Miscellaneous

• What to Do When Injured by the Actions of the State?

  Christina Medlin | August 10, 2007 9:35 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  You are injured by the actions of a state agency, (i.e., Department of Transportation, the Department of Health and Human Services etc.), what happens next? In NC, you will have to pursue your claim under the NC Tort Claims Act (NC Gen Stat. 143-291). Under the NC Tort Claims Act, you do not get a trial by jury; rather the NC Industrial Commission hears your claim. The Commission determines...

• Obesity Surgery Leads to Malpractice Claims

  Brent Adams | August 09, 2007 9:26 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  Medical malpractice claims over obesity surgery are increasing as more and more severely obese patients turn to stomach-reducing surgeries for rapid weight loss.A specific type of surgery, known as bariatric surgery, reduces the size of the stomach to a small pouch and limits nutritional intake to a few tablespoons at a time. These surgeries are commonly called "gastric bypass" and...

• Cell Phone and Grocery Store Records Help Win Case

  Brent Adams | August 08, 2007 12:02 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  An insurance company settled a claim for $ 1,020,000.00 for personal injuries suffered by a man and wife as the result of negligence of an alcohol-impaired driver.The defendant was turning into her subdivision and swung her sport utility vehicle wide and into the victims' lane of travel, striking the motorcycle they were riding on.The man suffered multiple broken bones of his left leg. He had a...

• General Motors Liable for Sport Utility Rollover

  Brent Adams | August 07, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  In June 2002, a 7-year-old child named MacKenzie Shaver was killed when the sport utility vehicle she was riding in, along with her step-mother, rolled over while being driven near the California-Arizona border. The vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, veered off an interstate highway and flipped over. The Suburban did not have an electronic stability control system which had been installed in...

• Blue Cross Pays Doctors for Being Short-Changed

  Brent Adams | August 06, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  A group of Miami, Florida doctors sued twenty-three Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, as well as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, because they alleged they had been systematically cheated by these insurance companies when the doctors filed claims for medical services.The doctors allege that the insurance company programmed their computers to pay for less expensive services than were...

• Allstate: Boxing Gloves Instead of Good Hands

  Brent Adams | August 05, 2007 10:42 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  Bad faith insurance companies victimize their policy holders by using lowball settlement offers and forcing them to either buckle under or fight. Unfortunately, most policy holders do not have the means or the will to fight.For Allstate Insurance Company and other companies who are guilty of bad faith insurance practices, gone are the days when insurance companies felt an obligation to protect...

• North Carolina Towns and Municipalities are Immune From Being Sued

  Brent Adams | August 03, 2007 8:28 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  North Carolina still recognizes the antiquated and outdated sovereign immunity rule. This rule arises from old English law which, in effect, was that a citizen could not sue the king.This old English law carried forward to North Carolina which bases its common law upon the laws prevailing in England when the colonies were formed. North Carolina, as one of the original thirteen colonies, adopted...

• Be Careful Not to Incur Unnecessary Storage Fees

  Brent Adams | August 02, 2007 3:24 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  A motor vehicle collision is a traumatic experience. The victim of someone else's negligence is under tremendous stress and pressure immediately after a collision. There are many things to consider and worry about just after a collision. Physical injuries sustained in the collision are, of course, uppermost on the victim's mind. During the stressful processes which occur after the collision, it...

• Wife who Abandons Husband Cannot Recover Wrongful Death Proceeds

  Brent Adams | August 01, 2007 11:52 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  When a person is killed as a result of the negligence of another, the family of the deceased can recover money for that loss. These are commonly called "wrongful death claims" or wrongful death actions. The proceeds from a wrongful death claim do not pass in accordance with the dead person's will, but rather are disbursed to the relatives under North Carolina's Intestate Succession Law. This...

• When is it too Late to Settle?

  Brent Adams | July 30, 2007 8:25 AM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  The vast majority of personal injury claims are settled without filing suit. Once suit is filed, the vast majority of those personal injury cases, now in litigation, also settle before actually going to trial.This is as it should be. When experienced lawyers and insurance adjusters are involved the case, there is no reason why a rational settlement, fair to both parties, cannot be achieved. The...