather here in Arizona lending itself so well to a variety of outdoor activities you may have noticed that people of all ages are taking to their bikes . Whether you are training for a race, taking a leisurely weekend ride with your partner or even commuting to work to save on gas, you have to always be aware of your surroundings. Unfortunately even the most careful riders get into accidents with cars and if you’re the one on the bike it’s vital that you wait for the police to arrive following the crash. The steps you take immediately after an accident, and how you interact with the police, might have significant impact on how much compensation you can recover for injuries sustained and any damage that may have occurred to your bike.

You may have been lucky enough to feel OK after an accident with a car but you should still wait for the police to arrive so you can be there when they make a report on the incident. There are some injuries that may not be apparent right away and often it can be a few hours later when you realize you have minor injuries that if left untreated can develop into serious conditions.

Leaving the scene also means you may never be able to identify the driver if they were at fault for the accident. You may be tempted to negotiate with the driver but don’t. The driver may rush to accept blame and apologize before the police arrive, but you should stay calm, wait for the police to get there  t0 take notes from you and the driver involved. You should also wait for the police to arrive as they might issue a ticket to the driver at the scene which would prove useful when trying to settle a case with an insurance company.

It’s so important to make sure your voice is heard in the accident report. If a police officer is just talking to the motorist and not to you make sure your version of events is heard. Report your injuries to the police no matter how minor – remember they could develop into a more serious condition. If, for whatever reason, the police refuse to include your comments at the scene, you can get that report amended at a later date.

If you are physically injured you should always consider immediate medical treatment as your next step after the police have finished their report at the scene. Always do this before you contact your Arizona personal injury attorney so you will be in the best condition to help us maximize your chance for any compensation that may be due to you.

If you have any questions about a past bicycle accident or any personal injury questions contact us today at 480 634 7480.

As Chandler personal injury attorneys we often hear of accidents at amusement parks where a family day out takes a turn for the worst for a varying number of reasons. Whether it’s roller coasters, water slides, bumper cars or spinning rides, injuries occur every year with severity ranging from cuts and bruises to actual head trauma. If you have been involved in an accident at an amusement park you can bring a negligence claim against the park and its employees or a product liability claim against the manufacturer of a defective ride.

OK Arizona, we can hear you asking just how common are amusement park accidents? Recent numbers from the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission state that around 8,800 people are injured on amusement park rides every year. These are the people that needed emergency room treatment so the figure doesn’t include people who suffered more minor injuries which would take the total even higher. Add to that 3,600 people who were injured on inflatable amusement park rides and another 3,100 that got hurt at water parks.

As you might have already guessed a sad statistic when it comes to amusement park injuries is that children represent about one half of those injured. They are also the victims in three quarters of those accidents where a rider falls or is thrown from an amusement park ride.

The most common amusement park injuries are as follows: