Los Angeles Injury Lawyer Blog

It has been a couple of weeks of heavy rain in Los Angeles. Here in the San Fernando Valley, we had days of wet weather. Although the sun is finally shining, there was a significant increase in the number of car accidents as a result of the weather.

If you are involved in a collision, you should remember a few simple things to do:

First, after the collision, move you car off the road to safety. You should not be walking around on the road in traffic.

If someone is injured, call the police or the highway patrol.

Exchange information with the other people involved. Try to get the following information: License plate numbers; make and model of each car; driver’ s license numbers; insurance identification, including name of insurance company, broker or agent, and policy number; names, addresses and phone numbers of witnesses and names and badge numbers of police officers or other emergency personnel.

Take some notes at the scene of how the collision happened. If you have a camera take some pictures of the area where the collision occurred, the damage to the cars, and the people who were involved.

In Los Angeles, there are many things that can cause a car accident. It is particularly distressing when you are injured because of a drunk driver. At Rice & Bloomfield, it is our job to ensure that you are properly compensated if you are injured by another driver. A problem which can often arise is when the person that hit you does not have enough insurance, or sufficient assets to pay a settlement.

A case just settled where a restaurant agreed to pay for injuries caused from a drunk driver, who was served too much alcohol. The attorneys argued that the restaurant sold alcohol to the patron when they should have known she was already drunk. After getting drunk in the restaurant, the patron got in her car and ran head-on into on-coming traffic killing an innocent person driving the other direction.

Although the drunk driver was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, the settlement helps to provide compensation to the family that was otherwise not available.

It was because of a careful and tenacious lawyer that the family got some justice, and restaurants were sent a clear signal about their responsibilities.

Here in Los Angeles, Tort reform is the term that has been adopted by groups that reject the notion of personal responsibility. They feel that people should not be held accountable for their actions. If they hurt someone else, they do not think they should have to pay for their negligence. I find this notion offensive. We make it our job to fight these people. In Los Angeles courtrooms, we have to deal with the impact these groups have on our jurors.

The McDonald's Coffee Case was the landmark action that fired up these groups. However, that case is mostly an urban legend. It was not a runaway jury, it was a case of a greedy company putting its customers at unreasonable risk. In that case, the injured person was not driving a car, but was a passanger, the coffee did not spill because the car was moving but spilled because the victim was taking the lid off the cup, and a vascular surgeon determined that she suffered full thickness third degree burns over 6 percent of her body requiring 8 days of hospitalization with skin grafting surgery.

She sought to settle her case for $20,000 and McDonald's refused. During the case, her attorneys obtained McDonald's documents showing that more than 700 people had previously suffered similar significant injuries but McDonald's continued to serve its coffee unreasonably hot because they were able to make more money but getting more coffee out of each bean. The jury awarded her $200,000 in compensatory damages which was reduced to $160,000 because they found the victim 20% at fault. She was also awarded $2.7 million in punitive damages which is the profit of 2 days of McDonald's coffee sales. That was reduced to $480,000. Clink on this link for more details about the truth of this case.

The American Tort Reform Foundation is a leading tort reform group. In a recent report, widely criticized for its lack of appropriate methodology listed Nevada and New Jersey and plaintiff friendly jurisdictions. That is to say, in those places, an injured person has a fighting chance of obtaining justice for their injuries.

At Rice & Bloomfield, our research in the area of tort reform sets us apart from many others who practice in our field. We are constantly studying the impact of tort reform on the jury panel to find ways to present cases in Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley Courtrooms in a way to minimize the impact of this effect and ensure that our clients are protected.

A California judge announced that Ford was nearing settlement of more than 400,000 rollover lawsuits involving its popular Explorer SUV. The suits allege that Ford knew about the safety hazard and withheld that information from the public, while marketing the cars as family-friendly and safe.

Passengers are more likely to be killed or suffer permanent and serious injuries, like being paralyzed, in rollover accidents than in almost any other type of car accident. Only head-on collisions kill more people.

In 2004, a jury awarded more than $80 million to a woman permanently paralyzed when the Ford Explorer she was driving rolled over after she swerved to avoid debris in the highway. The jury also awarded more than $200 million in punitive damages because it found that Ford knew about the problem but did not warn consumers. The trial judge later reduced the jury's verdict to $150 million.

Although publicly Ford defends the safety of its SUVs, it has been negotiating quietly behind the scenes to put an end to the lawsuits. An announcement is expected later this month.

A man driving a motorcycle on the freeway was critically injured when he was hit by a truck. A jury recently awarded $6 million to compensate him for the injuries he sustained in the accident.

Although this collision did not occur in Los Angeles, jury awards for this type of injury are similar in Kentucky where it did occur. The collision was in March 2006 on Interstate 35. The Defendant claimed that the motorcycle entered the freeway and cut in front of the truck. After trial testimony from accident reconstructionists, a jury found that the truck changed lanes and caused the collision.

The motorcyclist, Walter Browning was a 13-year Army veteran and former security guard, lost four fingers on his left hand and can no longer walk without assistance because of massive injuries to his left leg.

When my 16-year old daughter got her driver's license, the first thing I did was explain to her what she would need to do if she got into an automobile accident. I made a list of questions for her to get answers to: Where did the car accident occur? What was the name of the other driver? Were there any passengers and, if so, what were their names and addresses? Were there any witnesses? What was the year make, model and license plate number of the other car or cars involved? Simple questions that often go unanswered in the chaos that may ensue after a car crash occurs.

I also bought a disposable camera and put it into the glove box. Take pictures, I told her, of your car, the other cars and intersection or location of the accident. Today, I suppose, she would be able to use her cell phone for this purpose.

Within a week after she began driving, she was involved in her first accident. She was shaken and upset - the accident had been her fault - but she had all of the information necessary to assist our insurance company to process the claim.

Giving some thought to what information you are likely to need in the event of an automobile accident is a good way to prepare for something you hope never will happen. In the long run, doing so will make the whole experience less traumatic for you and for those you love. In the event you are injured in an accident that is not your fault, the information you collect at the scene will be invaluable to your lawyer.

Los Angeles trial lawyers join parents nationwide in a call for stricter safety standards for child safety seats.

The revelation recently, that child safety seats may not afford the protection we as parents expect them to when a crash occurs, was met with understandable concern by the public. Consumer Reports found that 10 of 12 popular child safety seats failed in crashes at speeds as low as 35 mph, putting the infant or child at risk of serious injury or death. Only two models, the Graco SnugRide and Baby Trend Flex-Loc, passed their testing.

Although it rates the safety of cars in various types of crashes and at speeds greater than 30 mph, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) only tests the safety of child safety car seats in 30 mph front end collisions. The results of the Consumer Reports study exposed serious problems with this limited government testing.

We should note, however, that child safety seats have been responsible for saving the lives of many children involved in automobile accidents. For information on how to select and properly use a child safety seat, check out http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/child-car-booster-seats/reports/how-to-choose/index.htm

For more information on the safety of the car you drive, go to http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/

People consult trial lawyers like us because they or someone they love have been injured, often because of the carelessness of another person. When pedestrians are hit by automobiles, the injuries are often catastrophic. So, it is worth reminding the public of some basic safety rules, designed to protect pedestrians from injury.

(1) If you have the option, use the sidewalk. If there is no sidewalk and you must walk in the roadway, do so facing traffic so that you can monitor the approach of oncoming cars.

(2) Dress to be seen. During the day, light and/or bright colors make it easier for drivers to see you. If you walk at night, you should use reflective material to reflect the headlights of oncoming cars.

(3) Cross only at traffic signals or marked crosswalks and never begin to cross until you are sure that there is no traffic or that cars coming in both directions see you and are going to stop. This requires that you look both ways before stepping into the street.

We are happy to represent you in the event of an injury. But, we would prefer that you be safe and avoid the need for a lawsuit. For more information on pedestrian safety, go to http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/walk/Safety_Tips.htm

You are driving on the freeway, minding your own business and paying attention to traffic conditions. When the cars in front of you begin to slow, so do you. Unfortunately, the man in the car behind you, who has been following too closely and is talking on a cell phone, isn't paying attention and hits you from behind.

The law says that the guy who hit you is responsible for injuries he causes - to you and to your car. And, while you may not have any trouble getting the insurance company to pay to repair the damage to your car, it has become increasingly difficult for those injured in such accidents to get fair and reasonable compensation for their personal injuries.

Insurance companies make money by not paying claims. Over the past decade, those companies have made alot of money by not paying legitimate personal injury claims. As a result, some lawyers are reluctant to take these cases, knowing that if they have to take an auto accident case to trial, juries are no longer as sympathetic as they may have been in the past to claims of "pain and suffering." Or, the lawyer takes the case and settles it for whatever the insurance company is willing to pay - without regard to the impact the injury may have had.

When we take a car crash case, we know that it may be necessary to take the case to trial - not just to get reasonable compensation for our client, but to discourage the bad faith practices in which insurance companies are engaged to reduce the number and value of claims. If the cost of defending these cases increases dramatically because experienced trial lawyers like us are prepared to take them to trial, insurance companies may reconsider how they handle such claims.

When you select a lawyer to represent you in any personal injury case, make sure he or she has the experience, the will and the resources to take your case to trial if a fair and reasonable settlement is not offered to you.

The family of a woman, who was hit by a car in a crosswalk and who died after her condition was misdiagnosed, will have the opportunity to ask a jury to award compensation for their loss, thanks to a successful appeal by personal injury lawyer, Todd J. Bloomfield.

The accident and subsequent malpractice occurred in 2001. The case against the driver was settled and in 2003 a jury found that the medical clinic was negligent. However, the jury made an error when it ruled that the negligence was not a substantial factor in causing the woman's death. The experts on both sides agreed that the woman would have lived if the medical clinic had accurately diagnosed and treated her symptoms. The trial court ordered a new trial and the attorneys for the clinic appealed.

The Court of Appeal unanimously agreed that the family was entitled to a partial new trial in light of the jury's error. Another jury will be asked to value the loss to the woman's husband and daughters. The family and Mr. Bloomfield are awaiting a new trial date. The medical clinic refuses to take responsibility for the death and has offered nothing to try to settle the case, despite the jury's finding of negligence.