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Posts Tagged ‘damages’
Friday, July 8th, 2011
A common misconception in Pennsylvania Dog Bite Law is that the dog and dog owner are entitled to one free bite and cannot be sued for the first bite. This is not at all the law. Our dog bite lawyers understand that general negligence stemming from a dog bite injury has absolutely nothing to do with the how many times the dog has previously bitten, attacked, or injured.
The first time a dog bites someone, the dog owner can be sued under a general negligence theory, including but not limited to and strict liability or negligence per se claims based on the jurisdiction. For example, if your jurisdiction, like Philadelphia, has a leash law. If the bite occurred on a public street in Philadelphia and the dog was not properly leashed, you could sue under a general negligence theory and as a violation of the leash law.
However, in the scenarios presented above, you cannot ask for punitive damages because the dog was not a known dangerous dog. In a sense an argument can me made that this is a free bite because punitive damages are generally much higher then compensatory damages in most dog bite cases.
If the dog has previously bitten,attacked or injured, you can sue for all of the above claims for your dog bite injuries plus punitive damages because the dog is a known dangerous dog. You must be able to show that the dog previously bit or attacked with proof from animal control or another source in order to qualify the dog as a dangerous dog.
Whether the dog has previously bitten only matters in terms of damages, meaning how much money your case is potentially worth. However, whether there exists a previous bite is irrelevant for establishing liability in a general dog bite case.
Tags: attack, damages, dog bite, free bite, leash law, negligence, previous bite, punitive, punitive damages, second bite
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Now that we have established that you have a police brutality civil rights case, the next question is: how much is my case worth?
This is the hardest question to answer. Everyone thinks their case is worth a million bucks, but most cases aren’t worth close to that amount. Also, in some cases, people may want declaratory relief, which I will save for a later post (meaning the courts force the government to change a policy).
When I look at a police brutality case for financial damages I ask many questions in my assessment:
- What were the extent of the physical injuries? Was there a hospital visit? How much is the hospital bill? What happened at the hospital? What were you treated for: gun shot wound, concussion, broken bones, stitches, etc? Is there any continuing treatment: are you in physical therapy as a result of the injury? If you were incarcerated, did the prison give you medical treatment? When you were released from custody, did you take yourself to the hospital? Is there a diagnosis that had you been given treatment in custody, you would not have the same injury, or would the injury have been not as bad?
- What was the true outcome of the criminal case? How did the criminal case resolve? How much did you pay a criminal lawyer to represent you in the criminal case?
- Were you incarcerated for any period of time as a result of the false arrest? What was the length of time? Was the length of time related only to this instant case, or was the length of your incarcerated due to other issues plus this case?
- Did you miss any time at work? Did you lose your job?
- Has the police officer every done this before?
- Is what happened to you something that happens to people all the time and the city or county should have changed a policy that would have prevented this incident?
- Compared to other instances of police misconduct, how outrageous is your case? Are the actions of the police officer unique in the instant case?
There are many other factors that we look at when trying to assess damages in civil rights cases, but this should be enough to give you an idea of basics.
We have prosecuted very small cases where police are simply confiscating cell phones and destroying them because people are video taping police conduct. We have also prosecuted some very big cases where people have been shot by the police. All of these civil rights cases have value, but analyzing a case’s value is dependent on all of the factors listed above.
Tags: case worth, civil rights, civil rights case, concussion, criminal case, criminal lawyer, damages, declaratory relief, false arrest, financial damages, gun shot wound, lawyer, million bucks, physical injuries, physical therapy, police brutality, police misconduct, police officer, stitches
Posted in civil rights, police brutality | No Comments »
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
The answer to this question is very important. Many times your tort status will determine if you can recover for injuries sustained in a car accident. In Pennsylvania drivers must choose between limited tort and full tort options when auto insurance policies are purchased. The full tort option allows the insured (and the members of the insured’s household) to collect for damages related to pain and suffering in automobile accidents. This is true irrespective of the seriousness of the injury.
If you select the limited tort option you give up your right to sue for pain and suffering unless you suffer a “serious injury.” Under the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law, a “serious injury” is defined as a “Personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement.”
When choosing coverage I always recommend to people that they purchase full tort. The difference in price is nominal in comparison to the value of the right you are giving up by electing for limited tort.
 Limited Tort or Full Tort?
Tags: auto insurance policies, automobile accidents, car accident, damages, insurance, motor vehicle, pain and suffering, personal injury, tort
Posted in car accidents, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Many victims of crime believe that their only source for justice is the District Attorney’s office. This is true in one respect. The defendant can only be punished and sent to jail if the District Attorney prosecutes the case. What if someone’s negligence assisted a criminal in committing a crime against you? What if there was a duty of care that an organization failed to deliver that lead to you being the victim of a crime? The answer is that you can recover from them under a variety of tort theories. Crime victims have rights. Far to often these rights are never asserted. I will clarify with an example. Imagine a woman is raped in a hotel room. The rapist gained entry to the room because the cleaning lady failed to lock the window after she was done making the room. Her failure to secure the room and protect the occupant was negligent and the hotel can be held liable for damages associated with the rape. This is true even though the rapist had no association with the hotel and the hotel did not conspire in anyway with the rapist. At Levin & Zeiger LLP we consult with victims of crime and explain what their rights are to determine if a case exists.
 Crime Victims Have Rights
Tags: crime victims, damages, duty of care, hotel room, law suit, negligence, rape, rape victims, rapist, tort, victims of crime
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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