Avoid Personal Injury on the Roads this New Year's Eve

Now that Christmas has passed, we begin to focus on our plans for New Year's Eve and New Year’s Day. This time next week, 2013 will be underway. The personal injury attorneys at Burg & Brock would like to take the opportunity to remind the community to be extra watchful while on the road the night of December 31st. AAA sent out a notification this week that New Year's Eve is the deadliest night for highway fatalities. Many Southern Californians are all too aware of the perils of the road during this time of year. While you can't control the choices of others, you can take the proper roadway precautions to avoid inflicting a personal injury.

Do not accept a ride from anyone who has alcohol in his or her system. If you cannot find a designated driver, pool some money with friends and call a cab for drop-off/pickup at the party, bar, etc. In the case that you are involved in even a minor auto accident, hone in on the situation. Pay close attention to what the offender says, such as admitting fault. Take the statements of any witnesses and call your insurance company at your first opportunity. If you suffer personal damages as a result of the accident, put in a call to Burg & Brock. A successful vehicle accident lawyer must be obtained so the injured party has the best chance of claiming reparations. Needing a personal injury law firm might not seem like the ideal way to start the New Year, but the unpredictable does happen. In the case that you suffer a personal injury from an auto accident, make sure there is someone in your corner who will work aggressively in your best interests.

Let's Say Some Nice Things About All the Lawyers

This may be a shocker to some of you -- no, actually it won't shock anyone -- but you might have noticed that we personal injury lawyers are not terribly popular in certain quarters. Oddly enough, most of those quarters tends to be allied with the most wealthy and powerful members of society. Now, we have lawyers and clients at the Law Offices at Burg and Brock that are across the political spectrum, so this is not a left-right issue in our view. However, right now the old "tort reform" drum is being banged around the issue of asbestos.

While we understand that there's no more tempting target for a Wall Street Journal editorial than a personal injury law firm, we can't help but point out that the reason for the high settlements around asbestos is not because lawyers are greedy; it's because asbestos really is very dangerous and its worst effects can take decades to become apparent. As blogger Sergio Munoz puts it, the allegations of "double dipping" are unfair and the allegations of a "scam" are outrageous because it is entirely within the law to sue multiple parties if, in fact, more than one party is responsible for the injury. It's not some nefarious act of legal legerdemain, it's plain common sense.

The constant bashing of the personal injury lawyer is, in our view, nothing more or less than a simple attempt at saving money by large companies. All companies make mistakes and, inevitably, sometimes those mistakes can cause people very real injury. Instead of simply accepting their responsibilities as good corporate citizens and compensating the victims of their mistake, they prefer to hold on to their cash and avoid responsibility. So, tell me again why personal injury lawyers have worse reputations than corporate CEOs who refuse to pay for the injuries they cause?

Motorcycle Accidents: The Open Road is Not Always Paved with Good Intentions

Living in Los Angeles or the San Fernando Valley, Southern Californians forget that there are rural parts of the Sunshine State that are absolutely beautiful. Some city-dwelling Californians choose to take a break from the urban areas by way of a motorcycle, experiencing the natural beauty of California as they ride. State law requires that the biker take the necessary steps for safe riding. This includes wearing a protective helmet and utilizing a bike that meets certain standards. A motorcyclist with proper experience can confidently operate the vehicle, proceeding with caution as he takes to the road. However, there are certain aspects the motorcyclist has no control over. When the biker suffers an accident as a result of poor conditions that should be seen to by an outside party, the injured should speak with a competent personal injury attorney at Burg & Brock.

Poor road design does not allow the motorcyclist the reaction time to safely proceed. Inhibiting factors may include landscaping that obstructs the rider's sight, insufficient lighting, uncovered drainage pits, or a lack of signs that would provide fair warning. These are not suggestions, but requirements for various areas such as roads surrounding construction sites. When certain settings lack these provisions, the damage to the motorcyclist's bike and person can be critical. In these cases, there are certain local municipalities at fault. The personal injury lawyers at Burg & Brock will suss out the responsible entities and work to compensate you for the fallout of your motorbike accident.

If you have suffered damages from a motorcycle accident that occurred on a dangerous roadway,  contact trusted personal injury lawyer Cameron Yadidi Brock at the Law Offices of Burg & Brock. The practice has a 97% success rate and will aggressively work for you to reach settlement.      

Food Posioning May Necessitate a Call to Burg & Brock

Celebratory feasts are part and parcel of the holidays. If you’re cooking the dinner at your holiday party, you know that a variety of foods are used around this time of year. Not all of your ingredients are sourced from local farms. Most of the foods we consume go through a number of stages before reaching our supermarkets, from production, to processing, to the time when canned and packaged goods are distributed. At any step in the process, a product can get contaminated. The personal injury attorneys of Burg & Brock are aware of the damage that could result from foodstuffs that should be recalled.

While a fair amount of people who suffer from harmful products simply spend a day or two in discomfort, some are impacted in a very serious way. Consuming a tainted product can result in reactive arthritis, kidney failure, brain and/or nerve damage, or even death. If you missed a significant amount of work or paid high hospital fees to recover from the illness, a trusted personal injury lawyer may help you recoup these expenses. If you believe you might have a product liability case on your hands, contact Burg & Brock.

To avoid food that has been flagged, check FoodSafety.gov and similar sites, especially before purchasing a large amount of groceries. In you recently suffered from poisonous food, call personal injury lawyers Burg & Brock for a free consultation.

Shopping for Representation

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you're not stressed from all the Black Friday shopping madness.

Now, you might assume that as a personal injury law firm  we would be immune from all that madness, but that's only true to a degree. One thing we understand at the Law Offices of Burg and Brock is that it's really not at all a bad idea to shop around for the services of a truly first rate personal injury attorney.

The good news is that, since many of us work on a contingency fee basis, which means we don't get any payment until our clients do, you don't really need to shop on price. Of course, you want to make sure that the attorney or attorneys you work with are reputable and have achieved good results for others. If you happen to know someone who, like you, has needed the services of a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles and can recommend a good lawyer or law firm who will work on contingency, that's all to the good.

Of course, we hope you'll wind up with us at the Law Offices of Burg and Brock; we know our reputation is outstanding. The important thing, however, is that you do a little research. Your case is important and it deserves a lawyer who will give it the attention it deserves.

The Saddest Injuries

As a personal injury attorney you see all kinds of cases, but by far the saddest and most difficult are those where the grievously injured party is a child. It was hard not to think about some of these cases when we stumbled over the report issued by the federal government and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta stating that the most common cause of death in children is unintentional accident.

Even if you're not employed with a personal injury law firm you can probably guess that the most common cause of these tragic deaths is traffic accidents. It's probably also not a surprise that the most frequent victims are boys between the ages of 15 and 19, the age when hormones tend to drive young males to engage in the most foolhardy behavior of their lifetime. If you're a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles especially, you see plenty of cases where either the defendant, the plaintiff, or both are teenage boys who are treating the family auto as the newest of toys.

While reading about this kind of study is hardly a happy thing, it is a good reminder. While most parents of younger children are quite vigilant, it is easy to forget about ordinary hazards that present little danger to adults. And when our kids start to look very grown-up, it's easy to forget that they are actually in some ways at their most vulnerable. While we there's no way to be 100% sure our kids, especially our boys, won't engage in such dangerous behaviors as racing or driving while intoxicated or even simply failing to wear seat belts, but kids do respond to the right kind of attention.

Good Listening Skills Come in Handy at the Time of Injury

When a personal injury occurs, what is said by the offender might be just as important to your case as knowing the details of the incident itself. The Los Angeles personal injury attorneys at Burg & Brock want to encourage their clients and the Southern California community to pay close attention and document the words that are exchanged at the time of injury.

In the surprise of the moment, the person who caused the automobile accident or burn injury might tell you the real story. The offender might admit that they were distracted by their cell phone or a child passenger at the time of the crash. Feelings of responsibility might rise to the surface, and as a result, the defendant might even sound like they are taking accountability for what has happened. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a bystander there to heed these words as well. It is important to share these comments with your personal injury lawyer. Listen to what the person says, and when you have a moment, write it down. It might help you in your case, as the guilty party might not make such confessional statements once they have conferred with their lawyer, realizing that the truth does not make them look so good.

We know that a personal injury is traumatic, but try your best to remain calm and hone your listening skills. Then call Legal Defenders, your expert personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles.