Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

February 5, 2016

Grammer v. Lucking: Liability in Dog Bite Cases

Grammer v. Lucking, a case from the Supreme Court of Nebraska, deals with an injury alleged to have been caused in the course of a dog attack. However, this was not a typical dog bite case in the traditional sense of the term.

In their complaint, plaintiffs, husband and wife, were walking one day when they found themselves in close proximity to the defendant’s home. When they got to the defendant’s home, they saw that they there were two dogs in the yard. One of the of the dogs was on some type of chain, and the other dog was not on any kind of chain or restraint. There was no fence surrounding defendant’s yard. Continue reading

January 30, 2016

Ketler v. PFPA, LLC: Personal Injury Cases and Summary Judgment

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Ketler v. PFPA, LLC, a case from the Supreme Court of Delaware, the plaintiff claimed he was injured while working out at fitness center owned by the defendant. Plaintiff claimed that his injuries were caused while using defendant’s fitness equipment and were the result of negligence on behalf of defendant and its employees.

However, defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, asking that the case be dismissed. The basis for a motion for summary judgment is essentially that a plaintiff has failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted and that there is no genuine issue of material fact. In other words, defendant is saying that, even if you believe everything plaintiff has claimed in his complaint, defendant is not liable for the injuries allegedly caused to plaintiff. Continue reading

January 26, 2016

Tips to Prevent Slip and Fall Injuries This Winter

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Slip and fall accidents can happen anytime. They can happen in stores when the management negligently fails to clean up a spill or mark the area with a wet floor sign, and they can happen when a tile or section of concrete is left in a state of disrepair that causes someone to trip. However, in the winter we tend to see many more slip and fall accidents occurring outside when someone slips on snow or ice.

In some cases, an outdoor slip and fall is simply nobody’s fault. In other cases, the city should have plowed better, and in other cases, the accident is to blame on the negligence of a shop or business owner that had a duty to clear the snow and ice in their parking lot, but failed to do so. This could be considered negligence and the basis for a personal injury lawsuit. Continue reading

January 24, 2016

Treatment and Safety Info for Burn Injuries

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Burn injuries are among the most serious and painful types of personal injury one could experience. What people may not be aware of is that in addition to the pain and suffering as a result of the damage to the skin and nerves, without the skin to protect the wound, there is a high risk for developing serious and even fatal infections. In fact, secondary infection is one of the major causes of injuries following a serious burn accident.

Another misconception many people have about burn injuries is that a third degree burn is the worst type of burn. There are actually four types of burn injuries doctors see in a typical personal injury burn case. A first degree burn is the mildest and is typically caused by the sun and causes redness on the skin. A second degree burn involves damage to the outer layers of skin and can involve blistering and bleeding. A third degree burn involves a burn of all layers of skin, muscle and connective tissue and is extremely painful and has a high risk of infection. The worst type of burn is a fourth degree burn that involves a full thickness burn when even the bone is destroyed by the heat and fire. Continue reading

January 22, 2016

New Info on Traumatic Brain Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

When we think of serious brain injuries, we often think about soldiers returning home from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and about professional athletes. The new movie Concussion, starring Will Smith, focuses on how repeated hard hits to the head can result in serious concussions. Unlike in the past when we didn’t take concussions all that seriously, we not know they can lead to serious and permanent brain damage or death.

However, as doctors are now learning, a patient does not need to suffer a major head injury to get serious brain damage. In some cases, a hard bump on the head that would normally just hurt for a little while could result in a serious brain injury. This is why you should never refuse medical attention if you suffer an injury. You may not know the full extent of the damage, and, if you wait, you may delay getting necessary treatment. You will also make it harder to succeed in a typical personal injury case, because it may be more difficult to prove your injury was a result of the accident that was someone else’s fault. Continue reading

January 20, 2016

Secret Service Agent Hurt in Recent Accident Left Paralyzed

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that a United States Secret Service advance team was in the New England area preparing for an upcoming visit from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton when their vehicle was hit by another driver in a head-on collision. Basically, everyone involved in the accident was seriously injured, and one person was killed.

Among the injured was a Secret Service agent who was left paralyzed following the tragic accident. According to a recent news feature from CBS Boston, his fiancé got a call at her Boston home from the 30-year-old agent himself, and he told her that she was the best thing that ever happened to him. He also told her that he can’t feel his legs and that she needed to come get him as soon as possible. Continue reading

January 18, 2016

Espinoza v. Arkansas Valley Adventures: Wrongful Death Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Espinoza v. Arkansas Valley Adventures, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, involved a plaintiff who went on a summer rafting trip. Plaintiff hired a guide to take the family on a whitewater rafting trip in the Colorado Rockies. This trip also involved an overnight camping and rafting adventure through a popular stretch of the river known as Brown’s Canyon.

When it was time to go on the trip, she arrived at rafting outfitter’s center and met with other participants who had signed up to go whitewater rafting that day. They were all given basic guidance on what they would need to do and were handed release of liability waivers to sign. Continue reading

January 15, 2016

Sharkey Issaquena Community Hospital v. Anderson: Discovery Requirements in Personal Injury Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Sharkey Issaquena Community Hospital v. Anderson, a case from the Supreme Court of Mississippi, involved a patient who had a stroke and was seen at defendant’s emergency room. However, plaintiff contends that hospital did not properly diagnose the stroke and discharged him with instructions to see his primary care physician within three days.

As a result of not being given immediate treatment for his stroke, he suffered permanent brain injury and nervous system damage, including loss of function, loss of enjoyment of life, medical bills, and pain and suffering. There were also special damages alleged as part of plaintiff’s action. Continue reading

January 11, 2016

Harrison v. Roitmanm: Infliction of Emotional Distress

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Harrison v. Roitmanm involved a heavily contested divorce proceeding. As part of his case, husband hired a psychiatrist as an expert to provide a psychiatric analysis of his wife. Even though the doctor had never personally examined or even met plaintiff, the doctor submitted a written report to the judge in which plaintiff was diagnosed with a personality disorder and noted she had serious mental health issues and was not likely to improve.

Following this report, plaintiff filed a lawsuit against doctor in which she alleged that doctor committed medical malpractice by making such a negative diagnosis without ever having met plaintiff. She claimed this diagnosis caused her to suffer emotional distress. In this case, it was both negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress, as well as one claim of civil conspiracy. She claimed that making such a diagnosis without have personally conducted any sort of examination or even reviewing other doctors’ records was a breach of the applicable standard of care for a medical health professional in the psychiatric field. Continue reading

January 9, 2016

Bradley v. Sugarbaker: Medical Battery Claims

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there are negligence-based torts and intentional torts. A negligence tort is the most common type of claim filed in a civil personal injury lawsuit. This is when a defendant is alleged to have owed a duty of care to plaintiff, breached this duty of care, and the breach actually and proximately caused damages to the plaintiff.

An intentional tort can be something like assault and battery where the tortfeasor intentionally injures the plaintiff. However, there is a different kind of intentional tort in the concept of medical malpractice known as medical battery. Essentially, whenever you go into the hospital for a medical procedure, you must give your informed consent. If you do not give your consent, then the doctor has no right to treat you. If he or she has not consented, the contact would be considered offensive or harmful, and this would constitute a medical battery. Continue reading