10 Things You Need to Know About Personal Injury Law

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personal-injury-law-new-yorkMany people wonder what is personal injury law after they or a loved one has experienced an injury or died because of the actions of another person. Before you hire an attorney for your personal injury case, you need to do a little digging and understand the law’s basic applications to ensure you’re making the right move under your circumstances.

The Cases

Personal injury attorneys help you get compensation for loss, pain and suffering caused by the actions of another party. These actions don’t have to be direct. For example, if you fall down broken stairs, the person who owns the structure may be liable because they failed to repair the stairs. You can also sue on behalf of a deceased family member.

The Compensation

Compensation depends on the circumstances of the case but may include money for medical bills, pain and suffering, current lost work wages, reduced or lost earning potential or funeral expenses. Awards may be higher in cases of extreme suffering and negligence. An experienced personal injury attorney will examine your case and determine what you can ask for in light of your situation.

The Fees

Personal attorney injury fees vary by lawyer but usually don’t involve upfront costs. The attorney gets a percentage of your award only if you win your case. In some locales, what is personal injury law becomes a relevant question, as your state may allow the attorney to charge you the filing fees if you lose.

The Selection Process

Look for a personal injury attorney with experience in your case type and area. Check with your state’s Bar Association for a list of area attorneys if you’re uncertain about whom to use and start there.

The Interview

Speak to each attorney you’re considering. Ask the attorney about their experience, success rate, fees and communication policies.

The Final Choice

Select an attorney with experience, reasonable and clear fees and a solid communication policy.

The Timeframe

Personal injury cases may take months or years to resolve. Be prepared to work with your attorney and be patient.

The Process

Personal injury lawsuit proceedings vary by state. Ask your attorney to explain the phases of the case to you and be ready to offer whatever information or documentation necessary for your lawsuit.

The Response

A personal injury case is about the pain, suffering and damage caused by the other party. Don’t allow others to negatively affect you for seeking reasonable compensation for your losses.

The Outcome

No attorney can guarantee the outcome of a personal injury lawsuit, but they should be able to provide you with an experienced perspective on your case and its eventual conclusion.

Handling Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

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Although Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act made gender discrimination in the workplace illegal as of 1964, sexual harassment still unfortunately occurs with alarming regularity. Sexual harassment in the workplace is discrimination and cannot be tolerated. Inappropriate interactions become harassment under the law when their frequency and severity create a hostile, offensive working environment such as when it becomes difficult to complete your job tasks due to the discrimination, when your employer passes you over for a promotion or if your employer fires you for refusing sexual advances.

Men and women who are victims may not know how to handle sexual harassment in the workplace, instead passively accepting their situation, dreading going into work or even quitting to escape further abuse. Harassers can take many forms, including supervisors, peers or even customers. Victims have rights, they can complain and they deserve justice.

Speak Up

If you are a victim of sexual harassment at work, you are certainly not alone. In 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission tracked 11,364 sexual harassment complaints. While you may be tempted to quit to avoid the situation altogether, leaving without giving your employer the chance to make things right perpetuates the situation for other employees and could nullify any claims against your employer you may wish to file in the future. Your employer may be eager to step in and resolve the issue if they are made aware they have a problem with sexual harassment.

File a Formal Complaint

If you don’t know how to handle sexual harassment in the workplace, read your company’s policies, consult with your Human Resources representative and file a formal, written complaint. Include specific details, such as dates and times, and directly quote, whenever possible, what your harasser said and who witnessed each interaction. After receiving your complaint, your employer should conduct a thorough investigation including interviewing witnesses, yourself and the harasser. Disciplinary actions for your harasser may include education, sanction, retraining, or transferring or termination of your harasser.

Seek Legal Advice

If you have followed your company’s policies but sexual harassment continues, consult an attorney. Pursuing a legal case holds your employer accountable, protects other employees and may protect your job. It may also entitle you to obtain monetary compensation for the damages that you have suffered. Lawyers who focus on handling sexula harassment cases can represent and advocate for you, while protecting you from retaliation and job loss. Relying on an experienced attorney can give you peace of mind, confidence and support during this time of stress.

When is a Personal Injury Lawyer the right hire?

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Often, when misfortune rears its ugly head in life, those close to you may offer the oft-repeated phrase, “accidents happen” as a concession to the unpredictable nature of the world. However, accidents and injury-causing events typically don’t arise out of thin air. Instead, they tend to be caused by other people who have acted, or failed to take action, in a manner that introduced a high level of risk into a given situation. Many times, the person, group, or organization responsible for causing the injury-causing event may be legally liable for the harm you’ve suffered.

NYC-personal-injury-lawyerOf course, the aftermath of a personal injury accident can be chaotic and disruptive, so it may be difficult to tell when to hire a personal injury lawyer. However, hiring a lawyer to pursue legal action can ease the burdens on you and your loved ones and assist you in getting your life back on the right track. Many situations that caused personal injuries may entitle you to legal compensation, so consulting an attorney never hurts. Generally speaking, if your accident falls into one of the categories below, it may be the right time to hire a personal injury lawyer.

Auto Accidents

Whether driving a car, truck, motorcycle, or any other vehicle in between, people have a duty to other drivers to drive with reasonable care. This means that failing to obey the rules of the road, giving in to distractions and driving inattentively, or drinking and driving, are unacceptable behaviors. In addition, if driving in an unsafe manner causes an accident, the offending driver may be liable for any damage an accident causes. So when you sustain personal injuries or property damage from such an accident, hiring a lawyer may help you to secure compensation.

Workplace Issues

Sometimes, you may not love your job, but that doesn’t mean you have to put up with unfair treatment. Being threatened or dismissed for discriminatory reasons or being sexually harassed is never acceptable, and federal and state laws exist to protect you in these situations. A lawyer can help you understand your rights and help you to seek compensation for wrongful termination and other issues. Additionally, injuries you sustain at the workplace may also entitle you to compensation.

Defective Products

From medical products to toys, consumers expect products they buy to be effective and, if anything, improve their quality of life. However, some products may be negligently produced and present unreasonable risks to users. If you or a loved one has been harmed by a medical device, drug, supplement, or any other consumer product, an attorney can help you secure compensation.

Other Claims

It may not always be clear when to hire a personal injury lawyer, as accidents can happen in a broad variety of ways. For example, a slip and fall at a local business or the neglect or abuse of a loved one at a nursing home may give rise to personal injury liability. In addition, the wrongful death of a loved one may also give you rights to legal recourse. When in doubt, consulting an experienced attorney can help you understand your legal rights and options. The lawyers at Eisenberg & Baum, LLP have the resources, dedication, and knowledge to fight for you.

Selecting the Right Personal Injury Lawyer: What To Look For

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Are you searching for a personal injury lawyer? What should you look for? How do you choose the right attorney for your case? When looking for a personal injury attorney, it is important to select a firm that is experienced, responsive, aggressive, and trustworthy.

Experienced

An attorney experience in personal injury litigation can help to obtain the most favorable results. You should seek a firm who has experience in handling your type of case. Each case is unique but experience with similar cases can help a firm obtain the most favorable result possible. You may want to select a lawyer who has represented other individuals with claims similar to yours.

Responsive

When selecting an attorney, you should seek a firm that is available and responsive to your concerns. As the client, you are entitled know the status of your case. Therefore, it is imperative that the firm which is representing you is responsive to your questions.

Aggressive

You should seek zealous representation. Attorneys should be courteous and polite, the attorney handling your matter should be aggressive when necessary in order to deliver results.

Trustworthy

Equally important as experienced, responsive and aggressive attorney is an attorney who is trustworthy. It is imperative that you have confidence in your legal representation. As the client, you should also feel comfortable with the attorney you have chosen.

Why our Personal Injury Attorneys are different

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When it comes to handling a personal injury case, you should choose your attorney with care. The right attorney makes all the difference between winning everything you deserve and losing or settling for less. Winning hinges on knowing how to find a personal injury attorney, which means finding someone who is compassionate, caring and aggressive in their pursuit for your rights.

Elements of the Right Personal Injury Attorney

Even if a firm states they have dedicated personal injury attorneys, it isn’t enough. An attorney needs experience, expertise, dedication and compassion to not only win, but ensure you win every penny. At the same time, you want someone who will aggressively investigate and pursue your case without giving the opposition any leeway.

A Personal Touch Makes the Difference

New-York-Personal-Injury-AttorneysEvery attorney at Eisenburg & Baum, LLP helps you get results when it matters the most. Our attorneys are different because they truly empathize with your situation and treat you with the utmost respect and compassion. Many personal injury attorneys are only focused on the case and not the person. We believe the best results come when you focus on both.

When it comes to ensuring we have all the relevant details about your situation, a compassionate, caring attorney is always best. You’ll feel less stressed and better able to remember the minute details that will give us that extra edge to win your case. In addition, by seeing you as a human being and not just another case, we have even more incentive to win, because we get to know you as a person.

Our personal approach makes you feel comfortable during a stressful time in your life. We handle the ‘heavy lifting’ and help you put your life back together. Our entire firm works together as a team, so we see your case from every possible angle. While you’re our client, you become part of our family, and we all work to ensure you get the compensation you deserve for your injury and trouble.

When It Matters Most

While our entire team consults on cases, we have attorneys whose main area of expertise is personal injury law. With this expertise on your side, you don’t have to worry about how to find a personal injury attorney who will fully understand your unique situation. With extensive experience representing a wide variety of personal injury clients.

With multiple mediations, trials, and arbitrations behind them, they’ve gained the professional and personal experience that makes the difference between success and having clients feeling left out in the cold. Eric Baum has even had cases featured on CNN, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, the Today Show and the Washington Post.

The combination they bring to the table is a mixture of energy, expertise and compassion. They serve as the perfect example of what makes our attorneys different and what you should search for in a personal injury attorney.

Sexual Harassment: Defining A Hostile Work Environment

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Although Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act made sexual harassment in the workplace illegal as of 1964, it still unfortunately occurs with alarming regularity. Sometimes an employee who is sexually harassed gets fired after refusing to engage in sexual communication or behavior. In that case, the employee can bring a lawsuit for wrongful termination. But what if the employee decides to quit because the harassment is so bad? Or what if the employee can’t afford to quit and must continue working, but the harassment doesn’t stop? In both cases, it may still be possible to bring a lawsuit seeking money damages.

Hostile Work Environment

When your workplace constantly presents you with unwanted sexual communication and acts which are  severe and pervasive enough that they permeate the work environment and interfere with your ability to perform your job, you are working in a “hostile environment” that is prohibited by law.  If you notify your employer about this condition and nothing is done, you can consider filing a lawsuit against your employer seeking money damages to compensate you for this mistreatment and an order from the court that the mistreatment must cease.  Filing such a lawsuit is protected by law. If your employer retaliates against you by firing you or subjecting you to further mistreatment, you will have an additional claim for money damages.

Constructive Discharge

If the work environment is so pervaded with sexual acts and communications that it is intolerable you, forcing you to stop coming to work, that is called “constructive discharge.  Leaving your job under such circumstances is not considered “quitting” by the law, it is viewed the same as if you had been fired. Of course, you must prove that the mistreatment was so bad that a reasonable person would not have continued coming to work, and you should consult with an attorney before making this decision. But if you prove constructive discharge, you have a claim for money damages against your employer including all your lost income.

Emotional Pain and Suffering

Even if your employer does not fire you and you do not quit, you still may have a claim for money damages against your employer for hostile work environment. If your experiences are causing you significant emotional pain and suffering, and if you notify your employer and nothing is done to stop the harassment, you can file a lawsuit against your employer and seek a court order directing the employer to halt the harassment so you can do your job. You can also seek money damages to compensate you for your pain and suffering.

Take Legal Action

If you have followed your company’s policies but harassment continues, you can consider taking action to put a stop to the mistreatment . Pursuing a legal case holds your employer accountable, protects other employees at your job and allows you to obtain monetary compensation for the turmoil you have suffered. Lawyers who specialize in handling sexual harassment cases can represent and advocate for you, while protecting you from retaliation and job loss. Relying on an experienced attorney can give you peace of mind, confidence and support during this time of stress.

Get Compensation

A person who proves they are the victim of hostile workplace can get various kinds of compensation in court.  They can get lost past and future wages, they can get compensation for emotional pain and suffering, and if they can prove the employer’s actions were willful they can get punitive damages.  They can also get their attorneys fees.

How to Find the Right Personal Injury Lawyer

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new-york-best-personal-injury-lawyers-300x200When you’re injured and need representation for insurance claims and lawsuits etc., it’s easy to get lost in the hundreds of attorneys available to you. Hiring an attorney is a very personal decision and should be based on solid research as well as how you react to the lawyer. It’s important not to simply open the phone book and choose a lawyer, so here are some important tips on choosing the right one and making sure the one you choose is reputable.

Begin Your Search

While phone books and online websites are great ways to get a list of lawyers, it’s best to get referrals from friends and family who have been in a similar situation. Referrals are one of a lawyer’s best tools and a major way they get business. How to find a personal injury lawyer isn’t an easy question to ask, but most people will be willing to help you out. If a relative won a personal injury case with this attorney, you not only know that they have the skills required, but also treated your relative well.

If you don’t have a friend or relative to ask, your best option is to begin looking online or in the phone book. The list will be long, but at least you’ll have a pool to choose from. Also, do not take the word of commercials and how fancy their ads are. Let the lawyer’s education, training, and honesty take priority over flashy advertising.

The Consultation

Most attorneys will not charge to meet with you to discuss your case. This is the initial consultation and your opportunity to tell them about your case and to find out if they are willing to represent you. It’s a two-way street. You’re choosing the attorney, but the attorney is also deciding if your case is winnable and if they want to take it.

This is when you can ask them all the important questions as well. It’s important to ask about the following:

  • Their educational background.
  • How long they have been in practice.
  • How many cases have been similar to yours.
  • Have they had any experience in a trial atmosphere.
  • You should also ask them about fees, including any retainer fees and contingency fees that might arise.

When the consultation is over, you should have all the information for whether or not you want them to be your lawyer.