A personal injury occurs when someone suffers injury through the negligence or misconduct of another person. The injury doesn’t have to be solely physical in nature; it could be a financial loss or damage to someone’s reputation.

A motor vehicle accident, slip and fall or the use of a defective product can cause common types of personal injuries that are physical in nature. A financial injury is one in which the action of another person harms you economically. For example, if your stockbroker mismanaged your account, you would have cause to sue for the financial loss. A personal injury that hurts your reputation could be due to someone spreading rumors about you or posting malicious information in the news or on the Internet.

The injured person can sue the person or entity responsible for any of these types of injuries. Since the burden of proof is on the injured person, it is best to seek the advice of a personal injury lawyer for advice.

We are seeing a new kind of proof that insurance companies are using to refute an injury claim. It’s using social media such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. These websites are popular social networking sites where people can post information about themselves. The Law Offices of Samer Habbas have seen an increase in clients whose postings cost them a settlement. Always remember that someone may be able to use what you post on the Internet against you in a lawsuit.

Therefore, the answer to the original question is, “Yes, Facebook is the new smoking gun in personal injury cases.” Insurance companies need to gather as much evidence as they can to decrease the amount of damages they will pay out. They are now using non-traditional methods to gather this information. Here’s an example: You are in a car accident in Los Angeles and claim you can’t work because of severe back pain. However, your Facebook page shows you skiing.

Monitor what you write and post on the Internet because it can affect you negatively in a personal injury lawsuit. Feel free to contact the Southern California attorneys at the Law Offices of Samer Habbas at 888.848.5084 if you have any questions about social media and personal injury cases.

If you or a family member has suffered an amputation injury, you know that life is never the same again. An amputation affects every aspect of a victim’s life as well as the lives of his or her family who grieve and want to know how and why this happened. For many years, the California amputation injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Samer Habbas have been helping victims and their families by providing aggressive legal representation. Their Orange County amputation injury lawyers work hard to help victims seek damages to help defray the costs of medical bills, physical rehabilitation, lost wages and other injury-related expenses.

Some amputation injury statistics in the United States include the following:

Around 1.7 million Americans have had their lives changed forever by an amputation injury.

Approximately 135,000 people suffer an amputation injury every year.

Three in four amputations occur in people over 65 years of age.

Males are more likely than females to suffer an amputation injury, and people are most likely to lose a limb between the ages of 41 and 70.

Most people associate amputated limbs with an accident of some kind, and 22% of all amputations are trauma-related. But the leading cause of amputation injuries is vascular disease in which restricted blood flow prevents proper circulation.

According to the National Limb Loss Center, vascular disease causes 82% of all amputations.

As we age, the risks of amputation also rise for both men and women, with people aged 85 and over facing the highest risks of amputation.

If you or a close family member has suffered an amputation injury, it is very important to contact an experienced Los Angeles amputation injury lawyer before you sign any documents. Signing anything that you don’t fully understand could prevent you from seeking damages. To schedule a free consultation with our experienced California amputation injury lawyers, call us today at 888.848.5084.

If you believe that you have a valid personal injury case or most any type of legal case for that matter, there are statutes of limitations determined by California law. These statutes determine the length of time after the alleged incident or injury occurred that an injured party has to file a suit seeking damages. Please bear in mind that experienced Southern California personal injury lawyer Samer Habbas or another California personal injury attorney can explain statutes of limitations in much greater detail. Here are many different types of common claims and their respective statutes of limitations in California.

• Negligence – 2 years with Discovery Rule
• Wrongful death – 2 years with limited exceptions
• Medical malpractice – 3 years from date of injury or 1 year from date of discovery (there are several exceptions for this statute)
• Other type of malpractice – 1 year (for legal malpractice up to 4 years from date of wrongful act)
• Product liability – 2 years with Discovery Rule
• Intentional torts – 1 year for false imprisonment, slander, libel, seduction of a person below the age of consent; 2 years for assault and battery
• Fraud – 3 years with some qualifying stipulations
• Sexual discrimination action for wages – 2 years, 3 years if the violation was willful
• Sexual abuse by health care professionals – 2 years
• Injuries caused by domestic violence – 3 years from injury or 2 years from discovery (whichever is longer)

Please remember that this is an abbreviated list and that there are many mitigating factors that can have a great deal of bearing on whether you have a case and which statutes of limitations apply. If you have suffered an injury, your best course of action is to discuss the matter with an experienced Anaheim personal injury lawyer such as Mr. Habbas. To schedule a consultation to discuss your case, call his law offices today at 888.848.5084.

Resource link: Statutes of Limitations in California

The means of determining the amount of money that an injured party can recover in a personal injury lawsuit is being reviewed again in what could be a landmark case. Howell v. Hamilton Meats is currently being heard in the California Supreme Court. A San Diego appellate court determined that a woman was eligible to reclaim $190,000 that a hospital invoiced her for medical treatment for serious injuries she suffered in an auto accident, even though her insurance company settled with the hospital for $60,000.

If the California Supreme Court upholds the appellate court’s decision, it could reverse a long-standing, but controversial rule called the “collateral source” rule. This rule says that information on collateral payment sources, in this case, payments made by the injured woman’s insurance company to the hospital, is not allowed as evidence in a trial. Two landmark cases, Hanif v. Housing Authority of Yolo County and Nishihama v. City and County of San Francisco, are often cited as precedence for the collateral source rule.

However, in Howell v. Hamilton Meats, the Court of Appeal dismissed these precedents. The Court ruled that the amount of medical expenses written off, in this case $130,000 waived by a medical provider, should be awarded to the plaintiff through application of the collateral source rule.

Long Beach personal injury lawyers such as Samer Habbas and California personal injury attorneys around the state are watching this case with great interest. The ruling by the California Supreme Court could have a big impact on cases handled by Southern California personal injury attorneys like Mr. Habbas now and in the future. If you or someone you care for has been injured or lost and you’d like to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer, call the Law Offices of Samer Habbas today at 888.848.5084.

Resource link:  Compensation for medical bills in california personal injury cases

A 30-year-old construction worker at the new parking structure of the John Wayne Airport incurred injuries when a falling piece of metal struck his head early in the morning on Nov. 30. The Orange County Register reported that emergency personnel transported the worker to a nearby hospital. The accident investigators reported that the worker was wearing his hardhat at the time of the accident. The severity of his injuries was unknown at the time of publication.

“He was conscious, so that’s hopefully a good sign,” one investigator said.

The construction worker was on site at the airport’s new parking structure when the accident was reported at 10:35 a.m. Investigators said that the man was part of a crew driving hundreds of steel-reinforced piles into the ground for the parking structure. They said that the victim was standing on the ground near a pile rig when a metal object fell and struck his hardhat. The accident is currently under investigation by airport officials who said they notified OSHA. Investigators did not yet know what the metal object was or how far it had fallen before it struck the man.

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