Slusky & Walt

abe

How Is the Worth of a Personal Injury Claim Calculated?

by Leave a Comment

How Is the Worth of a Personal Injury Claim Calculated?

If you have been injured in a personal injury accident you are likely suffering both physical and emotional injuries as well as financial hardship as a result of the accident. If another party caused, or contributed to, the accident you could be entitled to compensation for the injuries you have suffered. Understandably, you may wish to know how the worth of a personal injury claim is calculated. Although a universal formula for calculating the worth of a claim does not exist, there are some common factors used when determining the value of a personal injury claim. A better understanding of those factors may provide some insight into your claim.

In a personal injury accident, the victim often suffers actual physical injuries as well as emotional trauma. With this in mind, the law allows a victim to pursue both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are easily quantifiable and include things such as the cost of repairs to your vehicle or other personal property, medical bills, and lost wages. Economic damages are out of pocket expenses and are, therefore, fairly easy to calculate. Although the defendant could bicker over the amount of a bill, at least you  will have actual proof of the economic damages you incurred as a result of the defendant’s negligence.

Non-economic damages are what most people refer to as “pain and suffering” and are intended to compensate a victim for the emotional trauma the defendant’s negligence caused. Non-economic damages are much harder to quantify because you do not have bills or statements showing the value of the non-economic portion of a claim. When evaluating the non-economic portion of a claim, the following factors may be considered:

  • Type of physical injuries
  • Extent of the physical injuries
  • Number of physical injuries
  • Age of victim
  • Victim’s career and/or education
  • Health of victim prior to the accident
  • Disfiguration, scarring, permanent damage
  • Future prognosis

Along with determining the value or your economic and non-economic damages, any fault on your part must also be factored into the value of the claim. If you were 10 percent at fault, for example, the value of your claim must be adjusted accordingly. Imagine that your claim was worth $50,000 but you were 10 percent at fault. Your claim would then only be worth $45,000 ($50,000 – $5,000 (0.10 percent) = $45.000).

Each personal injury accident claim includes a unique set of facts and circumstances. Only an experienced Michigan personal injury attorney can evaluate the facts and circumstances of your case and determine what the case may be worth. Ultimately, the decision to accept a settlement or not is yours alone to make; however, having an experienced personal injury attorney on your side ensures that your interests are protected throughout the lawsuit.

Can You Get Disability Benefits If You Haven’t Worked for Several Years?

by Leave a Comment

 

Can You Get Disability Benefits If You Haven’t Worked for Several Years?

If you are suffering from a disability that prevents you from working you could be entitled to disability benefits through either the Social Security Disability Insurance program or the Supplemental Security Income program (SSDI or SSI). Qualifying for either the SSDI or the SSI can provide you and your family with much needed monetary compensation. If you have not worked recently you may be concerned that this will prevent you from qualifying for benefits.  The good news is that you can get disability benefits if you haven’t worked for several years as long as you meet all of the program requirements.

Both SSDI and SSI provide monthly benefits to eligible participants. Both programs are also administered by the Social Security Administration, or SSA. As such, the definition of “disabled” is also the same for both programs. To be considered for SSDI or SSI it must be determined that:

  • You cannot do work that you did before;
  • You cannot adjust to other work because of your medical condition(s); and
  • Your disability has lasted or is expected to last for at least one year or to result in death.

Your work history is not considered for SSI. Eligibility for SSI benefits is based entirely on your status as disabled and on your income. As long as you meet the SSA definition of disabled and your monthly income is below the current limit for SSI you should qualify for benefits.

Your work history does play a role in your eligibility for SSDI; however, you may still qualify even if you have not worked for the last several years. To be eligible for SSDI you must first be considered disabled and then you must meet the “work credits” requirement. Work credits are earned during the course of your lifetime as you earn wages. One credit can be earned each quarter if you meet the earnings requirement ($1200 as of 2014). Your age at the time you apply for SSDI determines how many work credits you need to qualify. Most people will need 40 credits, 20 of which must have been earned in the last ten years. Therefore, it is possible to qualify even if you have not worked in the last few years; however, if your unemployment status has gone on for too long it could impact your eligibility for SSDI.

If you have specific questions about the SSDI or SSI program, contact an experienced Michigan SSDI and SSI attorney.

How Long Does It Take to Get Social Security Disability Insurance Approved?

by Leave a Comment

How Long Does It Take to Get Social Security Disability Insurance Approved?

If you are suffering from an illness, condition, or injury that prevents you from working you could be entitled to Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI. If you are approved for SSDI you (and your dependents in some cases) will receive a monthly monetary benefit. While the SSDI program provides much needed benefits to disabled individuals and their families, getting an application approved can be a complex and lengthy process. Getting Social Security Disability Insurance approved can take anywhere from several months to several years, depending on many factors.

The SSDI program is a federally funded and program that is administered by the Social Security Administration, or SSA. Although the programs are similar, it is important to distinguish SSDI from the Supplemental Security Income program, or SSI.  Both the SSI and the SSDI program use the SSA definition of disabled which requires you to be unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically-determinable physical or mental impairment(s):

  • That is expected to result in death OR
  • That has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.

The primary difference between the programs is that eligibility for SSDI is based on your past work history whereas SSI eligibility is determined by your income and assets.

Unfortunately, statistically speaking you only have a one in three chance of getting your application for SSDI approved at the initial application level. Furthermore, it typically takes a minimum of three to four months to receive an initial determination from the SSA.  It is far from uncommon for an application to take over six months to be evaluated and a decision made as to eligibility. The good news is that is that of you application if approved you will receive retroactive benefits from the date of your application. You may even qualify for benefits for the time pre-dating your application date. Of course, those benefits don’t do you any good while you are waiting for the application to be processed and have no source of income due to your disability. Worse still, if your initial application is denied it could ultimately take over a year to get your application approved through the appeal process.

If you believe that you qualify for SSDI, consulting with an experienced Michigan SSDI attorney before you begin the application process will ensure that  the application is properly filled out, thereby increasing your odds of getting the application approved without the need to appeal a denial.

 

How Much Compensation Are You Likely to Receive from Your Personal Injury Lawsuit?

by Leave a Comment

How Much Compensation Are You Likely to Receive from Your Personal Injury Lawsuit?

For victims of a personal injury accident, the first concern is medical treatment for the physical injuries received in the accident. Eventually, however, a victim will start to wonder what those injuries are worth if someone else’s negligence caused, or contributed to, the accident. Because each personal injury accident involves a unique set of facts and circumstances, only an experienced Michigan personal injury attorney can provide you with an accurate estimate of the value of your case; however, a better understanding of the factors that typically impact how much compensation is reasonable to expect from your personal injury case may be beneficial in the meantime.

 

  • Negligence – negligence is the legal term used to refer to fault or blame. In Michigan, it is not necessary for a party to be completely at fault in an accident to be liable for damages. Michigan uses a comparative negligence standard, meaning that a party is responsible to the degree the party was negligent. For example, if you were 20 percent responsible for the accident, the other party would be 80 percent responsible, assuming only two parties were involved. Therefore, the other party would be liable for 80 percent of the total damages. If your total damages amount to $50,000, the other party would be liable for $40,000 ($50,000 x 0.80 = $40,000).
  • Physical injuries – the extent and severity of your physical injuries is a major factor in determining the value of your case. If you suffered a spinal cord injury, for instance, you will likely receive a much higher settlement or award than if your only physical injury was a broken arm.
  • Emotional trauma – in legal terms, “non-economic injuries” refers to what most people know as “pain and suffering”. The value of your non-economic damages is harder to calculate because it is subjective. Things such as your age, health prior to the accident, family and work life, and the existence or absence of disfiguring injuries, scars, or permanent injuries will all impact the value of your non-economic damages.
  • Liability limits – the reality is that the policy limit of the negligent party’s liability insurance is often a factor when negotiating a settlement. Though you can pursue payment from the negligent party personally if the value of the damages exceeds the liability insurance limit, if the difference isn’t significant it is often better to simply reach an agreement for a settlement that is within the policy limits.
  • Punitive damages – punitive damages are only available of the negligent party’s conduct was particularly egregious; however, if punitive damages do apply, the overall value of your case can increase dramatically.

 

If you have been injured in a Michigan personal injury accident, it is in your best interests to contact an experienced Michigan personal injury attorney as soon as possible to determine what legal option you have as well as to obtain an estimate of the value of your case.

To learn more, please download our free Personal Injury Accident in Michigan  here.

What Is Informed Consent in Michigan?

by Leave a Comment

What Is Informed Consent in Michigan?

When you seek treatment from a doctor or other healthcare provider you likely have to sign a seemingly endless number of forms before the provider will move forward with your treatment. If you are like most people, you pay very little attention to what the forms actually say. Furthermore, few providers take the time to explain the forms in detail or to ask if you have any questions or concerns relating to the forms. This is unfortunate as one of the forms may be an “informed consent”. As a patient, “informed consent” is intended to protect you by ensuring that you fully understanding any medical treatment or procedure undertaken and, specifically, that you understand the risks involved. If a treatment provider fails to obtain your informed consent, and you are injured or become ill as a result of the procedure or treatment, the provider may be liable for those injuries.

Informed consent is a legal concept applied to medicine that is intended to ensure that individuals do not undergo treatment, procedures, or surgery without being fully informed so the patient can make a choice to accept or decline the proposed treatment, procedure, or surgery. For a patient to have given his or her informed consent, the law typically looks at whether the following elements were discussed with the patient prior to giving that consent:

  • The nature of the decision/procedure
  • Reasonable alternatives to the proposed intervention
  • The relevant risks, benefits, and uncertainties related to each alternative
  • Assessment of patient understanding
  • The acceptance of the intervention by the patient

A patient’s consent to treatment of any kind is only considered valid, in the eyes of the law, if the patient gave his or her informed consent to the treatment. The extent to which a doctor is required to discuss the treatment with the patient for informed consent to be given is very fact specific; however, simply handing a patient a stack of forms and telling the patient to sign them is not likely to qualify as informed consent.

If you believe you are the victim of a medical error, and you also feel that you did not give your informed consent to the treatment that resulted in the medical error, you may have the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Because each case is unique, it is imperative that you consult with the experienced attorneys at Slusky & Walt, P.C. as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.

Is the Award for Damages Limited to Physical Injuries?

by Leave a Comment

Is the Award for Damages Limited to Physical Injuries?

 

As the victim of a personal injury accident you have likely suffered from emotional trauma along with the physical injuries the accident caused. As such, you may wonder if the award for damages is limited to physical injuries assuming you are successful in a personal injury lawsuit for damages in Michigan. Whether or not your damage award is limited to physical injuries depends on the type of accident in which you were injured and the severity of the injuries you received.

Although you likely envision a car accident when the term “personal injury lawsuit” is mentioned, there are a wide variety of other injury accident scenarios that could provide the basis for a personal injury lawsuit in Michigan, including, but not limited to:

 

  • Slip and fall injuries
  • Premises liability injuries
  • Dog bite injuries
  • Product liability injuries
  • Aviation and boating accidents

 

The type of accident that caused your injuries is relevant because the State of Michigan is a no-fault insurance state with regard to car insurance. What this means is that when you are injured in a car accident in Michigan your own insurance provider is responsible for covering the costs associated with treatment for physical injuries and replacement of lost wages if the accident was not serious. In order to pursue a traditional personal injury lawsuit, and therefore receive damages for pain and suffering, your injuries must have been serious enough to exceed the no-fault insurance threshold. Only an experienced Michigan car accident attorney can review the facts of your accident and advise you whether or not you exceed the threshold.

For other types of personal injury accidents, a victim may pursue a traditional personal injury lawsuit without having to surmount any obstacles first. In a traditional personal injury lawsuit a victim may be entitled to both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are out of pocket expenses such as property damages, medical bills, and lost wages. Non-economic damages are what people usually refer to as “pain and suffering” damages. The value of the non-economic damages portion of an award or settlement will depend on a number of factors and is much more subjective in nature than your economic damages are.

To ensure that you are fully and fairly compensated for all the injuries you suffered in a Michigan personal injury accident, consult with the experienced attorneys at Slusky & Walt, P.C.

Am I Entitled to Make a Personal Injury Claim?

by Leave a Comment

Personal injury accidents occur all the time under a wide variety of circumstances. Although most people envision a car accident when they hear the term “personal injury accident”, there are actually a number of other common types of accidents and injuries that fall under the purview of personal injury accidents. Only an experienced Michigan personal injury accident attorney can review the specific details of your accident and tell you if you can make a personal injury claim; however, a basic understanding of personal injury law may help you decide if you should consult an attorney.

Personal injury law is part of the larger area of the law known as “torts”. “Torts” addresses injuries to people or property. Within the area of personal injury you will find car accidents along with other types of accidents including, but not limited to:

 

  • Slip and fall accidents
  • Dog bite accidents
  • Pedestrian accidents
  • Aviation accidents
  • Workplace accidents
  • Trucking accidents

To make a valid personal injury claim you must prove that the defendant’s wrongful conduct caused your injuries. Wrongful conduct can be the result of intentional or negligent conduct or can be based on strict liability.

Intentional conduct, as the name implies, occurs when the defendant intended to injure you. For example, if you were an innocent bystander in a bar when a fight broke out and the defendant physically assaulted you that conduct could qualify as intentional conduct. While the defendant might also be charged with a criminal offense, you could file a civil personal injury lawsuit against the defendant for compensation based on the injuries you suffered.

Strict liability is a product of statute. Many states, for example, have laws that make the owner of a dog strictly liable for injuries caused if the dog bites someone. When a defendant is strictly liable it does not matter what the defendant’s state of mind was nor does it matter if the defendant took steps to try and prevent the harm. All that matters is that the harm occurred and the defendant is responsible.

Most personal injury claims are based on negligence. Negligence requires the defendant to have owed you a legal duty of care first. The defendant must then have breached that duty of care, causing you to be injured. A motorist driving on a public road, for instance, owes a duty of care to everyone else on the roadway. If the defendant is texting while driving, he has breached that duty of care. If that breach causes an accident and you are injured in the accident, you may be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit for compensation.

Consult with an experienced Michigan personal injury attorney to determine if your specific situation qualifies as a valid personal injury lawsuit case.

What Kind of Mistakes Are Medical Malpractice?

by Leave a Comment

When you visit a doctor or other healthcare professional it is usually for the purpose of treating an injury or illness or for a general check-up to prevent illness. Unfortunately, sometimes a healthcare professional actually causes an injury or illness instead of treating or preventing one. In fact, medical errors occur far for frequently in the United States than most people realize. If a medical error rises to the level of medical malpractice, the victim could be entitled to compensation for the injuries caused by the medical error.

Only an experienced Michigan medical malpractice attorney can review the unique facts and circumstances of your situation and offer an opinion as to whether or not you have a valid medical malpractice lawsuit; however, it may be helpful in the meantime to review some of the more common medical errors that lead to a compensable medical malpractice lawsuit.

To learn more, please download our free Michigan Medical Malpractice – The Basics report.

  • Surgical errors – a surgical error can include things such as operating on the wrong person, operating on the wrong body part, delaying surgery without good cause, or leaving a foreign object inside the operation site.
  • Diagnoses errors – these types of errors usually include situations where a doctor diagnoses the patient with the wrong condition or illness or fails to diagnose the patient when the patient should have been diagnosed.
  • Prescription errors – a prescription may include prescribing the wrong medication, filling the prescription with the wrong type of medication or filling the prescription with the wrong dosage of medication, or failing to recognize dangerous drug interactions when prescribing medication or filling a prescription.
  • Anesthesia errors – these errors can occur when a patient is given too little anesthesia or too much anesthesia. A patient can also have an adverse reaction to anesthesia if the healthcare provider fails to recognize an allergy to the anesthesia or an adverse interaction. A provider can also fail to properly monitor a patient while the patient is under anesthesia.
  • Treatment errors – this is a broad category bit can include situations where a doctor failed to follow-up, failed to refer a patient to a specialist or failed to order diagnostic tests. It can also apply when a hospital fails to treat a seriously injured or ill patient in the ER in time and the patient dies.

If you believe that you are the victim of a medical error, or that you are the surviving family member of someone who was killed as a result of a medical error, consult with an experienced Michigan medical malpractice attorney right away to discuss your legal options.

 

What Is Medical Malpractice?

by Leave a Comment

When you go to the doctor, emergency room, or other medical professional because you are injured or sick it is with the expectation that you will be healed. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Doctors are human and do make mistakes; however, some medical errors are actually more than a mistake – they are the result of negligence on the part of the doctor or other healthcare provider. When a healthcare provider’s negligence results in a medical error that causes harm to the patient, the patient may have the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Although the term “medical malpractice” does not have a single, universally accepted, definition, one commonly used definition is as follows:

“professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient”

Though we typically think of doctors when we contemplate the issue of medical malpractice, others in the healthcare industry can also commit medical malpractice, including hospitals, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, and nursing homes.

Not all mistakes made by a healthcare provider amount to medical malpractice. Medical malpractice can be the result of an act or an omission. If a doctor leaves a foreign object inside a surgical site during surgery, that act could form the basis of a medical malpractice claim. On the other hand, if a doctor fails to diagnose a serious medical condition, that omission could also be considered medical malpractice.

The other important element of a medical malpractice claim is the requirement that the act or omission “falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community.” In other words, would another doctor under the same circumstances have done something different? Would another healthcare provider, given the same set of facts and circumstances, have committed the same act or omission? The purpose is to judge a healthcare provider by standards used in the healthcare community. In a medical malpractice lawsuit it is usually necessary to find an expert witness – another doctor — who will testify that the care provided by the doctor/healthcare provider in your situation fell below the accepted standards.

If you believe that you were injured by a medical error that amounts to medical malpractice, or you lost a loved one as a result of medical malpractice, it is imperative that you consult with an experienced Michigan medical malpractice attorney right away. The law does allows the victim, or surviving family member, of medical malpractice to pursue compensation from the negligent healthcare provider; however, the law also limits the amount of time within which a medical malpractice lawsuit must be brought.

Slusky & Walt, P.C.

Attorneys at Law
248-559-9100

Southfield

17515 West Nine Mile Road, Suite 400 Southfield, MI 48075

Flint

G-4030 Corunna Road Flint, MI 48532

Saginaw

1024 N. Michigan Ave. Saginaw, MI 48602

Romulus

36830 Goddard Road Romulus, MI 48174

East Side Location

25501 Van Dyke Centerline, MI 48015

Office Hours

Monday-Friday:
8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Evening & Weekend
Appointments

1-800-ABE-HELPS

1-800-223-4357

1-248-559-9100
sluskyandwalt@gmail.com
© 2014 Slusky & Walt, PC.
All Rights Reserved. | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy