Monster Claims

Halloween is just about here and we thought it might be time to explore some of the less responsible practices of certain frigthening characters who, fictional monsters and monster makers though they are, really ought to know better. As Los Angeles personal injury attorneys, we get to meet all kinds of people, but these folks are downright scary.

We'll start with Victor Frankenstein who, without consulting even one medical ethics board, created a human from stolen parts, including a possibly abnormal brain. He then allowed his creation to roam about the countryside, entirely unsupervised. Beyond being an obviously case of highly irresponsible parenting, the creature's murderous behavior clearly would leave the doctor open to a number of very serious wrongful death and personal injury suits.

Of course, harm comes to us not only from random meetings with marauding creatures of the night, but also at the workplace. Consider the case of Count Vlad Dracula who, apart from causing harm through his well known and very unpleasant addiction, was guilty of creating highly inappropriate workplace conditions in the case of one R.M. Renfield. Mr. Renfield, a onetime real estate agent, was poached from his former place of employment through means of bewitching the young man, which had numerous deleterious side effects. The agent was left with a number of medical conditions, many no doubt related to his tendency to consume any insects he came across. Aside from the injuries to Mr. Renfield, it's unclear whether he every received any compensation for the many services he regularly performed for the Count.

Yes, we admit it, even a skilled personal injury lawyer can be afraid of monsters,
particularly since it's so hard to hold a nonexistent creature of the night properly accountable through the legal system. Of course, if you need any help with actual, non-fictional human beings or companies who behave irresponsibly and cause you an injury, we're definitely here to help, and to wish you a Happy Halloween!

Sometimes it's Personal

The main role of a personal injury lawyer is to make sure that victims of an accident are properly compensated so that the negligent actions of another don’t put them into dire financial straits. Beyond simply paying for medical bills, the compensation that victims gain through a court decision or settlement allows them to ensure that any lost wages in the present or future are also covered. This is not to mention additional pain and suffering damages that victims are entitled to when the injury affects far more than a person’s finances.

Yet, while compensation is paramount in a personal injury case, the sense of justice that victims get by securing a favorable outcome can make a tremendous difference in their emotional recovery. Simply the court’s acknowledgement that a victim was wronged can help that person move forward in life with some sense of closure. In most cases, the circumstances surrounding an accident do not merit criminal charges, so often the only outlet that a victim has in seeking justice is through Los Angeles personal injury attorneys. While, ideally, no one should ever have to be in that situation, if you or a loved one needs the help of a personal injury lawyer, make sure you go with the best.

It's Always Human Error

The recent flurry of news stories sparked by the release of information on accidents involving  experimental driverless cars belonging to Google had us thinking about an all too obvious fact relating to personal injury cases. It's this: while its probably true that the 11 or so car collisions involving the new cars were the fault of human drivers, ALL accidents are and will continue to be the result of human error -- it's just a matter of proving which human made the error!

If, for example, an accident occurs someday that a skilled personal injury lawyer can prove is the result of a preventable malfunction of a driverless car, the fault of the accident will be with the human(s) who designed, built, or programmed the car. After all, "Terminator" movies notwithstanding, at least so far our machines are only as good as the people who build them. An inanimate object can't really be said to make a mistake...though using that object ill-advisedly can definitely qualify as an error. For the time being, at least, even the most sophisticated car-computer hybrid we can imagine will still be an inanimate object.

The reality that Los Angeles personal injury attorneys like us are going to have to deal with is reminding juries and the authorities that even the most sophisticated machines are built and manufactured by humans who are ultimately going to be responsible for any flaws in their creations that might endanger the public. It's a tough job, but nobody every said personal injury lawyering was going to be easy!

Safety Through Accountability

First and foremost, it is the job of a personal injury lawyer to represent the best interests of whatever client they are providing guidance or representation for that day. When an individual has been injured in an accident, they are often put into the vulnerable position of having to fight for their legal rights while still recovery from the injury that they have suffered. Cameron Yadidi Brock fights passionately for each one of his clients, and uses his skills as a litigator and every other legal resource at his disposal to get every client the absolute best outcome.

Yet, there is a larger effect that Los Angeles personal injury attorneys have on the community. While some business owners or individuals may get nervous at the possibility of a lawsuit, it is this nervousness that drives these parties to ensure that everything that they are responsible for is safe for other people to use. Whether this takes the form of a driver double-checking their blind spot to ensure they are safe to switch lanes, or a factory manager ensuring that the products they are about to ship do not have dangerous defects, the negative consequences associated with putting others in danger surely creates a heightened atmosphere of safety that we all benefit from.

When Good Cars Go Bad

As  Los Angeles personal injury attorneys, we are keenly aware that no item we purchase is more tied up with our personal safety than our car, truck, or motorcycle. The massive Toyota recall a few years back over issues of acceleration was one of the most massive and dramatic examples of what can happen to individuals -- and to the reputation of a manufacturer -- when safety defects are ignored, but it was hardly the end of the story.

In fact, just over the last two days, we've had two local news stories that may possibly be related to an automotive defect. One item had the 16 year-old daughter of the late actor, Paul Walker, launching a wrongful death case against Porsche. The suit alleges that the car he was driving at the time of his death is unsafe, lacking several important safety features offered by other cars from the famed sports car manufacturer.

Another very recent news item recounted a very serious accident on the 210 Freeway. It involved a driver who was apparently convinced that his 2000 Nissan Frontier had gone out of control on account of a serious cruise control malfunction. Though it's much too early to be certain that was actually the case, it's nevertheless presents the kind of chilling scenario a personal injury lawyer may occasionally encounter.

Of course, the vast majority of vehicular personal injury cases boil down to errors on the part of one of more drivers, but we all nevertheless are placing a great deal of trust in vehicle manufacturers. Under those circumstances, looking very closely at the circumstances of accidents where a vehicle defect may have played a role certainly makes sense.

What's Dangerous?

A recent news story got us thinking. It involved a New Jersey resident who was awarded over $520,000 from a local Dunkin Donuts in a case involving a number of injuries she received as a result of tripping over a spike in an adjacent parking lot. Some of those injuries included being burned by the hot coffee she was carrying.

Now, many of you reading this might not be old enough to remember the famed case of Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurant, otherwise known as the 1994 "hot coffee" lawsuit. At the time, the case was widely disparaged in the media as an example of personal injury and product liability cases presumably run amok. However, what most people didn't realize was that the elderly woman in the case had, in fact, been seriously injured by contact with McDonald's then extremely-hot coffee. She required skin grafts and was in treatment for two years.

Whatever your opinion about that particular incident, it's a good reminder that our perceptions of danger don't always match the realities in any particular case. If you're a motorcycle accident lawyer, you know that seemingly very minor road hazards can have potentially tragic results...yet few of us actually frightened by the thought of a pothole. Similarly, coffee is such a part of many people's daily lives that the thought of being harmed by it seems ridiculous but, when kept at a high enough temperature, it really can be a serious hazard.

What it boils down to is that sometimes injuries are as much a product of someone's failure of the imagination as any other cause. If you or someone close to you has been harmed by something that didn't seem terribly dangerous, and another party is responsible, Cameron Yadidi Brock and his first-rate legal team are here for you.

A Winning Argument

For many Los Angeles personal injury attorneys, the job of representing clients mostly entails pushing paperwork around and taking only the cases that they know can be easily settled out of court. As a true litigator, Cameron Yadidi Brock is different. With years of experience representing everyone from motorcycle accident victims to those injured in a product liability case, Mr. Brock has a wealth of experience that he uses to craft an argument truly capable of winning over the court.

While it is true that some clients choose to settle their cases out of court, others, under the advice and guidance of Mr. Brock, understand that their best outcome is a court victory that can only be achieved through presenting a convincing case. It is also important for clients to note that, even if they choose to settle their case out of court, Mr. Brock’s reputation as a gifted personal injury lawyer makes insurance companies more willing to avoid facing him in court by offering a large settlement up front. Either way, with a 97 percent success rate across thousands of clients, the Law Offices of Burg & Brock has a track record that truly can’t be beat.