A jury in California awarded a woman who contracted a sexually transmitted disease damages in the amount of 6.75 million dollars. The man who infected her with herpes failed to disclose that he had incurable sexually transmitted disease. Apparently, the woman had been unable to obtain health insurance ever since the incident because of this pre existing condition. The award was for 4 million dollars in compensatory damages and 2.75 in punitive damages.
Recently in General Information Category
We have recently updated our auto accident help page on our main web page. Our auto accident help page is designed to bring information to accident victims. Any type of auto accident can be a traumatic life experience. Our goal is help bring information to victims that are affected by this experience. The help page includes information about prevention, what to do after an accident, Maryland law, PIP and more. Below is a sample taken from our frequently asked questions.
Q: How common are auto accidents?
A: There are over 6 million auto accidents every year! That means about every 13 seconds another auto accident has occurred. In a 5 year period, about 25% of drivers will be involved in an auto accident. Its safe to say that auto accidents are very common.
Q: How many of the 6 million auto accidents result in injury or death?
A: About 3 million of the annual auto accidents result in injury, and there are about 40,000 deaths. Many of the injuries that are sustained will be permanent.
Q: What are the causes of auto accidents?
A: There are several causes of auto accidents. Many accidents are caused by carelessness of drivers. Drivers tend to be easily distracted or not pay adequate attention when they are driving. Activities such as eating, talking to passengers, adjusting the radio, texting, talking on a cell phone, etc, all present danger when driving a vehicle. Drivers that speed, tailgate, make unsafe lane changes, or commit other reckless acts also present danger. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol is a common cause of accidents, and usually with fatal consequences. Sometimes auto accidents may not be the result of driver error. A small percentage of auto accidents can be attributed to poor road maintenance or poor road design. Another less frequent factor would be vehicle malfunction.
Q: When do most auto accidents take place?
A: Most auto accidents occur during the night, and on weekends. Times of inclement weather will also produce many auto accidents. Times when traffic is heavy such as holidays and rush hour have a higher rate of accidents.
A recent study reveals that most Plaintiffs who pass up a settlement offer and go to trial received less of an award than they would have received had they taken the offer. The study further found that Defendants were wrong in 24% of their decisions to proceed to trial as contrasted to the Plaintiff's being wrong 61% of the time. The study further found that in only 15% of the cases, both the Plaintiff and Defendant were right in that the award was less than the Plaintiff's demand but more than the Defendant's offer. Under some estimates, approximately 80% to 92% of cases settle. Many skeptics of the profession argue that there is motive to go to trial so that lawyers can collect fees for preparation and attending trial.
The Study will be published in the September issue of The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. On average, the study found cost plaintiff's $43,000.00. For defendant's, the cost was much greater, a whopping $1.1 million. The study found that there must not be an understanding between the lawyer and client about the odds of winning at trial. This leads to one of two conclusions: 1. Lawyers are doing a poor job explaining the odds to their clients, 2. the Clients are not taking their Lawyers advice.
The study further found that some of the bad decisions made by Plaintiffs were associated contingency fees. The Study further found that the common errors by the defense were where there was a lack of coverage.
Law Students do not learn how to handicap trials in law school. Only hands on experience will allow a lawyer to develop this skill. This is a skill that can be learned only after numerous trials are actually tried and either won or lost.
