car accident injury

Published on: May 10, 2016

State Farm v. Brewer – Car Accident Lawsuit Involves Doctor Asleep at Wheel

F.S. 768.72 allows personal injury claimants in Florida to seek punitive damages against defendants for especially egregious wrongs.

However, there are many limits on these damages. Although they are received by the plaintiff, they are not intended to compensate the plaintiff. Rather, they are intended to punish the defendant. Courts have to first grant plaintiffs permission to seek these damages in the first place. Beyond that, they cannot be “unconstitutionally excessive,” though there is no exact dollar-figure cut-off.

The recent car accident lawsuit of State Farm v. Brewer (consolidated with the appeal of Goellner v. Brewer) before Florida’s Second District Court of Appeals reveals how the courts can approach these cases to determine what is reasonable and what is excessive. Continue reading →

Published on: February 4, 2016

Wuthrich v. King County – When Vegetation Blocks a Driver’s View

By Dean Freeman

The Federal Highway Administration encourages roadway agencies to adopt roadside vegetation management programs that identify the best maintenance practices for each location. An integrated approach includes:

Mowing
Cutting (mechanical and hand)
Use of herbicides
Grazing of livestock
Cultivating desirable vegetation
Re-vegetation

Essentially, drivers have to be able to see and navigate the road clearly. If overgrowth of vegetation blocks a driver’s view of roadway signs or oncoming traffic, the municipality in charge of maintenance could find itself facing a car accident lawsuit.

That’s the situation in Wuthrich v. King County, a lawsuit recently revived by the Washington Supreme Court. Continue reading →

Published on: January 22, 2016

Cleveland v. Ward – Lost Income Proof for Self-Employed Crash Victim

By Dean Freeman

Lost income and loss of employment benefits are among those factors taken into account when awarding damages to a car accident victim.

In most cases, if you’re employed by someone else, you simply request a letter from your company indicating your position, rate of pay, hours typically worked, number of hours or days missed after the accident and whether you took sick leave, vacation time or a leave of absence.

However, when victims are self-employed (as an 26 million people in the U.S. are), proof of lost income gets trickier. It’s usually advisable to hire a forensic accountant to assist in studying past income and offer a forecast of potential future income and business growth rate (or lack thereof). Continue reading →