Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

December 14, 2017

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Diagnosis Advances May Affect Lawsuits

New advances in traumatic brain injury diagnostics can help in obtaining damages for those affected, according to a recently-released study.

Traumatic brain injury or “TBI” as it often called, is a term that encompass several very serious medical conditions involving trauma to the brain. While it is hard to think of any brain injury that permanently changes one’s cognitive abilities, motor control, speech patterns, and ability to function on a basic level as anything but catastrophic, there is a medical condition known as mild traumatic brain injury or “mTBI.”

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) in Boston Personal Injury Cases

According to the Brain Injury Association of America, mild traumatic brain injury is a somewhat misleading term. It does not mean that the damage to the plaintiff’s brain was mild, but rather the injury that caused the brain injury were less severe than typical. In other words, a serious brain injury can result from a seemingly minor injury, and that injury can result in very severe traumatic brain injuries, but there was a low chance of suspecting brain injury from the less severe looking injury. This in terms leads to denials by insurance companies and claims that the plaintiff is malingering or even faking the brain injury in order to get compensation. Continue reading

December 2, 2017

Litigating Premises Liability Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

When a plaintiff is on someone else’s property and is injured as a result of some dangerous condition on the property, the type of legal action likely to be filed is known as a premises liability case. A Boston premises liability cases is plead under a theory of negligence and alleges that the defendant did not maintain the property in such as condition so as to make it reasonably safe for lawful entrants onto the land.

Standard of Care in Boston Premises Liability Cases

In Massachusetts, the law regarding the duty of due care owed to lawful occupants on the property was drastically altered as compared to what it was and still is in many other states in a 1973 cases captioned Wilbur M. Mounsey v. P. Ellard & Another (363 Mass. 693). Prior to this case, the law required a distinction between invitees and licensees when determining if the landowner owed a duty of due care to maintain the property in a safe condition and warn lawful occupants of known, yet hidden, dangers. Continue reading

November 28, 2017

Boston Slip and Fall Cases and Defenses

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The term “slip-and-fall” is used to cover a variety of situations where a plaintiff slips and falls to the ground in a manner that results in personal injury. There are various causes of slip and fall injuries in Boston such as falling on a wet floor in a store or other business, tripping due to an uneven floor surface, or tripping on an object left on the floor just to name a few. These cases are filed under a type of negligence claim in a premises liability lawsuit.

Assumption of Risk Abolished in Massachusetts as a Defense to Negligence

One common defense in many jurisdictions is known as the assumption of risk. This is essentially an argument that plaintiff knew of the risks of whatever activity he or she was engaging in and took the risk of the type of harm that occurred. Continue reading

October 31, 2017

Litigating Slip-and-Fall Ice and Snow Cases in Boston

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

As we head into the winter months, the weather will turn colder and snow and ice will begin to accumulate on streets, sidewalks, and parking lots across the Greater Boston area. While this often creates a picturesque scene, we also see a major increase in the number of slip-and-fall accidents due to that ice and snow. The main question is whether the adjacent property owner or leaseholder, or both, are liable for the plaintiff’s injuries in connection with these Boston snow and ice injury cases.

Popadopoulos v. Target Corporation

Prior to the court’s decision in Popadopoulos v. Target Corporation, a landlord or lease holder was only potentially liable for injuries caused by accumulated snow and ice if the accumulation did not occur due to natural conditions. For example, if a snowstorm brought several inches of snow to the area, many parking lots would be covered with snow. This snow might melt partially during the day and then freeze over resulting in very icy conditions. Continue reading

October 22, 2017

Seeking Damages for Daycare Injuries in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that as American families increasingly rely on dual incomes, childcare outside the home is the norm. In a typical week, 61 percent of children under 5 were in some type of regular child care arrangement, whether with a relative or in a daycare center.

We trust these individuals and facilities to provide the very best care for our children. At the very least, we expect them to keep our children safe. In fact, by taking on a supervisory role, they have a legal duty to use reasonable care in shielding children from foreseeable harm.

Unfortunately, this is not always, and Boston day care injuries are far too common.

This is not to say that all accidents are the result of someone’s negligence, as children are after all children, and some accidents cannot be prevented. However, children cannot, by virtue of their age and inexperience, be expected to foresee all possible dangers. It is negligence if a foreseeable danger existed and the daycare worker or caregiver failed to take action to mitigate that risk. And of course, child abuse at a daycare center is not only criminal, it is a legal breach of duty of care, and may be actionable in civil court. Continue reading

October 22, 2017

Failure to Respond Appropriately to Boston Daycare Injuries

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There are many ways a child can get injured at even the most well staffed daycare facility in Boston. Even with proper supervision and the best safety protection, children tend to run and trip and that can result in a serious personal injury. While your child can fall and become injured without any negligence whatsoever, the daycare employees are sometimes very careless in what they do after the accident and it is often this response, or lack thereof, that can lead to aggravation of the injury, and that is where negligence comes into play.

Daycare Workers Responsibilities in Boston Child Injury Cases

Under the law in Massachusetts, the daycare workers have a duty of due care to prevent foreseeable harm to foreseeable plaintiffs, and in the case of daycare injuries, we are talking about the children enrolled in the program. This includes acting as reasonable and prudent daycare provider in preventing injury to the children, but in responding properly if a child is injured. Continue reading

October 6, 2017

Jury Selection in Personal Injury Cases in Boston

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Jury selection can be very crucial element in Boston slip-and-fall accident litigation. The best injury attorneys know the extensive research that goes into this process, and how to be most effective to maximize the potential for success in trial.

In 2016, a jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant in a slip-and-fall case in Boston. This case involved a 59-year-old marketing consultant who was walking on a side walk on Somerset Street in Boston. She was walking next to a shopping center when she slipped on ice and fell. She alleged that the fall resulted in serious injuries to her lower back as well as her left ankle. She sued the defendant store owner, landowner and related entities.

In many jurisdictions, there is a distinction between the reason plaintiff was on the property in terms of the duty of care owed to plaintiff, if any, and this can greatly effect whether the plaintiff has a valid personal injury claim. These distinctions don’t exist in Boston.

September 24, 2017

Boston Personal Injury Risk During Recreational Activities

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There are many fun and exciting things to do in Boston throughout the year, but in some cases, engaging in these activities could result in serious personal injury. As we head into the fall, there will be people doing all kinds of outdoor activities, such as going to apple orchards, taking hayrides at local pumpkin patch and attending sporting events. However, even these seemingly safe activities could result in serious personal injury if there is any negligence on behalf of the event organizers or property owners.

According to a recent news article from ESPN News, a young girl was seriously injured at Yankee Stadium when she was hit in face with a foul ball off the bat of Todd Frazier. The young girl was sitting in the lower level seating area when the ball hit her in the face. Using this season’s new technology that measures the hit speed of every batted ball, they were able to determine that the baseball was traveling at 105 miles-per-hour when it came off the bat. Continue reading

September 19, 2017

Ski Area Accidents in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

With the winter months approaching, many in New England including Massachusetts will head to the slopes for a day or weekend ski trip. While this can be a lot of fun, it can also result in serious personal injury or even death. There is no question that skiing has inherent risks, but that should not excuse a ski resort from liability.

One thing that may limit the chances of recovery in a personal injury lawsuit is the waiver of liability most skiers are presented with when they get a lift ticket. The reason we use the term presented with, is because they do not often require skiers to actually sign anything. Instead, they say when you put the lift ticket on the zipper of your ski parka, you have effectively accepted the terms of the waiver. In many cases, the waivers will include a complete waiver of any liability on behalf of the ski area operators. This waiver can be very inclusive, and may even go so far as to include a waiver of liability for intentional conduct on behalf of employees. Continue reading

September 18, 2017

Statute of Limitations in Boston Personal Injury Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

People often hear the term statute of limitations on television shows such as “Law and Order” when dealing with criminal cases, but rarely think of the statute of limitations terms of civil cases. While this makes for very exciting television, the reality is that in the real world, the opposite is generally true. Many crimes do not have a statute of limitation meaning that a person could be on the run for decades and still be tried when they return to the proper jurisdiction.

Even if a person does not return, they can often be arraigned when they are not present to toll the statute of limitation sand stop the clock. On the one hand, in civil case, the statute of limitations is very much a big deal, and while there are certain exceptions for people who are incapacitate for one or more reasons, the law can be very unforgiving when dealing with statutes of limitations. Continue reading