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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1987)
Personal injury lawsuits Evaluation o f personal injury cases is partly art and partly science; those who have done it often are usually better at it than those who have only contemplated their own injuries. ‘P e r so n a lize d L oan Serv ices —— D e sig n e d to M eet Your S p e c ia l N eeds Cvu -WARREN E. OSTER — Portland'» only , gay nightclub. B M d t/ tn d '« a r I w 2140 SW Jefferson, Suite 100 Portland. OR 97201 Tit* bast In music, light* and action. (503) 274-4028 r es (503) 297-6769 m o b il e (503) 781-2404 o f f ic e BY B R A D L E Y J. W O O D W O R T H , Esq. gest consulting an attorney for help in evaluat ing your claim. NOTE: No two legal situations are exactly Evaluation of personal injury cases is partly alike. This column discusses general legal prin art and partly science. those who have done it ciples only. For specific advice to rely on you often are usually better at it than those who have should consult a qualified attorney. only contemplated their own injuries. For this reason, consult an attorney early. Valuable evi aybe you have taken the day off work dence is available at the time of an injury, which and are home watching daytime TV. becomes harder to preserve as time passes. Cri You see the fifteenth commercial from some tical evidence can make or break your claim and lawyer telling you that if you’ve been hurt in an an attorney should be able to help preserve it. accident, call so-and-so. No doubt you’ve seen Also, the law has different time factors that you or heard reports in the newspaper about enor can ’t know about. For example, if a city police mous sums of money awarded to someone run man falsely arrests you, you have only six months to give notice o f your claim, or it is forever lost! To protect all your rights when you have been injured, consult a lawyer early on. A special note on motor vehicle accidents is in order. Oregon law requires all drivers to be insured for personal injury and property dam over by a bus or injured in an accident. If you age liability. Your insurance policy prctvides were ever injured in an accident, you want to (because the law requires it) that your insurance know if you or someone else is responsible for company will pay your medical expenses and a paying the medical bills, your lost wages, pain portion of your wage loss. This is true whether and suffering and other items o f legal damages. you or the other driver were at fault. Then the Those injuries which give rise to a legal right insurance companies figure out between the to compensation from a third party are called two o f them who foots the bill in the end. Also, “ torts” by lawyers and “ personal injuries” by not all drivers carry insurance. If you are in an most others. There are two kinds of torts: accident with an uninsured vehicle your policy those based on negligence, and those based will cover some of your damages. You should on intent. consult an attorney if you have any questions 1 here are many kinds of negligence torts: about your rights under your policy, or your motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, insurance company denies you personal injury so-called “ slip and fall” cases, tavern owner payments. liability and injuries to reputation, to name a An additional concern with insurance com few. All o f these kinds of personal injuries ' panies is when they try to rush you into settling require some negligence on the part of the other your claim. Sometimes the other driver is clearly party before you can recover any money from at fault, and the insurer will come to you with a them (or their insurance company). check and a release. If you are not yet medically “ Negligence” is something of a technical stable, and have future medical bills, or injuries term, and whether someone’s conduct in a par that do not heal, you may be stuck with a small ticular case did or could constitute ‘ “ negligence ’ ’ immediate settlement rather than the larger one depends on the particular facts. Sometimes a you may be entitled to later. In general, consult tragic accident occurs wthout anyone’s being an attorney before settling any personal injury negligent — what you might call a “ true acci claim directly with an insurance company. • dent” in which you probably have no legal right of recovery. Bradley J. Woodworth Because it is difficult to determine on your Ohio-born Brad is a graduate of Oberlin own whether you may be entitled to a recovery, College and Northwest School of Law. He is I always advise contacting a lawyer when you president of the board of directors of Outside In. have been significantly injured, to get help in Prior to law school he was a therapist at the evaluating your case. Negligence cases are usu M en’s Resource Center. ally handled by attorneys on a “ contingency Hollyrock Loungo Boforo Hour* ft After Hour* M W . E. OSTER *24 S.W. 13th (between Morrison ft Aider) Portland, Oregon Into? 244-CITY M o rtg ag e S ervices , inc .C o u m S c ( fee” basis. This means that you won’t have to pay the attorney for their time spent preparing and investigating your case unless you win a settlement or collect a judgment in your favor. The attorney then gets an agreed upon per- # centage of your recovery (typically 30% to 50% depending on whether trial or an appeal is involved). It is important to know that litigation costs cannot be done on a contingency basis. The ethical rules for lawyers require that the client remain responsible for costs, such as expert examinations and reports, filing fees, court re porters and the like. Some attorneys will advance these costs on your behalf (permitted by the ethics rules) and then recover these costs from the settlement or judgment. Other attor neys may require you to pay the costs as they come up, or even to deposit funds with the attorney to cover costs sure to come up. Be sure to talk with your lawyer regarding how costs are handled on contingency cases. Another whole category of torts is not based on negligence, but on the “ intent” of the other party (they must have intended their action, or intended to harm you). These torts include as sault and battery, false arrest, wrongful dis charge from employment, trespass and con version (sort of like theft of personal property). Whether there may be liability in a particular case will depend on its facts, and again, I sug SNOWTIMC ASIAN MEN! 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