A side impact collision is commonly referred to as a T-bone or broadside accident. It occurs when one vehicle hits the side of another vehicle, usually at a 90-degree angle. Unfortunately, these types of crashes often result in serious injuries or fatalities. Distracted driving and failure to yield are two of the most common causes of side-impact collisions. But who is at fault when a T-bone accident occurs?

Negligence is often a factor in side impact collisions. However, in order to obtain compensation for injuries and property damage, the plaintiff in a car accident case must be able to show that the other driver breached his duty to act with care while driving, and that the breach caused actual damages. A Boston motor vehicle accident attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another driver’s negligence.

Tips to Follow After a Side Impact Collision

For the most part, side impact accidents should be handled like any other motor vehicle accident, with some minor exceptions.

  • Exchange information with the other driver; get their insurance information, name, address and phone number.
  • Ask any witnesses for their contact information.
  • Document any injuries and damage to your vehicle by using your cell phone’s camera to take pictures from as many angles as possible.
  • Do not speak with the other driver’s insurance company. The only people you should speak to about the accident are your attorney and your
  • When a side impact collision occurs, it may be unclear who is at fault; skid marks are often highly useful in determining fault. Photograph any skid marks, as well as the scene of the accident; snap pictures of street lights and signs, trees that may have been blocking visibility, the atmosphere (is it foggy or raining hard?), icy or wet spots on the road, and any debris.

Use Extra Caution in Intersections

Many T-bone accidents occur at intersections, and they often involve secondary crashes as the force of a broadside collision can push a vehicle into oncoming traffic. Because there is very little buffer in a side impact collision (no engine or trunk to cushion the blow), this type of motor vehicle accident is often fatal. In fact, about 8,000 people are killed in side impact crashes annually. A MA auto accident lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured due to another driver’s negligence.

Memories Fade

Determining fault in a T-bone collision may seem an easy task, but that’s not always the case. Even if the driver broadsided a vehicle at high speeds, the other driver may have driven through a red light or stop sign, causing the accident. That is why witness information and photographs are so important. Not to mention, memories fade. Without documentation obtained and recorded immediately following the accident, your memory of that day’s events will become foggier with each passing day. This is one of the reasons that car accident statutes of limitation are so short. Continue reading

If you can no longer work due to a physical or mental disability, you may be eligible for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI). SSDI payments are based on your current earnings, with the average amount being $1,197 monthly in 2018. Let’s say you are receiving SSDI benefit payments for an injury or illness and you are injured in a separate accident due to another’s negligence. You file a lawsuit and are awarded a lump sum of money for your damages. Will this settlement impact your SSDI benefits in MA?

Fortunately, the answer to the above question is a resounding “No.” SSDI is not affected by a personal injury settlement in MA. SSDI is a federal program for individuals who cannot work due to disability. To receive these benefits, the disabled individual must go through a thorough screening process.

Personal injury settlements are an entirely different animal. When negligence is acknowledged between two parties, the injured party will likely receive an agreed upon sum of money as compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and other associated costs. SSDI benefits and personal injury settlements are not in conflict with one another. Your SSDI benefits will not be reduced if you receive a personal injury award, even if it’s substantial. A Boston injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

SSDI Benefits and Unearned Income

SSDI benefits are intended to help you stay afloat if a disability prevents you from working for a period of time, or indefinitely. These benefits can even extend into retirement and provide support for dependents. Unlike Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – which is the low-income version of the program – SSDI does not limit the amount of unearned income or assets you are allowed to have. There is a limit on the amount you can earn by working, but that does not apply to personal injury settlements. And just as there are no limits on funds you can receive through an injury lawsuit, there are no limits on other types of unearned income if you are on SSDI. This includes interest income, a spouse’s income, and income from investments.

How Can I Apply for SSDI?

If you are unable to work due to a disability, you may wish to apply for SSDI benefits. In addition to being able to demonstrate that you cannot perform your usual job tasks, you must also prove that you are unable to reasonably be trained for another job due to your age, physical or mental fitness, or your level of education. Further, you must have paid into Social Security at some point during the past 10 years through your previous job(s), and you must have worked a minimum amount of years during that time frame (usually five).

The process to apply for SSDI benefits can be long and complex, and most claims are denied at first. This shouldn’t discourage you; many previously-denied claims are accepted during an appeals process. As such, it is imperative that you obtain legal counsel if you wish to apply for SSDI. A MA injury lawyer can help you obtain the benefits you deserve if you are unable to work due to injury or illness. Continue reading

Transitioning to a nursing home can be emotionally and physically challenging for your loved one. He or she will need to adapt to a new living environment and the loss of certain freedoms and autonomy. The reliance on caregivers for basic daily needs – such as nutrition, bathing, hydration and medical care – places nursing home patients in increased danger of neglect and abuse. Fortunately, the majority of nursing homes have the best interests of patients in mind at all times. Exceptions do exist, however.

Nursing home staff have a responsibility to protect patients from harm. Although not every accident is preventable, staff should take precautions to ensure that patients don’t suffer injuries caused by their own limitations. One of the most common easily-preventable injuries is facial trauma. According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the high incidence of facial trauma in nursing homes is cause for concern. The study used data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) to track reports of facial injuries in U.S. nursing homes over a five-year period. The results showed that:

  • more than 100,000 nursing home patients received emergency treatment for facial injuries,
  • 84 was the median age of patients with this type of injury,
  • about 65 percent of the patients were female,
  • injuries involved lacerations, fractures, and injury to soft tissues, and
  • nasal and orbital fractures were the most common.

If you suspect that your loved one is being neglected or abused in a nursing home facility, it’s imperative that you take immediate action. In addition to reporting the suspected mistreatment to management, you should contact a Boston nursing home abuse attorney as soon as possible.

Fall Injuries are Not Inevitable

The loss of balance and coordination that often accompanies aging makes elderly nursing home patients more prone to falls. Brittle bones and the body’s diminishing capacity to heal itself can turn a simple fall into a debilitating or deadly injury. Patients are most at risk of facial injuries when they are being transferred to another bed or to a chair, or when they are walking without proper supervision or the assistance of a walker. All fall injuries can be life-threatening to an elderly patient, but facial injuries can also damage the patient’s ability to speak, or even breathe.  Although elderly patients have a higher risk of falling than their younger counterparts, falls are not inevitable. Don’t let nursing home staff tell you otherwise.

Was Negligence a Factor?

Nursing home staff have a duty to provide your loved one with reasonable care based on his or her unique needs. When understaffing, inadequate training or negligent hiring results in an injury, the nursing home or its employee(s) should be held accountable. To prove negligence, you must be able to show that the following situations existed:

  • The nursing home owed a duty of care to the patient.
  • The nursing home breached its duty of care.
  • The injury was a direct result of that breach.

If you believe that your loved one’s fall injury is a result of neglect, a MA nursing home abuse lawyer can help you recover damages. Continue reading

High-level falls can occur from any multi-story building, but when a building has old or broken railings on balconies or stairwells, the risk is particularly high. And high-level falls commonly result in serious injuries, including traumatic brain and spinal injuries.

Railings are generally anchored to a building to keep them in place, but railing systems can loosen over time, increasing the risk of failure. Without proper maintenance and regular inspections, old railings – which provide a false sense of security – can be deadly. A Boston personal injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence.

Defective Design

In some cases, railings are obviously old and worn, but even a railing that appears intact may be faulty or defective. And railings don’t need to be loose to fail; when a person falls through or over a railing because of poor design, they can be just as seriously injured. A little boy fell through a space in the railings of a Virginia hotel balcony in 2013, suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI). He was awarded $10.9 million in damages.

Generally speaking, it is the responsibility of a property owner to ensure that railings are safe if their properties are open to the public. This is also true of homeowners who invite guests onto their property. If Sara decides to have a party on her deck despite the loose, dilapidated railings, for example, she is likely to be liable if someone is injured when the railing fails. If, however, Sara just had a brand new railing installed, and someone is injured because of a design defect, the responsible party may be the designer, manufacturer or retailer.

Is the Railing Up to Code?

Landlords and business owners have an even greater responsibility to ensure that their railings are safe.They have a duty to maintain their property in a safe condition, which includes ensuring that deck, balcony, porch and stairwell railings are properly installed and compliant with local building codes. For example, railings must be a certain height to prevent adults from tripping and children from climbing over, and spaces between slats must be a certain height and width to prevent a child from trapping his or her head between them.

According to the CDC, nearly two million people are seriously injured or die from traumatic brain injuries annually, and many of these are due to falls. In fact, falls are the leading cause of TBIs, accounting for more than 35 percent of the injuries. And many fall injuries are the result of faulty railings or missing handrails in stairwells.

Sadly, the problem doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. There are an estimated 50 million wooden decks and balconies in the U.S. alone, and the majority are more than 25 years old. A MA personal injury attorney can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence. Continue reading

If you have an elderly loved one in a nursing home, he or she may be at greater risk of elder abuse and neglect now that the new administration has relaxed nursing home accountability for these injustices. Nursing home industry reps lobbied the administration, claiming that current laws are too focused on “catching wrongdoing rather than helping nursing homes improve.”

Mark Parkinson, president of the American Health Care Association, a nursing home industry trade group, wrote a letter directly to Trump, asking him to provide nursing homes with “relief” from overly-harsh investigations and fines.

Among the most commonly reported, serious nursing home violations are: falls, neglect, mistreatment, and bedsores. During the four-year period between 2013 and 2017, approximately 40 percent of federally-regulated nursing homes nationwide were cited for at least one “serious violation.”

A Slap on the Wrist

Under the new guidelines, nursing homes that are first-time offenders may get off with a simple warning, even if the violation results in the death of a patient. Further, even repeat offenders will likely receive lower fines for their violations than previous years.

Much of the nursing home abuse in this country already goes unreported or underreported. Advocates for elder safety fear that these relaxed regulations will only exacerbate an already serious problem. A MA nursing home abuse lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if a loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing home or long-term care facility.

Elder Abuse Statistics

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), elder abuse is “any

abuse and neglect of persons age 60 and older by a caregiver or another person in a relationship involving an expectation of trust.” Elder abuse doesn’t always occur in a nursing home facility; it also happens with in-home care, and a family member is often the one responsible for the abuse or neglect. However, nursing home abuse and neglect are most common in understaffed facilities with poorly-trained workers. The statistics below shed some light on the severity of this growing problem:

  • The actual rate of elder abuse is nearly 24 times greater than what is reported.
  • The most common type of elder abuse is psychological, which is typically more difficult to detect or prove than physical abuse.
  • In the state of New York, at least 260,000 elderly adults have reported some type of abuse.
  • The “National Elder Mistreatment Study” revealed that up to 10 percent of those surveyed had suffered some type of abuse in the 12 months leading up to the study.
  • A 2000 study conducted by the National Center on Elder Abuse found that of 2,000 nursing home residents surveyed, 44 percent had suffered abuse, and 95 had suffered neglect, or had witnessed someone else being neglected.

A Boston nursing home abuse attorney can help you recover damages if a loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect. Continue reading

Roman Catholic priests keep making headlines, for all the wrong reasons. In 2003, Thomas O’Brien, who was bishop of the Dioceses of Phoenix at the time, admitted he had sheltered dozens of priests who had been accused of sexual abuse. Beyond just sheltering them, however, he allowed them to work with children. In 2016, O’Brien himself was accused of sexually abusing a young boy.

In the early 2000s, the Roman Catholic diocese exposed a handful of priests as abusers, two of whom fled the country and are still at large. Another 60-or-so lawsuits are currently pending against priests across the nation, some of the alleged sex crimes dating back seven decades. The most recent involves Louisiana Rev. F. David Broussard, a 51-year-old former pastor who was charged with 500 counts of possession of child pornography. Broussard remains free, on administrative leave.

Mark A. Broussard, a former priest who is not related to F. David Broussard but presided over a neighboring Louisiana parish, was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences and 50 additional years for molesting and raping altar boys in the 1980s. A Boston injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been the victim of sexual abuse.

Is Justice Being Served?

Today’s Catholic Church is responding much differently to sex abuse scandals than the Catholic Church of the past. During the first half of the 20th century, priests accused of sexual abuse were often simply reassigned to different parishes. Today, the likes of Mark and F. David Broussard are turned over by Bishops who say they now follow the Catholic Church’s mandates to protect children, including requiring criminal background checks for anyone who has contact with children.

Although progress is definitely being made, you don’t have to go back to the early 1900s to see the Catholic Church turning a blind eye to sex abuse. In 1986, former priest Gilbert Gauthe was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he admitted to raping 37 children, also in Louisiana. But despite having abused more than 100 people, Gauche was released after only 10 years.

And in 2002, during the Boston archdiocese child sex abuse scandal, decades of covered-up child abuse in Wilmington, Delaware began to surface. By 2011, more than $110 million was distributed to 152 adults who had been sexually abused as children by Catholic priests in the Wilmington area. Dozens of priests were involved. A MA injury attorney can help you protect your rights if you’ve been sexually assaulted or abused.

Statute of Limitations

Most civil and criminal cases have a statute of limitations, a window of time within which a claim or lawsuit must be filed. With regard to sexual abuse cases, the statue of limitations varies from state to state. In MA, it’s 15 years. However, in light of the recent surge of sex abuse scandals involving Catholic priests, private schools, and even celebrities, some of these statutes of limitations are being lifted. In Minnesota, for example, a 2013 law temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for victims age 24 and under, giving them unlimited time to file a lawsuit. Anyone over 24 was given a new, three-year window. When that window ended in 2016, more than 800 claims had been filed against state churches and schools, and the Boy Scouts. Continue reading

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, a naturally-occurring fiber commonly used in building for decades. Before the dangers of asbestos were known, construction workers and other professionals often spent hours working with this toxic substance every day. As mesothelioma is a particularly slow-growing form of cancer, it’s not uncommon for people who were exposed more than 30 years ago to just now be diagnosed with the disease.

Mesothelioma begins as small tumors that form on the lining of the abdomen or lungs. Symptoms don’t usually become apparent until the tumors begin to press against the abdominal cavity or chest wall, which usually occurs around state III or IV.

In addition to slow growth, mesothelioma is commonly overlooked or misdiagnosed because its symptoms often mimic those of less serious conditions. Initial symptoms may include pain in the chest or abdomen, shortness of breath, dry cough, and bloating.

Most Common Mesothelioma Signs and Symptoms

If you ever worked with asbestos and have developed any of the following symptoms, it may be in your best interest to speak with your doctor as soon as possible. Of course, all of the symptoms below can be related to other, less serious conditions. But when it comes to your health, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

  • Wheezing
  • Dry cough
  • Shortness of breath
  • Chest pain
  • Abdominal pain
  • Abdominal distention
  • Bowel obstruction
  • Hernia
  • Fever
  • Night sweats
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle weakness
  • Pleural effusion (when fluid forms around the lungs)
  • Anemia
  • Weight loss
  • Difficulty swallowing

In most cases, mesothelioma is first detected by accident through a routine blood test or X-ray. Anyone who worked with asbestos for an extended period of time should inform their physician and request cancer screenings to improve the chances of an early diagnosis. If you have developed mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure, a MA work injury attorney can help you recover damages for your injuries.

Misdiagnosis

There are two main types of mesothelioma – pleural and peritoneal. Pleural affects the lining of the lungs, whereas peritoneal affects the lining of the abdomen. Both types of mesothelioma are frequently misdiagnosed. The pleural form is commonly misdiagnosed as COPD, pneumonia, or a bronchial infection, while doctors often think the peritoneal form is irritable bowel syndrome or ovarian cancer.

Is Mesothelioma a Work Injury?

In most cases, an individual’s asbestos exposure occurred at work, years ago. As such, resulting injuries are work injuries. Most work injuries are covered by workers’ compensation, but mesothelioma is typically an exception. Since symptoms of this deadly cancer often fail to show up until 20 or 30 years after exposure, few people still work at the employer responsible for their exposure. Many of these employers don’t even exist anymore. This is why it is so critical to obtain legal counsel as soon as possible. A Boston work injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure. Continue reading

According to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), dog-related injuries accounted for more than one-third of U.S. homeowners insurance claims in 2014. That adds up to more than $530 million. Further analysis conducted by the I.I.I. revealed that the average per-claim cost had increased by 15 percent compared with the previous year.

“The average cost per claim nationally has risen more than 67 percent from 2003 to 2014, due to increased medical costs as well as the size of settlements, judgments and jury awards given to plaintiffs, which are still on the upswing,” said III vice president, Loretta Worters.

Shockingly Common

And dog bites are more common than most people think. Each year in the United States, about 800,000 dog bite injuries are serious enough to require medical attention. These attacks range from minor flesh wounds to life-threatening injuries, and even fatalities.

In Massachusetts, there are a number of laws relating to dog bite injuries, and the state’s dog owners and keepers are “strictly liable” for damages caused by dog attacks. If you suffer injuries caused by a dog bite or attack, you may be entitled to compensation.

Statute of limitations in MA

Statutes of limitation are laws that set time limits for filing civil lawsuits. In Massachusetts, most liability claims have to be filed within three years of the date of injury, including cases involving dog bites.

With statutes of limitations, it is important to know when the clock starts ticking, as well as when the time runs out. If you don’t file your claim before the deadline, you will likely be barred from bringing your case to court. The statute of limitations timeline on dog bites begins at the time of injury. A Boston personal injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured in a dog attack.

Massachusetts Dog Bite Statute

When it comes to dog attacks, Massachusetts is a strict liability state. This means that the injured victim is not required to prove negligence to collect damages. As long as the victim can show that the injury was caused by the dog, and the injury meets other state requirements, he or she may be eligible to obtain compensation. Further, the injury itself does not necessarily have to have been caused by the actual bite. The victim may file a claim even if the injuries were caused by tripping and falling over the dog, for example, or if the dog ran into the road, causing a bicycle or motor vehicle accident.

Compensation for Injuries

If you are attacked or bitten by a dog, the first thing to do is get medical treatment and make sure that the dog’s shots are up-to-date. As is the case with any personal injury claim, the value of dog bite or dog injury claims depend on multiple factors, including:

  • the severity of the physical injury,
  • the duration of your symptoms,
  • and any potential damages caused by the injury (lost wages, pain and suffering, medical expenses, etc.).

In Massachusetts, dog bite and attack injuries are usually covered by homeowner’s insurance, which should compensate the victim for bodily injury and damages. If the owner/keeper has no insurance coverage, the victim may have to seek direct reimbursement for any damages. A MA personal injury lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured by another’s dog. Continue reading

With the snow and ice of New England winters comes an increased risk of winter weather-related slip and fall accidents. If you fall in a public place, due to snow or ice, what are your rights?

Most snow and ice-related slip and fall accidents occur on sidewalks and in parking lots. Property owners must exercise reasonable care in keeping these areas well maintained at all times, including during wintry weather conditions. A business or property owner who fails to promptly remove snow and ice may be liable if someone is injured. A MA personal injury lawyer can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident.

When it comes to public businesses, such as malls, grocery stores, and restaurants, property owners often contract with snow and ice removal companies to maintain their parking lots and sidewalks. Ultimately, it is up to the property owner to ensure that these areas are safe. If, for example, the contractor doesn’t show up with a plow during a snow storm, the property owner must still figure out a way to remove the snow. It might be time to call another contractor, or the property owner may just need to pick up a shovel.

Reasonable Care

All of that being said, customers and the general public must also use reasonable care when walking or driving in a snowy or icy area. If a customer – who wants to quickly get inside the warm store – sprints across the parking lot during a snow storm, he is not exercising reasonable caution. A Boston slip and fall accident attorney can help you recover damages if you have been injured by another’s negligence.

Natural Accumulation

It is difficult, if not impossible, for a parking lot to be kept entirely clear of snow during a blizzard. A property owner’s responsibility, therefore, is not to keep walkways and parking areas free of snow and ice, but to keep them “reasonably” free of snow and ice. Some states have what is known as the “natural accumulation” rule, which holds that a property owner is not liable as long as she did not interfere with the natural accumulation of snow. This was also the case in MA until 2010, when the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) overturned a 125-year old rule, replacing it with the “reasonable person” standard.

The SJC made the following statement: “If a property owner knows or reasonably should know of a dangerous condition on its property, whether arising from an accumulation of snow or ice, or rust on a railing, or a discarded banana peel, the property owner owes a duty to lawful visitors to make reasonable efforts to protect against the danger.” 

Take Pictures

If you are injured in a slip and fall accident, it is crucial to document your case in as detailed a manner as possible. Photographs provide some of the most compelling evidence, and they should be taken as soon as possible following the accident. This is especially true when snow and ice are involved, as weather conditions can change quickly and without warning. If you have been injured, photograph your injuries and the scene of the accident. With today’s smart phones, most of us have a good camera at our fingertips at all times. If you are unable to take pictures, ask a witness if he or she could do so on your behalf. Also, be sure to ask any witnesses for their contact information, in case you need to ask them a question about the accident at a later date. Continue reading

In order to recover damages following a slip and fall accident, you will have to prove that your injuries were caused by another’s negligence. As such, the more evidence you can collect, the greater your chances of a successful claim. One of the most compelling types of evidence is pictures. In the past, getting pictures of an accident scene immediately following the accident was dependent on one of the witnesses having a camera. However, with today’s smartphones, just about everyone is equipped with a high-quality camera at all times.

Causes of Slip and Fall Accidents

Slip and fall accidents can occur anywhere and at any time. Common causes include:

  • Ice or snow
  • Uneven steps or flooring
  • Debris or clutter in walkways
  • Poor lighting
  • Exposed wiring
  • Cracked pavement
  • Wet or slippery flooring
  • Missing handrails
  • Holes in flooring
  • Lack of warning signs
  • Worn carpet
  • Broken tiles

Types of Slip and Fall Injuries

According to the National Safety Council, slip and fall accidents send nearly nine million people to the emergency room each year. Some of these injuries are minor, but injuries can be serious, and even fatal. Common slip and fall injuries include:

  • Cuts and scrapes
  • Bruises
  • Sprains or fractures
  • Shoulder dislocation
  • Broken hips
  • Back and spine injuries
  • Neck injuries
  • Traumatic brain injuries

Elderly people have a significantly higher risk of being seriously injured in a slip and fall accident, but all ages are at risk. A Boston personal injury attorney can help you determine how to proceed if you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident.

Was Negligence a Factor?

If your slip and fall accident was a result of another’s negligence, you may be able to obtain compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. But to do so, you have to prove negligence. Collecting solid evidence to substantiate your claim is the best way to prove negligence. Read on for more information about collecting evidence.

Take Pictures

If you are immediately able to take pictures, do so. Photograph any visible injuries, such as bruises and scrapes, as well as the accident scene and all surrounding areas. Did you slip on a spilled substance? Photograph it. Take pictures from multiple angles to show other potential factors. For example, did staff fail to place a “wet floor” sign next to the spill? Is there a visible clock on the wall showing the time? The more pictures you take, the better.

Ask a Friend to Take Pictures

If you do not have a camera on you, or you are physically unable to take pictures, ask a friend, relative, or witness to do so for you. It is important to get pictures before anyone alters the area in which the accident occurred – by placing a “wet floor” sign after the fact, for example. This is especially true of ice and snow-related slip and fall accidents. These conditions can naturally change within minutes. A MA personal injury lawyer can help you recover damages if you’ve been injured in a slip and fall accident. Continue reading

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