If you have been involved in a bicycle accident in Massachusetts, who is going to pay for the medical bills that you incur following the accident? And what about lost wages? In Massachusetts there is PIP (Personal Injury Protection), or no-fault benefits, for those injured in motor vehicle accidents. PIP requires your insurance company to […]

There is now much discussion in the Commonwealth about how best to reduce the number of fatal automobile accidents that have recently occurred in Massachusetts. One solution, posed by the Legislature, is to raise the minimum driving age to 17 1/2. As I have mentioned on prior posts, I think this is a good idea. […]

Personal injury law is grounded in two main principles: liability and damages. But what are damages? I found the following on the Cornell Law School website: Damages, in a legal sense, is the sum of money the law imposes for a breach of some duty or violation of some right. Generally, there are two types of damages : compensatory […]

If you have a personal injury claim, whether or not you have an attorney representing you in the claim, there is going to be an insurance adjuster ultimately deciding whether or not, and to what extent, you will be compensated for your injuries. Today I was negotiating with an adjuster over an automobile accident that […]

There is no magic formula to settle a personal injury claim. Each case is different and the science of settling personal injury cases is anything but. It is an oftentimes arbitrary game that often yields unpredictable results. However, there are certain immutable and predictable principles of personal injury settlements. One of those is that the more […]

If you have been involved in an accident and you have a personal injury attorney handling your claim for you, he/she is going to need you to sign a HIPPA form. Of course, you have the right to obtain your medical records from the providers that treated you for your injuries.  But, if a third party […]

Massachusetts personal injury claims are oftentimes mediated when settlement of the claim has proved elusive. This is because of the flexibility that mediaton affords. For example, mediation is non-binding. The mediator has no authority to mandate any particular disposition of the mediation. All the mediator can due is create an informal arena that encourages discussion between […]

I found on the Georgia Personal Injury Blog a reference to a New York Times article that reveals an alarming trend. According to the Times’ article, doctors are failing to accurately diagnose medical problems. The article explains how since the 1930’s doctors, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, have been failing to properly diagnose […]

I found an interesting post on the New Hampshire Law Blog regarding a Colorado teenager who has been charged with a misdemeanor for operating his automobile while sending a text message. While he was sending a text message through his cell phone, the 17 year old hit a cyclist who died as a result of […]

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer yesterday reported on a Columbus, Ohio woman who received a jury verdict against a department store stemming from an unlawful arrest. The woman, Patricia Gail Jackson, on May 21, 2003 purchased a pair of shorts at the store. After leaving the store and while approaching her car, two plain-clothes security officers employed […]