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Recent Blog Posts
Can I Get a Settlement if I Was at Fault For a Car Accident?
Seeking compensation for car accidents in Maryland can be an uphill battle. Due to the state’s strict contributory negligence law, any drivers involved in an accident could potentially be denied coverage even if it was mostly another person’s fault.
Given how devastating a car accident can be to your health and livelihood, it is imperative that you contest contributory negligence in a personal injury claim. An experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer can walk you through the steps of pursuing a settlement and help you try to avoid taking on any fault for an accident. Attorney Andrew Serafini has over 12 years of legal experience, and when you work with him, he will give your personal injury case his fullest attention.
What is Contributory Negligence?
Maryland is among the very few states that adhere to contributory negligence, a law that stops plaintiffs from recovering damages from a defendant if there was any element of shared fault. Notably, a plaintiff only has to be one percent responsible for contributory negligence to apply, even if the defendant shoulders the other 99 percent. As such, a personal injury claim needs to be absolutely airtight if you intend to collect compensation.
Why Are Roadways So Dangerous On Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is a sentimental time for families to reunite, often traveling long distances to enjoy each other’s company and appreciate what they have. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most dangerous times of the year with the sheer amount of motorists rushing to make it home. If you plan to be out on Thanksgiving, you should be aware of the common causes of car accidents that can lead to serious injury. If you were hurt in a car crash, a personal injury attorney in Hagerstown, MD can help you get the compensation you need.
Thanksgiving Traffic: What to Look Out For
If you plan to drive on Thanksgiving, especially on the highways, you should exercise caution and drive defensively. Common causes of accidents on Thanksgiving include:
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Adverse weather conditions: With winter approaching, poor weather can inhibit your ability to control your vehicle or react quickly to obstacles. Cold temperatures or rain can make the road slick, giving your tires less friction to brake. With the days getting shorter, be sure to use your headlights to make your car visible to other drivers after dark.
Three Severe Injuries That Can Result from Truck Accidents
Due to the size disparity between trucks and other vehicles on the road, colliding with a truck can result in life-altering injuries. These injuries might affect your ability to work, communicate, or think clearly. Picking up the pieces of your old life and trying to forge ahead is a hard process for anyone, but you do not have to do it alone. A Maryland personal injury lawyer can fight for your entitlement to compensation, going against insurance companies and corporations to see that you get everything you deserve.
Attorney Andrew Serafini is a supportive consultant and advocate for clients, but aggressive when it comes to arguing on their behalf. As a solo practitioner, he handles every case from its beginning to the verdict, rather than passing it off to somebody else. If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury from a truck accident, Andrew Serafini can help.
Four Acts That Could Count As Malpractice in Maryland
There is a degree of human error you can expect with every profession. Unfortunately, in cases of medical malpractice, the effects can be long-reaching and catastrophic for your health. A Baltimore County, MD personal injury attorney will take your concerns seriously, and fight to have any and all damages redressed with a favorable settlement.
Attorney Andrew Serafini is a solo practitioner with 12 years of experience. When you consult with him, you can take comfort knowing your case will get his full attention. If you think you may have been the victim of medical malpractice, these common cases could entitle you to compensation.
Surgical Errors
Surgery is a very delicate process, and even the smallest mistake can spell disaster for your health. Some of these errors include:
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Surgery performed on the wrong part of the body.
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A dose of anesthesia that is either too much or too little for the patient in surgery. In some cases, this could lead directly to wrongful death.
When a third party is potentially liable for construction injuries
Construction sites are inherently dangerous environments. As a result, workers and bystanders can be hurt when on these sites, regardless of whether all required safety measures are in place. When a worker is injured on a construction site, the immediate assumption is often that their employer is responsible for the harm at issue. However, there are situations where a third party – someone other than a worker’s employer – may be held liable for the injuries that a worker or bystander has sustained.
Accurately assessing construction accident liability can allow an injured worker to pursue compensation beyond what is available via workers’ compensation. This process can also allow injured bystanders to pursue personal injury damages in much the same way that they would if their harm had been caused by a negligent driver or medical professional.
Who is potentially to blame?
Third parties that may ultimately cause harm on construction sites can include contractors, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, property owners or even delivery companies. In a busy, complex construction environment, the conduct of many different entities can impact operations on the ground. When one of these entities acts negligently or fails to follow safety protocols, they may be held liable if their actions directly cause someone physical harm.
3 facility maintenance issues that can lead to slip-fall injuries
Slip-and-fall incidents at businesses are relatively common. Improper facility maintenance at a business can very easily create circumstances where people slip or trip and get hurt. Same-level falls, including slip-and-falls, can create a variety of serious injuries.
People can break bones or develop traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). They may miss out on work, especially if their job is in a blue-collar field and they have a significant physical injury. Many times, the business may be responsible for creating an unsafe situation. If someone who slips and falls can establish that the incident occurred due to negligence, they may have grounds to seek compensation from the business.
Negligence typically means failing to do what reasonable people recognize is necessary for safety or doing something reasonable people could identify as overtly unsafe. Improper maintenance of a business facility is potentially a form of negligence. The three maintenance issues below cause a large number of slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall incidents.
Should your loved one be transferred to a hospital?
Suppose your loved one has a terminal illness that requires around-the-clock care; you can enroll them in a nursing home to help ensure their health is always supervised. That said, you should know that there are instances when your loved one may require a higher level of medical attention.
Knowing when a nursing home should transfer your loved one to a hospital can help you advocate for them during their times of need. Recognizing these scenarios is vital to preventing complications and can help ensure they receive the best possible care.
Sudden onset of severe symptoms
Nursing home attendants are trained to provide a level of care that helps meet your loved one’s daily needs. Therefore, suppose your loved one experiences a sudden onset of severe symptoms; they may require more urgent medical intervention at a hospital. Some symptoms that may indicate your loved one needs a higher level of medical attention include:
How is new technology creating unsafe driving habits?
Many people accept that new technology in vehicles is meant to make traveling safer, but new technology isn’t a replacement for safe driving. Some motorists count on driver assistance technologies, such as lane assist and back up assist, to keep them safe. And they do so to an unsafe degree.
For better and for worse, new technologies and safety features are only effective if drivers use them appropriately. One of the most important things to remember is that no technological advance can yet fully replace a human driver who’s paying attention to their driving duties.
Overreliance on technology
A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that many drivers treat the technology that’s meant to assist drivers the same way as fully self-driving programs. In the study, it was found that many drivers rely so heavily on these features that they perform non-driving activities while they drive.
Does your loved one’s senior care facility have a “no lift” policy?
If you have a loved one in a nursing home or other senior facility, you have a right to assume that those who care for them and others who work there do their best to prevent falls. Regardless of how much help your loved one needs on a daily basis, you likely expect that if they were to fall, there would be plenty of trained staff around who can safely get them back on their feet and determine whether they’ve been injured.
In fact, a number of facilities don’t allow staff members to pick up residents when they fall but instead require them to call 911 – even if the resident insists that they’re fine and just need a hand getting up. These “no lift” polices were the subject of a recent investigation by The Washington Post.
3 labor and delivery mistakes that can lead to birth injuries
Giving birth is one of the most dangerous human experiences. Even in a modern medical setting, women are at risk of severe injury or death during labor. Their unborn child could also be at risk in many cases.
Birth injuries can have a profound impact on a newborn and their parents. Factors outside of a mother’s control could lead to permanent injuries that affect a child’s development and prospects in life. Some birth injuries are unpredictable and unpreventable occurrences, but many birth injuries are the result of medical mistakes. The following are three of the most common errors in labor and delivery settings that can lead to preventable birth injuries.
Failing to monitor the fetus
An unborn child could be at risk of permanent brain injury within minutes of something going wrong during labor. It is therefore crucial for healthcare professionals to consistently monitor the status of both the mother and the unborn baby. Current best practices in obstetrics include consistent fetal monitoring after admission to the hospital during labor. Failure to use a fetal heart rate monitor, to check it regularly or to react to concerning heart rate changes in a timely manner could lead to preventable injuries to an unborn child.
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