What to Know About Slip & Fall Cases
Although we all have at one time or another laughed at someone who has taken an unfortunate step and slipped, it’s not always a laughing matter. Occasionally a slip and fall will result in a serious injury. When that happens, you may want to talk to a slip and fall lawyer to determine if someone is at fault. However, not every unfortunate slip may lead to a civil lawsuit against an individual or a company. To understand what cases would stand up in a court of law we need to dig deeper into what qualifies as a slip and fall case.
If you or someone you know has taken an unfortunate spill on someone else’s property and as a result have been injured, you may have a viable case. That being said, a New York slip and fall attorney will only be willing to represent you if certain things occurred during the incident. At least one of three things must be proven to have a strong case.
If the owner or employee of the property where the injury took place spilled a fluid, ripped a carpet, or directly created an unsafe environment, they are at fault and may end up paying out.
If the owner or an employee of the property where the incident occurred knew about a potentially dangerous area and willfully did not resolve the issue, they are at fault.
Similar to the previous hypothetical, if the property’s owner or an employee did not apply the same safety standards that a “reasonable” owner or employee would and an injury takes place, they may be at fault.
What potential plaintiffs need to realize is that a slip and fall that results in an injury may, in fact, be their own fault. Proving that the owner or employee was culpable is a difficult ordeal. Consult a New York slip and fall lawyer immediately after the incident has occurred in order to ensure a favorable civil case outcome for you or a loved one.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
We always expect our doctors to behave in a professional manner. Considering we are handing out a sizeable chunk of money we expect to be given impeccable care. However, this isn’t always the case. Doctors are not infallible, like the rest of us they can make basic mistakes which can have drastic consequences. If you feel like you’ve been mistreated by a doctor, get in touch with a New York medical malpractice lawyer. Until then, let’s understand what qualifies as medical malpractice and how it’s proven in a court of law.
Medical malpractice it the third leading cause of death in the US. Though a death doesn’t need to occur to have grounds to sue for medical malpractice. MM is recognized when a doctor’s care drops below the “standard of care.” This gray area of standard of care is in part defined as what another medical care provider would have done differently. This is then typically compared to how the doctor in question carried out his or her care of the patient.
The most obvious way to know if you have been on the receiving end of medical malpractice is if you were injured as a result of negligence on behalf of the doctor. While this is a potential sign of negligence, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a case against the doctor. Medical malpractice is extremely difficult to prove due to the many gray areas involved. That being said, in 2012 alone, medical malpractice victims won more than $3 billion in MM payouts.
Don’t delay if you think that a doctor has mistreated you. Building a strong case and gathering damning details regarding the case is often time-sensitive. The injury in question and personal medical history must both be reviewed thoroughly and witnesses must be interviewed. Medical malpractice injuries can result in consequences that last a lifetime. Get what’s owed to you by contacting a NY medical malpractice lawyer.
What Are The Differences between a Criminal & Civil Case?
If your only education in litigation is from Law & Order, you may not be able to note the differences between a criminal and a civil case. Although their cases are more similar than they are different, there are some significant differences.
The crucial difference that people should take note of is that when a plaintiff wins a criminal case the defendant goes to jail, whereas in civil cases, the defendant will not go to jail but will end up paying the plaintiff a certain amount of money. In regards to outcome, this is the main difference between the two types of cases. One may think that a defendant can either be tried in a civil or criminal case, but not both. However, this is a falsehood; the two cases are not mutually exclusive. A NY auto accident may result in both jail time from a criminal case and a hefty payout from a civil case.
Criminal cases are viewed as crimes against the state, which is why a state prosecutor takes the case to court. Civil cases are viewed as crimes against an individual or a number of individuals, where the plaintiffs seek monetary compensation.
Another fundamental difference between these two types of cases is the standard of proof. It’s this standard that is used to determine what level of proof is needed to judge someone to be in the wrong. As we well know, criminal defendants must be proven guilty, “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Civil cases have a lower standard of proof that needs to be met; it’s called “the preponderance of the evidence,” which means that those deemed to be culpable are judged so if it turns out more likely than not that the infraction in question occurred.
If you’re looking for a jury during a civil case hearing, you’ll be surprised to find that the jury box is empty. Jurors are typically only called in during criminal cases and are rarely used during civil trials.
Civil case lawyers identify as injury attorneys, medical malpractice lawyers, and many more. For a New York-based injury attorney call ISK.