What situation can lead to a Personal Injury case?

Types of Delaware Personal Injury Claims We Handle:

Car Accidents – When you experience severe injuries in a crash due to another driver, you can face a future of great uncertainty. In addition to your painful injuries, you feel stress regarding your finances due to time away from work.

Bus or Truck Accidents –  A competent truck accident lawyer has an obligation to be familiar with Federal trucking laws, including hours of service. Hours of service govern how long a driver can operate a semi-truck in one continuous shift, how many hours they can log in per week, and how often they are required to take breaks.

Further, accidents involving a semi-truck are expensive. Therefore, we always retain an expert witness immediately to obtain the black box and download the data. Additionally, it is necessary for our expert witness to see and inspect the truck before it is allowed to be fixed. 

Bicycle Accidents – involving a car, truck, or SUV and a bike can cause severe injuries due to the lack of protection that a bicycle offers its operator.

Slip and Falls – also called trip and fall accidents.

These are noted as the most complex cases. The lawyer must conduct a thorough investigation, the majority usually do not resolve without going to court.

Pedestrian Accident – The Law Office of Mary Higgins, LLC has seen firsthand the devastating effects that a pedestrian accident can have on a Delaware citizen. These collisions with pedestrians can cause life-threatening injuries, leading to immense physical pain and financial ruin from expensive medical bills, lost earning potential, and lifelong disabilities. We have worked closely with victims to help them recover damages caused by severe injuries caused by motor vehicle collisions so that they can get their lives back on track. We can help you file a pedestrian accident claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company and, if necessary, take the at-fault party to court to obtain the compensation you deserve after your pedestrian accident. 

Motorcycle Accidents – Many lawyers sit on a Harley Davidson and call themselves motorcycle accident attorneys. Don’t be fooled by advertising. What matters is the competence and experience of your attorney and their firm handling motorcycle accidents. Our Delaware personal injury attorneys have successfully handled motorcycle accident cases. We have empathy for the bias bikers face from insurance adjusters in general.

An injured rider is at the mercy of their lawyer to seek compensation from the negligent party.  We will investigate the scene, your motorcycle, and the other vehicle as soon as possible.

It is common to retain a vocational rehab specialist if needed to demonstrate how the motorcycle accident will impact the rider’s ability to maintain their job or obtain new employment in the future.

Using these specialists is vital in showing the opposing party how detrimental the accident was to the victim’s life. Healing from a motorcycle accident is not a straight and easy road, and many different factors can play into the process. A Delaware personal injury lawyer can help you navigate these challenging times.

Wrongful Death – Delaware governs the pecking order of which family members can make a recovery in the event of the wrongful death of a loved one. We handle wrongful death lawsuits and claims throughout our state.

Workplace Accidents – The Law Office of Mary Higgins, LLC routinely represents, victims of workplace accidents throughout Delaware.  Workers’ compensation is a benefit for many injured employees whose injuries occurred during work. Workers’ compensation law determines who the injured worker can recoup money from and how much the individual is paid. Some of the benefits available include temporary total disability, permanent partial disability, permanent total disability, job re-training, the payment of medical bills, and death benefits if the employee dies from a job-related injury. 

We have experience representing workers who have sustained the following types of injuries:

• Repetitive motion and trauma, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
• Amputation
• Back and neck injuries 
• Shoulder injury
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Traumatic brain injuries 
• Chemical burns
• Eye injuries 
• Burn injuries

Spinal Cord Injuries – overlap with car accidents, motorcycle wrecks, semi-truck collisions, slip and falls, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian injury claims. Over 50 percent of all negligence claims at our firm involve injuries to the spine, including, but not limited to, herniated discs, extruded disc fragments, vertebral injuries, and spinal cord injuries. 

• We are familiar with the best spine surgeons who testify well in court to serve as patient advocates.

Nursing Home Abuse – Sadly, the abuse sustained by our elderly clients is often the work of employees and even residents of the nursing home or assisted living facility (ALF).

We handle the following types of nursing home claims and lawsuits:

• Negligent retention and hiring of employees
• Understaffing
• Inadequate training
• Medication errors
• Breach of statutory rights of residents

Ride-Share Accidents – It doesn’t matter if you’re the passenger, the driver, or the other motor vehicle involved in an accident involving a ridesharing company like Uber or Lyft. Some certain rights and concerns are essential to the insurance and claims process.

Even if you do not see the situation that caused your injuries reflected on this list, you may want to contact a personal injury law firm if you believe another party was responsible. 

Premises Liability – When someone goes on another person’s property, it is reasonable for them to expect not to get injured. Property owners, or non-owner residents, are held responsible for maintaining a relatively safe environment.

The body of law dealing with such lawsuits is called “premises liability.” The legal theory of premises liability is that property owners and residents are liable for accidents or injuries on their property.

The types of injuries that lead to premises liability claims can vary.

Here are a few conditions that can give rise to a premises liability claim:

• Broken or uneven sidewalks
• Inadequate outside or inside lighting
• Obstructions on stairways or in aisles
• Spilled water or other slippery conditions on floors
• Debris or other objects in corridors, sidewalks, or other passageways
• Broken or missing handrails on stairways
• Uneven steps or defectively built stairways
• Poorly lit entryways or stairwells
• Dangerously or negligently displayed merchandise

In these “premises liability” suits, the injured person seeks to prove that their injuries were caused by the property owner’s failure to make their property safe.

Generally, to succeed, one must prove the following:

• The property owner knew or should have known of the dangerous condition.
• The property owner failed to repair and give a warning of the hazardous condition.
• Plaintiff was injured on the property by the dangerous condition.

In most cases, if a property owner did not know, or had no reason to know, of conditions on their property, then they cannot be held responsible for injuries caused by those conditions.

Be aware that people entering another person’s property must show reasonable care for their safety. One of the most used roadblocks to a property owner’s liability is the argument that the injured party, or Plaintiff, was partially at fault for the injury that took place.

Visitors, in most circumstances, have a duty to exercise reasonable care for their safety. Most states, such as Delaware, adhere to a “comparative fault” system in personal injury cases. A Plaintiff’s legal damages, or what they are compensated, can be reduced by a percentage that equals their fault for the injury.

For many years, people injured through no fault of their own and the families of those injured in tragic, avoidable accidents because of someone else’s carelessness have come to The Law Office of Mary Higgins LLC because we know how to recover compensation and hold the negligent accountable. Learn more about the most common injuries here. 

Personal injury lawyers work on a contingent fee basis. That means they are paid not by the time they invest in the case but by the ultimate result. Learn more here.

It’s challenging to determine what your claim is worth when you first open a case. Learn more here about what you claim is worth.

Your case may be in litigation if the insurance company believes you and your attorney are asking for more money than they think they should pay, or they believe their client is not at fault, or you are at least partially at fault. Learn more here.

No legal fee is owed in the event of an adverse result. Learn more here. 

Don’t sabotage your claim. Remain wary about what you say to others about the accident. Learn more about what not to do now.