Preserving Evidence for a Personal Injury Claim

The first few days after an accident are crucial for documenting any injuries and preserving any evidence in support of your claim.

Our Missouri personal injury lawyer will share some tips on the evidence that you must find and preserve for your personal injury claim.

Physical Evidence

Sometimes a piece of physical evidence can show what happened or who was at fault. The dent in the car can show where it was hit and the extent of damage can show how bad the collision was. Bloodied clothing can show how serious the injuries were. Any physical evidence that can help prove your claim should be photographed and preserved in the first few days after the accident.

Police Reports

After any car accident, it is important to inform the police. The police report is a crucial piece of evidence that can help establish liability. However, police reports are normally inadmissible in court.

Photographs

If you cannot preserve a piece of evidence in its original state, it is important that you photograph it. Make sure you choose a good quality camera and take the photos in accurate light conditions so as to show greater details. Your cell phone cameras can come in handy when you need to take the photos right at the scene of accident. Make sure you take a number of photographs from various different angles and then select the ones that show the details most clearly. Take the photos as soon as possible after the accident as that will accurately depict the condition of the evidence.

Write short notes on the photos describing the event, details, and the date and time when they were taken. If the injury or accident occurred at a public place, take photographs of the site, and if someone denies permission to photograph the site, note down the details of the person and the reason why permission was denied.

Returning to the Scene

Return to the scene of the accident after you have received medical attention. Find any evidence that might be of help and take photographs of the conditions that you think may have contributed to the injury. You might notice some things such as a pot hole or a broken traffic light that may have contributed to the accident.

You may also come across people who witnessed the accident and they may be willing to testify. Gather contact details of the eye witnesses and note down their narration of events. If possible, take photographs on the same day of the week and at the same time at which the accident occurred. This will most accurately depict the traffic conditions.

Evidence of Injuries

Photographs of injuries can help establish the extent of your damages. Any burns, bruising, and lacerations can describe your pain and agony. Medical records are the most important piece of evidence when it comes to personal injury claims. The details of your medical treatment would also be a key piece of evidence.

If you have suffered injury because of someone else’s negligence, consult a Missouri personal injury lawyer from Zevan and Davidson Law Firm, LLC. Call us at (314) 588-7200 for a free consultation.

General Rules of Proving Fault in Personal Injury Accidents

It is often not easy to determine liability in accidents caused by the negligence or carelessness of someone else.

Accidents are often caused by the negligence or carelessness of someone else, and it is often not easy to determine liability in these cases. Even though it is easy to point fingers at a person or company, it is necessary to determine the legal liability whenever someone is injured in an accident.

Determining Legal Responsibility For Accidents

A large number of accidents result from the carelessness of another individual. The general rule is that any person who was careless or reckless in an accident should be held liable for the damages incurred by the person who was more careful in the situation.

A Missouri Personal Injury lawyer will help explain that the legal responsibility for nearly all accidents is based on the rule of carelessness, along with at least one of the following:

• Whenever an injured person was at a place where he or she should not have been in the first place, or where some activities that resulted in the accident occurred, the person who caused the accident cannot be held liable since he or she was not duty-bound to act carefully toward the person who was injured.
• Whenever the injured person was not careful, the compensation he or she can receive is lowered based on the level of carelessness that resulted in the accident. This situation is also called comparative negligence.
• Whenever the person responsible for the accident was working for a company or individual, the employer can be held legally liable for the accident
• Whenever the accident resulted from a poorly-maintained or poorly-constructed property, the property owner can be held legally responsible for not conducting adequate maintenance for the properly. It does not matter whether the owner was directly responsible for the dangerous situation.
• Whenever the accident resulted from the use of a defective item, the seller and manufacturer of the item can be held liable even though the injured individual may have no idea as to whose careless action resulted in the defect on the item.

When At Least Two People Are Legally Responsible

Whenever an accident is caused by at least two people, like a number of drivers responsible for a car accident, many state laws indicate that any of the careless individuals may be held liable in providing compensation for the injuries suffered by an individual. The parties responsible should determine who will provide more reimbursement for the injury.

This rule normally works to benefit of the injured person. When the person liable is insured while the others are not, the full amount of the claim may be filed against the person who has insurance. Even though at least two people have insurance, it will be necessary to file a claim against only one insurance company. However, it will be necessary for the injured person to take into account everyone who may be considered responsible for the accident.

St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyers

GET IMMEDIATE HELP!  If you feel that you or someone you love has a personal injury case, contact the St. Louis personal injury lawyers of Zevan and Davidson Law Firm today. Schedule a free consultation by calling (314) 588-7200.

A Guide to the Basics of Medical Malpractice

It is not easy to prove that a doctor has committed medical malpractice.

You need to do much more than just prove that your doctor made a mistake. The services of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer would be crucial to the success of your claim. In this post, we will take you through the basic of Missouri medical malpractice.

What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a division of personal injury law, which compensates people who are injured as a result of another person or party’s negligence or deliberate actions. Medical malpractice is a subset of personal injury law that deals specifically with people who have been injured as a result of a mistake by a doctor, nurse, hospital, pharmacist, or any other medical professional.

Proving Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice claims can be difficult to prove as there is no clear definition of what constitutes an error. A medical error is believed to have occurred when a doctor fails to offer treatment that meets the “standard of care”. The victim would need to prove two basic facts to succeed in a medical malpractice lawsuit:

• The doctor or medical professional committed a mistake while providing treatment.
• The doctor’s mistake caused him or her an injury.

Who Determines the “Standard of Care”?

To decide on cases of medical malpractice, a jury considers testimony by medical experts, who testify whether or not they believe the doctor’s actions followed the “standard of care”. For example, to decide whether an oncologist was negligent, a jury would rely on testimony from medical experts to determine what another similarly qualified, competent oncologist would have done under similar circumstances.

Working With a St. Louis Medical Malpractice Attorney

Many medical malpractice lawyers charge on a contingency fee basis. A contingency fee is a certain percentage of the amount received as a settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit. A victim of medical malpractice who files a lawsuit would also need to reimburse the lawyer for any expenses incurred in the course of preparing and litigating the case. The benefit of a contingency fee is that you pay the attorney only if you succeed in you claim.

If you think you have been injured as a result of medical negligence, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. Consult a competent St. Louis medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible, because there is a statute of limitations that sets a limit on the time in which you can file a claim. Call Zevan and Davidson Law Firm at (314) 588-7200 for a free consultation.

The Devastating Consequences of Surgical Errors

When a surgeon commits an error, the consequences to the patient may be for a lifetime.

Facing a major surgery can be a nerve racking experience, yet you may choose to place your trust in your physician and surgeon to repair and fix whatever medical condition you are suffering from. When this breach of trust is broken, the results may be devastating. This type of medical mistake is happening now with greater frequency, thanks in part to the use of laser technology to perform common medical procedures. If you are suffering complications resulting from your surgeon misidentifying an organ during your surgery, contact a St. Louis medical malpractice attorney to evaluate your case.

Surgical Errors Identifying Human Anatomy

The study of human anatomy is a basic part of medical education, yet there are still errors in identifying anatomy with physicians, radiologists, and anesthesiologists every year. These types of mistakes may cause further damage to a patient, including the removal of an essential organ that was perfectly healthy.  This type of surgical error does not only pose a risk for the removal of the wrong organ, it can also cause damage to healthy ones or worse.

Proving Liability for Medical Malpractice

In order for a St. Louis medical malpractice attorney to be able to prove liability in this type of situation, they must be able to show how the defendants actions differed from what the majority of physicians in the same position would have done. If the procedure is well known in the medical profession than the defendant physician may be held liable for the damages.

Being the victim of medical malpractice is a difficult situation to cope with. Contact a St. Louis medical malpractice attorney to help you get some relief from this tragedy by working to get you the compensation that is rightfully yours. Call Zevan and Davidson Law Firm at (314) 588-7200.

Responsibilities of Obstetrical Nurses During Deliveries

Parents wholeheartedly celebrate the birth of a baby, which is a wonderful event for the entire family. Mothers go through nine months of pregnancy, and anticipate that nothing will go wrong. However, some deliveries do not turn out just as normal and complications may arise that can potentially injure the baby or the mother. In some cases, the injury might also be a result of a medical professional’s negligence.

Duties of Nurses in the Delivery Room

Although it would be catastrophic if the anticipated “perfect delivery” does not happen, it will be earth shattering to know that the injury could have been avoided. Some medical care providers are tasked with ensuring a safe delivery for both the mother and baby. However, if these professionals do not fulfill their duties properly, it could have disastrous results. Mothers of babies who suffered childbirth injuries that could have been avoided are advised to consult a Missouri medical malpractice lawyer. The family can receive compensation for the tragedy.

Prenatal or obstetrical nurses are tasked with providing care for women during labor and delivery. They are responsible for ensuring the safety of both the mother and the baby. The nurse should monitor the expectant mother during labor as well as look after the health of the baby. This process includes visual monitoring, blood tests, and checking on the health of the fetus.

Monitoring the fetus is a common practice inside the delivery room. This is a non-invasive process of checking the heart rate of the baby while the mother is experiencing contractions. The umbilical cord and baby are squeezed while the mother is experiencing contractions during labor. There are instances when the force or duration of the contractions will prevent oxygen from reaching the baby. This condition can be detected by the fetal monitor, which will allow the obstetrician and obstetrical nurse to decide whether to act on the condition by way of a Caesarean section.

Use of Fetal Monitors

Fetal monitors are useful devices for women in labor if it is used properly. If medical personnel disregard the device, it will be useless to attach it to the abdomen of the mother. In one instance, a first-time mother experienced this situation when her labor was induced after the fortieth week of her pregnancy. Although the monitor clearly showed that the baby was suffering, the delivery was not stopped. This resulted in a serious psychological disability on the newborn child. The obstetrical nurse was the defendant in the lawsuit since the nurse did not inform the obstetrician about the result of the fetal monitor. Since the serious condition of the baby may require 24 hours of monitored care for the entire lifetime of the child, the parents received $4.75 million in compensation.

Seek Legal Counsel

An unborn child can experience tragic injuries when the oxygen supply during delivery is insufficient. Mothers of babies with psychological disorders resulting from problems during delivery should consult a medical malpractice lawyer immediately. The condition may require continuous and costly care for the child, and the family should be given compensation for what happened during the delivery.

Obstetrical nurses have an important role in the delivery room. This makes it necessary for them to constantly monitor the delivery process to ensure the safety of the mother and child.

If you or a loved one have suffered due to the negligence of a health care provider, contact the Zevan and Davidson Law Firm at (314) 588-7200 for a free case evaluation.

 

photo credit: koadmunkee via Flickr