How Does Underinsured Motorist Coverage Help After a Hit-and-Run?

After a fatal crash, the grief is especially poignant because the death is so sudden and unexpected. It's natural to be so overwhelmed by this that thoughts of legal recourse are far from your mind. An El Paso, TX wrongful death attorney can help you decide when a lawsuit is appropriate and take on the legal tasks so you can focus on grieving and healing. When Should El Paso, TX Families Consider a Wrongful Death Lawsuit After a Fatal Crash? When another person's wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default causes a death, the law gives certain relatives the right to bring a civil claim for actual damages. That claim is completely different from any criminal case the state may bring against the driver. The two can influence each other, but they are separate. Just because one is successful or unsuccessful does not mean the other will be the same. You should consider a lawsuit when the facts show the death would not have happened if the other person had met the duty every driver owes to other road users. Running a red light, crossing the center line, driving impaired, or failing to yield are all examples of a failure of this duty. So are commercial-truck violations or when a commercial vehicle is sent out when the driver or owner knows that it's not in a fit state. Who Can Bring a Claim? A wrongful death claim exists for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the person who died, and any one of those relatives may file for the benefit of all, so long as they do so within two years of their loved one's death. Filing never benefits only the person who files: any award will be shared among all surviving family in the eligible categories. Siblings, grandparents, and domestic partners who do not qualify as spouses generally cannot bring a claim or benefit from it, no matter how close the household was. If, after three months, none of the eligible family have brought a claim, then the executor of the deceased's estate can bring a claim unless all eligible relatives request that they do not. Even though it's technically the estate bringing a claim, everything recovered still goes to the surviving spouse, children, and parents. The Survival Action A survival action is a kind of companion claim to wrongful death. Essentially, this is the personal injury claim the deceased person could have brought if they had survived. Through that action, the deceased's estate can seek recompense for their medical bills, lost earnings between the time of injury and the time of death (if those did not occur on the same day), and compensation for pain suffered before dying. Call a Wrongful Death Attorney The unexpected death of a loved one is one of the hardest things anyone will ever have to deal with, but you don't have to deal with the legal aspects of this alone. Call the Labinoti Law Firm at 915-201-0132 or visit us online to set up a free consultation. We serve victims and their families across Texas and New Mexico.

Spotting signs of neglect at a nursing home can be emotionally challenging. It's natural to become immediately upset at the thought that someone is abusing or neglecting your loved one. But the best way to bring a successful claim against a nursing home, in most cases, is with carefully compiled evidence. A nursing home abuse lawyer in El Paso, TX can review the signs you're seeing and explain what steps to take. Most Common Signs of Nursing Home Abuse The Devil's in the Details If you walk into the room and notice something's off, stop and look closer. Maybe the sheets look like they've been unchanged for days, or your mother has lost weight or her hair hasn't been washed. Those details often show the facility is failing to meet the basic standard of care. A one-time issue probably isn't enough, but if you've noticed this several times, it's likely there's a larger issue looming. Bedsores Pressure ulcers, also called bedsores, are open wounds that form when a resident stays in one position too long and isn't being turned or repositioned appropriately. Once stage 3 or 4 ulcers appear, it's almost always because staff are ignoring the repositioning schedules or failing to keep a resident's skin clean and dry. Dehydration and Weight Loss When a resident stops drinking enough fluids or eating regular meals, the body shows it quickly. They may have a dry mouth, sunken eyes, low urine output, or a drop in weight that can't be explained. Neglect is a failure to provide the goods or services necessary to avoid physical harm, and a low fluid intake or skipped meals are often clear proof that caregivers are not meeting that duty. Injuries Unexplained bruises, fractures, or repeated falls are a big red flag. Facilities must keep their residents safe from preventable accidents, and when falls keep happening and the staff fail to use bed alarms, proper footwear, or supervised transfers, the pattern itself shows there's been inadequate supervision. An Office of Inspector General report found that nursing homes failed to report 43% of falls that caused major injury and hospitalization among Medicare residents. Medication Issues Missed doses, double doses, or the wrong pills can produce sudden changes in your loved one's alertness, blood pressure, or blood sugar. If you find that pharmacy records and nurse notes contradict each other, that's probably a systemic problem rather than an isolated mistake. Families who keep their own medication logs during visits can often discover these failures even more quickly. Strange Behavior A resident who once greeted visitors with smiles but is now silent or who has started rocking or refusing to leave the bed could be suffering from neglect or even outright abuse. Isolation from activities, friends, or family members is a huge red flag, especially for residents who aren't known to be suffering from a condition causing degenerative dementia. Talk to an El Paso, TX Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer If you recognize any of these warning signs, report the nursing home and contact us at the Labinoti Law Firm in El Paso, TX for a free consultation on the possibility of bringing civil legal action. We serve clients in the larger El Paso area as well as in Las Cruces, NM.

If a product that you used as intended has caused you a serious injury, the manufacturer could be responsible. The best way to know if you have a case and can hold them liable is to talk with a product liability lawyer here in Las Cruces, NM. When Can a Defective Product Manufacturer Be Held Liable? Manufacturers can face liability under several legal approaches, but strict liability is the most common path for these claims. With strict liability, you don't need to show that the company acted carelessly or even knew about the problem: you simply have to prove that the product was defective and that the defect caused your harm. There are three main types of defects that you can bring an action over: Manufacturing Design Inadequate warning Manufacturing Defect This happens when something goes wrong during production, and the unit you bought (or a small batch of units out of a larger production run) differs from the rest of the batch and is unreasonably dangerous. For example, if there's a big production run of power tools, and an issue along the way caused a small number of them to have a cracked housing that was not caught on the assembly line, this would be a manufacturing defect. Design Defect A design defect is different. Here the entire line of products carries the same flaw because the problem is actually baked into the blueprint. There's nothing wrong with the way they were made; there were no mistakes during production. The issue is the design itself. For example, if you've got a child's car seat that collapses in certain types of crashes where the angles of impact are just right, the courts may find that the design itself was defective, even if every seat was built correctly. Inadequate Warnings A product may be perfectly safe when used properly, but if the maker doesn't tell users about hidden risks or how to avoid them, they can be held liable. This covers anything from missing labels on chemicals that shouldn't come in contact with your skin to unclear instructions about assembly for a ladder that tips easily if it's put together wrong. The warning must be clear, prominent, and reach the people who will actually use the item. Other Avenues to Hold Manufacturers Accountable Negligence is another route to liability, but it requires more proof. You would need to show that the manufacturer failed to use reasonable care in designing, testing, or inspecting the product. If strict liability does not apply, or when additional damages are available, this could be what your lawyer will recommend. Breach of warranty is another way to prove liability, if the product came with promises about safety or performance that it failed to meet. Most claims, however, rely on strict liability because it removes the need to dig into the company's internal decision-making. Call a Product Liability Lawyer in Las Cruces, NM If you have been hurt by a defective product, contact the Labinoti Law Firm in Las Cruces, NM today for a free consultation. We also serve clients in the Carlsbad area and in El Paso, TX.