When recovery for injury or loss is legally available, the law aims to compensate the victims as fully as possible.
Accidental death and serious injury happen all too often. When you or someone close to you is seriously injured, life as you’ve known it stops completely; your ability to feel even simple pleasures comes to a screeching halt, and your awareness of having to meet your personal, professional and financial obligations, earn a living and take care of your dependents, suddenly becomes urgent, overwhelming, even despairing.
When an accident could have been prevented, the law holds responsible those whose carelessness brings harm to others.
The law does not provide a remedy for every accidental injury. Accident laws, the remedies they provide, and the procedures that make those remedies available, are complex and vary greatly from case to case, depending on the specifics of the accident, the victims, and the person(s) or entity responsible.
While some accidents could not have been prevented, too many happen because someone was careless. In most cases, the law provides for compensation to victims of such accidents, so that the person whose carelessness caused the harm is held accountable.
AN INJURED PERSON IS ENTITLED TO RECOVER:
1. Compensation for past and future medical expenses;
2. Wages and other earned income lost because of the injury;
3. The reduction in one’s capacity to earn a living;
4. The value of personal and household services that he or she could not perform while injured (or can no longer perform);
and
5. Compensation for pain and suffering of all kinds, past and future.
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Contact UsWhat to do in the Event of an Accident
By their very nature, injury-causing accidents afford little opportunity for the victims to do anything immediately for their own future protection. But there is much you and your family and/or travel companions can start doing within days of an accident to protect yourselves. Here are the three best steps you can take.
1. Preserve Documentation
Jot down notes as soon as possible after the event to record your observations. Witnesses often want to help: take down their names and contact information. Safeguard travel documents, take pictures with your camera or cell phone, keep receipts, and don’t delete or throw anything away.
2. Keep a Journal
In the days and weeks following, keep track of all events related to the accident and its aftermath by writing them in letter-form to your lawyer. Even if you have not yet obtained representation, this exercise will remind you to pay attention to the detail you will need to recall and explain later in a deposition. Plus, by addressing your notes to your future lawyer, you will be recording much useful information in a confidential format.
3. Do Not Try to Represent Yourself
Even lawyers should heed this advice! Accident victims and their families are often approached by employee representatives of a responsible party (e.g., airline or cruise line) in the wake of an accident. Take their names and contact information, but do not engage in conversations or negotiations with them, and do not sign anything. Under no circumstances should they be permitted to interview you. You can and should, however, cooperate with law enforcement. If you are not sure of the affiliation of the person who wants to question you, ask for clarification and to see identification.
