When an Accident Becomes a Lawsuit
It can happen in the blink of an eye.
A woman shopping with her three children doesn't notice the slippery dish soap spilled on the floor of her favorite super market.
The next thing she knows, she's flat on her back looking up at emergency medical personnel and listening to her children screaming not far away.
While her injuries are not life threatening, a broken leg will keep her home from work and away from her children's activities.
Whose fault is it? The store is responsible for providing a safe environment, therefore the injured woman has the right to ask for compensation.
But what about a man who chooses a cart with a broken wheel, overloads it with goods and allows it to tip over on his wife? Providing his wife doesn't kill him, should the couple be awarded compensation? This and thousands of like questions are asked in a court of law every year.
Depending on the extent of the injuries, most are settled out of court and justly so.
Insurance companies cover the cost, raise premiums to the store who in turn raise the price of goods and eventually the consumer pays.
It may not be fair, but it's the way of a free market system.
What happens when a personal injury case goes to trial? Some years ago, a young man with a family sued an elderly rich woman for injuries received in a car-motorcycle accident.
The woman was clearly at fault, traveling the wrong way on a newly designated one-way street.
The young man's injuries consisted of a puncture wound in the back of his leg causing only minor muscle damage.
The woman's insurance covered the cost of repairs to his motorcycle and all his medical expenses, but he wanted more.
Compensation for pain and suffering, he hoped, would be like winning the lottery.
After all, she could afford it.
The jury in that civil trial surprised one and all.
When the verdict was read, they found in favor of the young man, but only awarded him $500.
00, of which the attorney was entitled to a third.
A verdict in his favor meant he could not appeal -- he won.
While the world of personal injury lawsuits thrive, the days of huge awards may be coming to a close.
The average jury member is far more informed than those of old -- at least we hope they are.
It is the only certain way to stop silly lawsuits born of greed instead of need.
A woman shopping with her three children doesn't notice the slippery dish soap spilled on the floor of her favorite super market.
The next thing she knows, she's flat on her back looking up at emergency medical personnel and listening to her children screaming not far away.
While her injuries are not life threatening, a broken leg will keep her home from work and away from her children's activities.
Whose fault is it? The store is responsible for providing a safe environment, therefore the injured woman has the right to ask for compensation.
But what about a man who chooses a cart with a broken wheel, overloads it with goods and allows it to tip over on his wife? Providing his wife doesn't kill him, should the couple be awarded compensation? This and thousands of like questions are asked in a court of law every year.
Depending on the extent of the injuries, most are settled out of court and justly so.
Insurance companies cover the cost, raise premiums to the store who in turn raise the price of goods and eventually the consumer pays.
It may not be fair, but it's the way of a free market system.
What happens when a personal injury case goes to trial? Some years ago, a young man with a family sued an elderly rich woman for injuries received in a car-motorcycle accident.
The woman was clearly at fault, traveling the wrong way on a newly designated one-way street.
The young man's injuries consisted of a puncture wound in the back of his leg causing only minor muscle damage.
The woman's insurance covered the cost of repairs to his motorcycle and all his medical expenses, but he wanted more.
Compensation for pain and suffering, he hoped, would be like winning the lottery.
After all, she could afford it.
The jury in that civil trial surprised one and all.
When the verdict was read, they found in favor of the young man, but only awarded him $500.
00, of which the attorney was entitled to a third.
A verdict in his favor meant he could not appeal -- he won.
While the world of personal injury lawsuits thrive, the days of huge awards may be coming to a close.
The average jury member is far more informed than those of old -- at least we hope they are.
It is the only certain way to stop silly lawsuits born of greed instead of need.
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