NEGLIGENCE AND HOW IT AFFECTS ME? 

Within the vast topic of personal injury, we have the complex area of tort called Negligence.  Negligence complexity is due in part by its elements and how the law broadly interprets its elements.  There is no bright line rule, but rather a set of elements with broad factors as guidelines.  However, usually the interpretation of Negligence’s elements is composed of probabilities, legal reasoning coupled with previous case laws, and case-by-case fact analysis.   For most people, the issue only emerges when someone’s carelessness caused injuries to his/her person or our loved ones.  

 WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE? 

Negligence occurs when person A has a duty to exercise reasonable care towards person B, but failed to exercise that reasonable care and resulted in causing foreseeable and actual harm to person B.  The essential elements are as follow:

1.      Duty of Care by person A 

2.      Breach of Duty of care by person A (recklessness, unreasonable conduct, carelessness) 

3.      Causation of injury to person B by person A’s breach of duty 

4.      Damages- injuries or actual harm to person B by person A

WHAT TYPE OF INJURIES CAN FALL UNDER NEGLIGENCE CLAIM? 

·         Car accidents, commercial truck accidents, 18-wheeler accidents, and etc. 

o   THE OTHER DRIVER HITS MY CAR, WHAT SHOULD I DO? 

§  Call 911 to seek medical attention immediately if you suffer from injuries as a result of the accident. 

§  Wait for the ambulance and the police to arrive so you can make a police report if possible. 

§  Make sure to get the other driver’s car insurance, legal name, license plate number, and driver’s license numbers. 

§  Take pictures from different angle of your car and take pictures of the other driver’s car from different angle. 

§  Look around to see if there is any witness who saw the accident and ask for his/her name and contact information. 

§  Keep the copy of the incident report 

§  Request for a crash report, if you do not know how then call our office so we help get a certified crash report. 

·         Slip and fall at a place of business where you are an invitee of the place, slip and fall in front of an apartment that you are a tenant or you are invitee to that apartment, slip and fall in front of a parking lot where you are an invitee to that place, etc. 

o   I WAS BADLY INJURED AND THE OWNER OF THE PLACE REFUSED TO PAY MY MEDICAL BILLS, WHAT SHOULD I DO? 

§  Call 911 to seek medical attention immediately if you suffer from injuries as a result of the accident. 

§  Wait for the ambulance and the police to arrive to make a report if possible. 

§  Seek medical treatment 

§  Request for a police report, if you do not know how then call our office so we can assist in getting you a certified police report. 

§  Take pictures of your bodily injuries 

§  Save all your bills and medical records. 

§  Call our office for a free consultation so we can give you an assessment of your case. 

·         Medical malpractice, which caused severe injuries to your person or caused a death of a loved one. 

o   AFTER RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT, MY CONDITION DETERIORATED AND I WAS BADLY INJURED AS A RESULT OF IT, WHAT SHOULD I DO? 

§  Save your medical bills and medical records for all treatment regarding your injuries. 

§  Call our office for a free consultation so we can give you an assessment of your case. 

§  Examples of medical malpractice cases include but not limited to the following: 

·         Death or permanent disability from labor/delivery/post-delivery 

·         Lack of informed consent 

·         Death from a fall 

·         Surgery performed on wrong body part 

·         Advanced skin ulcers 

·         Improper diagnosis 

·         Medical instruments, sponges, needles, or other foreign objects left in patient after surgery 

·         Failure of hospital to supervise its employees 

·         Medication errors 

·         Death/disability from failure to properly monitor a patient after surgery 

·         Failure to advise of diagnosis 

·         Errors in prenatal diagnostic and genetic testing 

·         Sexual assault on a patient 

·         Death after induction of anesthesia for surgery     

·         Product malfunction that caused severe injuries to your person or caused the death of a loved one. 

o   A PRODUCT MALFUNCTIONED AND CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE TO ME, WHAT SHOULD I DO? 

§  Save your medical bills and medical records for all treatment regarding your injuries. 

§  Call our office for a free consultation so we can give you an assessment of your case. 

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE A CASE OF NEGLIGENCE? 

·         If you or your loved ones have been hurt in an accident and you are not at fault.  These accident including but not limited to car accident, truck accident, 18-wheeler accident, slip and fall, or medical malpractice.  The person or entity responsible for the accident is unwilling to compensate you or your loved ones for the injuries then you might have a negligence claim. 

SHOULD I WAIT UNTIL I FINISHED MEDICAL TREATMENT PRIOR TO HIRING AN ATTORNEY? 

·         NO, you must consult with an attorney right away after you are injured because by the time you finished your medical treatments the statute of limitation may have expired and you are no longer able to pursue any type of claims against any entity or person that is at fault in causing you the accident. 

CAR ACCIDENTS: 

·         CAN I BE LIABLE FOR MY CHILD’S CAR ACCIDENT? 

o   If your child was driving your motor vehicle or the driver was your family member then you may be putting yourself at risk to potential liability if/when your child or family member gets into a car accident where he/she is at fault.   

o   Under Negligent Entrustment, a motor vehicle’s owner can be liable for the act of another driver of the same vehicle if that driver is at fault in a car accident.   

o   A person is not liable for negligent entrustment of a motor vehicle to another person UNLESS he knows or should know that the other driver is unlicensed, incompetent, or reckless.  Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Mayes, 236 S.W.3d 754, 758 (Tex. 2007).  

o   Under vicarious liability principal, a motor vehicle owner can be vicariously liable for the negligence of the driver when he lends his vehicle to that driver and that person is at fault in a car accident.  

o   Please note, every situation or circumstances are different and without proper consultation on the facts and details of a situation, it can be difficult to assess liability or vicarious liability or negligent entrustment.