Personal Injury is an area of litigation that deals with bodily injury, emotional distress, and property damage that occurs from conduct by one who did not intend to cause such harm. In lay terms, the harm that occurred was the result of an “accident.” It’s the failure of a person to exercise ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person. These types of acts are adjudicated by our legal system under the cause of action called Negligence. (See Civil Code §1714(a)).
Due to the fact that most harm that occurs in our society is the result of someone’s negligent behavior, or failure to exercise ordinary care, it is for this reason that it appears attorneys are able to cover numerous subjects such as: car accidents, dog bites, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, dental malpractice, medical malpractice, legal malpractice as if they are all independent of one another and measured by a different rule. They all fall under the cause of action called negligence. So then, what is negligence? In short, it is a breach of a duty that is owed that causes damages.
Occurs most often due to drivers being inattentive while driving.
Occur most often because dog owners fail to care for or secure their dogs.
These occur most often when a driver of a car fails to pay attention to their surroundings and violate the Three Feet for Safety Act. (Negligence Per Se)
This is when a dentist fails to possess and exercise the skill and knowledge ordinarily possessed and exercised by other dentists in the same or similar locality.
1.) Duty – The duty of care requires the use of ordinary care to prevent injury to others. Scope of the duty is measured by (1) the foreseeability of harm to the plaintiff, (2) the degree of certainty that the plaintiff suffered injury, (3) the closeness of the connection between the defendant’s act and the plaintiff’s injury, (4) the moral blame attached to the defendant’s conduct, (5) the policy of preventing future harm, and (6) the extent of defendant’s burden and the consequences and the consequences to the community of imposing duty and liability. The “abstract man of ordinary prudence” test of ordinary negligence is object rather than subjective.
2.) Breach – Liability is occurred in tort when a person at the time of the negligent act or omission should have reasonably foreseen that such an act or omission could result in damage to another.
3.) Causation – The tortfeasor is legally responsible for all the damages for which the negligent act is a “substantial factor.” A substantial factor in causing harm is a factor that a reasonable person would consider to have contributed to the harm. It must be more than a remote or trivial factor. It does not have to be the only cause of the harm. Whether an independent unforeseeable intervening act breaks the chain of causation is determined by the foreseeability of that act. An act is not foreseeable, and is thus a “superseding cause” of the injury, if it is highly unusual or extraordinary and is not reasonably likely to happen.
4.) Damages – If the allegedly negligent conduct does not cause damage, it generates no cause of action in tort. Nominal, speculative, and a future harm unrealized does not suffice to create a cause of action for negligence.
1.) Compensatory Damages: the amount which will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused, anticipated or not; (See Civil Code §3333)
2.) Emotional Distress;
2-years. (See CCP §335.1)
The Law Office of Eric J. Rechsteiner can help you recover financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, property damage, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more after a car accident. Call us today for a free consultation at (909) 255-9529.
We will handle your car accident case on a contingency fee basis, which means that you will not be charged any fee for us to handle your car crash case until and unless we recover financial compensation on your behalf. You won’t owe us any upfront fees or out-of-pocket fees as the only fee we charge is a percentage of any compensation we recover for you.
How Much Is My Car Accident Worth: You may be wondering about how much financial compensation a car accident attorney at our office can recover from you. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all answer for what the value of your motor vehicle accident case may be. Because each case is unique, each case will end up receiving a custom estimate and review. Factors that determine the value of your case include:
Dealing With Insurance Companies: To be direct, insurance companies do not want to deal with you. They have no duty to you and will likely misrepresent your claim to you making you feel overwhelmed and that you have no alternative but to accept their lowball offer, if any. The Law Office of Eric J. Rechsteiner has over a decade of experience in dealing with insurance companies and will fight for you to achieve the best results for your case.
Compensation For Your Car Accident Includes: Medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, property damage, pain and suffering, emotional and psychological suffering; ongoing need for medication, medical equipment, or a care provider.
Dog bite claims in California will often involve two causes of action: Strict Liability (Civil Code §3342) and Negligence.
Negligence: The concept of negligence has been discussed above. An example of negligence as pertained to dog bites is when a dog owner allows their pit bull with a history of aggressive behavior loose in public without a leash and the pit bull runs up to you and bites you.
Strict Liability (Civil Code §3342): It essentially means dog owners are liable for dog bite victims’ injuries even when the owner is not at fault for the dog bite. All that matters is that the dog bite flows from the dangerous propensities of the animal. There are exceptions to California’s strict liability rules regarding dog bites:
Compensation: Medical expenses, Lost wages, Loss of earning capacity, Rehabilitation, Emotional distress, Pain and suffering, Disability or permanent disfigurement.
Home Owners Insurance: Dog bites are usually covered by homeowners’ insurance policies, which typically provide from $100,000 to $300,000 of coverage. Victims can try to hold property owners liable because they let a dangerous dog live on their premises when dog owners are renters.
It is very important for you to remember that when making a bicycle accident claim, anything you say can hurt your claim. Because of this, you should refrain from talking about the accident on any social media site. As long as the case is active, be careful about what you say in public and online.
If you are contacted by an attorney for the other party regarding the accident, tell them to speak to your lawyer. If the other party’s insurance company makes you an offer, tell them to speak to your lawyer and do not say anything further. For example, refrain from saying something that might be taken as an agreement to the insurance company’s terms.
Attorney Rechsteiner handles bicycle cases because he too is a passionate bicycle rider. His ability to empathize with the struggles that come along with riding on public roads is heart felt because he too rides on a regular basis and often confronts bad drivers who fail to stop at stop signs, wrongfully drive into bike lanes, blindly pull out of driveways onto public roads, and drive in aggressive manners as if the driver believes the public road belongs to them.
I Was Hit By A Car While Riding A Bike – Should I Hire A Lawyer? – Yes, immediately! We will stage and frame your bicycle crash claim correctly from the very beginning. We will deal solely with the insurance companies for you. As a result they will pay us much more, because we are experts, than they would you. You can call us for a free consultation to discuss your legal options and filing a bicycle accident lawsuit.
Avoid Their Insurance Company – The insurance company will take advantage of you if you try to handle the claim yourself. They know you will never go into litigation, nor have independent doctors. You will most likely allow them to examine you by their doctors, and ultimately, they will offer you a minimal settlement. Do not let this happen to you or a loved one. They won’t offer you what you deserve unless you make them, the only way to make them is to sue them, and they know you can’t win a lawsuit without a lawyer, so they know they don’t have to pay you what you deserve if you don’t have a lawyer.
In addition, insurance adjusters are experts into tricking bicycle accident victims into saying things that imply their own fault for a bicycle accident, or that imply that the injuries caused by their bike crash aren’t as severe as they claim. It’s dangerous for you to talk with the other party’s insurance company. You need experienced bicycle attorneys to talk to insurance companies for you.
Contact Us – If you or your loved one was in a bicycle accident immediately contact the Law Office of Eric J. Rechsteiner. We will provide you a free bicycle accident case evaluation and we will never charge you, no matter what, unless we first obtain a recovery from the insurance company. You will never be under any obligation. We will never make you feel uncomfortable or intimidated. Remember, you never pay anything unless and until we collect a recovery from the insurance company.
What To Do After A Bicycle Accident – These few basic steps will help you deal with the after-effects of an accident:
Defined: Dental Malpractice is when a dentist fails to possess and exercise the skill and knowledge ordinarily possessed and exercised by other dentists in the same or similar locality and it is that failure which causes damage to their patient.
When we visit the dentist, we usually expect a bit of discomfort; however, we never expect to leave the dentist suffering any additional harm. Although dental visits are often painful for some of us, they are completely necessary for our dental health. A few moments of discomfort, we can leave without the dental issues that we previously had, only to return either for our next routine check-up or for additional dental issues that we develop. After a dental procedure, we expect to in good health; we never expect to be worse. Unfortunately, many dental patients do not leave their dental appointments in a better condition that which they arrived. Instead, they leave harmed, dealing with issues that could have been avoided if the dental staff that treated them had been competent.
When you visited the dentist, did you ever think that you would be the next victim of dental malpractice? You likely trusted that you would be in good hands – whether you were going in for a routine cleaning or for a complicated oral surgery. Dental malpractice is unfortunately, common, and you might be entitled to compensation if you were harmed because of the negligent actions of a dentist or other dental staff.
Types of Dental Malpractice Injuries:
Steps To Take To File A Claim: After you suffered any sort of harm due to dental malpractice, it is essential that you take the appropriate action – to ensure that you could pursue a claim. After all, you will likely have grounds to pursue a claim based on negligence. You will need to start gathering the tools necessary to file your claim almost immediately.
First and foremost, if the damage is severe, go to the emergency room; you should go to another doctor or dentist immediately for an evaluation of the extent of the harm that you suffered. You may need to see an oral surgeon for additional dental work; an oral surgeon will do everything possible to reverse or minimize the damage that you were dealt.
Statute of Limitations: The statute of limitations is one year after after discovery of the misconduct, or three years after the date of the injury, whichever first occurs.
Conclusion: Due to the inherit complications and complexities associated to personal injury claims, it is in your best interest to contact the Law Office of Eric J. Rechsteiner and put to work this Office’s experience and skillset to settle your personal injury case. Do not wait until it is too late.