Rhode Island personal injury lawyer
When you have been involved in a Rhode island or Massachusetts incident that involves injuries such as a car wreck, a personal injury lawsuit may be the best recourse for seeing justice served. Keep in mind that accepting a motor vehicle crash settlement from an insurance company cancels your right to sue. This is because the insurance adjuster will require a release waiving your rights to pursue compensation as a result of the RI motor vehicle accident.
Personal injury attorney in Rhode Island
This means that even the best personal injury attorney in Rhode Island could not bail you out of a bad decision to accept pennies on the dollar for your negligence cause of action. Speak with a Rhode Island and Providence Plantations automobile collision personal injury attorney before you agree to settle any insurance claim. This tort law post will help you to know the basics of a personal injury lawsuit to illustrate why a East Providence truck accident lawyer or motorcycle accident attorney is so important.
Who Can Initiate Litigation?
If you are injured in an accident, you can file a lawsuit for damages. There are 2 major types of personal injury lawsuits, each one intended to address a different set of circumstances:
• Negligence – This is the most common type, and is used to address a situation when someone causes you harm by failing to follow safe procedures, acting carelessly or failure to utilize due care. Auto accidents, bike crashes, semi- truck collisions and slip-and-fall injuries are two common examples of negligence injury tort claims.
• Intentional Tort – This type of claim is brought against someone who intentionally causes harm or injury. If you are physically attacked, that would be grounds for an intentional tort lawsuit.
Strict Liability is when the party who causes you harm did not act negligently, recklessly or intentionally, but still can be held responsibility for the injuries in Providence Superior Court.
What a Rhode Island personal injury lawsuit entails
Once a suit has been filed and a court date established, your Rhode Island Personal Injury Lawyer will be given the opportunity to present your case to the court. This includes revealing any information or evidence that supports your case. You can only file a personal injury lawsuit once, so having a clear line of causality is essential. Personal injury attorneys in RI can help you gather and organize your evidence, including:
• Police reports and documentation
• Witnesses and supporting information
• Physical evidence
• Photographs or video of the incident
Where to file personal injury lawsuit
Most personal injury lawsuits must be filed in the state where the incident occurred or in a state that is connected to the defendant. An automobile accident suit is usually filed in the state where the accident happened, but may be filed in the state where the owner of the at fault vehicle resides. Similarly, a slip and fall suit might be filed in the state where the accident happened, or it may be tried in the state where the company maintains a primary office. A personal injury lawyer in Rhode island is a huge benefit in deciding where to file.
When to Seek Legal Help
Anyone who feels they have been wrongfully injured has a right to seek legal recourse. Once the decision has been made, you must file suit within a specified period of time from when the injuries occurred. This is called a statute of limitations. One reason it is important to have a Providence premises liability or car accident lawyer in your corner is to have someone on your team who knows the legal requirements and can help you get the paperwork done on time.
Why an Insurance claim is not enough
Insurance companies will always attempt to keep the cost of an incident to a minimum level. When injuries are involved, those costs may continue for years, which is why quickly settling a claim with the insurance company could result in insufficient funds to handle the long term implications. Your Warwick, Cranston or Woonsocket lawyer will work to get you the full amount that you deserve, and is willing to take on the other person’s insurance company to get it for you.
Most cases settle out of court
One reason many people with solid legal claims do not file suit is because they are afraid of investing large amounts of time in the Providence Superior Court battle. The fact is, the vast majority of personal injury lawsuits are settled out of court.
In practice, a single consultation with a RI personal injury attorney will often be enough to let them know whether the case has sufficient merit. If it does, the Rhode Island auto accident attorney will take your case for no initial cost, applying all expenses and billing to the final settlement. If you do not win the case, the attorney does not get paid, so they have a lot riding on resolving your case in a satisfactory manner.
Most RI Auto Accidents and tort claims are litigated in Superior Court: Nearly all personal injury, semi-truck and pedestrian accident lawsuits are brought in the first instance in Providence, Kent, Washington or Newport County Superior Court. More info here The subject matter jurisdiction for slip and fall and injury litigation in the Superior Court of RI is over $5,000. Rhode Island Personal injury Lawyers usually reject filing bus accident, car crash and premises liability cases in district court.
Injury cases rarely litigated in District Court
There are three two reasons why RI Personal Injury Attorneys avoid Providence Sixth Division District Court RI car accidents lawsuits.
1) The RI District Court has no subject matter jurisdiction for liability claims over $10,000. The Court has concurrent jurisdiction for motorcycle accident injury cases from $5,000 to $10,000
2) The District Court is a court of no record and appeals are de novo to the Superior Court. Therefore, a Bike or bicycle wreck injury verdict in District Court becomes a nullity if appealed by the Insurance company negligence defense attorney. Therefore, the injury litigation could be considered a waste of time if an appeal is timely filed.
Statute of Limitations for most Negligence Claims
The Statute of limitations for car accidents, slip and fall, wrongful death, pedestrian accidents, truck collisions and most negligence causes of action is three (3) years in Rhode Island. Therefore, a personal injury lawsuit must be filed within three years after the date of the crash, incident or mishap. “(b) Actions for injuries to the person shall be commenced and sued within three (3) years next after the cause of action shall accrue, and not after, except as provided for otherwise in subsection (c) herein.” § 9-1-14 Limitation of actions for words spoken or personal injuries.
Comparative fault law in Rhode Island
RI is a pure comparative fault state which means that a person who is more than 50 percent at fault for a RI accident can still obtain damages based on the percentages of relative fault. For Example: A drunk motorist stops his automobile in the middle of the highway, intentionally, in order to text his friend and is rear ended by a speeding reckless driver who is high on marijuana. If a jury determines the automobile motorist who stopped his motor vehicle on the highway was 99 percent at fault for the car wreck then that motorist would still be entitled to 1 percent of his medical bills, pain and suffering and Damages.
Rear End Car Accident Liability in Rhode Island
Most States have different laws regarding rear end car collisions. In Rhode Island, If a motor vehicle hits another truck, motorcycle or a semi-truck than “a prima facie case of negligence against the driver of the car in the rear is established * * *.” Maglioli v. J.P. Noonan Transportation, Inc., 869 A.2d 71, 75 (R.I. 2005). Id. Roland DeMaio et al.v.Raymond A. Ciccone et al.
Texting while driving in Rhode island
§ 31-22-30 Text messaging while operating a motor vehicle “The legislature’s intent when drafting and enacting section 31-22-30 (b) was to prohibit inattentive driving caused by composing, reading, or sending text messages. SeePartington, 681 A.2d at 260.” Id. STATE OF RHODE ISLAND v. JASON KILSEY
In a wrongful death case in RI, how are compensation / damages divided between the grieving loved ones of the deceased? ½ of wrongful death judgment or fatal car accident settlement amounts received go to a widow or husband of the person killed in the crash. The other half of the fatal crash compensation goes to the children of the victim of the deadly collision. law
RI helmet law
In Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, only new motorcyclists and motorcycle operators younger than 21 are legally mandated to wear protective motorcycle helmets. Motorcycle helmets often prevent traumatic brain injury and substantially reduce the amount of fatalities as a result of biker collisions. The RI motorcycle helmet law, 31-10.1-4, is set forth below and can be found at:
Pursuant to the laws in Rhode Island, subsequent remedial measures may be admissible to prove the negligence and liability of a wrongdoer who is liable for an accident. This subsequent remedial measures law, typically, comes into play in a premises liability or slip and fall (trip and fall) mishap. If the landowner is able to add lighting, signage or remedy the dangerous condition on the property than such remedial measure is admissible to prove the owner is negligent.
Duties of insurance companies to their Insured to settle cases for under policy limits: ASERMELY
The Supreme Court of Rhode Island determined that if a written demand is made within the policy limits that is not accepted by the indemnity company then the insurance company is on the hook for the entire jury award even if it is above the policy limits. ASERMELY v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY 728 A.2d 461 (1999).
Duty to clear snow
The Rhode Island Top Court sitting in the capital city of Providence utilized the “Connecticut rule” when the highest authority stated “…landlord or business inviter owes a duty to a tenant or business invitee to use reasonable care to see that the common areas are kept reasonably safe from the dangers created by an accumulation of snow and ice which is attributed to purely natural causes.” BERARDIS v. LOUANGXAY et al 969 A.2d 1288 (2009) Nonetheless , the RI Supreme Court determined that “The landlord or inviter, however, must be afforded a reasonable time after the storm has ceased to remove the accumulation. ”Id.
Post accident interest
Post-accident interest in RI is 12 percent which is automatically tacked on any judgment or verdict.
Providence County RI includes: the following cities and town in RI: Burrillville Pascoag Central Falls Cranston Cumberland East Providence Johnston Lincoln North Providence North Smithfield Pawtucket Providence Scituate Smithfield Woonsocket
The Insurance Company’s goal is to give you as little compensation as possible for your RI personal injury claim. Insurance adjusters will attempt to delay processing your claim. They will search for inconsistencies in your medical records and your description of the Rhode Island auto accident. Rhode Island Personal injury Attorney, David Slepkow has 15 years of experience negotiating with the Insurance Company to get you the best Personal injury Settlement.
Here are some tips to get the best RI Accident Settlement:
1) Some RI Car Accident Attorneys are too afraid to file a lawsuit to get you the compensation you deserve. Rhode Island Personal injury Attorney, David Slepkow 401-437-1100 will file a lawsuit if necessary in order to get you the best RI Car Crash settlement. A Lawsuit costs the Insurance Company more money to resolve your claim. In many cases the Insurance Company would rather increase the personal injury or slip and fall settlement offer then pay a big legal fee to their RI Lawyers.
2) The insurance company will not pay you for time periods when you are not receiving medical treatment. According to insurance a Do not djusters, if you are not treating you’re not hurting. Do not have unnecessary medical treatment. However, follow your doctor, chiropractor and medical provider’s advice. Get all the medical treatment that you need!
3) Do not provide blanket signed medical releases to the Insurance Company. Your Rhode Island Automobile Accident Lawyer will collect your medical records and send them to the Insurance adjuster.
4) Do not post any information, pictures or videos on your Facebook, Twitter or other social media feed which do not support your claim that you are injured or disabled. If you are claiming you are unable to work as a result of a construction accident in Rhode Island, pictures of you running a half marathon will not help your injury cause of action.
Rhode Island Negligence and Personal Injury cases are almost never filed in Rhode Island District Court. RI District Court has exclusive Jurisdiction when the amount in controversy is $5000 or less.
Concurrent Jurisdiction
The RI District Court has concurrent Jurisdiction with Superior Court for matters between $5,000 and $10,000. There are several important reasons why Rhode Island Car Accident Lawyers rarely file accident cases in district Court:
De Novo appeal
1) A Rhode Island District Court case can be appealed De Novo to the Rhode Island Superior Court. This means that if a timely appeal is filed in District Court the case will start all over again in Rhode Island Superior Court. “De Novo” means “of new”. Therefore, whatever happened in District Court will have no prejudicial effect on the Rhode Island Superior Court case. Many Rhode Island Lawyers believe it is a waste of time and resources to litigate a case that can be so easily appealed.
Damages exceeding $10,000
2) Most RI Personal injury cases have damages exceeding $10,000 and therefore it makes no sense pursuing the matter in Rhode Island District Court. RI Accident Lawyers do not want to concede at the start of the case that their Premises Liability or other personal injury case is worth under $10,0000.
A Rhode Island Personal injury may be eligible to be filed in Federal court if the strict jurisdictional requirements of Federal Court are met. Rhode Island personal injury and vehicle crash Lawyer David Slepkow has authored hundreds of posts and articles concerning Motor Vehicle Accident Laws. These post are in depth and informative. Some of the best RI car Accident and Negligence Posts can be found below:
“The most common types of personal injury claims are road traffic accidents, accidents at work, tripping accidents, assault claims, accidents in the home, on a cruise ship, product defect accidents (product liability) and holiday accidents. The term personal injury also incorporates medical and dental accidents (which lead to numerous medical negligence claims every year) and conditions that are often classified as industrial disease cases, including asbestosis and peritoneal mesothelioma, chest diseases (e.g., emphysema, pneumoconiosis, silicosis, chronic bronchitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic obstructive airways disease), vibration white finger, occupational deafness, occupational stress, contact dermatitis, and repetitive strain injury cases. Depending upon the intent or negligence of a responsible party, the injured party may be entitled to monetary compensation from that party through a settlement or a judgment. In the United States, this system is complex and controversial, with critics calling for various forms of tort reform. Attorneys often represent clients on a “contingent fee basis” in which the attorney’s fee is a percentage of the plaintiff’s eventual compensation, payable when the case is resolved, with no payment necessary if the case is unsuccessful. Typically, a Plaintiff attorney charges 1/3 of the proceeds recovered if a case is settled out of court or 40 percent if the matter proceeds to trial. These sums are negotiable before hiring an attorney. Legal aid from the government may not be available; for example it was largely abolished in England in the late 1990s and replaced with arrangements whereby the client would be charged no fee if her or his case was unsuccessful.[2]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_injury
Legal Notice per Rules of Professional Responsibility: The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers and attorneys in the general practice of law, but does not license or certify any lawyer / attorney as an expert or specialist in any field of practice. While this firm maintains joint responsibility, most cases of this type are referred to other attorneys for principle responsibility.