Abrams & Abrams, P.A.Abrams & Abrams, P.A.2025-07-25T05:55:31Zhttps://www.abramslawfirm.com/feed/atom/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/sites/1302215/2021/06/cropped-abrams-site-icon-32x32.jpgOn Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[Is a truck company responsible for crashes caused by its drivers?]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=478192023-03-03T04:30:30Z2023-03-08T19:50:48ZPossible defendants in a truck accident lawsuit
Two parties that might be responsible for damages following a truck crash are the truck driver and the truck driver’s employer.
First, the semi-truck driver might be responsible for the crash. Many semi-truck crashes boil down to driver error. The trucker may have been speeding, drowsy, distracted or otherwise fail to drive safely under the circumstances.
Such actions violate a driver’s duty to drive with due care for the safety of others sharing the road. This might mean the trucker is at-fault for the crash and can be held responsible.
But what about the truck company that hired the trucker? They are responsible for ensuring their drivers are properly licensed, trained and follow state driving laws and regulations.
A truck company can fail to meet these obligations in a variety of ways. They might hire a driver who does not have the proper training or credentials. They might hire a driver who has a poor driving record or a history of DUIs. They could fail to monitor a trucker’s job performance or fail to review the truck’s electronic logging device to ensure the trucker is consistently following the law.
Truck companies as employers are responsible for ensuring their employees do not harm others while performing their job duties. Thus, they might also be responsible for any errors their drivers make on the job.
It makes sense that truck companies should be held accountable for their driver’s errors. For this reason, if a trucker causes a truck crash, not only might the trucker be held responsible for the crash, but so might the truck company. Both parties played a role in the crash, so both might be deemed at fault, and thus be responsible for the damages caused by their lack of due care.]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[How wrongful death litigation works in North Carolina]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=478142022-12-12T12:32:46Z2022-12-15T12:28:59Zwrongful death lawsuit cannot change what happened. But it can provide the financial security that a motorist's negligence took away from your family. And it might help your family feel justice has been served, especially if the driver is not convicted of a crime.
What you can seek compensation for after a wrongful death
Under North Carolina's wrongful death statute, it is the personal representative of the deceased's estate who has legal standing to file suit. That person has two years from the date the death occurred to file. Often, the personal representative is the deceased's spouse, adult child or other close relative. Damages they can seek include:
The deceased's net income.
Services, protection, care and assistance that the deceased provided to "persons entitled to the damages recovered" (i.e., close relatives).
The deceased's companionship, advice, comfort, society and "kindly offices."
Medical bills related to the fatal injury
Funeral costs
Pain and suffering experienced by the deceased
As you can see, some of these damages are meant to compensate the deceased's estate, and others are for losses suffered by their loved ones. You can also seek punitive damages if you believe the defendant behaved with "malice or wanton conduct."
If you are unsure which types of damages apply to your case, a discussion with your personal injury attorney should clarify things.]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[Six ways to build your case for damages in a personal injury case]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=478122022-09-09T10:53:52Z2022-09-14T10:52:52Zpersonal injury lawsuit against the parties responsible for your wreck. Although you’ll have to put a lot of work into proving liability, you’ll also have to be diligent in presenting evidence of the damages that you’ve suffered.
But how do you go about doing that? Let’s look at some ways that you can gather evidence to support your request for compensation:
Follow your doctor’s recommendations: Medical expenses may be a major part of your financial recovery. However, in order to demonstrate the full extent of your medical needs, you should follow your doctor’s recommendations for ongoing care and treatment. If you don’t, the other side is probably going to argue that your claim for ongoing medical treatment isn’t necessary since you haven’t sought it out in a timely fashion.
Secure your medical records: Your medical records can also show the extent of your injuries and your need for ongoing treatment. They can also help show how much you’ve incurred in medical debt up to this point.
Talk to a medical expert: The damages that you seek are going to include those that you’ve already incurred, but it’s also going to be forward-looking so that you can recover the compensation that you need to offset the damages that are yet to come. By talking to a medical expert, you might be able to obtain testimony that persuasively demonstrates your diagnosis, your prognosis, how your injuries will affect your ability to live a normal life moving forward, and how much your ongoing care is going to cost.
Obtain employment records: These documents will help show how much money you’ve lost on account of missed work, and they can help you calculate your anticipated lost wages.
Speak to an employment expert: An expert in your field of work may be able to testify as to how your injuries will impact your ability to secure work or advance in your career. This speaks to lost earnings capacity, which can be another big portion of your damages.
Keep a journal: Your pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life can also be a major part of your damages. But these losses can be hard to calculate since they’re noneconomic in nature. However, you can help paint a picture of how your injuries have affected your life by keeping a journal of how your life has changed post-accident, which you can then present at trial if your case makes it that far.
There may be other steps that you can take to support your request for compensation, which is why you may want to discuss the facts of your claim with an attorney who has a track record of successfully arguing these kinds of cases. Hopefully, you can build a strong case that sets you on the path to a brighter future and a fuller recovery.]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[What are your legal options after you have been injured by a defective product?]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=478112022-07-12T19:18:56Z2022-07-15T15:00:08Zthe seatbelts and airbags in the car we buy will work as intended.
Unfortunately, sometimes this trust is misplaced. For a variety of reasons, dangerous products sometimes end up in the marketplace, where they are purchased by unsuspecting consumers. At best, these defects can lead to nothing more than a disappointing experience. At worst, they can lead to serious injury or death.
An introduction to product liability
If you have been injured due to a defective product, your life will be affected in many ways. You may have enormous medical expenses and loss of income from the time you are unable to work, and these are on top of your pain and other effects. The law refers to these costs as damages. Product liability is a legal theory that can allow people injured by defective products to recover compensation for their damages.
Product liability (sometimes known as products liability) is a highly complex area of the law, but the general idea behind it is that all those responsible for putting a dangerous product into the marketplace may be held liable for the damages suffered by a person who was injured by the defective product. This theory underlies a wide variety of cases involving a dizzying range of products including children's toys, automotive parts, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and much more.
One of the features that makes product liability so complex is that the defects can come about at different points in the process of getting the product to market. Some products are defective by design. Others have good designs, but something in the manufacturing process made it unsafe. There are also products that are defectively marketed, as when they have insufficient safety instructions.
Learn more
Because product liability law is so complex, it's important for the injured and their families to seek out help from attorneys who have experience with this area of the law. An experienced product liability atttorney can help them understand their legal rights and options to seek compensation for their damages.]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[Construction accidents and third-party claims]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=478002022-03-11T07:26:37Z2022-03-16T06:25:51ZThe limits of workers' compensation
After a construction worker is injured on the job, they may be left with enormous medical expenses and lost wages. This can send their whole families into financial turmoil.
North Carolina's worker's compensation program is designed to help these workers and their families cope with the aftermath of a workplace accident by providing them with benefits that pay for their medical care and lost wages. The system doesn't always work smoothly, and sometimes the injured and their families need the help of an attorney to fight for the full amount in benefits they deserve.
There is another serious limitation to workers' compensation: Its benefits are meant to be an exclusive remedy. In other words, the workers' compensation process is meant to take the place of any other legal action. To recover benefits, the injured worker doesn't have to prove that their employer did anything wrong, just that the injury occurred while they were in the course of their employment. But in exchange, a person who collects workers' compensation benefits after a workplace accident is barred from filing a personal lawsuit against their employer involving the same accident. Injured workers who feel their employer caused their accident may have to choose between filing a lawsuit and filing for workers' compensation.
Third-party claims
Note that this limit on workers' compensation applies only to the relationship between the injured worker and their employer. This means an injured worker may pursue legal action against a third party.
For instance, in a construction site accident, a carpenter may be badly injured due to the negligence of an electrician working at the same site. In this case, the carpenter may file a claim for workers' compensation benefits through their employer and also file a personal injury claim against the electrician and/or the electrician's employer.
Third party claims can be good ways for the injured and their families to recover all the compensation they need and deserve after a workplace accident.
Anyone who has been injured in a construction site accident can learn more about their legal options by speaking with an experienced attorney.]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[Study examines causes of trucking accidents in the U.S.]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=477962021-12-15T05:41:31Z2021-12-20T05:41:12Zstudy to learn more about the reasons serious crashes involving large trucks occurred. A sample of 120,000 large truck collisions that resulted in injuries or fatalities were studied. The study identified critical events and critical reasons assigned to these truck crashes.
Critical events
A critical event is the action or situation that made the truck crash inevitable. The study recognized three major types of critical events involving semis.
One type of critical event involved semis weaving into another lane or off the road. This accounted for 32% of large truck accidents studied. The second type of critical event was loss of control due to speeding, cargo shifts, vehicle defects and poor road conditions. This accounted for 29% of large truck accidents studied. The third type of critical event involved semis rear-ending another vehicle in their lane. This accounted for 22% of large truck accidents studied.
Critical reasons
A critical reason was the immediate reason that led to the critical event. Critical reasons are coded. Some truck crashes have multiple critical reasons, but not all crashes had an identifiable critical reason.
Driver non-performance accounted for 12% of all trucks involved in a crash. Some examples of non-performance include falling asleep behind the wheel or suffering a medical event while driving. Driver recognition made up 28% of all trucks involved in a crash. Some examples of recognition include daydreaming, distracted driving or failure to adequately observe. Driver decision accounted for 38% of all trucks involved in a crash. Some examples of driver decision include speeding and tailgating. Driver performance constituted 9% of all trucks involved in a crash. Some examples of driver performance include panicking and overcompensating.
The total number of large trucks involved in crashes that were coded with a critical reason was 78,000. Note that the number of large trucks involved in crashes that were not coded with a critical reason was 63,000.
Truck accidents can be devastating
No matter what led to the crash, trucking accidents can be absolutely devastating. After all, a semi-truck weighing tens of thousands of pounds has sheer physics on its side if it collides with a smaller passenger vehicle. Those involved in truck accidents are often severely injured. Some truck accidents even lead to fatalities. Truck drivers and companies who cause collisions should be held accountable for their actions. In some situations, this means filing a negligence lawsuit against the responsible parties so you can get the compensation you deserve.
]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[Understanding traumatic brain injuries]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=476982021-09-13T18:32:12Z2021-09-15T18:31:52ZSymptoms to watch for
Typically, traumatic brain injury results from a violent blow to the head, such as one might suffer in a fall or a car accident. In mild cases, the damage to the brain cells is temporary, although the injured may experience long-term symptoms. In moderate to severe cases, such as those that cause bleeding inside the brain, the damage may be permanent.
Even in mild cases, the injured may experience nausea, headaches, dizziness, speech problems, sensitivity to light and other symptoms soon after the accident. They may go through mood swings and have trouble sleeping.
In more serious cases, the injured may lose consciousness, or even slip into a coma. These injured people often have extended, repeated periods of nausea and vomiting and other physical symptoms.
In addition to physical symptoms, those who have suffered traumatic brain injury often experience cognitive problems and psychological symptoms. These can be more difficult to detect.
Personal injury
Those who have been injured due to the negligence of another party may be able to recover compensation for their damages through a personal injury lawsuit. The difficulty of detecting and treating traumatic brain injury can make it hard to calculate the damages, but make no mistake: These damages are very real. A traumatic brain injury can turn a person's whole life upside-down, and can pose enormous problems for their families. It is crucial that the injured recover the compensation they need and deserve.]]>On Behalf of Abrams & Abrams, P.A.<![CDATA[Been in a car accident? Don’t sell your damaged vehicle yet!]]>https://www.abramslawfirm.com/?p=476272021-10-20T20:36:52Z2021-08-19T10:11:51ZThe need for evidence
Often, during a negligence and personal injury lawsuit, the issue of who is legally responsible for the injuries and property damage comes down to a question of which party has the most convincing evidence.
Your damaged car or motorcycle, and any pieces that may have broken off of it, are one of the most important pieces of evidence you have to be able to prove that the other driver’s – or the manufacturer’s – negligence was to blame for the accident.
Expert witnesses
If you keep your damaged vehicle until after your lawsuit is over, your attorney will be able to do things such as hire an accident reconstruction expert to examine the damage. The expert will then be able to testify in court as to the cause of the accident.
Even if the damage seems inconclusive in the eyes of a regular member of the jury, an expert will be able to provide analysis that shows the cause of a crash through specific details that most people would miss or wouldn’t understand.
The thought of keeping a totaled or heavily damaged vehicle might not be very appealing, especially when you are facing so many costs. But your vehicle can lend a bolstering effect to your lawsuit that can be the difference between victory or defeat.]]>