Birmingham Injury Blog

Depositions are a critical part of an Alabama injury lawsuit such as a car wreck or products liability type of case. Depositions are a part of discovery but are the only type where the party (plaintiff or defendant) is required to answer without help from their attorneys.

When?
Depositions take place after the lawsuit is filed and normally after written discovery has been exchanged. Normally both the plaintiff and defendant are deposed the same day in a car wreck case - bigger cases (truck wreck, product liability, medical malpractice, etc) typically involve longer depositions so the depositions will take place over a period of days.

Where?
Normally at either your lawyer's office or the other lawyer's office. Sometimes its just a matter of space (for example in our current office we have only one conference room - when we move at the end of June we will have multiple conference rooms) or other times its just a matter of convenience. Rarely will a deposition be taken outside of a lawyer's office - I took one in a judge's courtroom as the trucking company planned on objecting to every question so we wanted a judge close by....

How long?
Depositions in small car wreck cases normally only take a couple of hours. Other cases may take longer. Some lawyers and I were deposing an executive from Europe - we deposed him for an entire week. That's unusual though - normally a full day is about the longest for most cases.

What are the rules to make sure telling the truth?
We have covered this before so feel free to click on these links:
1. Make sure you hear the question;
2. Make sure you understand the question;
3. Think about what is the truthful answer; and
4. Only answer the question asked - no more.

Conclusion
Depositions are very important in an Alabama injury case. We have only focused on depositions of the parties and will cover other types of depositions in another post (doctors, etc) as well as more tips on how to take, defend, and give a deposition. We hope this has been helpful to you and feel free to contact us through our blog (to the left is the contact us form) or you can call us at 205-879-2447.

(Our next post in this series will focus on motions for summary judgment - where a party is trying to get the judge to go ahead and rule on some or all issues in the case rather than a jury deciding those issues).

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Litigation Process

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Many car wreck cases can be settled without having to file a lawsuit. Insurance companies have whole divisions of workers set up to process and resolve car wreck claims. Though you are trying to get as much money as you can for your claim, and they are trying to pay you as little as they can, you both typically have the same goal, resolving your claim without a lawsuit. For both sides, lawsuits bring added expense, added time and added uncertainty.

An insurance company looks at three main things in deciding whether to settle a claim. First, was their insured at fault? Even if they decide the first one in your favor, they will then look at the second issue - are the injuries you are claiming related to or caused by their insured? And finally, what is the value of those injuries? Obviously, someone with mild back pain has a claim that is worth much less to them than someone who has suffered a broken leg or who has had to have back surgery as a result of the wreck.

If you or your lawyer are not able to get the claim resolved, then a lawsuit will have to be filed. Once this happens, a typical case in Alabama state courts is not set for trial, until at least 9 months to a year after being filed. Oftentimes, most cases will not be tried at the first setting, either due to other cases being set before them, or difficulty for both sides in having the case ready for a jury trial.

Filing the lawsuit.

In order to initiate a lawsuit, a “complaint” must be filed by the plaintiff. This filing sets forth the basic facts of what happened, identifies the court you are suing the defendant in, sets forth the legal theories of why the defendant is liable to you, sets forth your damages (how the defendant hurt you) and asks the court for relief, in other words, what you want a judge or jury to do to help you.

Defendants have thirty days in state court and twenty days in federal court to answer the allegation. They will typically ask for and be given an extension. Shortly after all of the defendants answer, the judge will enter a scheduling order setting out deadlines for the parties meet in preparing their case for trial and setting the trial.

Discovery

Discovery is the part of litigation where the lawyer and parties set about finding out what the other side’s position and evidence in support or in defense of the lawsuit will be at trial. Discovery is made basically of both sides asking each other questions about what happened and what they expect to tell the jury. These questions can be written (Interrogatories, which each side will have to answer in writing), oral (Depositions, where each party or witness is asked questions in front of a court reporter who records everything that is said during the deposition) and Requests for Documents, which are requests that require the other side to produce documents supporting their position at trial.

Dispositive Motions

At the end of discovery, a party may file a motion with the court, asking the judge to decide certain issues. In these motions, the parties can ask the court to decide certain legal or factual issues, which they believe are not in dispute. They may even ask the court to dismiss the case or throw it out of court for lack of evidence.

Trial

While most everyone knows what trials are, few people other than lawyers have a good understanding of what goes on at a trial. Few trials have what lawyers call, “the Perry Mason” moment, where one side breaks down crying on the stand and admits it was all their fault.

Each side presents their evidence and testimony before a judge and jury. This can take several days or several weeks for long complicated trials. The judge manages the trial and makes legal ruling on the evidence and law. At the end, the jury considers the evidence and rules in favor of either the plaintiff or the defendant in the form of a judgment.

Post Trial

If either side is not happy with the trial, they have the right, within the time limits set out by court rules, the ask the judge to vacate the judgment or to appeal the judgment. The appeals are also costly and can be very time consuming. Many appeals can take from six months to a year before the appellate court rules and the case is resolved.

Conclusion
We hope this little summary has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or want more information feel free to call us at 205-879-2447 or fill out the contact sheet on this blog to the left of this post.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Wreck

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The Utah Personal Injury Law Firm Blog has posted an article that gives a good idea of what to expect when dealing with insurance companies if you are involved in a car accident.

If an accident is caused by an uninsured (or underinsured) driver and you should file the claim with your insurance company. If that is included in your policy then insurance should pay for all repairs and damages. Everyone should have as much uninsured/underinsured coverage as possible as such a high percentage of drivers in Alabama don't carry insurance or don't carry enough. Talk to your agent about how cheap it is to have as much um/uim coverage as possible.

If your vehicle is decided to be a "total loss," meaning it would cost more to repair than get a new one, insurance should figure out the value of your car prior to the accident and reimburse you accordingly to buy a new car.

They determine the value of the car by finding comparable vehicles as close to your residence as possible. You do not have to accept their first offer and should be prepared to make a counter-demand by finding your own comparable vehicles.

After an accident your insurance premiums may rise. This is normal, especially if you are responsible for causing the accident. Some insurance companies raise rates if you are involved in more than one accident, even if you're not at fault.

As we always say, if you are injured make sure and seek appropriate medical treatment as soon as possible. If you have any questions call us at 205-879-2447 or send us a message through our blog by filling out the contact sheet on the left side of the screen.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Wreck

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The Chicago Personal Injury Blog has posted an article that discusses why an autopsy is a double-edged sword when dealing with an untimely death.

The article says that an autopsy can shed light onto the cause of a loved one's untimely death and can help the medical examiner fill in the blanks of what happened. Loved ones can also be comforted by autopsy results. Sometimes knowing what happened is a comfort and alleviates feelings of guilt they might have over not noticing symptoms.

In other cases, autopsies can determine whether someone died of a hereditary disease that may affect other family members and provide clues for the future health of the survivors.

However, autopsies are expensive and there's no guarantee one can answer all the questions surrounding a loved one's death. Autopsies can cost $3,000-$5,000, according to this article and still might not provide all the answers.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: General Case Tips

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U.S News has posted an article about a study that showed which states have the worst drivers. The National Drivers Test was given to 5,000 drivers from all 50 states. It "measures basic knowledge of driving laws."

New Jersey had the lowest score last year, but has since moved up to 49th place. New York takes last place making it (officially) the state with the worst drivers. Georgia, California and Hawaii are the rest of the bottom five.

In a press release, GMAC explains, "Results from the 2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test released today found that 20.1 percent of licensed Americans - amounting to roughly 41 million drivers on the road - would not pass a written drivers test exam if taken today." Most of us have trouble, according to the results, with "questions about yellow lights and safe following distances."

Idaho and Wisconsin tied for 1st place, followed by Montana, Kansas and South Dakota.

Alabama ranks exactly in the middle, tied with Nevada for 25th and 26th place.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Interesting News

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The Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article about a native Alabama trucker who caused a crash in Missouri that killed 3 people last July.

The driver, Jeffery Knight, reached to get his cell phone, flipped it open quickly and looked back up to see a car stopped in front of him without brake lights or flashers.

highway patrol report quotes Knight as saying, "I reached across the dash to get my cell phone. I flipped the phone open, looked back at traffic, and I was there right at the last car (in the line of cars stuck in traffic). I didn't see any brake lights or emergency flashers. After I hit the first car, I just remember holding the steering wheel and seeing cars going to my left and right."

He collided with a line of 10 cars stopped because of traffic, killing 3 and injuring 15. Knight, who previously had a clean driving record, was convicted on April 8 with 3 counts of second degree involuntary manslaughter

...which alleges that the deaths resulted from "criminal negligence." According to authorities, each count is punishable by up to four years in prison.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Truck Wreck

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The Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article about a May 14 school bus crash that happened in Montgomery, AL.

One school bus rear ended another school bus and created a chain reaction that ultimately involved two other vehicles and the buses. Injuries appear to have been minor, considering 15 students were on each bus.

According to police, three individuals were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries. Two Montgomery County Public School students and a third person from one of the passenger vehicles were transported by ambulance. The personal injuries included one student’s hand, while a second student suffered from injuries to the neck and shoulders. There was no immediate information on the third victim.

A police investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Wreck

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The Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article about the "myth" of huge settlements from medical malpractice lawsuits.

Expecting to receive millons of dollars in compensation, in most cases, isn't realistic.
According to the article, less than 10% of malpractice suits in Maine, Florida, Nevada, and Missouri had payouts of $1 million or more.

...multi-million dollar verdicts in these cases are not as prevalent as believed. Not only is the investigatory process expensive due to all of the medical records that need to be compiled and all of the expert witness testimony required, but more often than not, it takes years to get one of these cases to trial. Finally, once the case gets to trial, juries are many times very reluctant to award large damage amounts because they have heard all the erroneous stories about the huge jury awards in some cases.

The typical payout is $278,000-$350,000 for long-term and life-altering injuries or ailments. For "temporary or emotional injuries" the average payout is $5,000-$79,000. However, the article does warn that most medical malpractice suits end without the person seeking compensation receiving any.

Actually, only one in eight preventable medical errors committed in hospitals results in a malpractice claim and punitive damages are awarded in less than 1 percent of medical malpractice cases.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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The Chicago Personal Injury Blog has posted an article that discusses the use an Engine Control Module (ECM), or "black box", can play in determining the details of a truck wreck.

ECMs typically monitor engine performance, evidence of hard braking and clutch use, but some of the newer models can monitor things like driver fatigue and keep track of vehicles that may be in a driver's blind spot.

However, because not all trucks have the same type of information it is important to find out what sort of data is available. In order to determine whether or not a truck is equipped with an ECM, refer to the vehicle’s “line sheet” or “build sheets” which identify all the equipment on the tractor when it was delivered from its manufacturer.

To be useful, the ECM information must be accessed as soon as after the crash as possible so that

...the data found on the ECM can be used by experts to reconstruct the accident, the scene, and different versions of the trucking crash as given by the different drivers and witnesses.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Truck Wreck

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The Chicago Personal Injury Blog has posted an article about unqualified drivers obtaining licenses to drive trucks, buses, and other large vehicles.

Testing methods to get licenses to operate large vehicles vary in different states. Some states have more rigorous procedures than others. For example, Illinois is just 1 of 12 states that require the driver to test in the type of vehicle they will be operating.

The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (CMVSA) was designed to keep drivers from having a commercial license in more than one state. At least this would keep unqualified drivers confined to the state that their license was issued.

The CMVSA is also cracking down on the past practice among some unqualified drivers who had multiple licenses from different states to spread around their traffic convictions using different licenses from different states. A new system allows states to exchange information on traffic violations, making it easier to remove problem drivers from the road. In addition, truck drivers who violate the law are subject to tougher penalties.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Truck Wreck

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The Kentucky Injury Law Blog has posted an article about another case of nursing home mistreatment.

Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center received a Type A Citation, the most severe citation, because some of its employees were using their cell phones to take pictures of the residents without their consent. The pictures were then sent to other nursing home employees with sexual song lyrics attached. No one reported the incidents because it happened often and was not seen as a type of abuse.

Apparently, the nursing home ever directly told employees that kind of behavior was unacceptable...although certainly it should have been automatically understood. The nursing home also failed to enforce the rule that prohibited employees from carrying cell phones on residential floors.

The administrator for the nursing home said that the facility had conducted a complete investigation and a number of employees had been let go.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Nursing Home

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The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog has posted an article that discusses if courts should force doctors to admit malpractice to their patients.

University of Baltimore law professor Richard W. Bourne wrote an article published this year in the Arkansas Law Review articulating the theory that there should be an independent tort claim when a doctor destroys evidence or when a doctor fails to disclose to the patient that there has been a breach of the appropriate standard of care that causes injury. Professor Bourne would limit this tort to cases where (1) the wrong is serious, and (2) the failure to reveal is intentional.

Ironically, many times when doctors destroy documents to cover their own tracks, they come across as worse to the jury and therefore are more harshly treated than if they had just been honest in the first place.

...a lot of Maryland doctors who want to rid the medical profession of dishonest doctors would also support a tort to punish doctors who deliberately destroy evidence and/or do not reveal to the patient that serious medical malpractice has been committed.

Posted by John Watts & M. Stan Herring | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medical Malpractice

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