It’s a fact of life that if you live in Suffolk County, New York you are going to need to drive a car. Mass transit is nearly impossible to use, so our roads are always crowded, especially at rush hour. On top of that, we have many eighteen-wheelers and box trucks traveling through our county every day. Therefore, safely sharing the roads with big rigs is a must.
As a Long Island truck accident lawyer, I have seen my share of injured people, many of whom have been in accidents with larger, heavier trucks. As a result of seeing so many truck accidents, I’ve been able to develop some tips for drivers sharing the road with trucks.
Steven Palermo is the managing partner for Palermo Law, Long Island’s Personal Injury Law Firm. He has been helping people receive compensation for their injuries for over 21 years. He focuses on cases involving car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents and slip and fall injuries.
His book The Ultimate Guide to Handling New York Car Accident Claims details the ins and outs of a car accident claim in a simple, easy-to-read manner.
If you’ve suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence and are pursuing a personal injury claim, you may eventually find yourself in a court of law for a trial. For many, this will be a new experience, therefore, it’s important to understand that there are certain formalities that you are expected to follow when you’re in a courtroom. Additionally, there are some things that you can do to help you shine throughout your day in court. Following these five tips will help to ensure that your time in a courtroom goes smoothly.
First, your attire sets an important tone. If you underdress you are sending a message that you do not respect the court process. If you overdress you run the risk of appearing to be trying too hard to impress the judge or jury. My recommendation is that you think of the court as a business casual environment. Dressing appropriately will give the impression that you respect the court but yet are not trying too hard to impress.
Next, there is the expectation that parties will show respect to the judge and the jury. I recommend always standing when a judge or jury enters a room, as well as when they exit. It’s also important to not speak at that time. Once the judge and jury are seated, it’s okay to sit as well.
During a trial, you will hear testimonies from witnesses, some may annoy or upset you. Conversely, some of the testimonies may make you feel happy. The jury is watching everything you do. Your reaction can either help or hurt your case, the best practice is to try and limit your reactions. Imagine if you had a volume button, you’d want it to be on low while listening to testimonies. Of course, you’re expected to react to negative testimonies, but overdoing it will turn off the jury. A slight frown is much more appealing to a jury than profusely shaking your head in anger. The same goes for positive emotions, a slight smile is much more appealing than acting as though your favorite football team just scored a touchdown.
At some point, you may have to testify in court. To do this you will be asked questions by an attorney. In direct testimony, your attorney will ask you questions, this process is usually friendly, and in cross-examination, your opposition’s attorney will ask you some questions. In both instances, you should always wait until the attorney finishes speaking before answering the question. It is never received well by a jury if you talk over an attorney. Also, it’s a good idea to try and relax and take your time answering the questions.
Finally, it’s always a good idea to speak directly to the jury when answering a question. So, you should look at the attorney while he/she is speaking and once he/she is finished and you are ready to answer, turn and speak directly to the jury. Jurors will react positively to direct eye contact, it shows a level of confidence in what you are saying and will improve your credibility with jurors.
If you get injured in a car accident, you may find yourself in the unenviable position of needing compensation from a billion-dollar insurance company. While it’s nice to know that the party responsible for paying for your losses has the resources to do so, getting them to do it is a much different story. Most insurance companies employ numerous strategies to make recovering compensation nearly impossible.
How do you find success in this David vs. Goliath situation? First, it’s important to understand how an insurance company thinks. Unlike people, insurance companies have no feelings, they don’t feel sympathy, frustration, or anger, they can’t be intimidated, and they never get scared. The only thing that an insurance company cares about is its bottom line. To an insurance company, your injury is nothing more than numbers on a spreadsheet to be dealt with in the most cost-effective way.
Understanding this mentality holds the key to successfully pursuing a claim against an insurance company. An insurance company’s weakness comes from its obsession with its bottom line. In an attempt to keep expenses low, an insurance company will always try to cut corners. They hire inexperienced adjusters to deal with claims, they also hire inexpensive lawyers to defend lawsuits. Insurance company adjusters and lawyers are always overworked and underpaid, they almost never have a strong affinity to their employer.
An experienced lawyer will understand this dynamic and use it to their advantage. I understand an insurance company adjuster may have 150 to 200 files to deal with. Often, they won’t know the name of most of the people whose claims they are handling. It’s my job to make my client’s file stand out in such a way that the adjuster wants to resolve the claim. The way to do this is through hard work. I make sure that I’m constantly calling to discuss the case and sending letters with my client’s claim information such as witness statements and medical records.
Often, an overworked adjuster will ask for extra time to evaluate a claim, I rarely agree to such a request. If an adjuster doesn’t evaluate a claim within a specific time period that I’ve set, I will start a lawsuit. Once a lawsuit has been started it will often be assigned to an overworked and underpaid insurance company lawyer. The same rules that apply to litigating a case also applies to pursuing an insurance claim, I always try and outwork the defense lawyer.
Eventually, this strategy yields results. An adjuster or defense attorney will always seek to resolve a claim against an attorney that is making them work as opposed to an attorney that is barely bothering them.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a very dangerous gas that can be lethal if not detected. Even scarier is the fact that it is colorless, odorless and tasteless. This harmful gas is found in fumes produced any time you burn fuel. Therefore, the gas can be emitted from things like cars, trucks, lanterns, small engines, stoves, grills and furnaces.
Every year, over 400 people die from Carbon Monoxide exposure and over 20,000 are taken to the emergency room. These are incidents that are not linked to fires and most often occurred unknowingly due to being unable to detect the presence of the gas. For people who do die of “smoke inhalation” in a fire, it is really the Carbon Monoxide that caused the death. Infants, elderly and people who are anemic are at a greater risk of getting sick from CO.
As scary as Carbon Monoxide is, and the amount of things we use that emit the gas, we generally don’t think about it. That is because premises are expected to have carbon monoxide detectors in their buildings to warn people of its presence as well as use trusted products that won’t leak the gas. However, if proper CO detection is neglected, someone could be seriously harmed.
High levels or carbon monoxide can kill in less than five minutes. But cases of low levels will cause symptoms to appear slowly. When you breathe in Carbon Monoxide, the first thing you will feel is a general sickness and fatigue. If you leave the area that is infiltrated, you will start to feel better. This is an indicator that the dangerous gas is present. If its effects continues, dizziness, nausea and loss of consciousness could occur.
The most important thing to ensure you are safe from CO poisoning is to have a CO detector. Check to see if your smoke detector doubles as a Carbon Monoxide detector. Place it in a location where the alarm will easily be heard. Monitor the batteries and always replace them when instructed. The CDC also recommends replacing your detector completely every five years.
Additionally, familiarize yourself with things that could potentially emit Carbon Monoxide. Check your equipment that runs on gas. It is a good idea to ensure that any gas appliance you own has a seal of a national testing agency so that you know it shouldn’t cause harm. Maintain the proper upkeep for your heating systems, water heaters and other gas, oil and coal burning appliances by having them serviced by a technician every year. Never use a portable gas stove or a generator inside your home.
You will also want to make sure your gas appliances are vented properly. Have your chimney checked and cleaned every year. A build up of debris could cause a blockage in a chimney, allowing the gas to travel into your home.
Getting ill from Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be devastating. You might ask yourself, “How did this happen?” One minute you are fine and the next you are dizzy, can’t breathe and maybe even losing consciousness. This could lead to even more injuries, and now the medical bills are piling up. However, you might be able to gain compensation if you can determine the source of the poisoning. One of two things can occur that can lead to financial compensation.
As mentioned earlier, products that emit CO are expected to be made in a way that won’t leak or cause others harm. If a defect in the product caused gas to fill up your home or didn’t warn you of the danger, the manufacturer may be at fault. For example, if a Carbon Monoxide detector that didn’t properly detect the gas despite having a power source would mean the product was defective and should have prevented harm. Another example would be a leaky furnace where the manufacturer owes a duty of care to the consumer.
Another example of neglect would be if you were poisoned in someone else’s premises. For example, if you stay in a hotel where there is a leaky furnace and you get poisoned, both the manufacturer of the furnace and the hotel are responsible for the harm it caused. If this has happened to you or a loved one, contacting an experienced lawyer can help you gain financial compensation for the harm that Carbon Monoxide poisoning has caused.
One of the most common questions I hear from prospective clients is, “What is my case worth?” Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. The most important thing to understand is that as an accident victim, you are being compensated for a number of factors, some of which are unknown or uncertain at the beginning of a case.
The first consideration in formulating the value of a case is liability. Simply put, liability means fault. Whose fault was the accident? In New York, we recognize the theory of comparative negligence. That means that to receive compensation for an accident you do not have to establish 100% fault on the opposing party. You can establish any percentage of fault less the 100% and collect for the other party’s proportionate share of fault. For example, if another party is 50% at fault you can collect 50% of the total value of your damages.
The second consideration in determining how much money your case is worth is actually assessing your total damages. Your damages are your economic loss combined with your pain and suffering. Economic loss refers to out of pocket expenses incurred because of your accident. Medical bills, lost wages, medicines, household help, and transportation costs are all examples of economic losses.
Pain and suffering refers to everything that you go through physically, mentally and emotionally following your accident. Many people suffer from debilitating pain. That pain manifests itself in a number of ways including feelings of depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. The more that you are adversely affected by your accident, the greater your pain and suffering, thus the more money you are entitled to for that pain and suffering.
Further, you are entitled to recover for not only past damages but also future damages, as well. To calculate your future economic loss, it may be necessary to engage professionals such as vocational experts and economists. Once retained, these experts can develop a clear picture of your future economic losses.
Your economic damages are more objective as opposed to your pain and suffering which tend to be much more subjective. However, once you have calculated both, you simply add them together arriving at a total amount of damages. Once you have a total amount of damages, you multiply it by the opposing party’s total percentage of fault. For example, if your total damages are $1,000,000 and the defendant is 50% at fault you are entitled to $500,000.
Keep in mind that to collect the money you are entitled to, the defendant either must have adequate insurance or have the resources to pay for your damages. If the person is uninsured or under-insured and has no assets, you will not be able to collect the money you are owed. Unfortunately, this scenario arises from time to time. That is why it’s always important to maintain adequate UM/SUM insurance as previously discussed. I always recommend that you match your UM/SUM limits to your own car insurance liability limits.
