2009 August Archive

Negligent drivers commonly cause severe injury motorcycle accidents in Arizona and throughout the nation and often are the cause of motorcyclists’ wrongful deaths. According to a report by Christensen Law Firm, whose attorneys are experienced and respected Utah motorcycle accident lawyers, motorcycle crashes that killed the motorcycle rider increased in 2008. Many of these were caused by the inattentiveness of the vehicles around it rather than through any fault of the motorcyclist.

A motorcycle accident in Utah or Arizona puts victims in a challenging situation that includes finding quality legal counsel and representation after being wronged by the carelessness of another driver. We know that Mr. Christenson utilizes the utmost care when helping Utah motorcycle accident victims and their families.

Whether it be a serious motorcycle accident in Utah or Arizona, it is important to get the best personal injury lawyer possible. Exceptional local representation is imperative in such cases, and we believe Christensen Law Firm provides this to its clientele.

A motorcycle accident lawyer should never be just “good enough” but should be in contact with the client, answer tough questions, provide the bad as well as the good news, and ensure their potential clients have the right information to make the best choice for them. The loss of a loved one or of a family’s primary income in the case of a motorcycle accident devastates a family. This is why we at Breyer Law Offices feel comfortable in recommending Christensen Law Firm to represent citizens of Utah after a serious motorcycle accident cases.

Source report:http://www.utahpersonalinjurylawfirmblog.com/2008/10/fatal_motorcycle_accidents_in.html

Renowned California injury lawyer John Bisnar recently suggested that the California Supreme Court has now rejected the practice of emergency room balance billing, a step we, as Phoenix attorneys who represent Arizona car accident victims, wish Arizona would take.

Bisnar Chase has earned its reputation as being one of the best accident law firms in California, and perhaps in the whole of the United States. I was impressed with the California decision as an Arizona personal injury lawyer, because I constantly strive to ensure that my clients are compensated to the fullest. California has correctly rejected how hospitals often try to collect twice from injury victims, from the health insurance company and then again from settlements that stem from personal injury cases.

The laws in Arizona permit this type of double billing. When someone is hurt in an accident and does not make a claim for personal injury, the hospital collects from the health insurance provider in the same manner as they would in other cases. Yet if someone seeks to file a personal injury suit, Arizona hospitals can legally file a claim against settlements, and this at the expense of Arizona accident victims that are often badly injured and permanently disabled.

This “lien” shocks many injured parties attempting to live with the serious injuries received from car or other accidents, and most often first comes in the form of letter. As Arizona attorneys that find this practice objectionable, we invite you to contact us. As experienced personal injury lawyers, we regularly fight to reduce or eliminate these liens and are often successful. We are committed to providing information to enable an injured party in Arizona to hire the best personal injury lawyer for them, and this Phoenix law firm is happy to answer many of your questions.

Finally, congratulations are due to John Bisnar and Bisnar Chase for this victory for California injury victims and their personal injury clients. For more information, visit http://www.californiainjuryblog.com/.

A recent settlement that involved a tragic bus accident in which almost 70 people were either injured or killed shows how important safety is in bus accidents, and brings to the fore the subject of seatbelts in busses. Today, Arizona and other most states do not require seatbelts in busses, even though drivers and passengers of nearly every other vehicle are required to use seatbelts.

This accident shows why seatbelts should be considered, and probably required, in all busses. In this case, the uninjured bus driver was wearing a seatbelt. While most of the passengers were ejected during the crash, the driver’s seatbelt kept him strapped in safely.

Arizona bus accident injury lawyers like us understand that the issues surrounding this bus crash go beyond bus safety and the injuries incurred in this bus accident. Bus accidents will continue to happen, but everything possible should be done to decrease the possibility of personal injury or wrongful death. As ethical and experienced personal injury lawyers, we urge the State of Arizona and States throughout the country to consider implementing laws that require busses to have seatbelts available for passenger use.

An Arizona personal injury attorney can provide answers to those injured in bus accidents. The decision to file a personal injury claim in the event of a bus accident in which one is injured depends very much on the person and situation. It is important to know, however, that getting an Arizona attorney to file a “notice of claims” can often prevent a victim from losing all available rights. We feel it is important that people involved in a bus accident speak to a veteran lawyer so that they can make an informed decision. At Breter Law Offices, we are happy to answer any questions you might have if you or someone close to you has been injured in a bus accident.

We are experienced Arizona dog bite lawyers, who can help someone who has suffered from a vicious dog attack. Often we hear similar stories about how the owners of a dangerous dog failed to keep it away from the public. Frankly, as dog bite lawyers, we would prefer to see fewer Arizona dog bite cases, as we know from experience that most of them can be prevented. That is why when we hear about children being bitten by a pit bull in Phoenix, Tucson, or elsewhere in Arizona, we often just shake our heads, roll up our figurative sleeves, and go to work pursuing these kinds of Arizona personal injury cases.

Regardless of the amount of work we do, we so often feel as if we are not making a difference. We would just like to see people put their dogs behind a fence or on a leash, so that we no longer read about something like this story, where a postal worker is attacked by two pit bulls. As personal injury attorneys in Phoenix, we want to know why the pit bulls were able to get out of the yard, and how they were allowed to attack the postal worker.

Like every dog bite victim, this woman has the right to seek compensation. She will likely lose time from work, have medical bills to pay from the attack, and experience a great deal of pain due to her injuries. Some things may be covered, but there may be some things that are not. Arizona allows a person to file a personal injury claim against the dogs’ owner in such cases and a person can generally, though not always, claim against that person’s home owner’s insurance. The dog bite victim may still have the right to file an Arizona dog bite lawsuit against their insurance even if the attack took place away from the property where the dogs should have been staying.

Arizona dog bite law limits the time in which legal recourse can be made to two years, and, if the dog happens to be a pit bull, a person must file within a year or lose some legal protections. For this reason, it is always advices that a person attacked by a pit bull or another type of dog retain the services of a competent personal injury lawyer with experience in such cases.

Source article:http://www.azfamily.com/news/homepagetopstory/stories/phoenix-local-news-020309-postal-worker-pit-bulls.169fc5a2.html

I am a certified specialist attorney of the Arizona State Bar, dealing in injury and wrongful death. As such, people often ask me about vehicular accidents, the pursuit of wrongful death claims, how difficult it is to prove the economic consequences of a vehicle accident, and other predictable questions. The same issues tie the Mesa, Arizona resident wanting to know how long it would take to collect monetary damages on a personal injury case as the injured victim in Glendale, AZ or one seeking damages from Goodyear. Most of them need a personal injury lawyer, and an experienced personal injury lawyer in Arizona will usually know about the issues that affect people living around Arizona. Where people live affects who will sit on the jury, how many judges are available to hear the case, and also how long a personal injury case might take to go through the system.

Yet even the most skilled Arizona wrongful death lawyer and personal injury attorney would be hard-pressed to know how the serious recent economic downturn has had on Arizona personal injury cases. Perhaps the biggest threat to personal injury cases is a business shutting down or even going bankrupt and, as we have seen in recent times, this can also happen to insurance companies. If a defendant who has caused a serious injury is found negligent yet has no money, it is the injured and innocent party that faces financial upheaval. Still, the key questions do not change regardless of the economic times.

It is important for Arizona injury victims to understand how their personal injury claims are affected differently than people in other areas of the country. Residents of Phoenix, AZ may have some legal advantages when considering filing a personal injury lawsuit.

Take for example an article by Charles Hofheimer of the Virginian law firm Hofheimer Ferrebee, which deals with the economy and whether a divorce claim should be pursued. Hofheimer quite rightly states that each case is individual, and should not necessarily be put off just because the economy is bad. His thoughtful analysis can certainly apply to Arizona personal injury claims.

Car accidents in Phoenix on Interstate 10 have become increasingly frequent and, according to the most recent report involving an accident on the I-10 in Maricopa County, there have been 178 deaths along this dangerous stretch of read in five years, making it the third most dangerous section of highway the third most dangerous in the country.

Most of the time, serious accidents do not cause death. So we do not know how many people are now suffering from serious injury due to this dangerous section of freeway. It is indeed a sad state of affairs to see so many serious injuries and highway deaths on one section of a roadway.

We hope the Arizona Department of Transportation will now take every available step to reduce the number of accidents that take place along this stretch of road, and which cause many serious injuries and deaths. The report does not place blame, so we cannot necessarily say who is at fault in any of these incidents, but as experienced Phoenix auto accident injury lawyers, we understand the human costs of such tragedies. We also know that everything must be done to lower the number of auto accident claims in Arizona and this can be done in part by making the I-10 in Phoenix safer.

If you have been involved in an auto accident on the I-10 and have questions about its safety, or if you just have questions about car accidents in general, we encourage you to contact the best Arizona personal injury attorney in your area. It is important to know your rights, and to have your questions answered by a knowledgeable legal professional, whether you decide to pursue a lawsuit or not.

It is the right of anyone who has been in a serious car crash to get their questions answered honestly by competent car accident attorneys in Arizona, not just someone who will promise them millions and tell them what they want to hear without even knowing their case. Our law firm takes great pride in our honesty towards our clients and potential clients and providing them with information so that they can make the best decisions for themselves.

Personal injury lawsuits in Arizona and around the country come in all varieties. That is why an experienced Arizona personal injury attorney should have the capability to handle things other than car accidents.

The reality is that there are all sorts of situations in which the negligence of someone can cause injury, and often the causes are unexpected. Personal injury attorneys learn quickly that their job involves more than just auto accidents in Phoenix.

For those who regularly make insurance claims in Arizona, there can be all sorts of unusual injuries, which may include closed head injuries, brain injuries, rotator cuff tears, torn ligaments in knees, and all sorts of other injuries. These are common types of injuries found in car accidents in Mesa, Chandler, or elsewhere in Arizona.

Yet it has been a long time since we last saw an injury claim quite like the one claimed by renowned Utah personal injury lawyer Kenneth Christensen. According to reports by him, a four-car accident earlier this year cost the world recorder holder for the world’s longest fingernails her prized fingernails, which she had been growing since 1979, when she was ejected from the vehicle.

These nails took 30 years to grow, and had the accident taken place in Arizona, she would have needed the services of a skilled Arizona personal injury lawyer to obtain fair compensation for their breakage.

Today, this Arizona accident lawyer blog will take a short vacation from reporting on Phoenix insurance claims, Tucson car accidents, Mesa dog bites, Glendale slip and falls, and every other kind of personal injury we have been known to discuss. As those who follow our blog know, we attempt to educate people about their rights and responsibilities. Lawsuits help compensate seriously injured people, but they can also help deter others from causing serious injury or wrongful death at some point in the future. It is often in an insurance company’s best interests to do the right thing, especially if they know they could be financially penalized for not doing it.

Today, we are not going to venture into the realm of car accident related injuries, car insurance claims in Phoenix, or even who might be the best personal injury lawyer for brain injuries in Gilbert, or any other Arizona town for that matter. We want to take this space to applaud the bravery of a Phoenix police officer and a neighbor who saved the lives of an entire family. Reports indicate that the officer was on a regular patrol when she saw smoke coming out from the roof of the house. She and a 36-year-old neighbor were able to wake the family of three adults and nine children.

A tragedy could have happened that night that would have killed twelve people. Though this officer humbly said that she was merely at the right place at the right time, it was her actions and the actions of the family’s neighbor that kept them from harm. It is for this reason that we salute this Phoenix police officer from the Phoenix Police Department.

Though there was extensive damage to the property, the lives of as many as twelve were saved, and this is more important than any loss of property. Still, as personal injury lawyers in Arizona, we note that there though we understand that there were huge financial losses due to this incident, we are thrilled that no one was harmed.

Now, instead of having to figure out what kind of personal injury claim would have to be made against whatever caused that fire but led to the tragedy; a tragedy has been averted and instead we can just all be thankful for the Officer and all of the responding neighbors and anyone else who helped avert a tragic ending on that day.

We are pleased that, as Phoenix wrongful death lawyers, we will not be dealing with any kind of personal injury or wrongful death claim due to this house fire, and can instead applaud the actions of the officer who was in the right place at the right time and who acted nobly in the right manner.

As experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyers we know that there are far too many railroad accidents in Arizona. It is often because of dangerous railroad crossings that such accidents occur, and government at all levels should seek to lessen their risk. Whenever someone drives through the Phoenix metro area near Grand Avenue, they should not have to fear for their lives.

A recent report reveal that three intersections along Grand Avenue, including 35th Avenue, Thomas Road, and 27th Avenue, where trains cross have been the sites of over 30 accidents between trains and cars over the past three years. The Federal Railroad Administration has noted this, and officials are seeking solutions as to what must be done to prevent accidents and to make these crossings safer.

While some people question the value of personal injury lawyers in our society, they can help make these crossings safer. Sometimes it takes the threat of the government losing money before something is actually done. When there have been so many auto accidents in Arizona at these three intersections in Phoenix, the fault is not simply the drivers, but also the design of the railway crossings.

Those who have been involved in a wreck with a train have responsibility to seek legal counsel. Even if the train was not at fault, it may be that place where the road crosses the tracks was badly designed.

If you or anybody you know has been involved in a serious crash with a train in Arizona, it may be in your best interest to speak to a skilled Arizona personal injury attorney. Your case may require a full investigation and require an attorney to take every step possible in helping your family and the person who has been wrongly affected by the train crash. These efforts also allow for a complete study of that particular intersection to see if it was inherently dangerous and if serious accidents between cars and trains were inevitable based upon the design and the signage available.

Anyone who happens to be involved in a serious train crash is strongly encouraged to speak to a personal injury lawyer. If it turns out that the railroad crossing’s design was responsible for the accident and was inherently dangerous, filing a personal injury or wrongful death suit against the responsible parties may force the hand of the government to make the crossing safer for everybody.

You may wonder why we are bringing up the case of a wrongfully convicted man in Texas on an Arizona blog dealing with personal injuries. As lawyers that fight every day for justice for our clients, this case proves to us that there are no sureties in any court of law. It is a tragedy that despite evidence, which seemed overwhelming and was overlooked by the jury, an innocent man was convicted for a rape of which he was not guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison. These facts show that even when there seems to be clear negligence in an automobile accident in Arizona, there is still a very real chance that a person will not be fully compensated for everything they went through.

This story tells of a man who went to prison for a 1985 rape that he did not commit, and was proved innocent by DNA analysis while the DNA evidence points to a man who confessed to this crime. The man who was proved innocent unfortunately was not released, as he died in prison due to heart problems associated with an asthma condition. This asthma condition should have helped prove that he was not the rapist, as the man who committed the rape was a chain smoker. The wrongly accused man would never have been able to smoke in the manner he was alleged to, and probably not at all.

It is because of this that we understand that even the best Arizona personal injury lawyer cannot guarantee success. We are convinced, however, that an experienced Phoenix personal injury lawyer can certainly improve your chances to receive full and fair compensation if you are seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence.